This website is a very good resource for any tck. As much as many of us move around quite frequently, and are forced to change countries rapidly, my situation is quite different. I’ve been living in Mexico City since I was about 9 years old. Originally, I was too young to actually have any kind of opinion about this drastic change in my environment, I had only been out of my country twice, and both of the places I went were no where near the equator. Now I go to a French school and I have ever since I got here. In middle school I had no trouble making friends or feeling connected. It wasn’t up until the last couple years of high school when people really started evolving and becoming themselves that I realized how different I was. Suddenly, I couldn’t relate to anyone. No one made sense to me, nor I to them. I haven’t had to adapt to many social situations, but I have had to immerse myself into a three way culture. I didn’t realize up until recently that my vision of the world is so unique and different, nevertheless it does not help the social situation. I was so glad to hear that people like me do exist, we are a real, concrete sub-culture, and we all suffer from the same problems. True, I have not had to move around a lot, but I have not had an easy time trying to “fit in”. We are qualified as feeling “out of sync” with our peers, and I do feel that way. My identity is another, it is unique to me and as much as there are other tcks out there, they will never have shared my experience.

I believe that everything has to do with change. Each and every human being adapts to change in a different way, depending on how they were raised and who they are. And this difference is multiplied when the change magnifies. I have a horrible tendency to cling to people who have a strong sense of community outside of their family and who have stable, non-changing lives. I slowly started to resent and become jealous of these people, and I tried very hard to be like them. But, for many obvious reasons, that experiment failed. I need to realize that, as much as I wish for this strongly, there is no one that has my identity.

My education is flawless and my results impeccable. Typical of the over-achieving sub-culture to which I belong. That doesn’t pull away from the fact that this ends up meaning nothing. We tcks are all over-achievers; we try so hard at things, that we sometimes end up veering away from the actual point in life, a quest for love to receive and most importantly to give to others. I am slowly starting to realize that comparing myself to others is completely unfair, that I am, and always will be, different. What really matters in life are the people you meet and the special bonds you create. My situation has deprived me of any sense of belonging or connection.

The world, once you’ve discovered it, is a very small and solitary place. I crave a life where everything is simple and easy, where I can just walk out my door and go where I choose. I dream of a life not where I conform, but where people accept excentrisme in a welcoming and understanding way. Maybe we are not enough to be seen as “normal” yet, but I hope one day society will be more understanding, not just for my sake, but for those who are lucky enough to have the chance to be immersed into different cultures but that must accept the disadvantages of being very different from everyone else.

I hear that we suffer from something called “delayed adolescence”, we live our teenager years well into our 20’s, and I understand and fully grasp that. Now a 17 year-old, I see myself wanting to live a normal teenager life, and seeking that out in my university years. Whenever I watch a movie or a series on TV that portrays a “normal” high-school setting, I get this very strange feeling of nostalgia for something that I ironically have never had, and will never have. Sure, there are many people out there just like me, that will never have that kind of experience, and that brings a certain amount of relief, but it does not make that emptiness go away.

I love Mexico, but not with all my heart. Every time I go back to my passport country I am glad to be back, but then crave to be somewhere else. But it is not home. No where is home, yet everywhere is home. And this is what makes all the pain, loneliness and suffering worth while: your home is everywhere.

I, myself, am someone who enjoys there time spent alone, and I have learned that loneliness will play a large part in my life. Once I return to my passport country, I am ready to face the many differences I will have with my fellow peers. But this will enrich my culture as much as there own.

We may also sometimes come off as bland or boring, is to be my understanding. I can understand that. We don’t open up easily and we tend to put up walls in mist not to get hurt. We do not interact with other people the same way. I perceive this as us thinking that there isn’t enough time, we are to busy to take time to forge a relationship, it needs to happen quickly, or it won’t happen at all.

My answer to the question “Where are you from?” is a unique one, no one else will answer the same as I would. I usually sigh, look the person straight in the eye, as if asking them “do you really want to know?” most people do. Before they’ve heard the answer. In the beginning, it was hard to grasp why it why it was so complicated for them to understand, now I fully grasp this.This is at least how I feel about everything, I am very glad to have found people who have the same kind of experiences as my own, and who are willing to share them