For new community members or friends making new discoveries about their identities, it can be overwhelming to navigate all the different terms, phrases, and ideas that emerge from discussing the TCK experience. For others who are more familiar with talking about their experiences, it helps to be re-acquainted with these terms.

Here are a list of the Top 10 Third Culture Kid glossary terms to guide you through some of the basic words and concepts.

1) Third culture kid (TCK) – Dr. David Pollock, a sociologist and co-author of Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds, defines a TCK as “a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture. The TCK builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership of any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the TCK’s life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of a similar background.” This has traditionally included those who have grown up in more than one country.

Other terms for TCK include: global nomad; trans-culture kid; expat brat

Types of TCKs include:

a) Army/Military brats – A TCK with at least one parent working in his/her passport country’s military and who has moved lived in military bases.

b) Missionary Kids – A TCK with at least one parent working as a missionary for a religious institution and who has moved as part of missionary work.

c) Diplobrats – A TCK with at least one parent working in a diplomatic capacity, such as part of a government organization or embassy, and who has moved as part of diplomatic work.

d) Business brats – A TCK with at least one parent working in a multinational organization and who has moved as part of a business assignment.

2) Adult Third Culture Kid (ATCK) – A TCK who is of adult age. An ATCK experiences adulthood with his/her TCK perspective.

3) Cross Cultural Kid (CCK) – Like TCKs, a CCK is a person who has spent a significant part of his/her developmental years outside of the parents’ cultures. CCKs include persons who have grown up in one country but within multiple cultural settings.

4) Unresolved grief – An emotional state felt as a reaction to loss of ties to a place or places where a TCK once lived. This feeling is exacerbated when the feelings of loss are not acknowledged or when there are no efforts toward reconnection, such as through communication or visits.

5) Itchy feet – The feeling characterized by restlessness and a desire to change locations. Many TCKs have expressed feeling this way after they have settled in one place.

6) Culture shock – An emotional state felt when reacting and adjusting to a new cultural setting. A person who moves to a new city or country may feel this after he or she first arrives.

7) Reverse culture shock – An emotional state felt when adjusting to a previously experienced cultural setting, which is often a person’s “home” culture.

Expatriate (also, Expat) – A person who resides in a place outside his/her usual place of residence or legal residence. A family who is sent on assignment away from its passport country are considered expatriates.

9) Repatriate – A person who returns to his/her usual place of residence or legal residence. A family who returns to its passport country after a foreign assignment are considered repatriates.

10) Global citizen – This is a term used by many TCKs who do not feel any affinity to any particular country or cultural setting, particularly in response to the question, “Where are you from?” Instead of using the citizenship listed in one’s passport, a TCK may just say that they are a global citizen.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Watch the video to check what I do when I’m lonely. lol

I’m just kidding. What are you doing for V-day? Leave a comment
below to share with the community!

(P.S: Are you looking for a date? Add me on Facebook if you want to meet TCK singles of any age. Most of my friends are TCKs. Maybe I can introduce you to someone?)

Are you single and looking for a relationship? According to our surveys, 70% of our members prefer dating TCKs. If you’re a member, check out TCKid Singles to find a date. You can search for singles in your city (of all ages and interests) in 10 minutes. Are you new?

What are your plans for V-day? I want to hear from you. Leave a comment below.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Do you want to update our Facebook Logo picture? The picture of the book is better known and it has been in use on Facebook for a few years, but our friend Ruth Van Reken is updating the TCK book this year …. maybe it’s time for a change for us too? The new logo has pictures of TCK meetup groups from Taiwan to New York of members that would better represent the community.

Old logo on Facebook

New logo on Facebook

(New logo Option #3)

(New logo Option #4)

(New logo Option #5)

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

You decide. Vote or leave your comments.

Do you have suggestions? Want to create a logo? Please feel free to submit pictures and suggestions.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Pop star Michael Jackson has died in Los Angeles, aged 50.

Watch the video and leave your comments here or on Youtube:

Love him or loathe him, Michael Jackson had the power to unite people of different cultures like no other.

Brice

Popularity: 3% [?]

June 17, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

As globalized market forces increasingly lead families to temporarily relocate to other countries, parents should be aware of the challenges facing the youngest family members upon their return home.

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Children who live abroad with their parents on extended sojourns may experience a setback to their psychological wellbeing, say researchers in a recent study. But not in the way experts initially thought.

Traditionally in the United States, large companies, Christian missions and the State Department considered regularly repatriating back to the country beneficial for children in helping them retain their national identity and a sense of “home.” Some missionaries are even required to spend a year in the U.S. for every three or four abroad.

