I'm sure some of you may be familiar with the term "Third Culture Kid" or TCK. That is just what I am and I know a lot of my friends both here and abroad can identify with me. For those of you who don't know what I am talking about let me just post something I found online that describes exactly what it means to be a TCK.
"A third culture kid is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside their parents' culture. The third culture kid builds relationships to all the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the third culture kid's life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of the same background, other TCKs."
You know you're a TCK when:
- "Where are you from?" has more than one reasonable answer.
- You flew before you could walk.
- You speak two languages (or more), but can’t spell in either.
- You feel odd being in the ethnic majority.
- You go into culture shock upon returning to your "home" country.
- Your life story uses the phrase "Then we moved to..." three (or four, or five...) times.
- The best word for something is the word you learned first, regardless of the language.
- You own personal appliances with 3 types of plugs.
- When asked a question in a certain language, you've absentmindedly respond in a different one.
- You have the urge to move to a new country every couple of years.
- You have friends from 29 different countries.
- You sort your friends by continent.
- You have a time zone map next to your telephone.
- You realize what a small world it is, after all.
