Children of the Ex-Pats
Driving up the steep hill to her home, Carol spoke passionately about her two sons Diego and Rafael. On entering their home the first thing Rafael asked me was, “Are you from Oakland?” I looked at the eight year old with slight confusion and replied “No, why do you ask?” He then explained how badly Oakland’s baseball team did the previous day. With that, I met oddly the Americanized brothers, who have never lived in America.
Their parents are ex-pats who moved to Hong Kong for work. After a few years in the country they decided to stay and start their family. Their sons, Rafael and Diego, both went to a British school where Diego became fluent in both Chinese and English. While talking to them, they reminded me of the kids I grew up with in the suburbs of SoCal. They use the same slang, the same flow, the same diction, and the same sense of humor.
What I found most interesting about these boys was just how involved in American culture they were. Unlike the majority of kids their age around the world it isn’t the music or the pop culture. They spoke only of sports and politics. When asked how they kept so involved with all that was going on in a separate country they attributed it to technology. They have a tablet and constantly visit their ESPN and CNN apps to stay connected. Everything they know about the world outside where they live isn’t through school, but completely through their applications.
Through out the interview the boys would continuously joke about their favorite basketball player and wanting to be just like them in the future. They keep tabs on every sport but basketball is definitely the most relevant in the house. When talking about a want to move to the States, Rafael said that he wanted to live in Washington state mainly because Isaiah Thomas, currently playing for the Celtics, lived there and went to Washington state.
Not only did they know about the canidates running for president, but they also expressed opinions on each candidate’s platform. Diego openly expressed that he, “hope[s] a democrat wins, I don’t care if it’s Bernie or Hillary, but it can’t be Trump.” Whenever they spoke on Trump Rafael would giggle and call him “Small Hands Trump.”
These kids are extremely intelligent, well rounded, and well spoken. Their opinions on the world and what is happening is absolutely breath taking. Although, my favorite thing upon meeting these kids was seeing how much they loved each other. Their family’s constant moving around has led to the only having eachother for best friends and a stronger bond than what most siblings have. They are both extremely open to the fact that they have grown to be each other’s best friends. Diego also expressed his gratitude for his parents, “they’re fun and sacrifice themselves to do fun stuff for us.”
“It’s nice traveling the world, we’ve been to Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Thai-won, Australia, America, Spain, France, China, and Hawaii,” said Diego after being asked about his travels. The boys have remained aware of their fortunate upbringing. The fact that they have seen so much of the world has left them wanting to see the rest of it.
With the family constantly moving it is amazing to see how these boys maintain their culture and love for the States. They attribute all of their knowledge to their technology. Most parents are bothered by the idea of their children not seeing the world and being buried in some sort of tablet, computer, or smartphone. What they don’t see is that these kids are seeing the world. Maybe not through the same eyes people did in the past, but in their own way. Kids have a chance to become involved and live on horizons they have yet to touch all because the actual world is at their finger tips. It is all a matter of how these kids use it.