However, a recent Smith College study of 170 children of American parents found that multiple repatriations to the U.S. seemed to compromise childrens’ adjustment abilities as adults. Meanwhile, the total number of years the children spent living abroad did not affect their ability to ultimately adjust to life back in the U.S.

The study examined American citizens aged 18 to 25 who had returned to the U.S. For men, researchers found, multiple repatriations earlier in life were related to a less positive psychological wellbeing. For women, multiple repatriations were associated with higher levels of prejudice, lack of introspection and feelings of moral superiority.

“It seems that while periodic return to the U.S. may sound good in theory, in reality it may be something that parents should not take for granted,” said Bill E. Peterson, associate professor of psychology at Smith. “Vacationing in the U.S. is probably fine, but coming back to live in the U.S. for a more extended time between sojourns may be bad for the later adjustment of their kids.”

Peterson co-authored the paper, “Third culture kids and the consequences of international sojourns on authoritarianism, acculturative balance, and positive affect,” with Laila T. Plamondon, a Smith undergraduate at the time. It is available online in the Journal of Research in Personality.

Third culture kids – or TCKs – is a term first coined in the 1950s to designate the numerous cultures these children inhabit – the “first culture” being their country of origin; the “second,” their host country; and “third,” the transient community of expatriates, said Plamondon. Importantly, while a parent makes a conscious decision to go abroad, the children accompany them whether or not they want to.

Instead of transitioning back and forth between the U.S. and foreign assignments, it may be better for children to stay abroad in a larger chunk of continuous time.

“For example, it might be better for someone working in business to take her family to India, Japan, and Korea in succession rather than come back and live in the U.S. between sojourns,” said Peterson. “This, of course, has serious implications for sending agencies and families living abroad.”

More research needs to be done to replicate the findings, according to the researchers. “TCKs provide a fairly unique opportunity for psychologists interested in studying the effects of globalization on culture and identity,” added Peterson.

-30-

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Do you think the pain of rejection and not belonging make you stronger or damage you?

Personally, it made me stronger and the challenges became a positive blessing. I explain why below.

Listen to our interview with ABC News on TCKID. Ruth Van Reken, Daniela Tudor and I discuss the benefits and the health challenges of being culturally mixed:

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/lifematters/stories/2009/2583257.htm

Vote here:
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

The reason I ask is because as you may already know, I struggled to find a sense of belonging.

I thought I was weird and there was something wrong with me.

Several years ago, I got a surprise from the doctor: a diagnosis of a terminal disease. The doctors told me, then I was 19 year old man preparing for university, that there was no cure or explanation.

For several years, I couldn’t write, shower myself, or even hold a glass of water. But worst of all, I was isolated and had no purpose in life.

However, my life was turned around when I discovered that the emotional stress had caused the physical pain.

According to research, emotions can cause years of chronic pain and physical disability.

Did you know that your emotions can weaken your immune system and make it more vulnerable to disease?

One day, after releasing those emotions, I was completely healed. I couldn’t believe it, I was completely healed in one day!

After being healed, I made a promise to myself to relieve people from pain and give them a sense of belonging regardless of their culture, race, or color of their skin.

The pain became a blessing. TCKID wouldn’t exist today if it wasn’t for this challenge.

Maybe your emotional pain didn’t give you a physical illness.

Maybe you have relationship pain, and you’re struggling to connect and belong anywhere. Maybe it’s the pain of restlessness, and you just keep moving or pushing people away. We all have experienced emotional pain, but…

Is it a curse or a blessing?

For me, it was a positive blessing.

What are your thoughts?

Talk soon,
Brice

Barack Obama, who spent his childhood in Indonesia and Hawaii, writes:: “I used drugs and alcohol to push questions of who I was out of my mind.” (…) “What I needed was a community, I realized, a community that cut deeper than the common despair that black friends and I shared when reading the latest crime statistics.” – Barack Obama’s Third Culture Kid Team | List of Famous TCKs

Recommended Reading on Emotions and your health:

How Emotions Affect Your Health- Family Doctor

Emotional Pain Hurts More than Physical Pain - Telegraph

The Mind and Body Connection - Science Daily

Popularity: 7% [?]

TCKID has released its first annual list of the top 10 cities in the world in which TCKs live, ranking them by popularity based on its membership of 21,458 Cross Cultural people. (This is not a poll or a survey. It’s the location of our members based on their I.P addresses as given to us by Facebook.)

The table below lists the largest 20 cities in the world based on population for the year of 2009 of people who identity themselves as “Cross Cultural” and/or “Third Culture”.

The most popular city is New York!

