When your friends at school ask you what your favourite band is and you reply with a random 70's band.

When you can make a game out of anything.

When you can recognise China on a world map before you can recognise England.

When Mcdonalds seems like heaven on earth.

When your biggest nightmare is your flight being cancelled.

when you walk into burger king and ask where the chili sauce is :)

I have to agree with rafael, the "label" TCK makes me feel like I belong to something that I actually fit into. Calling me an "American" doesn't work because I don't totally feel American. Calling me "human" is ok, but what kind of human am I? Our TCK experiences have shaped us in unique ways, yet TCK's share those unique ways and in our feelings of other-ness and isolation, we need a group that understands US. That's why being a TCK is such a positive thing.

I can't agree with you, Mark. The term TCK has been a great help for so many of us. It's like a flag that we can rally around to give each other hope and strength.

It's really hard for us to justify our social identity in today's world order, which expects everybody to belong to nation, at least at a very basic level. What you propose, namely to be content with being a homo sapiens, is not a particularly strong front when we deal with people in every day life.
The problem is, that the majority of the world's population, which identifies with some particular nation, sees nationality as being something "more" or "better". I think you can call it a caste system. Someone of a particular nationality sees themself as Human + [insert Nationality], and if you tell them that you feel Human - they interpret "You are ONLY Human", giving them a reason to look down upon you (hence also rivalry between nations).
One of our greatest challenges is to learn to deal with the existing (sociopolitical-) Systems, and Anarchy(NO allegiances except to yourself) doesn't help to achieve most existing goals.

I recommend you to read the following post: Hello, I'm Nika
It has some very good stories about the experience of finding out you're a TCK. In particular, comment 19 really reflects the inclusive spirit of 'TCK culture':

"... I am able to comfortably and securely say that I belong somewhere. Notice how none of us felt the need to qualify our identities nor did any of us question anyone else's story. (Sigh of relief) We are our own culture, welcome!"

TCK is about bringing people together; and not keeping certain people out. I cringe when I hear someone use the term TCK as a reason to belittle other people, but from my experience, that only occurs marginally in our internet community. Therefore, my heart warms up every time I think of TCK 'culture'.

After all, are the children of supposed immigrants to western countries not TCKs as well?

-when you cringe at such a term like TCK because it works to label you as part of a culture just like any other (when you know you're not).

After all, it was not a "kid" that coined this term. It was the sociologist mother of apparent TCKs that did.

Here's a thought, think of it as the anti-culture. I pledge allegiance to NO FLAG, no country, no nationality, no race. I am HUMAN, and this is what I love about myself and the way I was brought up. Home is the planet we love and grew up in.

In a global system intent on free trade, movement of resources and capital why is there still need for VISAs? Western citizens can travel freely to third world countries and are called expats, living the good life with drivers and maids and their children with western educations. Third world peoples that finally make it to the shores of a western country, are called immigrants, doing the menial jobs that westerners no longer wish to fill. It's ironic, but it's reality.

An interesting sociological research can look into the thoughts of your so called TCKs on such subject matter.

-When you get homesick and culture shock everywhere you go,
including your passport country

-When you wish you could be fluent in at least one more language
and envy ppl who speak 3+ languages

-When you hate all those government bureaucracies about visas

-When your relatives are amazed at the fact about how scattered
your family members are at the globe (my relatives [99%
of them r still at Korea] gave that comment to my brother and
I few yrs ago when my dad was living at Korea, my brother
was at Canada for his undergrad studies-he's at Korea right now, n me n my mom were living at states lol)
living at

you become jealous when a foreigner likes your home country more than yourself!!

35) When other Germans seriously think Zimbabwe is a sickness, not a country (!!!) [ignorance]

Ironic because they're GERMans.
(This pun only available in English)

Y'all just read my mind - its awesome and its true - its funny and yet soo frustrating with the ignorant comments some people make about other cultures ... how do I join this group - oh please please please ;)

well i've written a note on being a TCK but since none of you are my "friends", i've pasted it into here:

You know you're a TCK when....

1) when you can have an english conversation, and then turn around and speak kalanga!...

2) When your brother has said a sentence in three different languages.

