About: stef

Name:stef
2008-01-14 09:44:03
http://www.globalnomaddirectory.com
Profile
I'm a Swiss-American dual citizen who grew up & currently lives in Asia :)

Posts by stef:

The TCKness Test

Hahaha! Made you look!

No, there’s really no scientific test, of course, but a colleague of mine put together this “test” for his high school students (in an International School in China) to raise awareness of what it means to be a TCK/Global Nomad & their own backgrounds. I thought it was a fun idea & edited a bit, however if you all would like to add your ten cents I’d be interested in feedback. Any questions you’d add?! How do you score?! I’m over 60 :)

Are your parents of the same nationality?  Score 1 for No and 0 for Yes       

 

Do you have other immediate family members with different nationalities?

Score 0 for No and 1 for Yes

 

Were you born in your passport country(ies)? Score 0 for Yes, 1 for No

 

How many different towns/cities have you lived in?       ½ point each

 

How many different countries have you lived in? 1 points each

 

How many different continents have you lived in? 2 points each

 

How many different languages can you speak fluently (very well)  2 point each

 

How many different languages can you speak a little of?  ½ point each

 

How many different alphabets can you read?  1 point each

 

How many years have you spent outside of your passport country(ies)?

 

How many passports do you have? 1 point for each passport, but the first

 
If you have never lived in your passport country give yourself a bonus of 2 points

 

If your passport country is not the same as your parents’, give yourself 2 points

 

What is the longest you have lived in one house/apartment?

 

>10 years         0 points

5- 9 years       ½ point

3-4 years        1 point

2 years           2 points

< 2 years         3 points

 

 

TOTAL

 

…I hope the format works!!! Otherwise this might look like a big mess!!

February 27, 2008 | Filed Under General Forum | 15 Comments 

How to compromise w/ spouse about living abroad?!

HELP! I got an email from a friend who has agreed to let me post it for others to see and give feedback to (for some reason he’s resistant to fully identify with being a TCK & join the forums I recommend). I took out his nationality since that doesn’t really matter, although I’ll say it is in Europe.

“…Of course I am looking forward to this job, but still I do not feel content. The past year I have spent thinking of what I am lacking in my everyday life. I have come to the conclusion that I am rootless. Meaning that no matter what I do in xxxx, my mind will always be wandering off abroad. Looking back over the past five years, there was only one period where i was content and that was while I was in Afghanistan. If i deduct all the unpleasentness of shootings and attacks, killings and suffering, I somehow felt at home. There was a sence of reason, logic and recognition while working with the Afghan people. I felt joyful when projects went well and sad when not. In xxxx I do not have this feeling at all. If things work out i do not rejoyce and opposit I do not feel sadness if they dont.

My biggest problem however is my family. My wife has accepted a maximum contract of 2 years where I/we could go and live/work abroad, but she wants our children to grow up here and she does not want to leave our whole network behind for any longer. My wife knows how i feel and my longing for working abroad, but she is afraid that our own children will grow up with the same rootlessness as I. I lost more or less all my friends while living abroad and i know that my parents lost many as well. I have difficulty attatching to people, because it is always in the back of my head that one day i will leave, and leave these people behind.

Sorry if I sound negative, but somehow I have the feeling/idea that you are one of the few people who can understand what i mean and what i feel.”

You can see why I wanted to post this message, aye? What would you like to say to him? How can one come to a compromise on this? Anyone have experiences to share? … Thanks in advance!

February 18, 2008 | Filed Under General Forum | 8 Comments 

It’s a Miracle!!

After 5+ months of virtual coma, my website has tonight been brought back to life!! :) It needs a bit of revamping after its long sleep, but I hope people visit it. I must say that, though the forum was very nice work by a good friend (who just resuscitated it), the forums here & on Facebook are much better so I certainly don’t want to compete with them! However, my site does have some unique qualities that others don’t, such as profiles for members (free) where you can say where [ALL] you’re from, a place to list global nomad groups around the world & therefore find groups (not many listed YET), a poetry corner, etc. I hope you all check it out :)

www.globalnomaddirectory.com

Stef :)

January 20, 2008 | Filed Under General Forum | 2 Comments 

Global Nomad vs. TCK

It’s fun to read everyone’s messages & it seems like another great place to meet others & discuss issues that are only understood by others like us :) … Like this… What do you all think of the term TCK? I realize this site uses the term & I mean no disrespect, really, but I don’t understand why it has become the more common term for us, rather than Global Nomad. I personally find it too confusing to explain!!!

