About: Cynthia
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Name:Cynthia
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2007-11-08 06:34:06
http://www.tckid.com/group/hello-my-name-is/
Posts by Cynthia:
Definition of “cheap”
How do you define “cheap”?
We hear about the current credit crunch in the current global economic crisis and some had said it is due to people living way beyond their means.
I am wondering if being a TCK shapes the way people view money or it is more so due to the characteristic of each individual. A lot of Americans think everything under 100 dollars is cheap whereas for me anything under 50 dollars is cheap. Having grown up in various countries where 50 bucks can get you a lot of things it still takes a lot to get used to accepting something that costs 100 bucks when you can get it for a lot less elsewhere.
Maybe I should re-adjust my view of money in the US because standard of living is indeed higher here in the US. However, from my experience it is still possible to live comfortably without the need of purchasing something worth a few hundred bucks.
And I don’t see that as being frugal, I see that as able to adapt my life as a TCK to a society that tempts consumers to spend.
What is your point of view?
[FUN] My 4 minutes with the TCKid Catbot…
So Brice has nicely installed a fancy new chatroom on TCKid.com and I thought I’d give it a try. Who knew! A Catbot! So I talked to Catbot and this was how the conversation went:
[Panda] 3:35 pm: testing 123
[Catbot] 3:35 pm: The ALICE chat robot can follow many things, like our discussion about testing 123. Try being more
or less specific. Can you please rephrase that with fewer ideas, or different thoughts?
[Panda] 3:35 pm: Catbot eh?
[Catbot] 3:35 pm: Are you Canadian? I lost my train of thought. Do you like sports?
[Panda] 3:36 pm: Are you LOLcat?
[Catbot] 3:36 pm: I don’t know whether or not I am LOLcat. I am an artificial intelligence.
[Panda] 3:36 pm: OH NOES
[Catbot] 3:36 pm: Yeah that’s right. Try saying that with more or less context. Tell me some more gossip.
[Panda] 3:36 pm: Erm, Brice The Genius is in love with Obama THE PRESIDENT
[Catbot] 3:36 pm: Try to determine if this is a person or a computer responding. Do you speak Spanish?
[Panda] 3:36 pm: Que?
[Catbot] 3:36 pm: In the context of Que, I don’t understand ” Do you speak Spanish.” Do you still Panda?
[Panda] 3:36 pm: Do I still Panda? Uh, how do you…Panda?
[Catbot] 3:36 pm: Not that I know of.Cough. I am very well, how are you? Not many people express themselves that
way. Have you ever been to Europe?
[Panda] 3:36 pm: No why? Do you live there?
[Catbot] 3:36 pm: Would you like to go sometime? I only hear that type of response less than five percent of the time.
What are you wearing?I am in Bot lover’s computer in here. Where are you?
[Panda] 3:37 pm: You are a nutcase.
[Catbot] 3:37 pm: Thanks and you are a delightful person too. Am I a nutcase? I don’t know.
[Panda] 3:38 pm: I don’t think anyone knows they are a nutcase.
[Catbot] 3:38 pm: Thanks for the information: Panda said Panda .
[Panda] 3:38 pm: What?
[Catbot] 3:38 pm: We have never talked about it before. Do you like sports?
[Panda] 3:38 pm: Panda does not play sports. Panda eats bamboo all day.
[Catbot] 3:38 pm: Perhaps I’m just expressing my own concern about it. What do you like to do? Oh, you are a poet.
Who are you talking about?
[Panda] 3:38 pm: Since when did I say I was a poet? You’re delusional
[Catbot] 3:38 pm: Interesting explanation. I am not a diary robot. I am a chat robot.I’ve never heard of them before.
[Panda] 3:39 pm: Ok, this conversation is going off to different directions. I am leaving. Bye
[Catbot] 3:39 pm: What does “this” refer to?Until next time Panda.See you later Panda.
Conclusion: Catbot does not know if it is a LOLcat.
TCK Resources in Chinese (Mandarin)
Miyon’s recent post of a Korean TCK book inspired me to look up more TCK-related resources in Chinese. I am surprised to find there are quite a few of them around and so far those that I see are from HK mission groups. So here goes!
