Third Culture Bridges

In a previous post I mentioned a Chinese friend who lives in western China, and who is one of my Chinese/English language study partners.  Tonight she told me about Eileen Gu (谷爱凌), a world champion Olympic skier.  She was born and raised in the USA, yet chose to compete for China at the Winter Olympics instead of competing for the United States.  Evidently she has become a huge case of heartburn for many people who cling to petty nationalism.  But I regard her as a source of great inspiration (even though I would never get on a ski slope!).  I admire her for being a cultural bridge and for being a sign to many of us in the U.S. that we need to learn to look beyond our own self-imposed, Fox News/evangelical/rabid patriot-enforced bubble.

She reminds me of the term "Third Culture Kid" (see this also) and the potential which people defined thus have to play increasingly pivotal roles in the world in the days ahead.  One such role is as cultural bridges.