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InCultureParent’s Essential Chinese New Year Reading List
InCultureParent's essential reading list for the Chinese New Year.
Reflections from a Happy Third Culture Kid 20 Years Later
Meet Stephan, an adult third culture kid who feels at home everywhere in the world and speaks Mandarin, German, English and Spanish Here is what his parents did right.
Do WASP Westerners Deserve Visibility in a Foreign Culture?
All too often what might be misinterpreted as a superiority complex over another culture by someone who fits my description is actually something else worth discussing: a cultural defense mechanism. Do we as English-speaking WASPs have a right to defend our culture, one that is so globally pervasive in both media and entertainment? I am about to argue that we do.
My Chinese Mother-in-Law Comes to Canada
Would she feel irritable about the language barrier, hate the food or complain so relentlessly that I’d fantasize about leaving her stranded on a downtown street corner?
Sleepovers at Nainai’s Make Me Uneasy—Is it Culture or Me?
I am being pressured by my Chinese mother-in-law to take a week away from my daughter
How My Chinese Mother-in-Law Replaced my Husband
When my daughter was born, my mother-in-law left her hometown and moved to Beijing, separated from her husband for the first time in their 35-year marriage. She left behind a prominent career as well as her aged father (my husband’s grandfather) for whom she was the primary caregiver for the past decade. A new generation is that important. Her role is clear. She has to be here.
My Chinese New Year: Welcoming the Year of the Snake
As a first generation American, you always watched other families sitting around a Christmas tree or carving a turkey, consoled by watching reruns of “It’s a Wonderful Life.” But Chinese New Year—that was different. That was my holiday, the one that made waking up early exciting, slowly lulled awake by the smells of burning incense, and the 10 special dishes my mom prepared, dishes with names that alluded to prosperity and luck.
The Story of the Chinese Zodiac
The legend of the creation of the Chinese zodiac. Why the first year is the year of the rat.
Real Intercultural Family in China: Chinese and English
Met Lizi (British) and Da Jun (Chinese) raising a bilingual son in Beijing and soon Britain.
Mother’s Day in Mandarin at the Chinese Speech Tournament
My daughter Hao Hao was once a timid child who cried at every little thing. She even got kicked out of sports camp because she dissolved into a flood of tears every time she got "out" in softball or tag. Once when she was at Leslie Science Center, she cried on a hike through the woods because she was afraid of the spider webs on the trail.
5 Crafts for the Chinese New Year
Some of the best crafts for the Chinese New Year.
A Complicated Journey: Raising a Jewish-Chinese Daughter
Both my husband and myself are used to living our lives as members of minorities...Perhaps it allows us to be fitting parents to our daughter, who, like each of us, was born into a culture (Chinese) quite different than the one in which she resides (American).
How I Got the Canadian Mother’s Day I Wanted in China
Mother’s Day came and went this year without as much as a “Happy Mother’s Day” from my husband. I have to admit that my experience of special occasions in China is quite often disappointing and I wonder if it’s just a Chinese cultural thing. But I am Canadian. I have Canadian needs. Even though I live in a Chinese culture, I can’t erase my culture, nor would I want to. In Canada, Mother’s Day is a time for special treatment. So here's how I fixed it.
How I Reclaimed the House from My Mother-in-Law
Ever since my daughter was born 14 months ago, there’s been a war between cultures in my household. As the Canadian underdog surrounded by Chinese culture, I’m the one who has had to be more flexible, particularly related to the Chinese tradition in which extended family comes to care for both the infant and the new parents. In my culture, the new grandparents might come and stay for a week or two after a baby has been born, but then they leave.
Common Disagreements in Multicultural Families
Raising children in a multicultural setting can be challenging, especially when two cultures say the exact opposite about caring for your child. In my case, American and Chinese cultures disagree on everything from sleep to independence and temperature.
Postpartum in China—Confinement or Luxury?
