I recently read an article/post by a mother who was comforting a friend of hers. You can read it here: http://www.popsugar.com/moms/Motherhood-Strongest-Bond-36728831
In the post, the author talked about how mothers have a mutual connection because of motherhood. No matter what struggles they go through, they can understand each other by this simple fact: "You know, you're a mom." I'm not a mother, but I understand what the author meant. There are other roles which we take up which allow us to say, "You know, you're a [insert]." College student. Christian. Daughter. Son. The list goes on. There is one role, though, which came to mind very quickly when reading that post.
Third culture kid.
Third culture kids, or TCKs, know another TCK when they see one. I know because I am one. Somehow, we manage to find each other and connect. We see the tendency to quickly adjust to our environment. We see the moves we make to keep peace among our peers. We understand the vast difference between, "Let's go home," and, "I miss home." We know what it's like to say something and realize at the last minute that it wasn't English. We know just how hard, "Goodbye," is.
People like to hear our stories, but not as much as we like to hear each others' stories. It's comparable to Christmas, a time to exchange gifts. If we are only getting gifts, we feel guilty for having forgotten to get others gifts. Or, if we got everyone gifts and no one got us any, we feel left out. Exchanging stories is not that different from exchanging gifts. Those who listen to our stories want to have something to offer back. When they have something to offer back, we enjoy our own storytelling all the more.
When tough times come, we don't have to offer each other any profound words. It suffices to say, "I know, I'm a TCK."
When a TCK freshman comes in, going through reverse culture shock, we can say, "I know, I'm a TCK."
When a fellow TCK goes through grief, we can say, "I know, I'm a TCK."
When they can't make it to a gathering of any kind because of a Skype call, we give them grace and say, "I know, I'm a TCK."
We have been blessed with the fact that there are enough of us that we don't have to be alone. We can encourage each other just by being who we are. We are TCKs. We know.
In the post, the author talked about how mothers have a mutual connection because of motherhood. No matter what struggles they go through, they can understand each other by this simple fact: "You know, you're a mom." I'm not a mother, but I understand what the author meant. There are other roles which we take up which allow us to say, "You know, you're a [insert]." College student. Christian. Daughter. Son. The list goes on. There is one role, though, which came to mind very quickly when reading that post.
Third culture kid.
Third culture kids, or TCKs, know another TCK when they see one. I know because I am one. Somehow, we manage to find each other and connect. We see the tendency to quickly adjust to our environment. We see the moves we make to keep peace among our peers. We understand the vast difference between, "Let's go home," and, "I miss home." We know what it's like to say something and realize at the last minute that it wasn't English. We know just how hard, "Goodbye," is.
People like to hear our stories, but not as much as we like to hear each others' stories. It's comparable to Christmas, a time to exchange gifts. If we are only getting gifts, we feel guilty for having forgotten to get others gifts. Or, if we got everyone gifts and no one got us any, we feel left out. Exchanging stories is not that different from exchanging gifts. Those who listen to our stories want to have something to offer back. When they have something to offer back, we enjoy our own storytelling all the more.
When tough times come, we don't have to offer each other any profound words. It suffices to say, "I know, I'm a TCK."
When a TCK freshman comes in, going through reverse culture shock, we can say, "I know, I'm a TCK."
When a fellow TCK goes through grief, we can say, "I know, I'm a TCK."
When they can't make it to a gathering of any kind because of a Skype call, we give them grace and say, "I know, I'm a TCK."
We have been blessed with the fact that there are enough of us that we don't have to be alone. We can encourage each other just by being who we are. We are TCKs. We know.
