Springer comes to tckid!
Ok, not really, but my name’s Jerry, and Brice did give me the Springer treatment. So, those of you clicking here hoping for “Transvestite midgets and the nuns who love them,” I’m sorry.
I originally came to this site on behalf of my young children, who due to my wife and I will encounter some of the mixed bag of feelings that come with living abroad and moving around. I am finding information about just this sort of thing, but I’ve also been finding something else that surprises me a bit, and has generated more questions than answers.
Hi, my name is Jerry, and I’m not a TCK.
(if you’re at all familiar with AA meetings in the US, that may be good for a snicker)
Really, after some of the interesting bio’s and stories I’ve read on here, I just don’t fit the TCK category in terms of cultural exposure, language, constant moves and loss of friendships…I’m just not there. Our children are heading down that path…it’s a more immersive experience for them, being in school…but at this point, they’re ahead of me.
What was totally unexpected for me was how much I could relate to much of what I’ve read. People who feel like they’re on the outside looking in. People who catch flak about being a bit of a loner. People who blend in but don’t really feel like they fit in. There is much of this I completely relate to, and I can’t help but wonder why. What could a person from a rooted and stable environment possibly have in common with a roaming vagabond?!
I may hang my $0.02 (NZD) out there from time to time if I feel like I have something to contribute. Part of it is exploring the waters to gain a bit more understanding about myself. Feel free to tell me where to go with my opinion if I’m way off the mark.
Jerry Spicher
I grew up on a remote wheat farm in Montana (USA) for the first 18 years, moved to a larger town (still in Montana) for college and the beginning part of my career for the next 15 years, and I recently moved to New Zealand with my wife and two young children.Related Posts
8 Comments to “Springer comes to tckid!”
February 27th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Hi Jerry! Met you before.
I’m interested in how your kids are heading down this road. In what way?
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February 27th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Perhaps that wasn’t the most descriptive choice of words.
What I was shooting for there was, as they participate in decidedly non-US customs, learn non-US-familiar languages (Maori), develop friendships which they then will have to let go next time we move, they will be travelling the path of something more definable as third culture. They’re far more malleable than my old bones, and more likely to absorb little nuances that I probably don’t even really notice till someone points them out. Nuances that would make them stand out were we to repatriate down the line.
That “down the road” bit could probably be taken as some kind of “highway to hell” doom and gloom thing from which they can’t escape, but I wasn’t shooting for any negative connotations!
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February 27th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
WOOO jerry! LOL, talked to you a couple of times before
if your kids start to show some odd (possibly tck) behaviour in their teens, im the person to talk to HAHAHA see ya around
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February 27th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Hi, Jerry. That’s interesting that you can relate to a lot of things on here even though you are not a TCK. I wonder if there is a certain set of personality traits or characteristics that makes one more likely to chose a global nomad lifestyle as an adult?
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February 28th, 2008 at 4:20 am
Hi Jerry!
I missed you by minutes in the chatroom the other day
A belated welcome to TCKid.com!
Your experience sounds like what someone (I forgot who) call TCA - “Third Culture Adult” (correct me if I’m wrong). My parents are not TCKs but they are feeling the same “don’t fit in” even though they’ve never experienced the physical characteristics of a TCK. And this same “characteristics” I see in my TCK friends’ parents as well. I feel very much comfortable around parents of my TCK friends. They just seem more “worldly”.
Does this make sense? LOL
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February 28th, 2008 at 5:12 am
Some non-TCKs are just more comfortable being around TCKs. It’s because they’re more open minded and comfortable with dealing with the unknown. Maybe you’re one of them?
My Swedish partner for example I don’t think even left his little town in Sweden until he moved in with me here in Spain, but he’s gungho when it comes to trying new types of foods and doesn’t whine endlessly that the flour and eggs and bread and butter are different from Sweden. I heard the Americans and Japanese do this endlessly in the Philipines and in Japan. I hear the Brits whining loudly in Spain for British food - even though Torremolinos is fish & chips country. It’s funny how some people even start to criticize the color of egg yolks saying it’s not the same as back home :p
Just as some people have more of an apptitude for playing a guitar or playing tennis….some people are just more open to interacting with different people?
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February 28th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
So, before I go into the “We’re glad to have you, and we understand” speech, I just have to say, I LOVE that you have Bill the Cat as your icon!
Anyway, we’re glad to have you and we understand. A lot of my friends who haven’t ever left their own state relate to many TCK qualities–I think humans will always be nomadic, and if you’ve ever felt ostracised by society (by not getting some vague pop culture reference etc.) then anyone can relate to the TCK experience.
I also agree with Cynthia about TCA’s–just because you didn’t grow up TCK doesn’t mean you can’t still end up one.
Hope we help you and your family!
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February 28th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
This made me think about my boyfriend. He’s always been an outsider for most of his life because he was a victim of racism so he knows how I feels too. Maybe that’s why we are together LOL
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