In Chinese culture, the moon month, also translated as “sitting out the month,” “lying in” or “confinement in childbirth,” is a month-long sojourn in the home for postpartum women. Sounds great, right? Well, part of this tradition requires that women not...
Why I Travel 13 Hours Alone with My Kids Every Chance I Get
Travelling with children, while definitely more of a mission, contradicts the old saying that “life is about the journey, not the destination.”
Is It Ok to Leave a Sleeping Baby Home Alone?
It turns out the answer may be cultural.
Don’t Kill That Spider! Superstitions in a Multicultural Family
Why the number 4 is bad luck, spiders are good and mirrors in the bedroom bad.
My Son’s Father is an Addict. How Do I Embrace His Heritage?
My son's father is an active alcoholic and an addict. In order to protect myself and my son, I have made it clear that he is not allowed to see my son when he is drunk. This boundary means my son sees his father very rarely, and mostly outside our home. I have found that I have transferred my complex emotions about my son's father onto his culture.
Travel to Beijing with 5 Children’s Books
Here are five books to introduce your little one to China whether to prep for an upcoming trip or explore the world from your own home.
Why I Don’t Buy Made in China for My Baby as a Beijing Expat
China is a country full of knock-offs. Everyone here knows that to be true and so my Chinese husband and his parents have been adamant that we need to buy a stroller that wasn’t made in China. After all, they say, “made in China” doesn’t always mean solid. But that proved a little tricky.
Constructing Identity
A funny thing happened one day recently as we were driving to preschool. We were talking about people who have different shades of skin (my effort to instill a we-are-the-world lesson) and Willow declared that she and I have the same skin; that she looks just like me.
Real Intercultural Family in Thailand: Portuguese, Cantonese, Thai and Japanese
This fascinating family incorporates Brazilian, Japanese, Cantonese and Thai cultures into one.
18 Ways to Celebrate the Lunar New Year with Crafts, Food and Children’s Books
Celebrate the Lunar New Year with dragon crowns, Vietnamese spring rolls, lesson plans that don't stereotype and much more!
The Secret to No Diapers at 19 Months
We live in China and have been pushing the EC method or “Elimination Communication” method since she was four months old. This is the fancy term for something that has been practiced in China for centuries. Children here are often fully “squat trained” (rather than “potty,” as those are newer inventions to the culture) by the time they’re 10 months old. In fact, if they can stand and squat, most of the time it means that they can also do their potty business without any fuss. Traditional Chinese methods have their advantages, for sure.
Preparing our Children for Racism, Part 2
After my six-year-old’s first brush with racism, I had to act. So how do we prepare our children for racism? Start early, remember and examine our own experiences, practice coping methods ahead of time, build self-esteem and a strong sense of identity, teach them to tell an adult, and show them how to take action.
Preparing our Children for Racism — Part 1
How do we prepare our children for racism? Here is what I learned from other parents, experts and my own life: Start early, remember and examine our own experiences, practice coping methods ahead of time, build self-esteem and a strong sense of identity, teach them to tell an adult and show them how to take action. Here's what I mean.
How to Raise Strong and Confident Asian Pacific American Daughters
A few years ago, I took a seminar called, "Raising Strong and Confident Daughters." My husband laughed at me. "Could our daughters be any stronger or more confident?"
5 Board Games from Around the World
From chess to mancala, most games are deeply rooted in ancient civilizations, some of them found in excavations of royal tombs. Yet, modern studies endorse and confirm the positive cognitive impact of playing these games even today. It’s amazing that they also give us a sense of the history of a particular culture.
Are Parents Too Overprotective in the West and Too Lax in the East?
Is picking up a stranger's child invasive?
Amazing Portraits of Biracial Kids
Smarter, larger, better, healthier and more beautiful? A project that debunks stereotypes.
A Book that Celebrates Cross-Cultural Friendship
“My Friend Mei Jing” is a celebration of a beautiful cross-cultural friendship. Mei Jing and Monifa are second graders and best friends. They bond...
