The Foreign Service Journal, December 2004

f my international life as a Foreign Service teenager had a theme song, it would be a tossup between U2’s “Where the streets have no name” and “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” I attended Copenhagen International School, which I’ve likened to a brotherhood, a place where everyone became your “family.” Last summer, I was in Copenhagen once again, sitting at the vegetarian Mediterranean buffet with my high school friends. As I tried despondently to pre- tend that my falafel was a frikedelle, my friend asked me, “So, in 15 years, what have we accomplished?” That prompted me to ask another question, as I looked at my friends and tallied up our different jobs and destinies: did high school make us who we are? So I decided to ask around. I visited my old high school and talked with my teachers. I discussed this question with my old schoolmates. And when I returned to the States, I continued the discussion with my new friends, including those in the Global Nomad communi- ty. (Global Nomads is a term and an organization for peo- ple who have lived in more than one country as a child as a result of their parents’ professions. See “A Village to Call Home — Global Nomads International,” FSJ , June 2004, p. 69.) I sent out an e-mail questionnaire, and received responses from the adult children of Foreign Service, mil- itary, U.N., corporate and educator parents. The respon- dents were of many nationalities, but most had lived in at least four countries. These people have been around — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, Central Republic of Congo, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, Ethiopia, Finland, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Venezuela, Uganda, UAE, the U.S. and Yemen. Yet their experiences have much in common. CIS: A Trip Down Memory Lane Copenhagen is infamous for its rain, and on an August day in 2004 the rain clouds huddled and banked on the other side of the train track as I got out in Hellerup (con- sidered a yuppie area just north of Copenhagen, like McLean, Va.). I walked to the school, which now occupies Hellerupvej 22-26. How times have changed. I spent 9th grade in Fairfax, Va., but that year pales in comparison with the following three years at Copenhagen International School in Denmark. My school in Virginia was a sprawling building full of thousands of students, where I had to watch out for the hallways that were “bad neighborhoods.” The next year, 1986, I moved to Denmark and, after a short interview with the principal, Mr. Keson, was admitted to CIS. The school was a yellow building located on Gammel Kongevej (Old King’s Way), on the edge of the red light district. Our neighbors were a bodega, a strip club and a kiosk. Across the street was one of the lakes that made up the moat fortifications of old Copenhagen. The school was near the main train station. Back then we didn’t have a gym, just the dirt courtyard in front of the building. Only later did the school acquire a gym and a fence. And, still later, a new location. Our school had 100 students spread out over grades 10 through 13. One could take the American high school diplo- ma or participate in the International Baccalaureate pro- gram, which required an extra year of study. I made lifelong friends there while also participating in a drama trip to Brussels, a basketball trip to Berlin, a “Model United Nations” trip to the Hague, a ski trip to France and a cultural S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT Mikkela Thompson is the Journal ’s Business Manager. S TILL H AVEN ’ T F OUND W HAT W E A RE L OOKING F OR … D OES AN INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE MAKE YOU WHO YOU ARE ? T HE AUTHOR SURVEYS ADULTS WHO HAVE “ BEEN THERE , DONE THAT ” TO FIND SOME ANSWERS . B Y M IKKELA T HOMPSON Continued on page 74 I D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 4 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 71