Plus Ca Change, C'est la Meme Chose!

Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr's epigram "Plus ca change, c'est la meme chose" is literally translated "The more it changes, the more it's the same thing". It crossed my mind this morning as I drove across downtown Puebla, Mexico in morning traffic. I stopped at a light and then found the narrow street blocked with high school students milling in the general direction of their school. They looked smart in their uniforms. You could tell there were plenty of insults and wisecracks flying through the air judging by the looks and gestures. Cellphones and iPods also proved that these young people could have been students anywhere. Didn't matter that it was June 22, 2009. Or that I was in Mexico. It made me realize how connected we are by so many of the same basic things we all deem essential.

What's all of this got to do with private schools? Well, occasionally some of us get the chance to be posted overseas. I've been an expatriate or expats as we are usually styled. It's an exciting, life-changing experience. What about your school-aged children? Don't worry. There are plenty of international schools in most major cities abroad. Your children will fit right in and be up to speed when you return home at the end of your posting. If the opportunity beckons, go for it. It will make you appreciate, as I appreciated once again this morning, that we are citizens of a global village with far more in common than you might think.