Download the Oct/Nov issue of Urban Family here, or view it in your browser with Issue here (VPN needed). To see our previous issues, click here.
For our Oct/Nov issue, we put together what we believe are extremely relevant stories for our Urban Family community, and we are also excited to launch our new look. When developing this latest edition we decided to undertake a redesign of the magazine, presenting the information to you in a clearer way, and we hope you like it as much as we do!
For most expat families in Shanghai, the term Third Culture Kid (TCK) is not new. The ‘third culture’ refers to the combination of the culture where a TCK’s parents originated, and the culture where the family currently reside. In fact, all expatriate children, either born or growing up here, will be TCKs. Different cultural influences and multiple languages can sometimes make the life of TCKs more complicated, but also richer than the usual with many amazing opportunities.
In this issue’s cover story (p18), we tackle the challenges that TCKs and their families face, and learn about their ups and downs along the way. Mom blogger Shirani Alfreds talks to her family friends and tells us what it’s like raising Third Culture Kids in Shanghai. We also hear from family acculturation expert Amanda Abel on the status quo of TCKs, and talk to a few ‘Adult TCKs’ to seek their personal points of view. To finish, we round up a number of famous TCKs to give you a snippet on the fun side of the cover story.
Meanwhile on the education front, we can’t help but notice a certain sector that is drawing more and more attention from society and parents - Early Childhood Education (ECE). In the Learning section (p28), we invite five ECE professionals to provide insights into the changes that have taken place in the last decade, such as the increasing number of male educators, higher day-care and pre-school fees and the younger electronic-user groups. Hopefully this will provide you with some useful information as a parent to better ride the wind of change in ECE.
You might wonder what we have in store for the Food & Fun section (p38). You are in luck if you’re a Dim Sum fan and wish your kids to also appreciate this style and taste of cuisine. We have done our homework, and presented you with a list of family friendly authentic Cantonese restaurants and must try dishes!
Turning the page to the Entertainment section (p44), we review Ghibli’s latest animation The Red Turtle (p46), an exquisite, wordless wonder that reminds us superb animation does not always need CGI technology, nor a star-studded cast in order to be a success. We also have two fascinating children’s books to recommend in our On the Page column (p47).
Finally, on a timely festive note, Leonard Stanley reveals his secrets of how to properly celebrate Halloween, Shanghai style.
All this, for your autumn season’s Urban Family.
Till next time.
Frances Chen
Editor-in-Chief
