Am I really a TCK?
So a few years ago I became aware of the term TCK and thought it really applied to me, and many of my friends. But now, I am no so sure.Here’s my story:I was born in Frankfurt Germany. I had American parents, American friends, etc. However, the first school I went to was a Germany kindergarten, but because I didn’t get along with the kids (I had a really bad temper) my parents sent me to an international school where I met many people and made many friends.After three years I moved to the USA, and the only other move since then has been to a neighboring town, so nothing big at all.I identify with TCKs, feel lonely like TCKs, enjoy my time most with TCKs, and feel most at home with TCKs.Now the question is, am I one myself (I know that IF I am one, I am barely one)
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4 Comments to “Am I really a TCK?”
May 25th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Hello Arthur,
In my view, although you attended an international school in Germany, that experience living abroad is quite different from Americans who spent their significant childhood in the US or those who did go to international schools but in different countries. Wouldn’t you say you have integrated your parents’ culture (American) and the host culture (international setting in Germany) into a third culture that is unique to you?
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May 25th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Hi Arthur,
To me TCK is an inclusive term…just because you moved only once it doesn’t mean you’re less of a TCK than someone who moved 15 times… it’s the thought processes, the emotions, and the impacts of being a TCK that make you a TCK…and some people feel more or less affected by it.
In my case, I moved back and forth between two countries my whole life and grew up in a household with people from a third country. My parents (unlike most TCKs) divorced when I was little so I spent half of each year in one country with my mom (or more precisely I spent the school year in one country with my mom) and the “non-school” year in the other country with my dad (until I moved back and forth for school too..but that’s a long story)…which meant I had to miss out on a lot of things that my friends did, in both countries, and never quite fit into either of their groups….
What i’m trying to say is that while i didn’t have the most traditional TCK experience, I am most definitely a TCK.
Miyon is right in that one of the integral parts of being a TCK is the inability to be part of one single culture, to accept it as your own and to be accepted as a complete part of it. But what i’m trying to say is that you can’t let people tell you what you are and you are not…If it helps you to take certain elements of what being a “TCK” is to understand your own identity and to become more whole, then do it. It doesn’t matter if you are or are not labelled as a “TCK” fully, partially, or not at all, it’s what makes YOU understand YOURSELF that matters…but that’s just my two cents.
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May 26th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Hi Arthur,
It’s interesting to note that you were not so bad tempered you were thrown out of the International School.
Perhaps you were already having cultural problems in the German school and that came out in the form of ‘anger’ since you were little?
On the other hand I think you picked up some German things too while you were in Germany if you don’t feel at home with Americans.
International communities are the most comfortable environments for TCKs usually, i.e. places like Dan’s university. Exceptions are expat communities in your own passport country which can be uncomfortable in a different way.
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June 30th, 2008 at 7:05 am
let’s see…international school is on ur list.
yep pretty much, you are a TCK.
Not that international school is the defintie defining trait. It’s just quite a common trait.
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