There is 2 articlee that were written in my children's alumni newsletter. It is something to definitely think about not just necessarily kids of today but also you and they way you were raised. It applies to military kids, missionary kids, major corporation kids, etc... President Obama is a TCK himself.

Article 1


The girl that wrote the article as born in Hong Kong to Canadian parents, but raised in Singapore and Taiwan. She went to college in Chicago and interned in Boston before going back to Chicago

White like TCKs Tell - Steph Yiu

I hate my American accent.

"You're from Singapore?" the girl queried in her all-too-real singaporean accent. "Born and bred?"

I was out with my new Boston roommates, who were introducing me as their "friend from Singapore." I had no problem with it until I realized one of their friends was Singaporean.

"Hi, I'm Steph" was all it took for my undeniable American twang to tip her off. She scrutinized me like I was a 12-year-old showing a fake ID to get into some exclusive club.

Oh Lin, I wanted to say to my romate, why did you not let me introduce myself? Why did you not let me tell my usual white likes?

Over the years I've developed a fail-safe pattern to avoid awkward social situations such as this. When in Hong Kong (birthplace) or Boston (where I live now), I say I'm from Singapore. When in Singapore (hometown), I saw I'm from Hong Kong. And if I'm in Boston and happen to be talking to someone from Singapore, I say I'm from Chicago (where I went to college).

I know I'm not the only one who does this "little dance of white likes." I surveyed a few former classmates from the Singapore American School. What do they say when asked, "Where are you from?"

"Ummmmmm, well...." says Tommy Phillips, "I'm originally from New York, but I spent my entire life overseas." He pauses. "It's a hard question to answer."

"I say I'm from Singapore, "Kahini Iyer said. "But then that is usually followed by, "Oh I thought you were Indian."

"I deal with this so much," Rivkah Alvy said. "It depends on how much I want the person to know about me, and if I care that they know. If I don't care, I say 'I grew up overseas' or "it's a long story.' If I do care, I saw my mom is from Montana, my dad is from New York, but I was born in Israel, grew up in India and Singapore, and now live in Seattle."

Within the third culture community, distaste for the "Where are you from?" question strikes a common cord. It's indicative of the confused identity that comes innately with TCK status. According to The Washington Post, TCKs make an average of eight major moves before graduating from high school. It's what separates us from immigrants or casual travelers because instead of developing our identities and worldviews in one locale, we develop these characteristics in transit. This is why, according to researchers Pollock and Van Reken, people can be former expats or former foreign service officers but never former third culture kids. We take our world with us wherever we go.

Not everyone understands our perspective; we still have to do a "little dance" every time we're asked about our identity. It's not only because we're unsure ourselves but also because we're unsure of the reactions of others.

Amy Nguyen, who is ethnically Vietnamese but spent part of her life in Singapore and Japan, moved to the US for college. The first say of class, she and her classmates introduced themselves. The guy sitting next to her was Singaporean but she did not know until after he had introduced herself as Amy from Singapore.

"He looked at me funny," she said. "It was his turn to go next, and he said, 'I'm from Singapore too'... with the accent and all. The class couldn't tell the difference," Nguyen said. "To them, if you're Asian, you're Asian."

Perhaps the most painful "Where are you from" question came from a US Immigration officer when I tried to explain my Canadian citizenship despite never having lived there, the official eyed my suspiciously and them promptly send me back to the "questioning room."

One of my favorite stories came from a first person account by Annie-Sophie Bolon, published in the International Herald Tribune. The immigration officer told her: "Let me get this straight... French passport, which was issued in Indonesia; you were born in Australia, and your J-11 visa for entry into the United States of America was delivered in Venezuela. Is that right?"

Yes, it was. He then noted her American accent, acquired from American International schools. "Your English is amazing, how much time have you spent in the United States?"

"Approximately 18 minutes" she replied

Incredulous responses to my American accent are something I've grown used to. As soon as I say that I'm from Singapore, the next comment is almost always: "Wow, your English is perfect!" I believe this has something to do with my ethnicity (Asian).

"I usually tend to say 'Canadian' if someone asks me where I'm from," says Daniel Thambiraj. "But when they ask me a second time, I know it's because my tanned skin is irregular for the 'typical' Canadian." Then he proceeds to stun the questioner with the following answer: "Born in England, lived in Ireland, then Wales, then Malaysia and Singapore with a permanent residency in New Zealand, then Canada." THen to explain his ethnicity: "I was never in Indian, except on vacations to see fmaily."

