The Foreign Service Journal, June 2004

92 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 F R O M T H E J U N E 2 0 0 3 S C H O O L S U P P L E M E N T Mikkela Thompson, “Christmas in July: Holidays as a Foreign Service Child” “F or a Foreign Service child, the old adage ‘the only constant is change’ truly applies. One bastion of stability in an FS child’s life, and sometimes the only one, is his or her family and their traditions. Foreign Service families celebrate a plethora of holidays — American and foreign — and many assimilate traditions as they move around the world. But despite this, it is the celebration itself, a time spent with one’s family, home from school, that can provide an emotional oasis in a childhood lived overseas. “For FS children, holidays and celebrations are not particularly wedded to specific dates and seasons. And even the idea of what constitutes a holiday is flexible. The Fourth of July and Thanksgiving are the two most traditionally ‘American’ holidays, but FS kids are perhaps more lenient in their expectations of these occasions, given that opportunities to celebrate them in a foreign country are necessarily limited. So for FS children, such holidays are mainly occasions involving informal gatherings with their families for big meals. Indeed, for some, what makes such holidays distinctly ‘American’ are the customs and recipes that are passed down from one generation to another. “A child raised in the Foreign Service can retain a sense of tradition while also appreciating new and diverse cultures, including their holidays. But while most FS children would agree that they enjoy holidays, it is the people with whom they spend these holidays that make all the difference. Schools come and go, but one’s family and friends are the true sources of stability. Family and celebrations, whether wearing candles on your head or eating marillen knoedel, can provide the rarest of gifts in a nomadic childhood — a tradition of continuity.”