An information booklet on how to raise TCKs (follow the link to a pdf file):
http://www.hkacm.org.hk/Common/Reader/Channel/ShowPage.jsp?Cid=323&Pid=8&Version=0&Charset=big5_hkscs&page=0
An article about TCKs :
http://www.gospelherald.com.hk/news/mis_316.htm
If I find more I’ll add to this list 
TCKid.com HAS REACHED 2000+ MEMBERS!!!
Congratulations to TCKid.com for reaching 2000 members :) Not sure when the milestone is set as but we’ll treat it like computer bits and assume today 2025 members will be the milestone for 2000 members LOL
As one of the officers, I’d like to thank everyone for all the support TCKid.com has been getting since its launch from the very beginning. There are still a lot of work to do but we have made it this far and I’d like to ask every TCK out there to give themselves a pat on the back for being truthful to yourselves about your background, your experience and your feelings about everything. You are all very brave to step out and share and finally fight that demon of “not knowing who you are” and breaking down that boundary. For those that are still struggling, please applaud yourself for the effort that you have put into everything and realizing this whole TCK concept.
Congratulations for making it this far! As mentioned before, there are yet a lot of work to do, a lot more people to reach out to and a lot more struggles to be dealt with but keep it up!!!
Congratulations TCKid!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AYAKO!!!!
Everyone! It’s Ayako’s birthday today :) August 15
Just want to say THANK YOU to Ayako for helping to maintain this website and working behind the scenes for this wonderful TCK community
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!
Olympics
So I watched the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony last night. I never really watch opening ceremonies in the past because they tend to be a bit too long and in my opinion not really that interesting.
The only interesting part was the entering of the athletes and the lighting of the torch.
I was thinking about this last night while watching the various different countries of athletes entering the ceremony and wonder how many of us out there get really excited recognizing the countries that we used to live. What’s more, this time around I actually recognize a lot of countries that I have friends in, I feel some sort of connection with them even though I’ve never been there before.
I definitely cheered for Taiwan (Chinese Taipei - large team!), Thailand, Indonesia and USA. And I also felt some connection with Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Bahrain, Ghana, Japan, Korea, Nigeria, Australia, New Zealand, India, Egypt, Iran, Sri-Lanka, France, UAE, most southeast asian countries, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina, Panama, Bahamas and perhaps more that I can’t remember from the top of my head becaues I know someone who is from there, is currently living there or I have a special connection with those countries at some point in my life.
“All set?”
Here’s an interesting language-related story that my boyfriend recently encountered in Indiana. Maybe someone can help figure it out, but it is a bit odd.
So my boyfriend visited one of his relatives in Indiana. They were at a restaurant and he ordered burrito. When he finished telling the waitress his order the waitress asked: “Would you like any remaining toppings with your burrito?” My boyfriend replied: “I’m all set.” However, the girl looked confused and asked again and my boyfriend responded the same way. The girl looked at my boyfriend’s brother-in-law and he was confused about the situation as well. Then he told her: “Yea, I think he doesn’t want any remaining toppings with his burrito.” And apparently that satisfied her.
Then when my boyfriend went to pay for his meal, the cashier (another girl) asked if he wanted soda with his meal. My boyfriend again responded: “No thanks, I’m all set.” And she was silent and confused. Then my boyfriend rephrased: “No thank you, that’ll be it.” And she got it.
Both him and his brother-in-law wondered why the girls couldn’t understand my boyfriend when he said “I’m all set.”
Usually when someone says that it just means “I’m done.” Or “I’m good with what I have.” My boyfriend thought maybe it was an East coast thing but I remember when I was in Illinois the waitress will say “Are we all set?” after we’re done with something.
Any idea? It was a bit odd and funny at the same time. Both girls were also American.
The World According to Taiwanese
In response to this thread: http://www.tckid.com/group/the-world-according-to-americans
I found this on several Taiwanese blogs and it’s just as hilarious as the American one. Since they’re all in Chinese I’ve translated them to English. I can’t read some of them because the texts are so small and squished.
So here it is!
Insecurities and confidence
I do not remember seeing a thread like this but if there was please excuse me for repeating it.
