I don’t need to be anything other than a prison guard’s son
I don’t need to be anything other than a specialist’s son
I don’t have to be anyone other than a birth of two souls in one
Part of where I’m going is knowing where I’m coming from

I don’t want to be anything other than what I’ve been tryin to be lately
All I have to do is think of me and have peace of mind
I’m tired of looking ’round rooms wondering what I gotta do
Or who I’m supposed to be
I don’t want to be anything other than me

I’m surrounded by liars everywhere I turn
I’m surrounded by impostors everywhere I turn
I’m surrounded by identity crisis everywhere I turn
I’m the only one who’s noticed
I can’t be the only one who’s learned

I don’t want to be anything other than what I’ve been trying to be lately
All I have to do is think of me and have peace of mind
I’m tired of looking ’round rooms wondering what I gotta do
Or who I’m supposed to be
I don’t want to be anything other than me

Can I have everyone’s attention please
if you’re not like this and that
You’re gonna have to leave
I came from the mountains
the crust of creation
My whole situation made from clay dust stone
and now I’m telling everybody

I don’t want to be anything other than what I’ve been trying to be lately
All I have to do is think of me and have peace of mind
I’m tired of looking ’round rooms wondering what I gotta to do
Or who I’m supposed to be
I don’t want to be anything other than me

=====

I like this song but never had a chance to listen to the lyrics clearly. Every person has their own interpretations of the song but I think this song really hits home regarding who we are as TCKs (in fact this fits any type of people).

I really like this verse:

“I’m surrounded by liars everywhere I turn
I’m surrounded by impostors everywhere I turn
I’m surrounded by identity crisis everywhere I turn
I’m the only one who’s noticed
I can’t be the only one who’s learned ”

Doesn’t it seem like everyone is trying to be someone and these same people try to fit us in a category? Why does it matter…right? Why can’t we just be…us?

Popularity: 1% [?]

Since TCKs move around a lot there are many opportunities when we need to part with our personal belongings. I remember a previous post made by Uncle Dan mentioning how TCK may be afraid to “lose” their memory of their past.

So how do each of you decide what to keep? I know some people usually give away/throw away things they don’t find any use for and others usually give away gifts from others thinking that because it was given to them they didn’t buy it with their own money so it’s ok to give away those things.

For me, I tend to keep gifts (usually for birthdays or holidays) given to me and give away stuff that I actually purchased. Usually things that are given to me (especially those that I am closer to) for a special purpose I tend to keep because this helps remind of the person and the reason why the gift was given to me and because friendship is so hard to maintain.

What about you?

Popularity: 2% [?]

I’d like to pose a question to ATCKs regarding settling down. I think this question might have been asked before but I’d like to generate a poll.

I’m really interested to hear if any ATCKs have decided to settle down and why. I am sort of at this point in life where I kinda want to just stop moving.

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Popularity: 3% [?]

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?

Popularity: 3% [?]

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.

Popularity: 2% [?]

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):

An article about TCKs :

If I find more I’ll add to this list

Popularity: 1% [?]

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!!

Popularity: 1% [?]

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!!!!!!!!!

Popularity: 2% [?]

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.

Popularity: 3% [?]

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.

Popularity: 3% [?]