3) when you don't know where home is, but everyone else seems to know for you.

4) When you're in Botswana, you say you're from Germany, when you're in Germany, you say you're from Botswana.

5) Botswana? is that a country? WHAT? u hav internet? do you live in mud huts? What deg does your house look like? (No one gets it when I tell them the only difference is that the taps look different...oh, and we dont have central heating).

6) When you get asked: "Kann man bei "euch" eigentlich krank werden? Also ich meine schnupfen oder so? Hattest du schon mal eine Erkältung?" ie. "Can you actually get sick where you live? I mean have you ever had a cold?" I'm sick as a dog as i type this....

7) 33 degrees celsius is room temperature (ok, random and off topic, but still)

8) Do you speak African? (Noooo...Do you speak European?)

9) When you're kinda embarrased you still don't know how to ride the right subway at the age of 14... (in Europe)

10) When you're back in Botswana, and the french teacher keeps emphasising that you go DOWN into the subway - you look at your friends, roll your eyes and say "No-o-o-o-o-o-o-o... we go UP into it." (it seems obvious to you, but no one else gets it....)

11) When you have been in three different countries in two months.

12) When you can relate to most things on this list and burst out laughing!

13) when you can rate all the different airports by their cleanliness, friendliness, size etc.

14) When many of your friends have hardly ever left the country, and you have been to about 14 different countries (counting airports)

15) When you go visit 'home' and miss the place where you usually live, then return to it and miss 'home'

16) When you really wish you knew where you came from

17) When you know you can't really return to the place you once lived in, because everything's changed anyway and you've moved on without it

18) When you've eaten mopane worms, and chicken intestines.

19) When you get on facebook @ random times so you can chat to your friends in the US, Australia, or EU.......

20) when you have an ornaments shelf above your desk, and it has pictures from a Safari, and bits&bobs from Germany, England, France, the US....

21) when you have clothing from more than two countries.

22) when half the time you cant remember what language you were speaking with a friend a moment ago....

23) when you go to school here in Botswana, and start speaking German to kb even tho she only speaks english....

24) when many of your friends are also TCK's because you find it hard to relate to other people. The only problems is, TCK's move every couple of years...ever had friends in five different continents?

25) When you can totally understand british, and american accents, even though you're in AFrica. Everyones failing english b/c of the new teachers british accent, but you just find it amusing...(bran bun / muffin, "Are you going to have a go now?" )

26) When you can switch from British to American English etc. Even though you're never been to America. [Switching between cooldrink/soda, rubber/eraser, bin/trash can]

27) When you get really annoyed at german ads 'wanting to teach you american'. There's no such thing!

28) When you cant get used to left / right lane driving.

29) When your parents driving changes from country to country, e.g.
* in Germany you wait at a Zebra crossing for a car to stop
* in Botswana, you have to start across it fearing your death b/c otherwise the cars will never notice you........

30) when you kinda miss Germany a lot even though you know you belong in Botswana and wouldnt' trade that for anything.

31) when you know that in 1-2 years you'll move [back] to Germany, even though you've never lived there in the first place.

32) when you wanna stay here forever!!!!!

33) when half your diary/journal entries, or computer documents, start in one language and end in another.

34) You're writing with someone on a German children's website (for horselovers) and they ask you if you're white, after you've told them 'you come from Africa'. I was like.."Yeah but i hav a massive sunburn"..... they don't get it. I'd just told them my parents are German!

35) When other Germans seriously think Zimbabwe is a sickness, not a country (!!!) [ignorance]

whoa, Lizzy, that's is a looong list you've got! skimmed through, and yeah, most things sound very familiar :-)
was just using technique described in #492 -pretending not to know one of your other languages when convenient - today!

You know your a TCK when you speak "spanglish" on a daily basis and you understand a little bit of italian, french, portugues ... not much but enough to get a beer and where is the bathroom ? .. jajaja

This huge list of ideas was provided by TJ. Some of them might already be up here, but there's a *lot* here..

