Mommin' Abroad

Hello all! I’m sure most of you are looking at my name thinking “Kim – What? Where did that come from?” Well, to start my introduction I will let you all know that my husband is Indian. Born and raised in Chennai, India and we met at the University

of Michigan, I was starting my bachelor’s degree and he was working on his master’s. He lived in India up until he flew to

Ann Arbor to start his post-graduate work in 2006.

 

And, yes, I have visited India several times with him to see his immediate and extended family as well as

participate in various ceremonies and rituals. And both of my daughters have visited India for their first

birthdays.

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While I couldn’t be prouder to be married to an Indian man, my global interest was sparked long before I met him. As a young girl, I was always intrigued by my multicultural background, mind you the various ethnicities that make up my family tree go back several generations – strictly speaking my parents and grandparents were born in the US. But I was fascinated by all the nationalities that were a part of my background – specifically one-half French, Dutch, English, and German, and a one-half Polish. This interest led me to study foreign languages fairly early on in my education. My second language, and the one closest to my heart to this day, is French.

                The earliest I remember studying French is in fourth grade, it was actually based on my initiative that the fourth grade teacher started an after school French club. After that I didn’t really get a chance to study French until high school, but when I got there I studied it to the fullest extent possible. In fact, I studied French past the classes the school offered and continued independent studies in French for two years.

                My parents always encouraged me to pursue my interests regardless of where they took me. So I decided to get outside my comfort zone and apply to the first opportunity I could to expand my foreign language skills and dip my toes in international waters. My sophomore year of high school I was accepted into the French Immersion program at Université Sainte-Anne in Church Point, Nova Scotia. It was a six-week long program with students from around North America for the sole purpose of being fully immersed in French. The program had a similar set of rules to baseball – three strikes [speaking, listening, reading, or watching anything in English] and you were out! It was an amazing experience to have! While the French spoken at the camp would be unintelligible to those residing in Paris, it was an important step to becoming fluent in French. It was also my first time away from home for an extended period of time, and once you have that first time out of the way it’s not as hard to brave the world!

                The following summer I was accepted into the Advanced Studies Program at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire. It wasn’t nearly as far away as the previous summer, both culturally and location-wise, but the atmosphere was very similar to what I would soon experience at college. It gave me an opportunity to study another language [German] as well as a new sport – crew! I would go on to row for a few months on the college novice team and my lovely husband bought me a rowing machine after the birth of my first daughter. I had to try and get rid of that baby fat somehow! I also continued by German studies in college and lived at the University’s German house for three years.

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After these two summer programs I was ready for the big leagues – thanks to my father I was able to study abroad in France. The program I studied with was American Field Service – AFS. This program allows the students to not only live in the foreign country of their choice, but to live with local families and attend local schools. I will always be grateful to the program for finding me the best French family ever to host me in their home in Thaon-les-Vosges, France for six months at the end of my high school career. This was the most wonderful and amazing time of my life – up until now of course! I grew so close to my adopted host family that I consider them family to this day.

My two host sisters were bridesmaids in my wedding and are both loving

aunts to my daughters, and my French parents are amazing grandparents

to my daughters as well. My oldest has already visited her Mamie and

Papy in southern France twice already!

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By the time I entered college at the University of Michigan I was already fluent in language number 1: French. It was time to pursue language number 2: Arabic – the whole reason I enrolled in Michigan in the first place. I also got a chance to study languages 3, 4, & 5 as well [Italian, German, & Polish].

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And after first studying abroad to become fluent in one language I had to have

a second study abroad experience with Arabic. So, I pursued an opportunity

with the American Flagship Program. While I was a student in 2006-2010 there

were two places available to study: Alexandria, Egypt and Damascus, Syria.

The program in Syria was meant for graduate students, so my study abroad

took place in Alexandria, Egypt. For the summer program I stayed in the girls’

dormitories at Alexandria University and I had an Egyptian roommate. Once the

summer program ended I decided to try staying with a host family again. It wasn’t

as big a family and I didn’t grow quite as close to this family as my French family,

but it was wonderful all the same. I got an intimate look at Egyptian culture and was

able to study and speak both Modern Standard and the Colloquial Egyptian Arabic.

 

However, come my vacation in January 2011, I was unable to come back to Egypt. On January 28, 2011,

just a mere four hours after my flight departed from Cairo, the Arab Spring came to Egypt. After that my

program was relocated to Ifrane, Morocco, yet another country to put under my belt in my international

travels. The program in Morocco wasn’t nearly as good as it was in Egypt, but I had the chance to

completely hone my language skills and attain the Superior Level on the OPI – the main goal of this

program.

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So my college career was over, as was – I thought – my time living abroad. I still hoped to travel with my husband, and with my children. Before we settled down completely, we did get to travel in Europe and India.

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Then came our first daughter, Sara Gail – and we just had to take her to India and France to visit her families abroad! Then came baby number 2 – Abigail! We were, of course, expecting to go back to both India and France, so that she could have the same experiences as her sister. But other plans came into effect before that first birthday – a relocation to Accra, Ghana!

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