No matter where you come from and no matter where you go to, it seems children find it easy and natural to interact.
New York is not only home to the UN headquarters but also to the international school affiliated with the global facilitating body.
It might seem unworkable: more than 1,500 children hailing from more than 120 countries communicating through 35 languages in the UN
International School (UNIS) year in and year out.
But these children just cope with it all with ease and peace. Jewish boy Matthew Liheman is already helping his Georgian and Japanese
classmates with their English in the school.
"The hardest time for me was when I first arrived," recalled Matthew, who has spent five years now in UNIS. "It becomes easier and easier as the years pass by and now I can even help my classmates communicate through English."
Stuart Walker, the new UNIS executive director, describes his school as one which embodies internationalism in every aspect through the study and life of every student.
Eight-year-old Sara Michelle, for one, has already learned from UNIS to take into consideration and show respect to different cultures and traditions of students from countries different from her own.
Brussels hosts the headquarters of the European Union, where diplomats swarm and their offspring follow.
International schools are not rare in Brussels, where 23 languages serve as official tongues of the EU, not to mention Flemish, French and German as the official languages of Belgium, of which Brussels is also the capital.
The staff of international schools in Brussels and in Belgium attach importance to language skills in their students and do everything in their power to facilitate communication among their charges.
In one international school catering to the need of German nationals and German-speaking families, the teaching staff goes out of its way to arrange special tutors to assist those who lag behind their age peers in either German, French or English communication until they are able to follow the progress of their classes.
Beijing is the capital city of China, which many now view as one of the world's economic leaders for the 21st century.
Business people as well as diplomats gather and they find local international schools more than just helpful with the education of their
children.
The ability to speak fluent Chinese and even Chinese dialects certainly adds an edge to their children, who have the opportunity to grow into the next generation of China-specialized business people and diplomats. The Fangcaodi International School enrolls mostly children from the Beijing-based diplomatic corps. Each and every one of the students enrolled in Fangcaodi can find on a wall in the school a miniature of the national flag of his or her country.
National flags are flown whenever school days coincide with the national days of that country.
Nine-year-old Tang Tielong has already spent eight years in China, long enough to feel natural with his Chinese name and he can now talk in the
Henan dialect popular in central China. He actually speaks better Chinese than his native French.
To Tommy, both Beijing and Britain's Liverpool are his homes. But he has spent more time in Beijing and less time in Liverpool and he cannot tell which city is a better home.
Though kids intermingle and interact during classes, they stick to their respective gourmet prejudice at meal times.
Huang Shengchun (also a Chinese name) from Britain likes stir-fried chicken dices; Tang Tielong from France picks hot and spicy whatever; Lu Fate from Azerbaijan chooses BBQed mutton and chicken skewers; Matsubara Takahashi from Japan falls for wonton, and Lisa from Russia orders steamed Chinese rice.
Cui Minghua, acting principal of the Fangcaodi International School, said his school stressed exchanges of different cultures and traditions but aimed at forging a common and shared studying platform and environment, with
different cultures, traditions and languages from different countries in the world as the basis.