1. Foreigner
2. Adopted
3. Mirror
4. Hidden Immigrant
In that order. :)

1. As a foreigner, everybody gives me exceptions. Hence it was the easiest to feign ignorance of everything. The only problem with this category was that nobody ever fully understood why 'my english was so good'.

2. Sometimes the country in which I am a foreigner also becomes my adopted country. South Africa in this instance is both my foreign and adopted country. In part, the Philippines also attempted to adopt me (I say this because the people I met didn't even see me as a foreigner, but gave me my space to be different). But since it was a very short stay, I didn't get a chance to adopt it as my own country as much as I would've liked. Much as I love my adopted countries, I also tend to be picked on because I look different. In South Africa, my house was getting consistently attacked by robbers because they believed that chinese people were rich.

3. I mirror every culture to an extent. I'd say that this mirror is what makes me who I am. Unfortunately, since I don't think there's a country that quite embodies my mirror, it's very difficult for people to fully accept me the way I am. I only show parts of the mirror at any one time, depending on who my audience is.

4. In Malaysia, that would be me, since this is my birth and passport country. I think I've been protected from it in Malaysia to a large extent since most of my friends come from international schools, so nobody has ever really given me grief for not knowing my culture as well as I should. Australia is also very similar. Since in this country, everyone who comes to Australia 'MUST want to become Australian', everybody assumes that I am an Australian. And when I politely remind them that I am in fact a foreigner, they assume that I will take on citizenship eventually. Which is annoying since I have no intentions to do so.

Mine is hardest to easiest

1. Hidden Immigrant (Korea)
That's pretty much how I am in Korea
It's hardest because people will never give
u break for it (they expect me to act and think
like them, and get puzzled if I don't, especially
since I'm not a foreigner. But then local Koreans
who don't know me well see me as "foreigner")
At least it's getting better because more and
more Koreans are going outside of Korea
Once a while, I think that local Koreans are more
opened than Koreans living abroad (example:
Korean-Americans) about learning different kinds
of culture and 'seeing the world' (Note that
I said 'once a while')
Walking around in Seoul with American fashion
last year was creepy and weird experience,
since people there made me felt that I was
poorly dressed and that I am an outsider
It makes it easier that I am still fluent at the
language, still have patriotism and pride for
Korea, and that some of my point of views
are same as young Koreans

2. Foreign (Bangladesh and any other countries that I visited
Oh, forgot to include that U.S. is still in that category
for me somehow)

It gives me the excuse to act foreign since
nobody expects me to know the norms of
their culture, the locals will give me a break
Therefore, it gives me a lot of time to learn
the language and culture customs
It's expected anyways to get culture shock and
vice versa in foreign countries, while in
the passport country, we expect to fit in
and are expected to be fit in, so there's
much more disappointments
These are the reasons that while it's hard
still, it's less harder than to be a hidden immigrant

3. Adopted (U.S.A.?)
It's easier since people treat you like you belong
there and you feel the same way
Still, there are always a people who are going to
treat you completely like a foreigner (which
happens to me at States, and although I have
no patriotism and loyalty for States, it frustrates
me)
Sometimes, that even includes a document
such as passports and visas

4. Mirror (Korea?)
It's definately the easiest category to me, since
this is a category that we would have to worry
the least when it comes to fitting in, but I got
out of that category when I was 8 yrs old, so
it's not on my dictionary anymore lol
If I live there permanently as an adult (which
I would never do), I could be a mirror to some
extent, but not a full one ever again

P.S.: I did adopted a lot of American culture
to myself and feel belong in there somehow,
but there are still lots of parts of American culture
that I would never and cannot adopt to myself
Besides, it's hard when ppl there try to figure
what I am, and I can't answer it
(ironically, it's not the "Where are u from? question
it's questions like "Are you an International student?"
etc)
I came to U.S. partly dragged by my mother,
but more for searching for individual freedom
and to get better education
Now that I found it, I'm starting to question if
U.S. is truly a place
One more reason...I feel trapped in this country
In one sentence, U.S. is between 'foreign' and
adopted to me

hm ... i think i like the phrase "native foreigner" better than "adopted" -- find it more explanatory.