1. You can't answer the question, "Where are you from?"
3. The vast majority of your clothes are hand-me-downs.
4. You speak 2 languages but can't spell eaither one.
5. You flew before you could walk.
6. The U.S. is a foreign country to you.
7. You embarass your self by asking what swear words mean.
8. You have a passport but no drivers license
12. You consider a city 500 miles away to be "very close"
13. Your life story uses the phrase "Then we went to.." five times.
14. You prefer a land rover to a lamborghini
16. You think in grams, meters, and liters.
17. You speak with authority on the subject of air travel.
20. You worry about fitting in, yet wear a native wrap around the dorm
24.you don't know hoe to use nintendo
26. strangers remember when you were "this tall..."
28. National geographics makes you homesick
30. You sort your friends by continent
33. The nationals say, "Oh, I knew an American once..." and then ask if you know them.
35. you are greatful for the speed and efficiency of the US postal service
36. you realize that furlough is not a vacation.
37. You'd rather never say hello then have to say good-bye.
38. you wince when people mispronounce foreign words
39. You've spoken in dozens of churches but aren't a pastor.
40. Furlough means you are stuffed everynight and you have to eat it all to be polite.
47. Someone brings up the name of a team and you get the sport wrong.
49. you believe vehemently that foot ball is played with a round spotted ball.
51. You know there is no such thing as an international language.
52. you were scared at the time but now you tell the story as a great adventure.
55. You realize that is really is a small world after all
56. you never take "basic necessites" for granted
57. You feel a polka dotted passport would be appropriate.
58. You watch a movie set in a country, and you know what the nationals are REALLY saying into the camera
59. Rain on a tile patio or a corrugated metal roof is one of the most wonderful sounds in the world.
60. you know how to pack
62. a musical instrument can be made out of anything, even a tambourine made from bottle caps nailed to a board.
65. there's always room for at least ONE more person in the car.
67. you haggle with the check out clerk for a lower price.
68. You own appliances with three types of plugs, know the difference between 110 & 220 volts, 50 & 60 cycle current, and realize that a transformer isn't always enough to make your appliances work.
69. you fried a good number of appliances learning what you know in # 68.
72. You have about 50-60 "aunts" and "uncles" who are of no blood relation.
74. You get upset when people don't finis their food and feel worse when they scrape it into the trash.
87. you feel odd being in the ethnic majority.
93. You marvel at the cleanliness of the gas station bathrooms.
94. you instinctivel start ripping the news paper when you run out of toilet paper
97. You feel like you need to move after you've lived in the same place for 2 months.
107. It scares you more to send your kids to public school then on an unescorted plane trip.
108. you think visa is a document stamped in your passport not a plastic card you carry in your wallet.
113. someone asks where you enjoy hanging out and you immediately think of the many happy hours spent in international airports.
115. the best word you can find to describe the US is "fake"
117. you go to a church you have never been to before and your picture is on their bulletin board.
119. the sole finally comes off your favorite pair of shoes, so you go looking for the traveling shoe repair man who will fix 'em better then new, right there on the sidewalk while you wait.
127. you automatically take your shoes off when you get home.
129. your living room looks like a little museum with all th "exotic" things you have around.
131. you consider a 3 year old piece of clothing to be practically brand new
133. you don't know whether to write the date and month/day/year or day/month/year or some version thereof
136. the best word for something is the word you learned first and you still use those words even if you now know what they are in english
137. the place you call home no longer exists.
139 you meclar (mix) you idiomas(languages) without even thinking about it
140 you embarrass yourself publicly by automatically picking up and using what turn out to be not so palatable expressions.
144. half of your phone calls are unintelligible to those around you
146. you wake up one day and realize you're not a foreigner anymore
147. you wake up a different day and realize you really still are.
148. when travelling around the world you feel at home in countries you have never been in before.
151. your parents ask you what certain words mean.
152. your best friend lives thousands of miles away.
153. the first thing you ask your parents on the phone is "what time is it?"
154. you wash Ziplocs and refold tinfoil for future use
155. you enjoy speaking a foreign language with a bad accent when you are with your friends to mock the pronunciation of other foregners.
156. You want to write "MK" in the "other" box under ethnic origin.
160. you go into withdrawl because you don't get time off for your "home" countries holidays.
164. you dream in a foreign language
165. you still hesitate before drinking water straight from the tap
166. you never know what to put for "permanent address"
170. you can quote your parents furlough sermons word for word.
171. you know they don't speak mexican in mexico
175. your idea of good accomodations is motel 6 right off the interstate.
176. you've cried in a cyber/ computer lab
177. you measure dsitance in time and time in days
179. no matter where you are in the world you don't feel as if you belong and vehemently defend the fact that you don't
180. you occasionally feel a cultural barrier between you and those who raised you and have no idea what to do about it.
181. you're sitting somewhere in the middle of middle class suburbia and a seemingly random word sets your mind off over time and space and leaves you devastated at the fac that you were where you were and that you could never go back to what you had.
183. you believe that your skin in impervious to sunburn and that your stomach can handle anything
186. getting mail is the highlight of your day.
189. your native friends know more english grammer then you but can't understand and english conversation.
190. you ask santa for a butter finger but told your gramma you wanted band-aids and scotch tape for christmas
195. adults want to pay you to teach them english.
199. your native friends ask if you know Micheal Jordan.