Huge Giveaway for Eid: Tea Collection, Little Passports, Little Pim, Dolls, Books, Music &...
Win almost $300 in prizes from awesome globally-inspired children's products.
Tanabata Festival
Tanabata is the Japanese star festival. To celebrate, people write their wishes on strips of colored paper called tanzaku.
How This Single Working Mom Raised a Trilingual Kid
Without a lot of resources or time, Maria has succeeded in raising trilingual kids.
A Year of Multicultural Picture Books for the Global Child
If you have not been including diverse books in your reading diet, this is a great beginner’s guide that will last you for the year.
Why Raise Global Citizens? An Interview with Homa Sabet Tavangar, Author of Growing Up...
Why raising global kids is so important and the one quote everyone should keep in mind.
12 Days of Multicultural Musical Activities (Part Two)
Here's part two of our 12 days of multicultural musical activities as a fun way to wrap up 2013, welcome 2104 and prepare for Chinese New Year coming in late January.
Real Intercultural Family in Canada: Mandarin, Latvian and English
They met online on different sides of the world in this modern day romance and she moved from Shanghai to Canada for love.
7 Diverse Children’s Cartoons (where the main character isn’t the standard white one)
Stereotypes run rampant in much of our media consumption and children’s cartoons are no exception. We wanted to find more cartoons that feature kids of different races and ethnicities across cultural backgrounds. Here's our list.
The Coolest Latvian Celebration You Probably Haven’t Heard of
You have a what day? The question I have encountered from locals and expatriates innumerous times throughout a decade while living and working in Shanghai, China and now, in Canada. To a person who has grown up celebrating her Name Day every year, as well as that of my mom, dad, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends and classmates, the puzzling look of people at first made me feel uncomfortable, almost apologetic, as if I’ve made up a story and now can’t proceed convincingly with my own lies. To most people, the idea of celebrating someone’s name appears amusing, if not flat-out weird.
Cross-Cultural Parenting in Japan: Differences in Affection
My husband and I are both foreigners in Japan, and even the cultures we were raised in are so different: American and Chinese. This has given me a chance to see childrearing from so many different perspectives. For as long as I could remember, my parents hardly ever hugged or kissed us, or each other. Nor did we say “I love you” to each other. My parents share the same sentiments as Japanese parents: I don’t need to say “I love you” because I say it with my actions which are weightier than words.
Overheard on the Beijing Subway When People Don’t Think I Speak Mandarin
One unexpected benefit of bilingualism is when I speak English to my daughter in China, people think I don't speak Mandarin and talk very, very freely about all sorts of things about us. Here's what I recently overheard!
Celebrating Holidays as Global Citizens
One of the challenges of living abroad is combining the traditions of your home culture with the traditions of your new country. Have you ever tried to hold a traditional American Thanksgiving in Kerala or a 10-year-old's birthday party in Osaka? Although there are ways to combine traditions, sometimes you just want your own type of celebration, like a Canadian Mother's Day instead of a Chinese one.
Tanabata Festival: July 7
Tanabata is the Japanese star festival. To celebrate, people write their wishes on strips of colored paper called tanzaku.
China Bumps & Triumphs: What Ties This Expat to China
My husband is Chinese and our journey as a couple has been full of bumps and triumphs, hence the blog title, "China Bumps and Triumphs." When we met and fell in love—a process that was frightfully fast but thrilling—my Chinese was very rudimentary and his English was virtually non-existent. Now our daughter is 17 months.
Real Intercultural Family in the U.S.: Mandarin, Spanish and English
They are raising perfectly trilingual kids in Mandarin, Spanish and English. See how they do it.