concerning the issues of "mirrors" i've thought about it and think what's meant is maybe people who have lived most of their life in a host country and assimilated very well, but still somewhere have an awareness of "being" somewhere "deep down" different, maybe just for the knowledge that their parents came from a different country.

that's most immigrant kids, no?

but then, such a person is still not a 100% "mirror" of the locals because i think that this type of knowledge may be pretty significant to a person's life (e.g. the kid may decide when an opportunity surfaces to trace back its roots. s/he may also be conscious that in some sense the host country's history is not her/his history. etc.).

maybe what's meant by the "mirror" definition in the TCK book by "thinking alike" is just that the general thinking / reasoning / emotional style of the immigrant is sufficiently like that of the surrounding society for them not to clash. the "TCK-ness" would consist in a specific knowledge of "roots".

but still, i don't think this makes sense.

Yes, I agree with u guys:

"how can a one be a mirror, and yet be truly a TCK?"

I SO agree with that

However, I think it is the matter of "degree"

For example, if I ever (yeah, I WISH...) assimiliate with Taiwaneses, then I may become a "mirrow". Not 100%, u c?

But at least.... I start learning more and more about them and think a bit more like them (after yrs)

Although I know it is so hard.... almost impossible...

My final thought: No, we can never be 100% mirrow AND be a true TCK. Bc, ironically, *TCK is just anything BUT mirrow*!!!! XD!

Isn't it, guys?!?!?!

(Maybe I am 100% hidden immigrant in my first yrs of repatriation, but if I stay here for the rest of my life... maybe?.... I'd be 5% mirrow and 95% hidden immigrant= =.....

..............................................

To Selando

Forget about ur older knowledge of the word "adopted"

Bc according to the TCK book author, "adopted" simply means the exact same thing as "foreign native" (Although I'm super okay with this term u come up with and even like it, we just need a common (more "scientific", or "technical", term for it, so we use "adopted")

Also, forget about ur older knowledge of the word "foreigner"

This is copy paste:

Foreign: Think different, look different
Adopted: Think alike, look different
Mirrow: Think alike, look alike
Hidden immigrant: Think different, look alike

As simple as that!!

Good luck!

correction,

as one might see I mixed "native foreigner" and "foreign native" around during my last post, this was unintentional. truthfully the word order is very important. it's just really late, and I really can't think right now about language. I know the first word is the modifier of the second, so... i'm thinking "foreign native" would be the correct one. yah it must be. but as i said, my brain is shutting off for the night. if someone can help me, I'd be grateful. haha. (btw it's stuff like this which makes it really embarrassing being a "Hidden Immigrant", English is my main language, and yet i suck at it, and it can be embarrassing to ask questions about ones native language)

ok I'm out for the night!

gis reskribo

I've been doing a lot of thinking about these 2 category, and although i feel like a hidden immigrant now in my parents home country, i realize that my up bringing wasn't exactly like a "foreigner" and "adopted" doesn't seem to me the write word or definition, to how was raised.

I therefore thought of a new term for my upbringing, "foreign native". this is kind of like the opposite of "hidden immigrant" in my opinion. It's when someone is raised in a culture around an ethnic group different then their own. They identify themselves as a sub culture, but my also consider themselves part of the greater culture around them.

people who might consider themselves "foreign natives" could be:

Amish people (in the US, with there own language, culture and lifestyle)

White SAfricans (many of them are from families who lived in SA for generations and they consider themselves "Africans" despite not being black)

Roma people in Europe (lived in Europe for centuries, and yet are look at as outsiders by many)

Children of Immigrants (especially if they look different!)

Chinese people in Malaysia or Indonesia

Any minority ethnic group of any country who are still look at as outsiders.