207. you spend hours walking down aisles in grocery stores not buying anything.
209. you consider parasites and dysentery appropriate dinner conversation.
212. you tell people what certain hand gestures mean in different parts of the world.
213. you stop in the middle of an argumentto find the translation of a word you just used
215. you pronounce Z as ZED to irritate americans
219. every 3 years you get an irresistable urge to move to a different country
220. you thnk living in one place your whole life is exotic
222. you're amazed at how empty US city buses are.
224. all of your clothes have name labels. Sometimes they even have your own name
230. you tell time by using a 24 hour clock
232. you know not to joke around at border crossings
235. you say something - not entirely devine - and your friend says "I thought you were a missionary kid.
239. you know your parents aren't going to move for a while when they throw out the pakcing boxes
240. you still listen for a dial tone before you dial a number.
242. your amazement with the softness of american toilet papaer is second only to your amazment that is actually tears at the perforations.
247. you ask US Dollars? when someone in the US gives you a price.
250. your high school friends are all over the globe.
254. you eat with your fingers.
260. you slip into another language when you're mad
262. you are skilled at pretending you know someone until you remember where they're from
263. you believe that to be able to converse in several languages is valuable but to remember to hold your tongue in one is pricless.
270. you ask the check ou clerk at walmart how she is and her family and garden and cow and...
274. after you tell someone where you're from they reply "my your english is very good" and you want to respond "why, thank you so is yours!"
277. you've never called an 1-800 number in your life.
278. you take if for granted that you get to go first in line at the missions conference potluck
280. you still occasionally miss the toys you had to get rid of when you moved.
283.you go to pick the beautiful flowers in the yard and someone tells you they're weeds.
285. you mail people birthday cards 2 months before their birthday
286 you have ever seen an adult buy and eat a happy meal at McDonalds.
288. you've been excited to get 2 - year old reader's digest.
289. you eat at someones house and don't ask what was in it until after the meal.
293. you have gone to church sunday morning in one state and sunday evening in another
299. you go "home" on furlough and get homesick.
300. you've heard too many people ask "which do you like better, this country or that one?"
307. peopl often put your country of birth in the wrong continent.
317. you ask your host if they "flush after every use?"
318. you leave a store at noon expecting it will close for lunch and a nap.
321. someone mentions Rogue's Gallery and you ask who Rogue is and what kind of art he collected.
331. you can come up with a substitute for any or all ingedients in a recipe.
332. people assume you live in contant danger, surrounded by savage, naked cannibals on a desert island, where you lived in a mud hut and rode a donkey to school.
333. you have this built in ability to create what you need from what you already have
335. you tell the clerk at the shoe store you wear a size 38 and have no idea why he laughed so much.
338. you consider furniture purchases based on how sturdy, movable or easily dismantled they are.
343. "going home" means one thing and an entirely different thing to your parents.
347. you pull into a gas station expecting someone to run out yelling 'welcome'
351. you hear "love offering" and dream of how you'll spend it
356. in the US you get a strange feeling because no one is walking down the street.
358. people say "say something" but it isn't because you fainted. It's because they want to hear you speak.
360. you say sorry for everything weather it was your fault or not.
361. people don't understand that you could be from africa and still be whit
362. you don't know how to make hungry jack pancakes and you wish you could just make them from scratch
365. you can't find all the letters and symbols you need on your keyboard
366. you get lost in wal-mart
370. you claim no place as home but you do homeschooling
371. your grandparents actually wish you were around more.
375. you are anxious for furlough to be over so that life can get back to "normal"
377. you really do believe in miracles.
382. you tell someone where you're from and you have to explain for the next 1/2 hour.
390. the concept of dying for your faith is much easier to grasp then beng ridiculed about your clothes
393. you get marriage proposals from nationals who view you as a walking green card.
396. you've never seen starwars
403. you can convince your friends that you speak 5 languages when you really only know 3.
404 you realice that they will believe just about anything you say as long as it's weird enough
410. you can't understand why people are mad at you for being 15 minutes late
411. you try to sack your own groceries at the store.
416. your host in your passport country catches you admiring the way the salt flows freely from the shaker.
417. you eat to live instead of live to eat.
418. you gain 10 pounds evertime you go back to the states.
422. you shudder at the amount of make-up worn by high school girls
424. you laugh at the different hairstyles around.
430. you really know what "roughing it" means
434. in the US on furlough you accidently speak to darked skinned americans in your other language
436. you take a secret delight in seeing the US get trampled in world competitions by 3rd world countries
446. Everytime you smell clorox you think of fresh vegetables.
450. you describe americans as though you are not one
459. Nationals think your dad works for the CIA
464. all your life you have been identified by your parents professions and now you want one of your own.
469. you think that motorcycles and mopeds are practical year round transportation for the whole family
476. you argue at length about whether or not to cross your sevens
479. americans consider your home town a tourist spot.
480. you talk in your sleep but not in english.
482. you sweep the carpet floor with a broom
487. people simply don't understand
489. you are singled out in sunday school to share about "your country"
492. you pretend not to know your "other language" when convenient.
494. your puns cross 3 languages
498. you know it's possible to laugh and cry at the same time.
499. the most prescious friend you have is the one who promises yo never leave you or forsake you
500. Heaven is the only place you can call home.

