The Foreign Service Journal, June 2004

Borders: Experiences and Voices of Non-U.S. Global Nomads.” There I learned how problems are compound- ed when you are not a passport-holder of the country that you grew up in and choose to live in as an adult. One Japanese “nomad” spent many years in New York as the child of a corporate father, only to discover after college that she could not stay in the U.S. — no matter how American she felt or sounded. And then there was the United Nations-based nomad who had never lived in her native Mali. Once she became an adult and lost her U.N. passport, she discovered that there were countries in the world she could not visit — because they do not give Mali passport-holders entry! I heard many a “God Bless Canada” in this ses- sion — apparently the easiest way to live a life of freedom in the U.S. is to become a “landed immigrant” in Canada. For similar reasons, many non-U.S. nomads are highly educated — not out of studiousness, but to stay in the country of their choice. For many in this category, especial- ly the women, gender issues play a huge role. As one global nomad said, “tradition moves but very slowly.” The Malian explained how she did not even walk like a good Malian girl, but when she was back home she was expected to behave like a good daughter. As the eldest sibling and a female, she was expected to carry on the traditions of her family and keep in touch with her extended family. She felt like an out- sider in her own country, so she chose to move to the U.S. as an adult. She said that she was not willing to step back into the expected role as a torch- bearer for tradition. In Mali, with her upbringing, she was told that she should be an ambassador’s wife. “No, I’d rather be the ambassador,” she replied. The third session I joined was “The Heart of the Matter: Courting Global Nomad Style,” led by Anne-Marie Atkinson, a therapist specializing in relationships and herself a former FS child. The psychological game she used at the beginning of the session to 72 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U N E 2 0 0 4 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT Continued from page 70