Me, and other TCKs like me, who spent almost all of their lives (often including birth) in a country, they consider their own, they consider themselves natives, but are often look at by the majority, as "foreigners".

In my own life, i have been under 3 different categorizes of "foreigner" 1 being "foreigner (or tourist)", the other being "hidden Immigrant", and another being "native foreigner".

"foreigner (tourist)" is the feeling i got when i visited Thailand, and Mexico. While their I was a true foreigner because i couldn't speak the languages, and i didn't know much about the culture, although i was happy to learn, I considered myself a foreigner, and the locals did to.

"hidden immigrant" is the feeling I've gotten since i moved to my parents birth country, and my passport country of Canada. I look like everyone, and i don't have any accent, therefor the locals consider me as a native, though i see myself as a foreigner.

"native foreigner" was the majority of my life, from birth to age 18 while i lived in Taiwan. I knew i looked different, my family culture was different then most of my friends cultures, but i felt comfortable with this fact and, this is my country even if most of the locals considered me a foreigner, i consider myself a native. So just like a White SAfrican calls himself African, I call myself Asian, or more specifically Taiwanese.

Perhaps "adopted" means the same thing as "native foreigner" (i'm not really sure if it dose) but either way, I don't like the term "adopted" since it sounds more like an adult expat, who lets say moves to a new country, learns the culture, and language, and makes a conscious decision to call their new country home. Something an Immigrant would do. a "native foreigner" is just a person who grew up as a minority, but considers the country they live in to be equally theirs.

sorry I've written much more then i planned to, and most likely repeated myself a few times.

So i'm wondering, can anyone relate to my new definition of "native foreigner"? or does anyone disagree with me?

also i agree with wizard of oz,

how can a one be a mirror, and yet be truly a TCK? perhaps I'm closed minded, but i just don't see mirror being TCK. I guess one could say, for example a military brat, lived on a base in another country and where therefore exposed to mostly their own culture. but then gain, they wouldn't be 3rd CULTURE kid. they'd just be a kid who lived in another country, but remained the same culture as their parents. or perhaps I'm understanding the term "mirror" incorrectly?

actually i think it's hardest maybe when the people from the country you finally or deep down somehow consider "your own" (in my case, my parents' country) start treating you like a foreigner once you tell them your history. "I've lived abroad for 20 of my 24 years" and the look in your interlocutor's eyes changes. suddenly they start explaining you things. patronizing a little bit, being a little bit protective. they mean well but you feel odd.

what's this called? do others have this experience?

I have experience of being a hidden immigrant and a foreigner. In my own experience, being a foreigner feels "liberating" -- so I guess "easier" than being a hidden immigrant.

ME THE SPY

I feel like a hidden immigrant in both my home and first host cultures. (I'm European and have lived only in Europe so far.) I often joke about it, describing this state of mind as a kind of "spy" identity :) Since I emigrated for the first time at age 4, it's pretty much the only thing I've every known. I've always felt "odd" and "strange" but never understood what the matter is. Now I know it was my biculturality -- the feeling that I am two different persons in two different places. I'm Polish with a part of my life lived in Germany -- those people all look the same and the cultural differences, at least on the surface, are not as striking as say they would be if I were from a different continent. Both cultures use forks, chairs, shake hands etc. But they socialize in different ways, raise their kids in differnt ways, celebrate their holidays differently, and -- the emotional tone is different. The hidden complexes are different and the historical / social / political consciousness is different. As a child (and even now) I felt this but had no way to conceptualize or verbalize it. I was sensitive to the "depth" differences -- issues of value, priorities, different logics of discourse, but a schoolchild has no language to speak about these things.

CONFUSION

Anyways, so that's I think the bad thing about being a hidden immigrant -- the confusion in myself. Which is amplified by the sensation that constantly others expect me to behave in ways which I either cannot figure out or have a resistance to conforming to (why? because I deeply hold some conflicting values / views -- but I can't even put them in words).

