I wrote a couple of posts about questions that Third Culture Kids are often asked. Some they dread, some they love. Same for their parents. There is a problem inherent in these posts and these types of posts. They center the TCK and the expatriate adult. They make us the most important person in conversations we have in our passport countries. They give the impression and create the expectation that everyone should conform to our needs, should be sensitive to our struggles, should care about our joys.
What about the people we are talking to? The people we “left behind”? The people who lived a full life while we were away? What about our own need to be curious, interested in others, to ask good questions, and to move away from being the center of the experience and story?
What are some questions people would love for the TCK or expatriate to ask them when we’re back in our passport countries?
*note: be sensitive to your level of intimacy with people. These are randomly presented and range from light to personal.
What’s the latest news in your hometown?
How has Covid impacted you, your family, your job?
What has been the most exciting thing you’d done this past year? The most unexpected? The hardest to accomplish? The most personally transformative?
What’s your favorite restaurant lately? What do you love about it?
Have you gotten any new pets?
Where should I shop for school clothes this year? What are the current styles in this part of the country/world?
Been on any bad dates? Good dates?
While I am in town where is the one place I absolutely must visit? Why? Will you come with me?
Tell me about your favorite books/movies/music/art.
Who was your best teacher or coach last year?
How have you been talking with your kids about George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and police violence in general?
Have you participated in any protests? Why or why not? How have you experienced them?
What can I learn from your perspective on the USA right now? What is important for me to understand, as a newly returned person?
How can I pray for you?
The conclusion of these past three posts is simply this: ask questions. Ask good, thoughtful, sincere questions. Be curious. Be kind. Be generous.
