About: matthew

Name:matthew
2007-11-30 14:30:47
http://spreadthewordtoall.blogspot.com/
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Born in Tennessee, grew up in Suriname, went to school in Wisconsin, living in Turkey. Also spent significant time in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Albania.

Posts by matthew:

Greetings, Faygo, Merhaba

So, I’ve been posting on here for a while, but I’ve never actually posted my introduction.  Here goes.  I was born in Chattanooga, TN.  Though I didn’t know it at the time, that made me American by birth, and Southern by the grace of God. :)  My family moved to Suriname when I was 4, and so that is where “home” was for a long time.  Being an MK was a lot of fun and had a lot of challenges.  My parents homeschooled all 4 of us kids, and since they were both former teachers it worked out well.  (Because we lived on a river in a jungle, there weren’t many options.)

I left Suriname for college and spent 5 years there, managing to get a BA and start an MA.  Since I’ve been planning to come to Turkey for a while, I decided to spend this year here instead of doing my MA straight through.  I was hoping to get in some serious study while I was here, but that hasn’t panned out.  Thus, I’m putting quite a bit of time into language study and finding that it’s not my strongest point academically.

I made my way to TCKid from the Facebook group and now spend too much time here.  But it’s good therapy for the lonely, wandering soul…

Final comments, I loved being a TCK, (although I didn’t really understand the concept till I read through part of the TCK book in 2005.)  I am quite aware of the negatives of being a TCK, but I think the vast majority of them have a balancing positive to go with them, so try to be happy, not sad. :)

- Your friends are scattered. :(   You can travel see them! :)

- You don’t really relate to one culture. :(  You can see truths and comforts from many cultures. :)

-  You don’t know where Home is.  :(  You can be more at home anywhere than most people. :)

January 3, 2008 | Filed Under Introduction | 6 Comments