First of all, when someone asks “Where are you from?” it doesn’t help to say “I’m TCK!” Even if you say the whole thing “I’m Third Culture Kid!” it isn’t any clearer! In the end you have to explain it to them. In fact, even many TCKs themselves don’t understand the term as it was intended because I hear things such as “4th Culture Kid”, which seems reasonable since we’ve lived in many more places, but isn’t “correct” use of the term. So I hear “TCK”s explaining the term to other “TCK”s!

The third culture is supposed to mean the blend between your parents’ passport (not taking into account multiple passports) & the countries you live combining to make the culture of YOU (the “3rd” culture)… But then isn’t everyone who grows up bi-racially or as a minority in a country going to have this third culture… Hell, I think everyone takes pieces of what their family & culture gives them & makes it their own to make a new blend. Of course, Ruth saw this & created a newer term for all these cases which is far more expressive & encompassing: CCK (Cross Culture Kid).

I reeeeeally don’t mean to diss anyone if they prefer TCK, but personally I prefer Global Nomad because it’s a far clearer term for someone who doesn’t know our lifestyle. When someone asks me where I’m from I say, “I’m a Global Nomad; I grew up all over.” They usually get that. Which leads me to a question… on my profile it asked me to choose whether I’m a “Global Nomad” a “Business Kid” a “Diplomat Kid” or some others, but all of the below are Global Nomads (as defined by Norma McCaig who coined the phrase in the 60s).

Like I said, I hope there are no ill feelings towards my question. I just think it’s hard enough to explain our situation to non-nomads & it doesn’t make it any easier with a cryptic title.

January 19, 2008 | Filed Under General Forum | 6 Comments 

Global Nomads & Adoption

I’m in the process of adopting. It’s been something that I’ve known I’d do since I was quite young. My brother surprised me a couple years ago & beat me to it! Another brother, it turns out, was considering it. And my sister was a foster mom for many years… So I wonder if we, as global folk, are more likely to adopt.

I believe we are. And if I were doing a thesis on it (hint, hint, for anyone looking for a TCK topic to research on), I’d imagine that, for those of us who grew up in poor countries/communities yet lived comfortably, we are the most likely to do so. Why? Perhaps because, like me, these people feel privileged or blessed to have had such experiences and comfort & feel an inner need to do something in return for another human being. By adopting a child the parent feels they have helped, even if it’s just one child. (Which is no small thing for the child who would otherwise grow up in poverty & an outcast!) Not to mention, it creates a stronger bond with the country of the child’s origin (which might also be where the TCK grew up)….

That is all my conjecture, but I’d like to hear from others on their thoughts of adoption. If you have adopted or are considering it, what prompted you to do so?

Stef :)

January 15, 2008 | Filed Under General Forum | 6 Comments 

expatstef

Hi all,

My mom’s Swiss so I have a Swiss passport & my dad’s American so I have one of those too! But I was born in Pakistan… My siblings were born in the Philippines, Thailand, Switzerland & Vietnam … & my dad was born in England & grew up in China (where I currently live)! :) My dad worked for the Asia division of an int’l bank so I grew up in Pakistan, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, India, the Philippines & Guam before I graduated from High School. I lived in the US on & off for university (undergrad & Grad with 5 separate universities & a few countries between & after… Hey, I couldn’t stay put!!) … Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Eritrea (Peace Corps), Germany, & southern China (90s) & now Northern China.

I’m currently in the final process of adopting a daughter from China (should finally become a family in the next month or so!!) & I look forward to bringing her up as a global nomad BUT, I know how important my siblings were through all the moves for support. So, I am looking for the next country to adopt a sibling for her since China has closed its doors to singles. I want to adopt from a country I’ve lived in OR will live in so I have that bond… In any case, my kids will get both my passports :)

Oh, & I am a teacher in the Int’l Schools so I get to hangout with global nomad kids all day long & not feel out of place :) I’m very much an advocate for them, especially when I find someone’s moving or there are new students who are having a tough time…

I suppose that’s it in a nutshell! Look forward to future chats!

Stefanie :) (or Stef or Steffi…)

January 14, 2008 | Filed Under Introduction | 8 Comments