I Guess I’m Stuck With You: Growing Up with TCK Siblings
No one, not even other third culture kids, can understand exactly what your life has been like growing up around the world – except for the people who shared the same childhood.
All posts tagged: Germany
Research update: female minority expatriates
When Kendra Mirasol and Charisse Kosova of IOR Global Services noticed more minority women going abroad, they wondered if minority status made expat assignment easier. Since good expat research is hard to come by, they decided to conduct their own investigation. The focus: female minority women going abroad for business. A study can’t get much more specific than that, which meant preliminary research included only 25 respondents, 13 of whom went through extensive interviews. When they presented their findings at the Families in Global Transition conference in March, the numerical data was unsurprising: “Is the overseas assignment a developmental part of your career plan?” 83 percent said yes. “Did any of the company’s preparation focus on female minority issues?” 89 percent said no. Instead, the most interesting results from their research came from the anecdotes collected through extended interviews. Here are some quotes from female minority expats that Kendra and Charisse presented: “People assumed I was Filipino and had married my husband because I was his maid. It fit their sense of order.” “Initially [the …
Faces at FIGT – Deniz: “Make TCKs known to French people too”
Deniz Gyger Gaspoz, 33, is a PhD researcher at the Institute of Psychology and Education at University of Neuchatel. She’s picked a pretty specific course of study: French-speaking, teen Third Culture Kids. During a brief chat at the Families in Global Transition (FIGT) conference, I picked her brain on what she had discovered so far. Deniz, a daughter of Swiss diplomats, speaks French fluently and has lived in Iran, France, Germany, Switzerland, Senegal and India. What do you say when someone asks you, “Where are you from?” If I’m here in Houston, I can say without a problem “Switzerland.” I’ve lived there for more than 8 years. But if Swiss people ask me where I am from, I will have difficulties to answer. I’ll say “Geneva” because I lived there and my family is there. Then sometimes I say Neuchatel [Switzerland] because I study in Neuchatel and I used to live there. And sometimes I say Biel [Switzerland] because I’m living there with my husband. Why does your research focus on French-speaking teenagers? I found …
Faces at FIGT – Adam: “TCKs can change the world”
This week I’m attending the Families in Global Transitions (FIGT) Conference, which is a wonderful resource for anyone trying to learn more about Third Culture Kids. At this morning’s workshop I met Adam Browning, 21, and pulled him aside for a quick TCK chat. This self-proclaimed “airforce kid” recently discovered the language of Third Culture Kids and has fully embraced it as a way to change the world. Currently in college, Browning has lived in Germany, Thailand and five different U.S. states. He sees TCKs as model citizens of the future. What do you say when someone asks you, “Where are you from?” I say, “Funny question.” At this point my family lives in Portugal, I’m going to Abilene [Christian University in Texas], and I moved from San Antonio to go to school. How did you discover the term “TCK”? I learned the lingo my sophomore year in college… Dr. Carley Dodd, a professor of mine, was instrumental in this epiphany for me. Up until that point I was under the impression that I was …
Zwischenmiete
In my fourth sublet in Berlin in the past eight months, I am growing accustomed to another person’s things around me, to her life quietly insinuating itself into my own.
Getting hitched, TCK-style
From friends to food, weddings are a life event where TCKs can attempt to bring together all aspects of our global lives.
Part 1: TCK goes to college
I was 17 when I started college in Florida; just months away from being able to legally enter, but not drink at, a club or a bar. Because I had been living in Shanghai the last four years, I didn’t have a driver’s license – only a passport, and my American diplomat card. I got away with acting like a dumb freshman girl who “forgot” my ID a few times, but when my friends and I attempted to go out dancing one night, my ego was completely shot. “Where’s your ID,” the bouncer demanded. “Well, I have this,” I took out my diplomat ID. “My birthday’s right here.” He looked at it puzzled, squinting at the Chinese characters. “What is this? Don’t you have a driver’s license?” Um, no sir, that requires the ability to drive. “My birthday’s right there,” I pointed, hoping maybe he’d just let me in. “No, I can’t take this, I can’t even read this.” He threw it back and me and took the next person in line. I was furious. …
You’re so isolated! Expat communities explained.
How is it possible to live abroad, without ever really living abroad at all? Most TCKs have spent some portion of their life in an expat community. These havens from culture shock are a staple in any modern metropolis, isolating wealthy expats from their host cities by allowing them to transplant their home culture abroad. This article will focus on American expat communities. Sarah Whitten, 21, grew up in the expatriate community in Tokyo, Japan. Attending the American school there, she watched expats hang out at the American embassy, eat American food at the bases, enjoy American music and TV, and spend most of their weekends at the Tokyo American Club. “There are also homats… nice apartments that are geared toward expats only – probably no Japanese families live there,” she said. “Unless the expat family members take interest in the culture and immerse themselves in it, they can completely isolate themselves from it because they have everything they need accessible to live a totally American life.” Andrew McWilliam, 20, an expatriate who went to …
Denizen 