The Benefits of Ayurvedic Cleansing
We have been at an Ayurvedic ashram in South India for three weeks now. It’s a small, simple, family-run ashram where Dr. Ashvin and Dr. Shubha, a husband and wife team, provide residential and non-residential treatments for both Westerners and Indians. The delicious cuisine is prepared by Amma, Dr. Ashvin’s mother, while his father, Guruji, helps with treatments and oversees the running of the ashram.
Lunar New Year Craft: Balloon Lantern
A very cool Lunar New Year lantern for kids made from a balloon and tissue paper.
Around the World in One Semester
I haven’t been back to India in 17 years when I lived here in my early twenties studying Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan language in Dharamsala, North India. I always thought I would be coming back as I had felt at home in India, more specifically, within the Tibetan culture in India, and loved living abroad. Now that the children are both at suitable ages for longer travel, Scott and I felt it would be a good time for us to return to Asia. Both Scott and I teach yoga. He focuses also on Ayurveda and is licensed in Traditional Chinese Medicine. My work has focused on Buddhist philosophy, practice and translation.
29 Tips for Raising Bilingual Kids
Raising a child with good bilingual ability can be a significant challenge. How do you support the minority language so that it keeps pace with the relentless development of the majority language?
Language Resource Library for Raising Bilingual Kids
A comprehensive list of language learning resources for bilingual children across many languages.
Favorite Multicultural Children’s Books of 2012 – Old and New
Our favorite multicultural children's books that we read in 2012, including stories from South Korea, Morocco and Australia.
Multiculturalism at Work in a Kindergarten Classroom
Here is a small glimpse of multiculturalism at work in my daughter’s kindergarten class in Berkeley, California where I volunteered for a few hours last week.
Real Intercultural Family in the U.S.: Spanish and English
She is American, he is Mexican, and they have four kids from three different countries.
The Moment I First Fell for a Man
I noticed a beautiful, tall, lean Chinese woman on the other side of the lobby She was stunning. It wasn’t until she turned and glanced over at the group of us that I saw his goatee...I distinctly remember wondering if he was gay and liking the thought of that. I felt a connection with him. Maybe we were both two queers floating in a straight sea?
Easy Red Bean Pastry Recipe
This Chinese sweet treat took less than ten minutes of kitchen time!
Why the Diane Tran Happy Ending Bothers Me
The story of Diane Tran, the Texan honors student jailed for missing school when she was working full-time to support two siblings without parents, luckily has a happy ending. But I am bothered by all those of color like her whose stories don't get the same attention.
Mango Pops over Mac and Cheese: Jewish American Expats in Hong Kong
Normal to my expat kids in Hong Kong is pureed fresh mango ice pops, traditional Shabbat dinners and live-in help
Best Asian-American Children’s Books
Here are our top picks for Asian-American children's books.
A Multicultural Feast: 7 Fun Children’s Books on Food
Foods embody cultures. And food-themed books are a great way to sample and savor cultures. Here are seven wonderful picks from around the world that we’ve enjoyed in our family.
Growing Up Baha’i in Rural Maine: A Not-so-Secret Double Life
Blonde, blue-eyed, and with the exceedingly fair skin of her Swiss-German ancestors, my daughter blended well into the sea of faces in her first grade classroom. But the truth was then and is now that she feels more at home with the one Iranian Muslim family in town, which shares with us one of our major holidays—Naw Ruz—as well as the practices of fasting and daily obligatory prayer.
Explaining History and Racism to Grandpa
The importance of understanding history and politics in raising multicultural kids.
Lunar New Year: January 23, 2012
The Lunar New Year is the most celebrated holiday of the year across many Asian countries.
We speak Mandarin to our daughter but should I switch to Italian?
We speak Mandarin at home in the U.S. but I am of Italian origin and would like my daughter to speak some Italian. Should I change languages, even though I like speaking Mandarin and it feels awkward to speak Italian to her?
Anniversary Giveaway: Little Pim Language DVD
Win a children’s language DVD in any language--your pick!—from Little Pim.