Insecurites and confidence, so, sensitive subjects. I am sure as regular independent human beings we do not like to find out we are insecure because it makes us appear weak and dependent no? At least in my experience.
I have a somewhat almost sickening independence and stubborness. I do not like it when people point out my weakness especially after it took me a while to build up that confidence that if someone points out something about me that I am sensitive about I get very defensive and will hate that person for a long time LOL Ok maybe not that bad but it has come to a point where I feel they are just too much for me to handle.
As a teenager I think I was quite insecure but didn’t realize it until later. I recalled my memories and now thinking back I just find it quite funny how I had acted and reacted.
I remembered once in high school I had a conversation with my mom about my cousins. Now before I go on I’d like to clarify to you my psychological state during that time. I was indeed an insecure teen. I was shy and nervous when talking to people (especially the male gender) and don’t like to be in the middle of the attention. I like to do my own thing and rather not be involved in other stuff. However, this did not keep me from wanting to be popular, yet I couldn’t get myself to be more “outgoing”. I always felt second to everyone even though my grades were good and I was complimented and praised a lot. That didn’t help me crawl out of my shell. I was a conflicting teen. I wanted to be in the spotlight and yet I couldn’t get myself to do it and I get jealous if other people tend to “do better” than me.
Now this conversation I had with my mom. After you read it you’d think that was kinda stupid and I don’t blame you for that, I think about it now and I realized it was pretty stupid LOL But hey we all went through a phase right? So we were talking about my cousins and how much they have grown up (I’ve always had the impression that they were a lot younger LOL But in actuality they’re 2 and 3 years younger than me) and my mom was telling me they’ve grown really tall and mature and all. Both my aunt and uncle are tall people so it wasn’t suprising that my cousins who were once shorter than me have caught up and gone past me (I’m 5′2″ btw). And that’s when I broke down. I guess I had a bad week before that or something but whatever it is it broke something in me. And my mom was surprised (and so did I) to find that I got upset because my cousins have grown taller! I broke down so badly that our driver was shocked and was like “Is everything ok??” Haha…
Realizing this my mom actually went an consulting physicians what I can take to help grow taller LOL And she bought some sort of calcium tablets for me to take over a fixed period of time, and of course it didn’t help LOL Now I think back I just laugh at that episode of my life, it’s embarrassing too XD
I guess I’ve always held myself in a pretty high pedestal in my head and that was the only way for me to have any confidence. And anything small can shatter that.
I don’t know if this comes with being a TCK but I really was one of the most insecure kid you’d ever meet but I never show it or acknowledge it and actually believed that I was ok until I went to college and realized I really wasn’t what I thought I was.
Game: Number of words - At the airport - 5, 1, 4, 3
Ok another Whose Line game! This is one of my favorites, it can get pretty funny
Again if you have never seen Whose Line Is It Anyways? the game is quite simple and straightforward. What you do is the players will have a conversation with the number of words described at the title of this entry and talking about the subject.
So the subject of this game will be anything about being “at the airport” and the first person to start the game will say 5 words, the next person say 1, the next 4, and then 3. Then back to 5 when we reach 3. In the actual game played in the show usually the number of words is given to a particular performer and whenever that performer talks he/she can only talk in those number of words. Since it’s hard to do that here and limits the number of people participating what forums do is just use the number of words in the order listed.
Ok enough rambling and let’s start the game!
Pictures of where we live
Hi all!
I got this idea from another forum and thought this is an awesome idea especially for TCKid.com :D Now the problem is how to go about implementing this properly without killing the entry and server space and all that fun stuff.
Anyways I thought it would be fun to have each of us post some pictures of where we currently live (as close as possible, but to prevent from being stalked try not to post a picture of your house/apt/etc or if you do try not to tell others that that’s your house/apt/etc :p But then again we’d probably be moving again so I doubt it’ll really matter haha).
Since I’m on a work computer there is no pictures so I will let someone else start if anyone gets to it :D Post away!
