Meet cross cultural people of all ages from all over the world. What is a Third Culture Kid (TCK)?
I’m mixed and I thought it would be interesting to find out how many of us on here are mixes with parents from two or more countries, as well as find out how well you can relate to your mother countries.
oh and any Swedes or Thais here???? 
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February 16th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Soooooo cool you guys to find out about all your cultural/ethnic mixes. It’s like a perennial fascination of mine and some of you have AMAZING mixes.
So here’s mine in brief:
I am half German and half French-Italian but was born in Iran. [that’s the short version…;-)]
My father who is French-Italian side was actually educated in Ireland from the age of 14 up and then went on to get his MA in London. That’s actually where my parents met. My French grandfather, who was an engineer was actually born in Alexandria in Egypt and my Italian grandmother came from northern Italy, near Trieste, but moved with her family to Damascus for work reasons when she was 14 or so. I believe my grandparents met in North Africa and then divided their time betwen France and N. Africa and Middle East. TCKs before the term was coined.
My mum’s is German but of Finnish, Prussian and Dutch extract.
My family and I moved to the States when I was 7 where I gre up in large part. I suppose, I sort of relate to all my different backgrounds to some degree and feel the influences of where I’ve lived but ahhhh, a singular identity is impossible to pin-point.
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February 16th, 2008 at 10:54 am
I’m mixed toooo! My dad is Palestinian from Israel, my mum is German. I can’t relate to either nation, it’s more the cultures I relate too. But somehow it’s not that either. Difficult to describe. I feel like I know both cultures but I’m watching them from the outside, trying to stay neutral (and act “neutral”) towards them both. I cannot get the words “I’m German” out of my mouth, but I can’t say “I’m Arab” either. And Israeli feels absolutely wrong. Neutral it is. If I was a country, I’d be Switzerland, seriously!
Does anyone of you feel sad about having “neglected” one of your birth-cultures/languages? I did only find out about the TCK-thing end of last year, and ever since it’s been boiling in me. A couple of days ago, it hit me that I can’t even speak my father’s (which is also my own!) language anymore. I used to as a kid, but it’s all gone now. During the later half of my teenage, I was just trying to fit in in Germany and completely blocked everything that had to do with me being half Arab as well. It makes me very, very sad all the sudden. It’s like I’ve been blind for the past years and never knew it. And now I finally opened my eyes and can see what I’ve been missing out on
So now I started to re-learn Arab. Gotta start picking up the pieces somewhere.
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March 25th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
People can be so mean when you try and relearn your language. It’s so easy to loose a language. I’ve lost what little Spanish I had; shocked and traumatized that I can’t roll my Rs anymore. I am not fluent in French anymore, forgot German completely, forgot Mandarin completely, but managed to relearn bits here and there.
& I can relate to people trying to pinpoint whatever they think is negative about you - they always point out the differences! In England you’re Chinese, In China, you’re a Westerner. & if you ever try to really help someone understand “what” you actually are, it usually ends up as an exercise in deductive compartmentalization! “So you’re really only 1/3 Caucasion, with great-grandparents who weren’t loyal to their own culture! So that is why you’re so wierd!” Often you’ll find the words “should” and “ought” in these sentences
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March 26th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
sorry, I only just read the message, and this is like a month later but…
When i was little, chinese people would always be like - and she can speak ENGLISH? Like it was the wierdedst thing and me and my sisters would be poked at and people would have their photos taken with us. Thank god i don’t have blonde hair - but for other reasons i wish i did. when i go back to china, i see the american kids my age by the pool, doing the stuff i do, but i can’t join them, because i don’t fit in. in their eyes i am chinese. and i feel like an intruder with the chinese.
In london, i feel, that the chinese are still much of a minority and there are no other oriental people in my year. people ask me to do ‘chinese’ accents and think that i bow everytime i meet someone. I love my friends but I wish I could relate more to someone. Half my class freak out if ther’s a tv screen on the plane, let alone on the back of the seat.
I think i will always be a wai guo ren because My chinese is slipping away - slowly, but surely, and cutrally, i don’t hold the same beliefs and behaviours. It might just be a mental thing and actually no one sees me in that way, but it’s how i feel.
I have gone on for way too long and probably haven’t answered your question… Sorry
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March 26th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
My parents are French, Corsican (which is not really french), a little belgian, a little US (by passport)…
I pretend to relate to the countries I’ve lived in so that I can answer the “where are you from” question but whenever I’m in those countries I don’t really relate.
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May 25th, 2008 at 10:05 am
People always say multiracial people are good looking *high five* !
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May 25th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Yes. I definitely say so. Multiracial people usually look gorgeous!
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