A third culture life - the lovely Simon Kidd shares his story of languages, music and whimsy.

Thanks so much for joining us on the playground today, and thank you to Simon for sharing your journey with us.

Some take aways:

Simon is a third culture kid – he was born in Vancouver, then moved to Geneva and then afterwards moved to the Philippines. He and his brothers (they are triplets) lived there for 11 years where they were homeschooled for most of it.

Mom had years of teaching experience and with triplets, homeschooling was an excellent option. His Dad who speaks many languages worked with the UN and then in the banking industry.

Simon speaks English, French, German. During our chat I learned in the Philippines they not only speak Tagalog, all of the islands which make up the Philippines have their own linguistic groups.

When Simon and his family were deciding where to live in Canada, they chose Montreal after learning about Nova Scotia’s Come from Away attitude. 

His parents are both musicians, Dad pivoted from viola to law school, mom is an accomplished flute player.

After finishing his secondary education, Simon very nearly went to Concordia for journalism, but a chance encounter with a journalist convinced him that was not his path.

At university he studied political science and possibly intended to perhaps become a lawyer. But he took some German classes – loved German and was even contemplating a career as an opera singer. Afterward he moved to Berlin and taught English and music for a year.

Due to university logistics, he changed the focus of his master’s thesis which he is currently working on right now.

He still really enjoys singing, playing tennis, meeting people, talking to people on the phone, leaving voice messages, crocheting (he needs to teach me!)

His motto - Always be a kid – let yourself be a kid again. Find joy and play. This made me think of a really cool museum I visited – the Marietta Museum of Art & Whimsy in Sarasota, Florida.

Thank you so much Simon – I am excited to see what happens next in your journey!

A shout out to the good folks at the Shepherds of Good Hope, and their team for the outstanding work they do.

Remember to please subscribe to the podcast – a new episode comes out every two weeks. Get ready for another fabulous mystery guest swinging by the playground in two weeks.

Until then, please be good to yourself, to others, to animals and the environment. See you next time when we will jump into the future together.

Links:

Shepherds of Good Hope | Homes for all. Community for all. Hope for all.

Fascinating Yet Complicated: The Identity Of A Third Culture Kid. | by Fatimah Alayafi | Be Unique | Medium

Time for Atlantic Canadians to shed ‘come from away’ label for outsiders, Scott Brison says

Philippines Factsheet - The World Factbook

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