Top 10 Cities

1. New York 474
2. Bangkok 381
3. Singapore 306
4. Hong Kong 290
5. Washington 279
6. London 274
7. Sydney 259
8. Los Angeles 222
9. Makati 213
10. Jakarta 210

Other Cities

Toronto 210
Seoul 204
Dubai 202
Chicago 197
Kuala Lumpur 177
Seattle 166
Melbourne 163
Atlanta 157
Houston 157
Oslo 148

Learn more the TCKID New York City group.

Join a local TCKID group (over 50 cities)

Top Countries

United States 8,549
United Kingdom 1,829
Canada 1,003
Australia 841
China 453
Thailand 387
Germany 348
France 342
Netherlands 313
Japan 311
Philippines 308
Hong Kong 302
Singapore 299
Indonesia 274
India 259
South Korea 221
Norway 218
Malaysia 215
United Arab Emirates 206
Switzerland 202

Where to meet TCKs?

Want to meet TCKs in your area? Join a local group and meet other TCKs from 50 locations.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Hey Canadian TCKs,

Brice here. I just received some important news from my friend Robin Pascoe. If you are Canadian and gave birth or planning to give birth to any of your children while living overseas, please read this and pass the link along to any of your Canadian friends.

The Challenge:

The government have introduced a new law last year, and a new citizenship rule is about to take effect (April 2009).

This law restricts the foreign-born children of Canadians living abroad from passing on the Canadian citizenship.

Please read the following Globe and Mail article

Also, please read: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/citizenship/rules-citizenship.asp

Scroll down to “adoption”, although it mentions adoption, it affects Canadians living abroad giving birth to a child.

“This means that children born in another country after the new law comes into effect will not be Canadian citizens by birth if they were born outside Canada to a Canadian parent who was also born outside Canada to a Canadian parent.”

What You Can Do:

If you are opposed to this rule, please help educate other Canadians by raising awareness and send a letter to your MP, and to Jason Kenney, immigration minister.

Tell other Canadians who have children abroad about this new law.

Contact the Immigration Minister

Use this tool below to write to the Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, right now.

His e-mail address is Minister@cic.gc.ca and the mailing address is The Honourable Jason Kenney, P.C.,M.P, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1L1.

This law goes into affect on April 17th so write to him now!!

Popularity: 3% [?]

“As London is such a melting pot of cultures we wanted to explore the idea of living in a family with a mix of cultural backgrounds and thought it would be great to speak to you on the show. There is a book out called The Map of Me – which has about ten or so authors who each tell their story of living in and out of different cultures. We’ll be talking to you about your background – how you started up the TCKID website – what the aim of it is and generally how a third generation kid is different – for good and bad.”

Jumoke Fashola
Wednesday 20th November 2008.
BBC LONDON 94.9
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london

More about TCKs on the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hometruths/0244kenya.shtml

From Brice:

I was interviewed by the BBC to talk about third culture kids and TCKID. Someone recorded the interview and emailed it to me recently so it’s not exactly the best audio quality. The discussion was about cultural identity and it was mostly fixated on race, but it was an interesting conversation nonetheless.

It was my first radio interview, so I was a bit nervous and I forgot to give the definition of a third culture kid. Feel free to laugh at my expense. =)

Enjoy!

P.S: I’ve done my part to raise awareness. It’s your turn now. Share this interview with your friends.

BBC Host: We’re discussing identity tonight, how do you define yourself?

(susan’s call)

Host: Joining us also tonight is Brice Royer who is a third culture kid,
he’s part French, Vietnamese and he’s part Ethiopian. He lived in
3 continents, and in 7 countries before the age of 18 so he knows
all about the need to belong. He eats French food for breakfast
and Ethiopian food for lunch! Brice set up the website tckid.com
third culture kids, to help those struggling with their identity
and offer a place of belonging. He joins us on the line now from Canada.

Host: Hello Brice, thanks so much for joining us.

Brice: Hi Jumoke, it’s my pleasure to be here.

Host: Just explain to us, in terms of identity, which we’ve already been
discussing tonight – you’ve got French, Vietnamese and Ethiopian – how
do you define yourself?

Brice: Well, I think the labels that you talked about earlier were really
interesting because that’s a hot topic in the TCK community, and most
third culture kids dislike labels and don’t want to be pigeon-holed by
what they find to be superficial racial characteristics and in their
point of view… why should people choose one part of their
heritage over another? And.. I’ve seen Europeans speak Arabic, and Asians
ask questions in French, and how I define myself is — I love what
Susan said — but really how I identify myself is I’m a multiracial kid and
I belong to a cross cultural group.

