Top 10 Funny Moments Raising Kids Overseas

Although we've lived overseas for 15 years, George and I are the most comfortable with our surroundings when we are in the States.  For our children, however, it's the other way around. Ukraine is home.  It is more familiar and predictable than anywhere else.  This results in some funny moments when it becomes so plain to us that we are raising our kids overseas.  The things that they find normal and the things that they find strange are opposite of what we consider normal or strange.  Here is a list of our top 10 examples:

10. Consider ice in a beverage a novelty

 9. Have trouble opening doors with a round door handle

 8. Celebrate Christmas in January

 7. Ask questions such as, “Which castle will my husband propose to me at?”

 6. Captivated by drinking fountains

 5. Enjoy potato chips in the flavors of caviar and crab

 4. Pretend play “border crossing”

 3. Can sing “Lord I lift your name on high” in Russian but not in English

 2. Confusion over boxes along U.S. streets – answer: mailboxes

 1. Utter surprise upon arriving at Chicago airport that “everyone talks like we do.”