The left handed eating is also bad in India because they clean themselves after using the toilet with their left hands so they eat with their right hands only. The cleaning is often done with a small bowl of water....no toilet paper, hence the idea of the left hand being unclean.

I also knit the Continental way; my American knitting friends hate me because that way is so much faster than the American (aka British) way!

I learned to eat the European way so I never switch my fork or cut up all my food. That would just be weird!

you can order a drink from Starbucks (or any other franchise) in more than one language.

I swear this has come in so handy in New York. Tourists seem to be intimidated by Starbucks in NY (I think it's all the grumbling NY'ers in the line behind them waiting to get their morning coffee while they are trying to figure things out).

I once had to help the barista explain to a French tourist the difference between a regular, light, and creme cappuccino.

Isa-

" When you're looking in your wallet for money and can only find money from other countries there instead"

My mom suggests that I just take them out of my wallet but I just can't bring myself to do it. (I've been carrying some around for years!)
Right now I have a combination of US money, Trinidadian coins, Spanish pesetas, Inclandic kronars, French centimes, a few p's, and some Canadian coins.

You know you're TCK when you realize most of your closest friends speak at least two languages and have lived in at least two different countries.

EDIT: "lol I know about the eating with the left hand in Muslim cultures. I'm too worried about my dominance creeping up on me so I usually resort to eating with a knife and fork or sitting on my left hand which is such a foreigner thing to do lol. "

I got distracted, I mean that I sit on my hand rather than use a knife an fork. I realize it's not the most elegant or appealing thing in the world but it does the job.

lol I know about the eating with the left hand in Muslim cultures. I'm too worried about my dominance creeping up on me so I usually resort to eating with a knife and fork or sitting on my left hand which is such a foreigner thing to do lol.

