contributions from Sean Sanborn, Susan McKinney, the Ron Hudson family (It’s been so long I can’t completely remember which Items I wrote.)

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General

• You know that you are an MK when, of all the places we could be surfing on the net, we are over here reminiscing on the good ol’ days.
• Visiting everywhere you miss, would take a very long time.
• When you can’t tell someone where you’re from.
• You’ve received dried fruit by the boxful, used teabags, and age inappropriate gifts from well-meaning folks “back home”.
• You fall asleep best with rain on a corrugated tin roof.

Development

• On your 18th birthday, you still don’t have a driver’s license, but your passport is current.
• You don’t know how to count American money.
• Adults want to pay you to teach them English.
• All your clothes have been worn by someone else.

Language

• You speak two languages but can’t spell in either.
• You send out birthday invitations and holiday cards in a foreign language.
• You sing songs to yourself in a language other than English.
• You carry Bibles in two languages to church.
• You watch an English language movie and read the foreign language subtitles.
• You dream in a foreign language.
• You carry a dictionary everywhere you go.
• Your dad scolds you in a foreign language.
• You write in your diary in a foreign language.
• You are used to people asking if you speak Asian or African.
• One of your most embarrassing moments involves mispronouncing a foreign word.

Travel

• Packing comes second nature to you – you consider it an art form.
• You flew before you could walk.
• You could travel the world and never have to stay in a hotel.
• Your first form of id was your passport and a residence visa.

Food

• You know the owner of the local Asian market by name.
• You know raw fish tastes better than cooked.
• When eating spaghetti with chopsticks is easier than using a fork and spoon.
• All food tastes better with your fingers.
• You have gradually developed a taste to a local food substance that would never be approved by the FDA.

 3D

• You know how many zones you are from Greenwich Mean Time.
• You know when the World Cup is but aren’t too sure about the Super Bowl.
• You mail Christmas gifts in October.
• Nature programs make you homesick.
• You watch the Super Bowl live on Monday morning.
• Watching the news makes you homesick.
• You can tell the difference between a Cessna 185 and 206.

Adjustment/Furlough

• Your favorite game is Trivial Pursuit because you can get the Geography questions and you’ve memorized the cards in order to ‘fit in’.
• On deputation you have memorized your dad’s message.
• After the church service, you look for a slide projector to put away.
• Wearing shoes in the house sounds disgusting.
• ‘Little House on the Prairie’ reruns are the new fall line-up for you.
• You go on furlough and your mom buys everything in the store then explains to the cashier why this is necessary.
• You would rather sleep on the floor than on a bed.
• You find a seven year old picture of yourself on a stranger’s refrigerator.
• You like to watch television commercials.
• Driving on the right side of the road gives you the ‘willies.’
• You miss being constantly stared at and waited upon with continual diligence in restaurants and shops.
• You are amazed that someone would drive to the corner store.