FOREIGNER

Being a foreigner I find liberating -- especially an "obvious foreigner", when it's not just my accent but even my skin colour -- because, again I agree with the previous post, people expect me to behave oddly in the first place. The situation is transparent to both me and them. How they see me corresponds with how I see myself. It can be initially odd to be the only white person in a group of Thais or Pakistanis, but with some practice I think I learned to enjoy the role -- smiling, asking questions, trying new ways.

=> the crucial advantage of being an obvious foreigner over hidden immigrant existence is maybe the permission to ask questions. It also makes for a lot of the fun. A hidden immigrant feels awkward asking questions. I guess because either you have to explain your life history at every step, or people will classify you as "odd" or "slow" or whatever. (I've never openly discussed the issue with anyone from my home culture -- should.)

TRACES OF ADOPTION

A very rudimentary experience of adoption. I've always enjoyed studying other cultures and especially religions through books, and picking up bits of languages and other cultural, geographical, and historical context. For example I know the arabic and devanagari alphabets, have knowledge of Buddhism and Islam. I have lived with Malaysian muslims. I question foreigners I meet about their cultures and daily habits, and find it easy and enjoyable to adopt some of these as my own (specific foods, ways of brewing tea, ways of sitting, phrases, etc. which I like -- I don't feel like anything is "foreign" to me once I've tried it). Recently I've made new Pakistani friends in the UK. I enjoy their company, observe, ask questions. I've picked up on some things -- when to say insha'allah and how to brew tea. But when a new person joins the group, they assume my knowledge is zero. They consider it necessary to explain to me who the prophet muhammad was, or excuse themselves for doing things that they think I'll find "odd" -- which actually to me have a familiar warmth.

This thing can hurt a little bit -- now, my "adoption" is just the trace of an adoption anyways -- but I find people accept me pretty soon once we interact a bit. So I think that's ok. It may be even nicer than being a total foreigner -- part of the community, but maybe being allowed extra space for looking odd. ? Or is my case an exception?

I can imagine that it may be painful if you get very attached to your adopted community, but have to prove to every new member you meet that you are not a foreigner. ?

Overall, I think I'd agree -- hidden immgrant is hardest, foreigner next, then adopted.

I don't really get how a TCK can be a mirror -- anyone explain me? I mean, if you think alike and look alike -- then what makes you TCK?

What are you when people from your home and host cultures look the same and you can to some degree play both roles? Schizophrenic? :)

I'm assuming "adopted" and "mirror" are used as tck definitions here. but i'm not sure what they mean (i probably read a defintion, but i can't remember, where or what they mean). can someone give me a definition of those words in a tck sense? taking those 2 terms out, I'd have to agree that Hidden Immigrant is the hardest for me now. Being a foreigner was always hard to, but i was raised as one, and now I'm so used to being a foreigner, that i can't live without being one. So now what really gets me, is that I'm a foreigner in my passport country, but no body knows it, so that's why hidden immigrant is the worst for me. Also, when your a foreigner, people are often interested in learning about you, when your a hidden immigrant, they just think your showing off, or starving for attention.

Starting from the easiest:
Adopted
Foreigner
Mirror
Hidden Immigrant

I choose it this way because "Adopted" is, first and foremost, a choice. If you've chosen it, then you know it for yourself that it may not naturally be yours but you realize that difference too. There's nothing hiding.

I had a bit of trouble deciding which would be next between Foreigner and Mirror. But then I realized that TCKs, and humanity in general, are far too varied to fit one culture exactly. You'll always have something about you that's different from the rest, TCKs in particular. To simplify it for yourself and for others, it may as well be that you're from a different culture altogether, and that everyone know it too.

Besides, too often you'll think you're a Mirror when really, you're a Hidden Immigrant, hidden too, from yourself.

And I think being a Hidden Immigrant is the hardest thing of all. You're different, but you might not know it, and certainly most of your peers don't think so. Yet there's that itch that you can't scratch about what feels different that you can't explain. Or if you can, your peers wouldn't understand.