Introducing Isa
Hey everyone!
I am so doing this for a LOLCat…
I was wondering if i really was a TCK or not. I haven’t moved around as much as others’ here have.
I was born in LA and lived there for the first seven years of my life, then we relocated to Australia. My dad is Australian, and my mother is Mauritian so we spoke French at home. Also, in LA we( my brother and i) went to the Lycée français of Los Angeles, and not a ‘regular’ public school. So we were outsiders there too.
I didn’t want to leave, because i felt that i had no connection to Australia even though i hold dual citizenship between the Us and Oz. So i built up LA as a dream place to live, because it was where i had been happy. It was what i knew. In Australia, in the playgrounds and schools, i was an outsider because i had not been born there and my main language was French.
Through the years (i’m 19 now) all i wanted to do was leave because it was always easiest to me to be a stranger in a strange land then to be one in a country where i was supposed to call my own. We also lived in Mauritius for a few months when we first moved to Australia which further confused me.
I’ve often felt rootless and have no real identity. I do not feel American nor do i feel particularly Australian, nor Franco-Mauritian. I’ve had the term “Third Culture Kid” thrown at me by certain people throughout my life, my old tutor who is an Los Angeles expat himself, and several psychologists over the years.
-
I am still unsure if i ‘fit the bill’ of being a TCK… i haven’t moved countries as much as you but i have moved houses and schools many times in Australia.
I think i’ll just take Brice’s stand and say that i’m an islander at heart. 
Related Posts
14 Comments to “Introducing Isa”
December 29th, 2007 at 3:06 am
Well there is something called “Domestic TCK” but this mainly for those who never really left the country but have been moved around from one place to another within a country that have significat cultural differences.
But I think you are because not belonging and practically feeling un-nationalistic is just the character of a TCK
And welcome to TCKid.com XD LMBO
(Is this spam?)
December 29th, 2007 at 3:18 am
Hey Isa! Welcome! Like Cynthia said, your rootless-ness and lack of real identity make you a TCK really… i didn’t realize we had a “bill” to fit.. are we that exclusive now?? hahaha…
Where in Oz do you live now? and i don’t quite understand the islander at heart thing. Its just that when i think of islanders i think of my time in PNG with samoans and tongan islanders hahaha… not sure how one would feel like big muscular man named Tan’e at heart haha
Oh and come to the chatroom. Its just me and Aisyah and i’m sick of chatting with her. I’ve known her for 6 years and all we really do is argue hahaha..
(Is this spam?)
December 29th, 2007 at 4:55 am
Welcome to tckid, Isa! haha
Ah, you’re my Frenchie compatriote - it’s funny how I feel at home when everyone is different like me.
Finalllyyy I can give you a LOLCAT!
I have so many for you, I think I’ll post them all but here’s one for now!
(Is this spam?)
December 29th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
LOL nice pic brice. hey isa! LOL you’ve been here long.. you were in the facebook group, even!! right?! LOL. oh yeah haha. welcome (kinda) to tckid!
ttyl ^^
(Is this spam?)
December 29th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
Bienvenue!! You’re a TCK… no need to worry about it. I can’t wait til we get that island though…
(Is this spam?)
January 2nd, 2008 at 2:04 pm
You ARE a TCK Isa.
I only moved between two countries (3 of you count England and Wales as 2 different countries) until I was 7 and I have lots of the “symptoms” described in the book (have you read it, by the way?).
I think what matters more is how much the whole experience impacts your life. And it seems to be the case for you.
(Is this spam?)
May 16th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
You and these damn cats…
Girl, if they start shedding cyber hair I refuse to vacuam that ish up…
lol
M
x
(Is this spam?)
May 16th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Isa…like in “Dora The Explorer”?
Just kidding…this cross-cultural thing has created a whacked-out sense of humor. But welcome to thee o continental lady…
Damn, so us constant movers are not only CCK’s but “domestic” TCK’s? Oh wow…
M
x
(Is this spam?)
May 16th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
LOL, well, i have bveen here for a loooong time — i was in the facebook group and an active member of warona’s “hey dan wanna race? thread”.
We think that that’s how it got started!
(Is this spam?)
June 11th, 2008 at 6:24 am
Hi Isa
dropping you a line
any plans for going abroad?
honestly I never know what to do- some days I think; o well I’ll just take my passport country for granted and behave like a true Dutch; other days I think, no way, that isn’t me at all; should get out of here as soon as possible
but going to a uni or college with a large percentage of internationals helps a lot.
(Is this spam?)
June 11th, 2008 at 7:08 am
Yeah, if it all goes to plan, i am going to go to France in Sept 09 to work as a teaching aid for a year. Yay!
I hope to meet you guys — Dan, you better still be in the EU!
(Is this spam?)
June 11th, 2008 at 10:15 am
How are you gonna do the teaching aid thing? Through that program?? =)
(Is this spam?)
August 5th, 2008 at 7:57 am
hi Isa! I lived in Oz as a girl (most of my primary school years) and my best friend there was Mauritian too! My friends and I were so multi-cultural then and it was a nice little cross-section of the world.
I so agree with you about feeling “rootless” and not knowing where to belong. In Oz I was called the “Yank” and in the US I was called the “Aussie” and yet, they’d look at my skin and be like, “so where are you really from?” LOL.
(Is this spam?)
August 5th, 2008 at 10:35 am
welcome Isa!
(Is this spam?)