Expat kids tend to have an odd sense of geographical entitlement. Nony and I were discussing this the other day – how she complains about having never been to Berlin, like it's something she deserves. I feel the same about Prague and Paris and St. Petersburg (the list goes on). The TCK world is so shrunken that TCK expectations to visit certain countries are comparable to non-TCK expectations to visit bordering cities and states.
With this geographical entitlement comes a nonchalance towards general traveling. I'm housesitting for an American family for the upcoming week, and today the son showed me around the house as I asked questions about their trip.
"So where are you going?"
"Rome," he said flatly.
"Have you been before?"
"Nope."
"That's exciting."
"Yeah." We walk quietly for a few moments, and then he continues. "But I've heard that there's not much to do there. You know, besides seeing the sights."
"Oh." I tried to think of what a 12-year-old boy would want out of a city. A theme park?
"Like there aren't any amusement parks or anything." Bingo.
I suppose his apathetic attitude towards Rome could be attributed to a youthful apathy in the same way that museums are wasted on young children. Still, it's hard for me to imagine a non-expat kid being so blase about such a trip.
2 comments:
words of truth
indeed!!!
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