Its hard being left handed. I eat in a combination of European and US American style with my knife and fork. I hold my fork in my left hand at all times. I cut improperly so that I'm more dragging the food away from the knife with the fork than cutting and I only cut what I plan to chew at that time. I put the knife down and pick it up frequently. In short, I eat like an international lefthanded person lol. Improper in most cultures. When I was 6 I forgot how to eat with a knife and fork and when I say forgot, I just mean it felt strange to hold them in any manner so I just ate bread for a week lol.

Being left handed interfers with a lot of cultural exchanges but you just take it in stride.

I think that's probably why I like chopsticks so much. Ambidextrous utentils I've been using them since I was 3 but its not pretty when I try to pick up something big lol.

@ Cattt
English swear words combined with Danish sound affected in the worst way to my ears. They TRY too hard!! I also find Danes with tatoos and piercings look ridiculous, whereas I really like the look on people here. Well, most of them. I'm totally over the tramp stamp aka "slut butt" tats. SOOOOoooo over done.

It's the cultural context and interpretation the Danes get wrong on all counts, and it comes off just plain weird.

@ ElizabethD

I am right handed, but use my fork and knife european style, i.e. my knife never leaves my right hand nor my fork my left. I admit to being a snob about the American style where food is cut up into small bits and the fork is transfered to the right hand. I always wonder, are you feeding a child that all the food must be cut up first? (I TOLD you I was a terrible snob about this!!) It's also inefficient...XD.

The left hand comment refered to eating with ones hands in Muslim culture. The left hand is "dirty" so it is not done to serve food or feed oneself with that hand, regardless of handedness. If you do, it's very offensive and a terrible blunder.

HAHA Annette I'm left handed so I t find it too strange to change the way I eat with a knife and fork.

Whennnnn you sound like a foreigner speaking your native language.

When you plan the time of your meet ups with your friends by the culture they come from. Aka you tell some that the meeting is taking place half an hour before because they are culturally late, some people the actual time of the event because they are culturally on time, and some people that the meeting is fifteen minutes later than it is because they are culturally early so that they all get there around the same time

When people ask where I'm from, why my accent is funny, or how I can change it so easily.

When I find that I like a little bit of a lot of things. I have completely varied tastes for food, fashion and music.

I'm not picky with food and can eat anywhere at anytime.

I'm totally adaptable, with the tendency to go for the underdog or stereotypical nutty types, due to a large tolerance for weirdness on my part. All that moving makes you... different lol.

When I find myself back-tracking when I tell a story in order to get all the places and dates straight.

I break into different terms for certain things (like lift, flat or queue) PLUS a form of Taglish.

I have a string of different passports and had a little situation with the US Embassy here recently. It was all straightened out though. They were probably looking at them all like, what the hell?

I get some comment regarding my passport...mainly cos I have 3 passports pretty much stapled to each other and made into one. Hahahaha (reason for this is that my passports expired but the visas on the other ones were still valid)...I guess it's just a Filipino thing.

Sadly, I will lose my diplomatic passport on my next birthday. It's a Philippine foreign ministry policy.

Oh... and the passport control people always make fun of your passport. Or make some sort of remark about it.

Every time I go through Ireland they have something to say...

I love how the Danes steal english swear words and integrate them into their own little colloquiolisms...


when somebody mentions a country and you get sudden cravings for types of foods only found in that country.

i don't know how many TCK's that happens to... but it happens to me all the time... yes... sometimes I associate countries with food...it happens...

lol @ Annette...what a fun dinner date you are :P

When you can eat politely with your hands, with chopsticks or with a fork and knife - both European AND American style...

When you know that there is more than one style of chopsticks...

When you know why it is NOT okay to eat with your left hand in some places...

When you can make rude hand gestures in multiple cultural languages...

When you can swear colorfully in multiple languages...

When you know that swearing is different from country to country, f.ex. in English and Urdu it's usually s*xually based, but in Danish it's primarily religious or disaster based (most disgusting example translates to "cancer eat me")...

When you talk to immigrants and spin them out by saying, "oh, so you've been in the country longer than I have" ...

When you realise that the people you gravitate towards at work or university or school are all from other cultural backgrounds than the majority.