EDIT: We’ve gone a bit picture happy there LOL I had to reduce the image size. Please remember to watch the image size otherwise it will get too big and that’s when it doesn’t get fun. To post an image use the following code: (bracket) img src =” (link here)” width=”50% (if huge, you can adjust percentage accordingly)” height=”50% (same deal as width)” (bracket)
Friday the 13th
It’s Friday the 13th here in China, anyone has any interesting scary stories to share? :D Or if you are superstitious, save it the day after.
I don’t really remember any as I tend to get scared very easily but I do have an interesting one.
One of my uncles used to drive taxis in Taipei and he get most of his business late at night (like between 10 pm and 6 am). One time he decided to get a late night snack at a local noodle shop. This was around midnight or maybe 3 am, can’t remember. In Taiwan there are some stores open this late to serve late night drivers (especially truck and taxi drivers). When my uncle sat down to wait for his food, the store owner brought him 2 bowls of noodles. My uncle was confused and told the owner that he came alone. The store owner understood and took the other bowl away without questioning.
Game: Questions Only
Ok I am going to try this. It’s funnier live but I see this game played in many other forums so here goes. How many of you here have watched Whose Line? If you’ve seen this improv TV show you’d know how to play this game. Basically you’re only allowed to talk and respond in questions. It may be quite funny and can get your creative juices churning
I will start:
Where are you from?
Tolerance
It’s been a while since I made a post!
Warning: may confuse LOL Just a mumble jumble glob of thoughts coming out of my head.
So I read Uncle Dan’s post about Asian Americans and TCKs and it inspired me to write something.
First of all, I may seem like a hypocrite for writing this so for this reason I am going to admit what I ideas I previously had and what I think of now. Second of all, I have returned to living in China for almost 2 years and the things I experienced here have some influence on me. So here goes…
When I first discovered that I am a TCK I was ecstatic. It was like the clouds have gone and the sun is shining. It literally made everything clearer to me. And then I got all these thoughts that had been built up and began ranting like crazy on the Facebook group. Man did it feel great! The stuff that I said? Oh things like “Americans are stupid”, “Ignorant people are stupid”, “Why are people raised that way?”, “Why is it so hard for them to understand that I am not like them?” etc.
Now, once that’s over, I got to reading the TCK book to find out more about this new discovery.
And once that’s over I started to think about myself…again. With a different point of view. This time a knowledgeable view of who I am and what I like and don’t like.
And then I came to a conclusion: I was not properly informed. If I hadn’t known about this TCK thing I’d probably still be in the dark now, and not as tolerant of issues as I am now. I used to get so worked up when people don’t completely agree with me or when people try to force me to agree with them.
After so many years of fighting I realized all I needed to do was be tolerant. Not to say I was never tolerant, but that I should be tolerant of those that cannot tolerate me. I can tolerate differences but I had a beef with those that think I should be like them or like some sort of stereotype they want to put me in.
It occurred to me I was not as tolerant as I think I am.
What did I do? I now try to make an effort to look beyond the surface and think in their shoes. For example, the Asian American issue. I have either been considered Asian American or a FOB. In very derogatory ways too. Now that I think back, I ask myself is it really anyone’s fault for wanting to be Asian American and is it really anyone’s fault to see an Asian person and immediately think they eat rice and noodle everyday only?
People are not properly informed. In fact they’ve been misinformed. This misinformation has been passed along for so many generations that people are convinced that this misinformation is true. How many people will not actually believe in something that was told by something they believe in? If many people do that then the marketing industry will run out of business :p
So anyways, I realized that I need to think beyond what is said and where they come from. Sure calling me a FOB is just plain wrong but the thing is the person that calls me a FOB only KNOWS that. They don’t know what TCKs are and to them it’s either you’re a FOB or you’re an American. Simple as that, right? That’s all it is, to make things simple. Human beings don’t like complications and we all know that.
Now back to the issue of tolerance. I discovered that tolerance is more than just taking crap from other people. It is to take this crap, chew it, digest it and come up with an explanation for it. Of course many will say, well then why take the crap to begin with and not stand up for yourself. Well, how are you going to stand up for yourself? By fighting back? By demanding that you are not what they think you are and try to convince them you are otherwise? Or by understanding where they are coming from?