Host: You’re a multiracial kid and I belong to a cross cultural group! You should
see the faces of my guests in the studio, they’re just grimacing, is this
a sort of a Canadian thing or do you think that’s the best way to define
yourself?

Brice: Well, I don’t say that to people.

Host: Oh right.

Brice: That’s how I define myself. There’s no way I’m going to say that to people – they’ll just raise their eyebrow and say “what? what is that?”

Host: (chuckle) Yes. But, but, I mean, the wider point, that this is part of
the reason that you set up this website, is to actually discuss these
whole issues, giving people a forum whereby they can discuss notions
of identity.

Brice: Yes, because what’s interesting is that we have a cross cultural
identity that we’re just beginning to explore as a community, and it’s
a large identity that holds all kinds of cross cultural experiences.
Third culture kids are really a growing prototype of a new identity
that can be difficult to define.

Host: Yes, you said that you obviously have your own definition of self – what
do you say to people when they ask you who you are or where you’re from?

Brice: I just say I’m from Ottawa, Canada. (laughter)

Host: (laughter)

Brice: I just make it simple, I don’t want to complicate their lives, I’ll just
say I’m from Ottawa, Canada. But it depends on the situation, really.
And for the box, I just choose “other”.

Host: Oh, you say “other” as well?

Brice: That’s right.

Host: You know, I’m gonna start doing this “other” thing because I fancy
doing other now. But do you lean towards one culture over another, Brice?

Brice: Not really. Not at all. I just feel, um, it’s difficult to choose
one culture over another, because if you choose one culture you’re kind
of denying the other culture and it’s difficult to do that… what TCKs
really hate is picking one side over the other. So… I can’t really
choose.

Host: I’m just curious..

Brice: We have a relationship to those cultures but no ownership of any.

Host: Right. I’m curious to know what they say on the website, is this a
continual struggle for other TCKs or are they actually quite happy to
say well I’m just an other and I’m happy with that.

Brice: They’re only unhappy if they’re among people who don’t actually acknowledge
their experiences and feel different, because one of the challenges that
TCKs have is belonging. I know a multiracial half Philippino half English
third culture kid who grew up in Saudi Arabia and lived in England, and she
was made fun of because she had no idea who the Spice Girls were.

Host: Right.

Brice: And you can miss out on pop culture trends and things like that which can
make it hard to relate to your peers..

Host: Yeah. Sure.

Brice: But when they find a sense of belonging, once they talk to other third
culture kids who grew up with similar experiences, they begin to really
explore their gifts and that’s really incredible, just having the sense
of belonging and talking to other people just like you.

—

Popularity: 7% [?]

Design the new TCKID re-launch.

Big changes are coming to TCKID.com, and you can help shape the future of the TCK community. Mark your calendar for the TCKID Re-launch on Monday December 8th, 2008. At the time of writing, there are 6 days left to share your ideas and shape the new design.

Starting this week, you’ll have more interactive opportunities, see a dramatic new design, and find new ways to get involved in shaping the future of TCKs. We’re also working on a social network for you.

This is your community. You’re here because you care about TCKs. You should be given the opportunity to decide what you want this community to look like. Change is coming, and you can be a part of it.

1. WEEK 1: Design the new TCKID. (Official RE-LAUNCH is on Monday December 8th, 2008)
2. WEEK 2: You decide how we should celebrate.

What is your opinion of the new design?

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Get involved in building your Third Culture Kid community. Share your ideas to improve and shape the design.

If you want to get more involved, join our TCKID team by volunteering.

DECEMBER 4TH UPDATE:

Thanks to everyone for sharing your feedback! The response from the community has been very impressive. There has been 87 emails today, and they keep coming.

Many offered some great quote suggestions, and 6 new people offered to volunteer. I hope we can bring them on the team. You will all soon be able to share your ideas and decide on what they should work on.

Thanks again for being part of this change. It’s great to see everyone getting involved in shaping the future of this community.

Keep the feedback and ideas coming. If you want to get involved, volunteer to join the team.

I’ll post a follow-up soon!
-Brice

We’re going to take all of your feedback and update the design in the coming weeks.

I’ll make a list of the recent changes:

-World map added in the background
-Mosaic added
-World languages added
-Plane added. (will possibly be removed)
-Passport added. (will possibly be removed)
-Obama’s handsome face has been removed, and we’ll continue to change the theme from the Obama site. (If it was up to me, I would put his face everywhere of course because I’m a fanboy, but you design this site!)

We need your help to choose our TCKID’s new official quote.

Please share your ideas in the comments below. Keep your feedback and suggestions coming!

Popularity: 18% [?]