When you realise that white people are so BORING.

When you have no problem saying to a person of non-Anglo appearance, "so what's your family's cultural background?" ... I find this works much better than "where are you from", particularly if they're 3rd generation Australians from Islander background and they have a stronger Aussie accent than I do.

Regarding translating English...my experience is translating English of non-English native speakers for English native speakers XD

@ MsM LOL!!

"When you are officially a translator in a language everyone is speaking to one another (English) but no one understands (different English dialects/slang) you are in Wonderland"

Translating the directions we got from a man from "Southie" (Boston) for my Pakistani husband, and then HIS colonial english replies for the Bostonian.

Translating the speech of various Brits on assorted BBC dramas (I'm addicted to crime dramas like "Waking the Dead" and "Rebus") for my American husband.

The translations of English variants into something intelligible for another English speaker should be a separate topic!

...when you translate someone from London's english for a cat from Inglewood who cannot understand a word.

Than have to translate Inglewood slang into the Queen's English because she has no clue what the guy is saying.

When you are officially a translator in a language everyone is speaking to one another (English) but no one understands (different English dialects/slang) you are in Wonderland, lol...

lol @ OMAR

You know, I set my laptop to Pal region so I can watch NTSC on the TV. Than when I move, well, I guess it's time to invest in a portable, multi-region player, lol...

As far as Kat Williams..be the only "Caucasian" who can argue Nation of Islam politics like you came up in it and know the entire discography of Minnie Riperton better than someone who lived through it. I trip people the fugg OUT here, lol...

When someone sings you a Korean song and it sounds completely normal and natural even though you're not Korean.

How about (and this is a little similar to kimkaiser_111's) but when you're in America, and you say "we're citizens of Ghana, but we lived in Japan for 11 years" and they say "wow, are your parents in the military?" and you say "no, I just said that we're from Ghana..." and they say "but are your parents in the military?" and you say "yes, the military of GHANA sent us abroad." Wtf?

--When you measure distance in time (as in how long it takes to get there) and not in miles/kilometers.

I'm going to show my age....we never had to deal with NTSC/PAL DVDs but video tapes!

oh I've never had this problem with DVDs but I did with VHS...

a few more:
-when talking about your past, you use regions to refer to time periods (ex: country x is early childhood, country y is high school years) instead of using usual age "markers"
-when you have once had a choice between either staying with some you were in love with or moving (and probably never see them again) and you chose to move.
-when you lead a competition on how fast you can adapt to a new environment... and beat your own record before you realize that you were cheating as the new location's culture isnt drastically different

Oh Omar, you're so right. Those silly DVD regions used to be a huge pet peeve of mine until... well, you know. ;) Yarr matey!

Ok heres a few:

When a dvd is not working and you ask your non TCK friends "is this PAL or NTSC?" and they give you look like your an alien.

Your surprised when you don't see a water hose in the bathrooms

You truly understand ethnic humor i.e the ability to laugh at Kat Williams jokes when you fellow white non TCK's draw a blank

You are amazed what non TCK's consider traffic, when you your self have lived in countries where the driving is more dangerous than the Movie Mad Max

- When you give a shopping store clerk a pound coin, thinking that it was a dollar coin, and when she corrects you on it and asks whose it was all your friends turn to you as one and say "It's hers."

- When you're looking in your wallet for money and can only find money from other countries there instead.

when you can easily swich your main language of use because you've done it oh so many times (this mainly addresses countries or schools that accept only one main language as their own so you have to switch to adapt)...

ex: you went to a French school and were taught mainly in French but then switched to an American school that was taught in english

Also, you cringe when you vitness language teachers teach a language because you can easily see that they aren't nearly fluent in said language

when the basic traits you look for first in a good friend or bf/gf are cosmopolitanism, multi-culturalism and internationalism.
Makes you more excited when the person is mixed.
Makes you jump with joy when the person is a TCK.

you attend an international conference hosted by your university not because of the subject under discussion but because there would be people from abroad / your past homes

You know?

lol

When words like "cosmopolitan", "diverse", "multicultural" turns you on or piques your curiosity.

