Third Culture Kid(s)

All the talk about people either in China or going to China brought back memories of the first time I went to China, in the Spring of 1978.

I was in 6th grade and our group was the youngest group to visit post-Cultural Revolution China up to that point. We stayed in a (the?) hotel in Guangdong, which is where I’m pictured here (it was always a very bad Polaroid picture that my Mom took with a borrowed camera). I’m sitting in bed, buried under 30 lbs. of blanket* and wondering if I should undo the mosquito net above my head (it was cool enough that we didn’t really need them).

During the trip, we were taken to a couple of little shops, to see a Monkey King animated movie, and to a commune, where we were welcomed with tea and a interminable thorough explanation of how communes worked.

These were the little trucks that drove around town - everyone else was on bicycles at that point.

While we were being taken around to various parks, we passed a group of Red Guard girls, soon to be an endangered species.

Once at the commune, we were treated to a tour of some of the more prized pieces of technological innovation, including the above lighted map…

And this. Whatever it is.

And we were always, always great attractions, wherever we went (especially the blonde and red-headed kids. People couldn’t get enough of them).

We looked at them, and they looked at us. I wonder if any of these girls are now investment bankers?

*if anything can be rightfully called an “Asian thing,” it’s heavy blankets. M. has one that his mom gave him when he was living in Okayama that occupies its own box, it’s so bulky; and we just received one for MM from a relative that no one was able to identify with 100% certainty (M’s parents think it’s the wife of one of his mom’s brothers…but they’re going by the address there, not her name. Gotta love that family closeness).