A sporting tradition

Some parents make a point of taking their children to their own native country every year so that they can experience what life is like there firsthand, as well as giving them a chance to know family members who live far away. Other families, however, for many reasons, find it hard, if not impossible, to make an annual trip to the homeland. For some, their home is too far away to reach easily, or the trip may be too expensive to be able to bring along the entire family. Some families, once they have left their homeland, discover that going for visits back home is no longer an option due to political or social upheaval.

Parents who find themselves and their children living in another country are faced with the challenge of introducing their children to the culture and traditions of their homeland, which is sometimes a place where their children have actually never resided for any extensive period of time. Some children find their parent’s own homeland to be a place that is foreign to them because they feel more at home in the country where they have been residing. How do parents decide which traditions are important enough to introduce into their lives in their adopted country? For parents who are temporarily living abroad, this may be an easier decision since they may be living outside of their own country for only a year or so.

However, for parents who are residing outside of their homeland for many years and raising a family abroad, this can be more of a challenge. Decisions must be made about how to combine the cultures and traditions of two or more countries, which can be a juggling act at the best of times. What are the major holidays from the homeland that parents want to observe, and which holidays of their adopted, or temporary, country do they want to incorporate into their lives? Are they hoping for ways to fit into the country where they live, as well as feeling a connection to the country they left behind?

This dilemma was how I found myself sitting on the sidelines, the lone American parent among a small group of Turkish parents, all clustered together to watch as our children learned the fundamentals of baseball, a sport that is still relatively unknown in Turkey. To me, baseball is a slice of the home I left behind. Growing up, all the children in our rural neighborhood were always ready for impromptu games. Bases were staked out in backyards and vacant fields. Everyone knew how to play and games often went on into the twilight hours. In school, baseball was an important component of gym classes, and everyone played. Years later, when I lived and worked in the Washington, D.C., area, I played co-ed softball on company teams that held games after work hours. Since moving to Turkey almost 12 years ago, I have missed having the chance to play softball.

A couple years ago, while on a visit to the United States, I bought our son a T-ball set so that I could start teaching him the fundamentals of the game. T-ball is designed for very young players and is a good way for small children to begin to learn the rudiments of the game. We often took the set to the park so that he could practice, which he loved to do. Turkish children would sometimes come and watch us, obviously puzzled by this new game. Occasionally the braver ones would approach and ask if they too could try to hit the ball. We would explain how to hold the bat and hit the ball as they tried their hand at this new game.

At our house, we only manage to celebrate a few American holidays. We try to raise our son with a knowledge and understanding of the major holidays of both the United States and Turkey. Since we do not get to visit my homeland as often as we might like, he has missed out on celebrating holidays such as Halloween and the Fourth of July, America’s Independence Day. Through talking and reading about American holidays, he does have a grasp of what happens and why, but he has not taken part in the holidays first hand.

Sports are an important part of his life, so I feel that by incorporating a typical American game into his routine, we are keeping a part of our American heritage alive in Turkey. Even though he is so far the only American child on his team, he is participating in a game that is an important part of American life. As he plays the game beside Turkish children, he is learning about both cultures, which to me seems to be a good way of blending our two sometimes very different countries. For me, sitting and watching the children play baseball was a way to blend our two countries together.