NYC as the ultimate TCK city
Finding home for a TCK can be a lifelong journey. I know that other global cities that could arguably be coined “the best TCK city,” but for me, it’s New York…
All posts tagged: Japan
Not “coming home” alone
I had only known Caleb for three months before he died. We were just getting past the stereotypes. Him: a tall, blonde, cheery kid from Hong Kong. Me: a not-tall, Asian, cheery kid from Singapore. We were both Third Culture Kids, working as dorm resident assistants, attending university far from home. At Caleb’s memorial, his dad read his suicide note. “I’m sorry,” Caleb wrote. “I’ve been living a lie.” I collapsed into tears. Until that moment, I refused to believe that it was suicide. We were so alike! We were international, Third Culture. We joked about how we hated answering “Where are you from?” and the stereotypes put upon us. We were smart, worldly, well-traveled. Why suicide? That was 2005. Today I’m still seeking answers to questions that I am afraid to ask. I still don’t know why Caleb decided to leave. But I am sure of one thing. Third Culture Kids need a lot of support when they leave their expatriate communities. Going away to college is the first time many TCKs emerge from …
Expatriate Patriotism
So Chinese-born superstar Gong Li recently became a Singaporean citizen—and people in China are completely freaking out. Even though her husband is Singaporean, and she’s lived abroad for years, her decision has sparked an onslaught of heated protest on popular online portals like sohu.com and sina.com. “Traitors like this don’t even love their own country,” one Netizen wrote, translated by The Times. “These people were only fake countrymen of ours. Let them slink off to other countries and die!” “All traitors will be nailed to history’s mast of shame,” wrote another. “We should resolutely reject any further contact with such people.” Um, seriously? Geez. Calm down, people. That’s psycho ex-boyfriend talk. Maybe it’s just me. I don’t think Third Culture Kids (TCKs) ever really “get” the whole patriotism thing. Even my British National Overseas (BNO) passport triggers confused questions that I don’t quite know how to answer: “Oh, you’re British?” “No, it’s a Hong Kong passport that just looks like a British passport. You know, it was a British colony…” “Weren’t you born in England, …
The white lies TCKs tell
Goddamn my American accent. “You’re from Singapore?” the girl sneered in her all-too-real Singaporean accent. “Born and bred?” I know I’m not the only one who does a “little dance of white lies” when asked where I’m from.
Denizen 