{"id":15622,"date":"2017-11-22T22:42:11","date_gmt":"2017-11-23T03:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/?p=15622"},"modified":"2020-11-04T11:06:25","modified_gmt":"2020-11-04T16:06:25","slug":"growing-up-overseas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapeartist.com\/blog\/growing-up-overseas\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing up Overseas"},"content":{"rendered":"
This week\u2019s column I give over to my oldest daughter Amanda who is 17 years old and quite the young lady. I am especially proud of her recognition of the many blessings we have in the US and her appreciation of the abundance we enjoy. As we enjoy US Thanksgiving, I hope that all of us recognize and appreciate our bounty and count ourselves as some of the extremely fortunate human beings on the planet. Take it away, Amanda.<\/p>\n
Hello, my name is Amanda Cobb. I\u2019m thrilled to have the opportunity to write about my experiences about growing up in a foreign country. I was two years old when my family moved from a small town in West Virginia to Managua, Nicaragua. It was my dad\u2019s work that brought us to Nicaragua, and at two years old, I didn’t really have much say in the matter. It was definitely a transition for the whole family, but soon, we would call it home.<\/p>\n
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Shepherdstown, WV<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Managua, Nicaragua<\/em><\/p>\n Growing up in Latin America exposed me to so many unique experiences that I would never have had growing up in the U.S. Looking back, my childhood is filled with happy memories of my time Nicaragua. If I hadn’t lived there, I wouldn’t have experienced so many of the things that shape me into who I am today. I would not change it for the world, and I hope that everyone gets the opportunity to experience life overseas at some point in their lives as well.<\/p>\n There are lots of reasons why moving overseas with children is a good idea. In fact, it is becoming more and more common. A study conducted by Kathleen Finn Jordan at the University of Michigan and published in the\u00a0NY Times<\/a>,\u00a0on a group of \u2018Third Culture Kids\u2019 studies how living overseas during childhood affected their adult lives. The study found that children and adolescents who grew up in a foreign country were more successful than their peers at home, earning higher degrees in education and higher positions in the professional world. Not surprisingly, 63% also stated that living abroad influenced them to study or go into an international related field. Many factors, such as speaking multiple languages and understanding many cultures, greatly helps these third culture kids advance through life. The opportunity to see different cultures and places from a young age is an amazing learning experience that is incredibly valuable.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Excellent Book for Expat Families<\/em><\/p>\n I do not have many memories of the move to Nicaragua, or my life before moving there. Just after my second birthday, my mom, dad, and I packed up our house in the U.S and moved to Nicaragua along with our dog Bailey. Soon after we arrived in Nicaragua I got really sick. We went to the doctor and he told my mom that my immune system was in shock from the move.<\/p>\n This was only the first of many challenges of moving to a foreign country. The language was another challenge for my parents. At this point in my life, I was already speaking English and my mom and I had started learning Spanish in preparation for the move. I quickly surpassed both my parents with my Spanish speaking abilities and became their personal translators at age two. More than fourteen years later, I am still my father’s translator.<\/p>\n (Father\u2019s note: For a funny video of Amanda getting one over on her dad, click on the picture below. Amanda was on a panel at the Live and Invest Overseas Conference in Nashville a few years back with a couple hundred people in the audience. Her comment in the video below comment was retribution for me \u201cmaking her\u201d sit on a panel of expats and tell her story. The audience got a good laugh at it, and so did I. I also received a new name tag at the conference and have been called \u201cSe\u00f1or Si\u201d by several since then. Ahhhh Kids. They certainly keep us humble for sure.)<\/p>\n Final question of the Panel:<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is the one thing you should do when you move overseas?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nashville Live and Invest Overseas<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Se\u00f1or Si and Amanda<\/em><\/p>\n As we began to meet people and explore the city, we learned more and more about what it was like to live there. There were hundreds of new, exotic, fruits and vegetables to try. We were expected to hire a maid, gardener, and chauffeur. Cultural dos and don\u2019ts had to be learned. But to be honest, as a two-year-old, these things didn’t matter to me. I loved the hot weather and delicious ripe mangoes that fell off the tree in our backyard. \u00a0I made some friends and soon started off in preschool.<\/p>\n Many of the friends I made spoke English, but we would usually speak in both English and Spanish, because that was what was easiest for us. My mom put me in some after school activities like swimming, art class, horseback riding and ballet, so in that aspect, I was a typical preschooler. Dance, especially, is a huge part of Nicaraguan culture, and from the time I started preschool I was involved in a lot of dance performances and recitals. I had no idea what an impact dance would have on my future, but I am sure that this cultural aspect shaped my dream of becoming a professional dancer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Amanda in Traditional Dance 2003<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Amanda and Friends Backstage Before Kiddie Stop Show 2005<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Amanda Performing in a Professional Opera, Le Villi, Managua 2015<\/em><\/p>\n Growing up in Nicaragua, I was fully immersed in the country\u2019s culture from a very young age. I was exposed to the culture at school, at dance class, with my friends, and even at home. My parents also taught me about American culture and how to read and write in English. In this way, I grew up as a multicultural child. I understood the workings of the Nicaraguan culture as well as the cultural values that my parents taught me at home. There is a lot of conflicting information when it comes to these two cultures, but I understood very early on that neither is right or wrong. Values such as time and hard work, for example, which are prioritized in the U.S, are not as important in Nicaraguan culture. My parents often struggled with these conflicting values, especially at work. My ability to understand both cultures allowed me to explain to them why these conflicts appeared and help them resolve them.<\/p>\n Living in Nicaragua is a lot like living in a small town. Everyone knows one another and are friendly and helpful towards each other. \u00a0Although you cannot expect to go anywhere without seeing someone you know, it also gives you a sense of community. The people also love children, which is wonderful especially growing up there. Unlike in the U.S, where people expect kids to be loud and messy, Nicaraguans dote on\u00a0children and don’t make them feel unwanted in restaurants and other public places. In many ways, this makes young children feel very special and loved.<\/p>\nClick Here to See Amanda Make Fun of Her Dad<\/a><\/h4>\n