While my own story is not half as long as Daniel's, sometimes I resort to saying, "Oh, it doesn't matter," which is a flat-out lie. Withdrawl from social situations, and an inability to fit in are common to TCKs, who are often overwhelmed by their lack of national identity. Then there are people like Nguyen, who just have fun with it.

"Sometimes I can say I'm from a country I've never live in and see if they can catch me out. I even lie about my ethnicity. It almost becomes a fun game. People have no clue that I'm Vietnamese most of the time because I tell them I've lived in Japan and Singapore. They assume I'm Japanese or Chinese."

Establishing a solid answer to "where are you from" may take an entire lifetime. A San Diego State University study by Ann Baker Cottrell reported in the Christian Science Monitor that 90 percent of TCKs feel "out of sync" with their US peers, even into their 20s and 30s.

"I still don't have an answer that works," Rivkah says. "I think people assume that I am uppity or like to brag about myself when it is just the truth. Other times, it's a good conversation starter."

Article 2:

Obamas Third Culture Cabinet - Akilesh Rant

Ask the average American to imagine living in Indonesia, Singapore, perhaps even Hawaii. To us, the image comes easily, but to the millions who voted for President Obama, the idea of a "third-culture kid" is alien.

For the first time in American history, the citizens of the United States have elected the first of his race, but the first of his culture - the third culture. The third culture kid, or TCK, is one who has lived in a culture other than the one of his or her birth for an extended period of time. The "third" culutre is a blend of those two cultures. Studies have found that TCKs are more comfortable with other TCKs than they are with their home-country peers. Like Obama, many of us have lived in at least one foreign culture long enough to feel out of hte loop when returning to the United States.

"Singapore was my first experience living outside of the US and even though I was only there a semester, I had some trouble adjusting to my old school in Connecticut," former SAS studen Nashoba Santhanam said. "There's something about living abroad and being exposed to other cultures that makes it harder to relate to people that have lived in America all their lives."

Ruth E. Van Reken, author of Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds, recently wrote in the online Dialy Beast that TCKs "share certain emotional and psychological traits that may exert great influence in the new administration."

Van Reken says that the body of studies devoted to TCKs produces a classic profile of "someone with a global perspective who is socially adaptable and intellectually flexible. He or she is quick to think outside the box and can appreciate and reconcile different points of view. Beyond whatever diversity in background or appearances a TCK might bring to the party, there is a diversity of thought as well."

President Obama has included like-minded people in his cabinent, which means a number of TCKs. Unofficially labels the "Third Culture Cabinet," Obama's team includes White House advisor Valerie Jarreet, who lived in Tehran and London for most of her childhood; Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, raised in East Africa, India, Thailand, China and Japan; and National Security Advisor James L. Jones, who was raised in Paris.

"Most Americans probably don't care as much about foreign cultures, and people like us are rare, but I really think it's important to have someone like Obama who can understand the world from a different perspective," said a grade 11 student. "Obama is definitely American, but he has a little bit of a twist that only people living abroad like us can understand."

With hundreds of Singapore American School students heading back to the United States every year, many feel that having a president (and a cabinet) who can empathize with the "global" citizen could be helpful not only to expatriate students but to the progress of the nation as a whole.

"I feel really lucky that Obama was elected the year I head off to college," a graduate says. "I'm a little worried about relating to most American kids, but at least I'll know that the president himself is kind of like me."

My answer is always the same: I'm a Navy brat, born in CA. Then I take questions after that if they're more interested. Otherwise I leave it at that.

I am sure it is very difficult for them. It's also difficult for some kids of mixed races when asked if they are black or white. My best friend growing up had a really really hard time with this because it came up often and a lot of paperwork there wasn't a "half" or "mixed" thng to fill in.

I know that moving back to the states when we were little was hard for my older brother since hw as in middle school while in germany and then went to high school stateside. I can understand how frustrating it may be for them, but honestly when someone asks me where I am from. I usually tell them MO and for my husband, I give the same kind of response for BAW, well he was born in N.Y. as an AF Brat and has moved all over the country since then. And then I say "we are americans". I've come pretty cumfortable with the idea of not "what state" you are from but where you call home. To me right now, The States is good enough.

And I Guess and easy response for them would just say, "i am from x,x, and x." Most people will actually get it. It's not THAT unpopular as some may think.