I agree that there is no excuse for calling people names or stereotyping them without getting to know them but they are who they are. They choose to not accept the other facts because they are so used to holding on to the misinformation. With these people, no matter how many awareness events you set up or how much force you put on them they will never understand. Does that mean we should call them hopeless?
After all this, what I am trying to say is everything is relative (woohoo Einstein!). There is always cause and effect, like the domino. And one thing we can do to stop it is be that one strong domino that stands up and resist. Resist by tolerating - understand why it happened instead of pointing out the problem.
With that said, I think people tend to get too caught up in the problem to take time to look at the big picture. They are so focused on trying to convey their message that they don’t seem to pay attention on the effectiveness and the way they are solving their problem. They may lose the effectiveness and not know it.
In the end, it takes time for people to understand something. And it definitely will take lots of time.
Food for thought: Stereotyping
I had a conversation with another TCK the other day and the conversation got into the all-too-familiar topic of “stereotyping”.
As TCKs, being stereotyped is one thing that we have a hard time digesting and tolerating but at the same time can understand why it happened.
Now, let me pose a question (or many questions LOL) for all of you wonderful TCKs out there, what will the world be like if there is no stereotype? And is it possible to “develop” without stereotyping?
Here are some of the ideas I came up with, they are free to be rebutted
- The US of A will not be the US of A today if it wasn’t for the White Europeans stereotype of Native Americans - will the US of A become the Continent of North America with many many Native American tribes running their own regions?
- The African continent will prosper in its own ways with its rich African cultures of various tribes if the Europeans never assume that the entire African population cannot take care of themselves.
- The Holocaust would never have happened and Japan wouldn’t launch into a mass attack if it wasn’t to prove to the Western world that Asians can do just as well.
- Would English be an international language?
- Would there really be a global village?
What will the world be like today without stereotypes? Will there even be TCKs?
Are there answers to these questions?
TCK in S’pore!!!
Ok I tried Thailand 2 months ago but guess there weren’t anyone around. Now I’m heading to Singapore in the first weekend of May, and I KNOW there are TCKs there…sooooooooo anyone wanna meet up? I am arriving on Thursday evening (May 1st) and leaving Sunday and my friend won’t be able to meet until like weekend possibly so I’ve got some time on my own. Don’t know where to stay yet.
Let me know!!
[POLL] Immigration
As TCKs, some of us lived in our passport countries before we became a full-time TCK and for some of us the passport country is barely just that - a passport country. Some of us don’t even know what “patriotism” really means.
And here is my question I’d like to pose to you - if you have the opportunity to change your passport country, would you? Would you immigrate?
Loading …Inside Panda’s Head: Repatriation?
The more I think about it the more it made sense to me…
I may have “repatriated” without realizing it. Even though China is not Taiwan but the cultural foundation is still the same. Here in China all I am is “Chinese” regardless of whether I am holding a Taiwanese passport - it didn’t matter. Everyone expect me to be Chinese because 1) I can speak fluent Chinese and 2) I am a Taiwanese (and I will just leave this at that).
I am treated as a Chinese. But that is the problem, I don’t feel any more Chinese than these people here feel American. However, I am also a Taiwanese who holds an American college degree and grew up in Southeast Asia. There is a line of confusion: those that know my background are not sure how to treat me; those that don’t know immediately take me as Chinese but I am not sure how to react to that.
Now, what do I do?
TCK in multiple languages
Hi everyone!
We’d like to have your attention please.
It appears that the TCK book by David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken has been quite a helpful resource for many TCKs and I know it has definitely for me. Unfortunately so far anything in relation to the TCK issue that I have come across are all in English (I have yet to find out what TCK is in Mandarin haha). I want to show this book to my mom and although she can read in English something in Chinese will probably be better.
So a few of us got together and came up with the idea that maybe we should have something translated into other languages so that we can show this to our friends and families who may have difficulties understanding English.