We Are Not So Different: Why China’s Recent Hit and Run Tragedy Shouldn’t Shock...
A few days ago, a toddler was struck by two vehicles on a road in China and eventually died because no one stopped to help. My initial reaction? Total shock followed by immediate outrage coupled with an attitude of “this would never happen where I come from.” I was really surprised to find that I had experienced a full 180-degree shift.
Win the Book My China Travel Journal
Win the book, My China Travel Journal, by Laura Barta.
Our Trilingual Family Origins
A while back someone asked me where I am from. I explained that I am half French and half American to which they responded, “Oh, so you’re Canadian!” If only it were so easy.
Why Doesn’t China Let Baba Go Home?
My six-year-old, Luca, is at the age where he is starting to understand complicated concepts in the world around him. But it is difficult for a six-year-old to understand that his father cannot travel home to China because the government does not allow him to enter the country.
International Baby Naming Laws–Are They a Good Thing?
The degree of freedom we enjoy here in the States with regards to baby names is not shared internationally. Naming laws abound worldwide: France, Poland and New Zealand are just a few countries that have laws on the books.
Giving Birth Naturally in Hong Kong, the Land of the Lucky
In a country where women routinely consult the Chinese zodiac to determine the most auspicious date for the caesarean delivery of their babies, I was preparing for a natural childbirth in a private English hospital on the top of Hong Kong’s highest mountain in the days just after the British handover of the colony to China.
Real Intercultural Family in the U.S.: Mandarin, Spanish and English
This multicultural family met in China and are raising perfectly trilingual kids in Chinese, English and Spanish in California.
A Different World: No Longer Brown in White America
Growing up brown in White America and wanting something different for your kids.
Speaking in Tongues Film
Why is bilingualism important to you? Answer this question to win the DVD of the film, Speaking in Tongues.
Happy O-Higan!
One of my favorite holidays in Japan and Buddhism occurs not once, but twice a year around the spring and fall equinox: O-higan. The holiday literally translates as "the other shore."
The Economics of Bilingualism
Not everyone has the same reasons for raising bilingual children. For some, it is necessity, for others a desire.
Maybe Amy Chua is Not so Bad
Having thought further about what intentional parenting entails, I sought counsel from my mother, Nina, about her parenting practices. She summed them up, patly, as "values based parenting."
So what’s the big deal about sleepovers, anyhow?
On my 16th birthday, a blond classmate was shocked to discover that I would not also, automatically, be allowed to date. “But it’s a Constitutional right that you are allowed to date when you turn 16.â€
Japanese New Year: January 1st through January 3rd
The Japanese New Year, shogatsu, spans several days from December 31st to January 3rd. It is the most important holiday of the year in Japan.
On Choosing, Not Receiving, Religious and Cultural Affiliations
Now I find myself again in a period of conflict, this time with my own parents, a situation that quickly grew from a cinder into a raging fire consuming the entire acreage of our history together.
Introduction to Adventures in Multicultural Living: The Project Explained
It all started when my husband first asked me to marry him.
I said, "Under one condition, that we never live in the Midwest."
I said, "Under one condition, that we never live in the Midwest."
A Religion of Spring
The Baha'i faith was born in the spring, in 1863, in a garden in Baghdad. During Ridvan, the festival that commemorates that beginning, Baha'is around the world celebrate the declaration of Baha'u'llah, whose claim to be the Promised One foretold by all the religions of the past was astonishing to some, incredible to others and to a few, the answer to long search and much prayer.
I Have a Family That Turns Heads
I have one of those families that turn heads. I usually don’t notice. I am too busy shooshing everyone because we are also very loud. But every now and then I notice people have no clue what to make of us and look at us quite perplexed. I am the mother of 6 kids. We are a family of 8.
A World Apart from my Mother-in-Law
It wasn't until we adopted our daughter Willow that the full scale of the communication gulf between my husband's parents and me became plain.
