Jungle Child

It was my normal: running through the bush, playing in the midst of the trees and dirtying myself in the mud. One could easily get lost in the jungle foliage but I had learned at a young age how to stay close enough to home. There was an excitement to being in the wilderness of Thailand. The bright colors were beautiful to behold and danger lurked in the shadows; poisonous snakes and other untamed wildlife. I had learned at a young age on how to be weary of where I stepped.

There is a sense of freedom and awe in being surrounded by nature. My siblings and I would allow our imaginations to run wild as we ran through the jungle! We could be anything we wanted to be: warriors of the wild, treasure hunters or powerful magicians. The unknown wilderness fed our imaginative minds.

Some would say that we were lucky to live in such a place. Others would say that we were crazy. To us, it was our home. Our place of familiarity. We knew we were different; we certainly weren't Asian. But growing up in a different culture wasn't foreign to us.

I was only a few months old when my parents traveled to Thailand as missionaries. All three of my other siblings were born in Thai hospitals. We learned the language. We ate the exotic food. We laughed and played with the Thai children. We loved our home!

Though our home was filled with adventure, it could sometimes be hard to navigate. There were definitely challenges that came with growing up in Southeast Asia. As children, we picked up the language pretty quickly but it was still secondary to English (with the exception of my one brother who was adopted from Thailand). The food in Thailand was delicious; so many wonderful flavors! Yet, in the tribe where we lived, they ate whatever was edible and it was often not very appetizing: snakes, bugs and even algae. I often wasn't brave enough to eat everything that was laid out before me. Playing with the Thai children was lots of fun but we still felt like we never fully fit in because of our skin color and different views of the world.

A very special aspect of being overseas was the bond that our family had with one another. Instead of going to boarding school, I and all three of my siblings (including my adopted brother) were homeschooled. My mother, in my humble opinion, was a fantastic teacher! She made learning so much fun! My dad also taught us a couple of classes while holding the role of principal. Learning about the world was exciting; it was so much bigger than the reality that we knew as missionary kids. Learning and playing together drew my siblings and I close together. Though we were different from the children around us, we always had each other. We were each others' best friends!

When I look back on my childhood, I know only gratefulness. I am so thankful for the experiences that I had growing up overseas! It wasn't always easy to be different; we would stand out in a crowd and get unwanted attention at times. Yet, when the day came for us to leave Thailand, it was extremely hard. We returned to North America feeling like foreigners. The culture shock was a big adjustment. Even though we looked like everyone around us, we felt different. It took time for us to feel like Canada was home.

Something my parents always told us was that home on earth was where we were together as a family. We definitely took that knowledge to heart as we learned to adapt to a whole new country. No matter what we faced, we always had each other.

As I reflect over the years in Thailand, I treasure all the memories that were made. Growing up as a "jungle child" was a gift for which I will be forever thankful. Thailand will always have a special place in my heart!