I can certainly empathize with the author of these articles. My first 17 years were in the States but I moved so many times it was ridiculous (57 times and counting now with a moved planned at the end of this year). I lived in four countries on three continents and travelled extensively across all of those. Because I have lived in the NE, SW, SE, MW and Texas, my English accent is a mish-mash of regions. In English I have an obviously Southern accent (although I can only hear it if I hear a recording and then I'm not always sure it's me). In Spanish I have kind of a generic accent so I quite often get asked where I'm from. It usually suprises the questioner when I tell him or her that I'm from Texas (where I lived the longest). In Europe I was assumed to be Italian (accent and appearance) and assumed by Italians to be from Sardenia (which is where I lived). In Asia most people assumed that I was oriental but not the same nationality as the questioner. I was assumed to be Japanese, Chinese and Filipino but never in those countries.

I actually enjoyed this bit of ambiguity because it lets me fit in to many situations where this redneck normally would not be welcome.

Our kids are of the Third Culture Kids but also mixed, so they are going to be dealing with it from both sides. Dh looks black, plain and simple, but his family history is beyond that. Because he is from the West Indies (he was born in US Virgin Islands so American, is parents are British) the family background is mixed, Carib Indian and East Indian, French, German, Portugese, Middle Eastern (we are told Lebanon but not sure), Chinese, British and of course African. There is probably Spanish in there somewhere and a few other places in between. Our kids are anything from that, but yet they are 99.999% his (the only thing I can claim are the eyelashes and the birthmark). Our ds looks more Middle Eastern and upper African (Egyptian) but yet slick back his hair, put him in certain clothes and he looks Mexican. Our dd is more Asian and East Indian. Other times she looks Hispanic or European. When I ride the transit system here just me and the kids it is fine, they look local, no problem. When we rode as a family the looks we got because they would try to figure out how we could have kids that looked local. To be honest in some ways I totally understand because it doesn't make sense.

They are these TCK kids. They prefer Asian foods to American foods (well except for McDonalds), they prefer Japanese animation. They can fit into just about anywhere in looks and attitude. They want to move back to Hawaii because they love it there, the culture, the people, the food, everything. To them that is more home than San Diego or any other place we have lived.

But then so can dh and I. With him growing up in West Indies it was a separate culture to the US and still is. He had a very difficult time adjusting. He has traveled the world with the Navy. I was lucky in that as a child I did travel lots with my family. My mom is from Australia so we would go there every few years not for a week or so but a month. We visited Fiji as well. Visited places in the US and on the other side of Canada. So it did make us both see as our son says "outside the box".

Yeah, when folks ask me where I'm from I usually ask if they want to know where I was born (MS) or where I mostly grew up (FL) or where I live now (MD). I have all sorts of moves in between there.

Some areas of the South you may get asked "Who are your people" which means they want to know your lineage.


Sgt Mom

There are so many subcultures within the American culture as a whole that if you move within the US a lot as a child you have a similar problem.


For a long time when asked where I was from I would answer with "South Carolina by way of Texas and Florida"

Now we are in AZ and people that know we are military ask where we are from... Its easy to answer for DH he was born and raised in TX... I was born in TX but not really raised there. And we met in SC. And my parents aren't military... Just migrated a lot.

This was interesting reading. I guess I might qualify as a TCK. I am a Filipina, both my parents are Filipino, I was born in my grandma's house, but my dad joined the AF when I was born so we moved to the States when I was 5. I speak American English with an American accent, but can speak at will with a Filipino accent. Most people, even other Filipinos, think that one of my parents must be white, especially when I tell them my dad was in the AF.

Since we are currently stationed at Korea, a lot of Americans and Koreans assume that I am Korean. Then they hear me speak with my American accent. They ask my nationality (which I think is a misleading word) and when I say Filipino, I again get the automatic assumptions that I have a white GI dad and a Filipino mom. My DH has given up on repeatedly explaining my background to people. Now when he's asked, he just tells them: "She's American." LOL

Nowadays when people ask me where I am from, I tell them I am a military brat and claim no place as home.

quote:

Originally posted by ArmywifeMrsBrown:
Nowadays when people ask me where I am from, I tell them I am a military brat and claim no place as home.

To me, home is where ever I live with my husband. Right now home is MD. When he retires for good it will be where ever we move to then.


Sgt Mom

I feel the same way. There is no place that is home; home is my husband and children.

I'm actually scared of "settling down." I am in the process of convincing my hubby to go civil service after he retires (in 7 years, eep!) and try for overseas jobs. Maybe in Italy or Spain or someplace nice. I guess I'd be turning my kids into TCKs.