Kulturtolk
 

May 11, 2011

Lovepat Article Published on Denizen.com

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Anna’s article on the challenges of being a lovepat and a TCK was published on Denizen.com.

April 24, 2011

TCKs Redefined and Redefined Again

Filed under: Blog — Tags: , — admin @ 2:54 pm

A brilliant, heartfelt little gem of a response by Ruth V. Reken to an article written on edexpat.com on who a TCK really is. Her response was in order to clear up some misperceptions regarding TCKs as adult “victims” of a global childhood. I’ve never felt like a victim, though I can truly say I identify with the TCK lifestyle and process, both as a child and now as an adult. I was thrilled to learn that Ruth only began journaling at my age (39) to try to discover why certain reactions and behaviors kept repeating themselves when she felt that she had lived such a great life. So I guess it’s never too late! Thanks in part to her work, though, I figured it out a lot sooner. This piece speaks for itself.

April 9, 2011

What Should TCKs Do as a Living?

Filed under: Blog — Tags: , — admin @ 3:25 pm

Donna Musil shared her tips on the best careers for TCKs, on TCK Academy. Click here to see the full list or listen to the audio file.

April 7, 2011

A Parent’s View on Raising TCKs

Filed under: Blog — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 3:21 pm

It’s great to see how a parent’s worldview is changing by observing their childrens’ cultural transformation. The “Baker’s Half Dozen” blog follows an American expat family in Hungary.

May 20, 2010

Take the office with you

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Talk about an ideal work-life balance! This article from Aftenposten caught our eye. “Digital nomade” features Eivind Ravdal, who travels the world working as an IT consultant for Norwegian companies and for a Norwegian salary. This may be the way the world is headed and being employed will not necessarily mean being in one place, immobile and tied to a physical office. This will in any case be encouraging for any TCKs out there. This fits the TCK lifestyle perfectly!

May 9, 2010

Support “Chameleon – the experience of global citizens”

I just discovered a new project called “Chameleon: the experience of global citizens”. It is a multi-disciplinary arts project about global nomads, third culture kids, cross culture kids, cross/multi discipline fusion.

Chameleon combines dance, film, spoken word and visual art to investigate multi-cultural identity and cross-cultural relationships. Rooted in the notion of home, this show draws on the insight and experience of Third Culture Kids: those who have spent a significant period of time in a culture other than their own, creating a new third culture.

As the creative director and choreographer Alaine Handa explained in an email: “Chameleon are the stories of global citizens through dance, film, spoken word, theater, jewelry design, and photography. It has definitely morphed since its humble beginnings at UCLA’s Dept of World Arts & Cultures and its first showcase at Electric Lodge in Southern California in 2005. Since then portions and previews of the project has traveled to a Pirate Festival in Long Island, WAX Works at Triskelion Arts in Williamsburg, a Sports Bar in Murray Hill called Stone Creek, A studio showing at Movement Research, Association of Performing Arts Presenters Conference (APAP) showcase at Dance New Amsterdam in Lower Manhattan, Families in Global Transitions Conference in Houston, TX, Kirkland Farm as part of the DanceNow Silo Residency in Springtown, PA, A community performance for the Chinese Immigrant Senior population at Houston Street Center, A film screening at Utahloy International School in Guangzhou, China, A photography gallery at Houston Street Center… This was all in the past year.”

The show has its premier next week in NYC. So if you’re in the area, go and support a good cause and learn a bit more about TCKs through creative expression. For more details, click here.

If you’re traveling to Washington DC this summer you can also catch the show at the Capital Fringe Festival. (Thursday July 8 @ 6pm, Saturday July 10 @ 11am, Friday July 23 @ 6pm, Saturday July 24 @ 3:45pm, Sunday July 25 @ 2:15pm,
Venue: The Apothecary, Venue Address: 1013 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001

May 8, 2010

Among Worlds Glossary

Filed under: Blog — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 2:54 pm

There are all sorts of terms used for persons who grow up or live in more than one culture, particularly those children who are raised in a culture different than their parents’ culture. Most of these terms are unknown to people outside of expat life, but many are even unfamiliar to expats. TCK is becoming a pretty well known term, but there are so many subsets of TCKs, depending on what your parents did for a living. This glossary posted by Among Worlds is a great start to getting a handle on all the words to describe those intercultural beings who grew up internationally.

April 25, 2010

Where are you from? – the dreaded question

Filed under: Blog — Tags: , , , — admin @ 2:35 pm

I’ve referred to Becky Grappo’s blog before. I came across a submission from April 13th on the TCK identity conundrum. There is definitely a pattern to how TCKs handle the question of roots, identity and the question “where are you from”? It’s pretty fascinating. This is Becky’s take on it and I wanted to share. I’m not sure that the link is not direct. You can find it at educatingglobalnomads.com under the “blog” tab or by clicking here and searching under “categories” on the left-hand menu for “Third Culture Kids”.

April 1, 2010

The visible “placeless”

Some call them expats, some refugees, some global nomads. In The New York Times article “The Struggle of the Global Placeless”, Anand Giridharadas calls them the “global placeless”. The term encompasses anyone living away from home, from refugees and migrants to professional workers and expats. It even includes President Barack Obama, himself a multicultural third culture kid with roots on three continents.

The author begins with globalization and its long history, despite opinions that it’s a new phenomenon. But who hasn’t heard of the Silk Road or the Viking voyages or the spread of the Roman Empire? Cultures and civilizations have been mixing since their beginnings, because there have always been wanderers, nomads and explorers among us.

But now, there is more attention placed on the “placeless”. The norm may be to be rooted, but some among us will always refuse to lay down those roots. And perhaps, the author suggests, the balance is shifting. “Placelessness” is possibly becoming not only the norm, but also a “virtue”. Or perhaps it’s only a fad. It continues to clash with society’s expectation that we be rooted in one geographic location.

He goes on to describe the traits characterizing the “placeless”, and focuses on the challenges of those less privileged “placeless”, who are often not recognized or given the rights of those they live and work among.

The privileged placeless are those of economic means; expats on assignment or those who choose a new home because we can. In this, I recognize myself. I am a global nomad and TCK. And as such, I had to laugh as I read the following excerpt, which describes me to a T:

“But the problem is not just external. The placeless often also suffer a gnawing tension within, a love-hate relationship with roots.

They find that their connections can run worldwide but only an inch deep. They may find it easier to ask friends in five countries for a favor than to ask a neighbor for sugar. They may know something of the foods of every continent but be unable to cook expertly in any one cuisine. They may have visited a greater fraction of the 10 largest cities in the world than of the neighborhoods of their own city.

“Placeless” souls of means have a way out. They find ways of splitting the difference, living rootlessly and yet making space for roots.”

The “placeless” struggle with an inherent dichotomy – wanting to set down roots but being unable to do so. Because rootlessness is their essence. They will always be outsiders if not externally, then internally. Their experience of “placelessness” means their world view isn’t like that of someone rooted. They know that part of their identity will always belong elsewhere.