World at our doorstep

Maybe it was the 12 kiddos standing on the makeshift platform Sunday morning at the Early Childhood Education (E.C.E.) Sports Day. Twelve kiddos representing 10 countries (US, PRC, Germany, Denmark, Italy, So Korea, UK, Australia, Canada and Singapore). Maybe it was sitting under the flags of nearly every nation Sunday night, as we saw the weekend out at the Olympic Marina, ice cream in hand, as has become our weekend tradition. The world, it seems, is at our doorstep. The world in the swirl of languages we hear around us. The world just overhead in the unfurled flags.

"Which is that flag?" one blonde Johnson would query, to be answered by another. Sticky fingers pointed toward their favorite pattern, or the most unique. Our five-year-old can readily identify the Korean flag and the American one. The flags of China and Canada too. When we came to one that stumped all five of us, we committed to google it. The world is a click away.

Are we going to watch soccerfootball? Bei Bei asked later that night.

Soccerfootball.

The combined nomenclature she is familiar with. Americans (and Canadians?) call it soccer, South Americans and Europeans dub it football. (In Chinese the literal translation is "foot ball" as well). So in her mind soccerfootball makes perfect sense.

We watched as the tall and ruggedly athletic soccerfootballers from all corners of the globe stood at attention on the turf. We listened to the tunes of anthems we don’t know the words to. We watched as they sang along. The world neatly defined in matching uniforms and 90 minute matches. The world on a screen in your living room.

The world on your computer, your TV, your smart phone and mobile device.

The world on your doorstep.

Half a globe away, the world on mine.