Any tck(third cultural kid) here?

[Noei 718]

I mean third cultural kids, here is it's definition in the urban dictonary.

 

" someone who has spent  of their developmental years in cultures other than their national or ethnic groups. This can result in cultural identity confusion, multiple language skills, a high degree of maturity and independence, and a discomfort with settling in any one place for too long"

 

Just curious if there is anyone like that here.

 

So, are you a tck? if no, what is your opinion about them?

 

 

Edited October 28, 2014 by Monsieur Noel

[Treble Bolt 1,122]

Honestly I am not sure there is much of that America.  There is more and more diversity among young people (Millennial's, a later Generation Y people). In this day and age with so much technology connecting us, it's hard to have true culture shock, unless you travel to whole different country. Even if you spend your childhood in a different place with different people, most young people are able to adapt extremely fast due to the technology at hand. What we see as "Culture shock" today is nothing like what people experienced during the days of Ellis Island. 

If anything, the most I see from what you are talking about is when city people (born and raised in a densely populated area) move to a  rural area and even vice versa. But that isn't so much an ethnic or even cultural problem as it is an information one. Being from a rural area (1 hour travel to amenities, and live in a town of 127), I travel every day to a city of more than 100,000 people. I have encountered children who do not know what a cow is, let alone understand where milk comes from (I have encountered this with adults as well). These people know the city back and forth, up and down, but if they step foot outside the city into the country, they would be very shocked (I have witnessed this as well), to the point to where I've seen a couple people question their entire existence and worldview (this happened with 2 high school people).  I personally hate the city because it's too different from what I am used to and desire for myself (peace and quiet, and forests), however, I have been able to adapt to city life fairly easily (lived in the city for 3 years). I still consider it a metropolis though, and when I say that to others, they are very baffled (EVERY person has told me thus far that this city is a tiny town).   That is a different kind of culture shock, I will say, and it's worse with mega cities like Minneapolis/St. Paul, Chicago, New York, and really any Southern California cities....Around here, just the fact that I wear bib overalls is enough to get all the strange looks in the world when I walk downtown.

 

But this is all besides the point if you are coming at this from an Ethnic standpoint alone. But that is where I restate my first paragraph. Ethnicity really means nothing if there wasn't a distinct culture behind it. It's that culture of any and all ethnicities where racism forms. Racism is the lack of understanding with the cultures behind the ethnicities, and not really the ethnicities themselves. The way we look is the face of the culture being judged (i.e. the color of our skin), for whatever reason. This is still a problem in America, but again, it's not really a big thing among younger generations, because of technology and cultural diversity within the United States. Not sure if this is really an opinion though, I just see Third Cultural Kids as something fairly rare within the United States (at least thinking about those in the age range I'm pointing out that are on this site), and many of those who profess to be one, don't understand what culture shock really is. I can definitely see this being a thing with older generations though, and anyone (of any age) who travels from one country to another between childhood and adulthood.

[Invincible 2,091]

I think i can, at least partly fulfill the criteria you've mentioned above, or at least i was as a kid. I live in Israel, but my family originally arrived from Ukraine. I'm of a mixed Slavic descent. Israel's culture often did appear as very different from the values passed down to me from my family while growing up. Similarly, i speak three languages; Hebrew, Russian, and English.

 

I don't mind settling in one place for too long actually, i just don't care either way. I'm fairly certain that there are many TCKs in Israel as it's a country founded by immigrants - many Jews from many different ethnicities and cultures arrived to build the country, and many who immigrated after it was built still find the country's cultural output... different. I for one don't actually consider myself of a single cultural identity. I do care about my country to a degree, but i don't see myself attached to it or any other culture. So i guess the only side i truly belong to is my own.