When I understand foreign students talking ill of other people in their native tongue. (You bet I didn't understand you! haha)

When seeing someone's excitement on their faces when I've seen it a while ago in a foreign country.

The fact that non-TCKs might find this side of me arrogant but in fact I am just stating my experience.

"you mispronounce your name to make it easier for those around you to say
or
when asked your name you immediately spell it and let them pronounce it as they want"

I always do that if it's someone who's not Japanese. It was almost annoying when foreigners fluent in Japanese insisted on pronouncing my name correctly while speaking English because it just sounded wrong pronounced that way in that language!

With Chinese people I write down the characters and if they speak Mandarin they call me: Lin-Tzu(??). The funny thing is when they see the characters and pronounce it 'their' way - my name just makes a lot more sense to them (and you can see it on their faces lol).

Also when ever other person in your "host country" pronounces your name slightly differently so by the end you have at least 6 different names depending on the person.

Or my most recent TCK moment"...:

When you spell something wrong on facebook by using a different spelling of the same and you think it's right until ever one comments on your wall telling you that you can't spell and are an idiot for not knowing the difference between the two words.
:-)

Some funny ones from Warona lol

you mispronounce your name to make it easier for those around you to say
or
when asked your name you immediately spell it and let them pronounce it as they want

(both of which are followed by a 5 minute account of where your name is from, what it means and the obligatory "thanks" to the constant "that's so pretty!")

the flip side of which is...

you arrive in your "home" country and the immigration officer pronounces your name right as soon as he/she reads it and you smile and think "maybe your "home" country is not so bad..."
or
you mispronounce your name out of habit when introduced to someone from your "home" country and it takes 5 minutes of explanation before you finally realise you can just say your name as it should be said and they'll understand you!

you're getting married and:
your fiancé is from a different country than you, your 5 bridemaids live in 4 different countries, none of which are the two countries (yours and your fiancés) where the wedding(s) will take place nor the country you currently reside in now. you have to secure a date almost a year in advance so everyone can get a cheap ticket and you plan your honeymoon somewhere close to where the wedding will be because you'll be damned if you're getting on another plane to go anywhere but back home (which, presently, is in a different continent than your passport country).

ugh!

try this, of course i traveled/moved with my parents, but then after college i kept up with the norm. so now people still ask if my parents were in the military....ya, okay, i'm still moving with my parents in my mid-twenties, late twenties and early thirties. wt#$%@?

Yeah! I totally relate to this post. Finally someone who understands!!! I don't feel quite so alone anymore :) I'd also add
-when people insist on asking you what culture, country or nationality you belong and can't get around the fact that your answer would be "a little bit of everything and then also nothing".
So glad to have found this website.

another thing is that you can hold a conversation with people using 3 or 4 diferent languages in the same sentace and it dosnt evan bother you. or that you can say may i have the bill in 8 or 9 differnt ways.

i chip in on the facebook thread of this all the time. i don't want to repeat myself so i'll try think of some originals

but brice, that is too funny! i am trying to imagine you going around saying "i am so tlefa"! i giggle at the thought!

oh my goodness yes... people in the chatroom do know more lol. probably because we're all procrastinating in there together.

-who's experienced this: you're talking to someone and all of a sudden some strange accent pops out and you get the weird look

or, haha "You're so well-spoken! Where did you pick that up from?" Obviously not in this country.

- when you mix up languages and say words like "tlefa!" and get funny looks from people because of Warona!!

- when you chat for hours in the tckid chatroom with people all over the world and realize they know more about you than some of your friends and family members !

one of the ones I like is number 488: the road sign says "bump", adn five miles down teh road, you become curious, as you haven't felt anything.

I don't think it is on this site yet. I have it in a book but there are 500 reasons. It is called "You know you're an MK when..." by Andy adn Deborah Kerr with a forward by Ruth Van Reken. It is really good. Most of the things apply to any TCK too. If you want one they have a e-mail adress on teh back to order from website: www.mklist.com

(admin edit: removed email address, the evil spam monsters are lurking)

- when you feel 'normal' when everyone around you is different

- when you feel SUFFOCATED when everyone around you is obsessed with their own culture and blinded to everything else