You Know You’re an MK When…

by | Aug 11, 2022 | HomePage, humor, mission work, missionary kids, writing | 0 comments

Contributions from Sean Sanborn, Susan McKinney, the Ron Hudson family (It’s been so long I can’t completely remember which Items I wrote back in the 1990’s.)

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.
  • It amazed you that someone would drive to the corner store instead of walk.