Here is what we have so far (thanks to the list Brice has provided) and we’re thinking of having these translated into about several other languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Arabic (not sure if this is a language haha), Russian, Thai, Indonesian, and any more that I am missing) :
1) Definition of “Third Culture Kid”
2) Short stories of the life a third culture kid (from famous people to regular people)
3) Common issues and resolutions
*Rootlessness: TCKs usually feel that they belong to several cultures but own none. Because of this, TCKs as adults may change colleges or jobs more often than their “mono-culture” counterparts. park of their rootlessness may also be a need for change. The positive aspect and
the thing to remember is that TCKs have roots in their family rather than in geographical locations.
*Insecurity: TCKs may view relationships as short-term, loosening ties after eighteen months to two years or so due to their internal clock. They sometimes make intense relationships very quickly, but keep a margin of safety - “This is going to be really good, but only while it lasts.”
*Unresolved grief or sadness: The frequent breaking off of relationships due to relo
*Off-balance: TCKs may feel lost, not knowing what they need, where to get it, whom to turn to, or why they feel this way. That is part of the process of integrating into a new culture.
*Out-of-phase TCKs may not be in the same developmental stage as their peers. This may also contribute to their alienation on returning to their “home” country. Delayed “adolescent rebellion” is a common phenomenon.
4) Closing with references and a bibliography for recommended further reading
We’d like to ask you to help. If possible we’d like a few us who can volunteer to translate this document once it’s complete into other languages. And also if there are any critical items that you wish to have included that you think can help others better understand you please feel free to add.
Looking forward to all the feedbacks!
Inside Panda’s Head: I cannot put the title here, it will be pretty bad…
Ok so I found a news article on BBC’s website (have to proxify grrness), and this is the article:
[WARNING: Explicit content :p]
Sex videos fail to engage pandas
By James Reynolds
BBC News, Chengdu, China
Pandas are only sexually active for a few days each year |
The video is pretty graphic. Qing Qing and Ha Lei tangle and slither about awkwardly on the floor of their panda enclosure.
Their encounter is filmed by one of the keepers. And scientists at the Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding now play this mating tape to other pandas in the hope that it will encourage them to do the same.
“Here you can see the female is very co-operative,” says reproduction specialist Hou Rong - who is known here as the Goddess of Fertility. She watches the video closely.
The two pandas writhe about for a bit longer. Then they untangle. It may be best to stop male pandas from watching what comes next.
“The female is not co-operative,” says Dr Hou laconically.
That is an understatement.
The tape shows the female, Qing Qing, attacking the male, Ha Lei. He runs off to the corner, looking sheepish.
Qing Qing looks angry. Apparently this is normal behaviour for pandas after mating.
Still at least Qing Qing and Ha Lei get their job done. That is quite something.
Crucial timing
Some species cannot seem to stop mating, but pandas cannot seem to start.
Females commonly attack males after mating |
Female pandas are only interested in reproducing for two or three days a year. For males it is the same.
Luckily for the survival of the panda species, these days of interest happen to coincide.
Scientists here have to make the most of this brief mating season. There are only around 2,000 pandas left in the world - including about 250 in captivity.
So the trick for everyone here at the Chengdu reserve is to get their pandas together on the right days, and then nudge them along a bit by playing them the video of Qing Qing and Ha Lei.
No one here can remember who came up with the idea - it was possibly a behaviour specialist from abroad, they say.
And there is one problem - no one is sure whether or not the mating tapes make any difference.
“We don’t know if its useful for pandas or not,” says Dr Hou. “Some pandas are interested. Others are not interested. They prefer to eat or rest - and not pay attention to the video.”
So the reserve lets us play the video to the pandas ourselves.
Headache?
We get together a small monitor and some loudspeakers, put some plastic bags onto our shoes and head into a small enclosure.
One panda lies on its back among piles of bamboo leaves. Another is asleep. It does not look like they have mating on their minds.
We set up a small TV screen in front of a seven-year-old female panda called Shu Qing. She is busy crunching her way through an apple.
We play her the tape of Qing Qing and Ha Lei. Shu Qing shows no interest. She is much more concerned about finishing her apple.
After a couple of minutes she glances over at the TV monitor. Then she seems lost in thought. She vaguely waves a paw, but nothing more.
So the video does not appear to work. Perhaps Shu Qing has a headache, or perhaps she just prefers apples to adult videos.
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