Noel's Top Ten Big Learnings:
10. My students are smarter and better than a lot of adults. My students are Third Culture Kids. TCKs are children who have spent more time living outside their birth country than living in it. They are exposed to and adapt to an ever-changing student body, different cultures and many view points. They are some of the most versatile, resilient, open-minded, caring, welcoming (of new children, cultures and languages) people I have ever met. I am constantly in awe at their ability to accept people not of their faith, gender, skin color and traditions into their world. Adults need to look at these kids, and learn from them. I am encouraged that TCKs will someday run the world. They get it.
9. Though my own children, by definition, are not TCKs, I am thrilled they are influenced by TCKs everyday in school.
8. In the eyes of my children, the world has grown exponentially. As one of them told me last year about his first day of school, "I didn't know that Israel, Japan, China and Korea existed until my first day of school."
7. In my eyes, I have found how truly small the world is. Within this last year, we have experienced the following:
- Almost every time we have been at Schiphol International Airport (Amsterdam's airport), we have run into someone we work with, someone we teach, or one of the boys' friends.
- We ran into a colleague over the summer in Galway, Ireland.
- Brett ran into a student he taught last year in the Dublin, Ireland airport.
- When we went glacial skiing in Zermatt over the summer, the Italian side was open. So we skied over to Italy. Upon entering the cable car, Brett ran into a student he taught at Vail Mountain School 2 years ago.
- In a circa 1960's VW Van, in the middle of Morocco, on the way to a Camel Ranch, we ran into an American family, with children the same age as ours. They live in Amsterdam, about 30 minutes away from where we live. We have since become friends.
- Our Moroccan / American / Amsterdam friends introduced us to an Irish family that moved to Amsterdam the same time we did. Their surname is the same surname of my Great-Grandmother. We have since become friends.
6. I never need to ride a camel again.
5. You can put me in any city, and as long as I have a map of public transportation, Google Maps on my iPhone, and Brett, we can get anywhere.
4. I enjoy my bike. Now, I consider myself quite lazy. I don't like to work out. And I don't work out unless it is a hidden work-out. For example, I don't hike to work out. I hike to be outside and I know that when I do hike, I usually find clarity. I don't ski because it's a good work out. I ski because it gives me pure unadulterated happiness. I bike because I don't have a car. But I really enjoy the pace, the solitude (unless the boys are fighting) and being outside (unless it is bad weather). This was a surprise to me.
3. I don't care how much solitude biking gives me, I don't enjoy biking in the rain, sleet or snow. It is the opposite of "I heart it". I mean face it.
2. I don't fit into clothes here in the Netherlands...or shoes.
1. I can do it. Whatever it is. I can do it.
