Cherry Coke has made its way back to Taiwan. At first, I thought it returned to only the special “expat groceries”. You know the ones that carry all the yummy delights that you miss from your “home” country. Nope, they can be found at pretty much any convenient store. Which didn’t excite me, because I’m not a huge fan of soft drinks, but many of my friends posted it with photos on the Facebook status.
I guess it excited my son as well. He just had to have one the other day. I laughed to myself because I don’t think he’s ever had cherry coke, and if he has it was at least 2-4 years ago. How could he remember THAT? It’s not that special. Could it be because it is “American” and we are visiting family there in a few weeks? Or because his American classmates/teachers were all raving about its return?
His excitement spilled over onto my youngest, Mei Mei. I know there is no WAY she could remember drinking it, but it is now her favorite “soda” (btw, we only drink soft drinks about once a week if even that).
This incident made me analyze what my kids say their favorite snacks and beverages are. The results were interesting, but not really surprising. It was a mixture of cultures.
- “American” culture – Cherry Coke, Nerds, Cheese Puffs (just found out this one today)
- German culture – Kinder Eggs and Nutella
- Asian culture – seaweed, kimchi, seaweed flavored chips, shrimp flavored chips
This is just a basic lists of their favorites, but I think it shows a visual of who they are as a TCK. Not that each “culture” is filed and organized, but that it is mixed together forming a part of who my kids are. Ge Ge’s mixture might have many of the same ingredients as Mei Mei’s, but they differ each other just as much as they differ their sister, Jie Jie.
I’m reading a book on TCKs right now called Home Keeps Moving by Heidi Sand-Hart. Though I’m getting some great insights about my own TCKs, I must remember one thing while raising them: They all are third culture kids, but they are very unique and differ from each other.
Your Turn: So, what do your kids find to be their favorite foods? Have you found them to be a mixture of cultures?
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raisingTCKs 
My daughter (now 16) became a vegetarian when she was 8. About three weeks ago she decided she wanted to become a vegan. I don’t think anyone has influenced her decision to change her eating habits….
Interesting, I thought maybe she’d be inclined to fish and chips or something like that. Maybe a good scone?
This is so funny and I totally relate to it! My 2 year old is obsessed with seaweed! He doesn’t even know what cheetos are and I’m so happy about that!
I so wish that my kids didn’t know what a Cheeto was! Funny story with seaweed. My son was about 4 at the time we were visiting the US. My friend was teaching his Sunday School class about Jonah. She was trying to make it sound awful in the whales belly so she asked, “Who would want to eat seaweed?” GeGe raised his hand really excited. We’ve laughed for years over that!
This food thing is very interesting. I grew up in Africa with marmite, toast with marmelade, tea with milk, these are not “normal” foods for Dutch folks. I still love toast with marmelade, just the smell can bring back memories! A corn cob roasted on a fire is just heavenly….
That is great! My first roommate when I moved overseas was a MK from PNG and she had a jar of Veggiemite. I was so fresh off the boat, I should have known by the grin on her face to spread a thin layer. She had a great laugh at me trying to be nice and swallowing it. That was home to her, but not for me. HA!
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