Tuesday, September 11, 2007

The Voice of This Hidden Immigrant

Definition of a TCK: third culture kid; children from one culture, living in other cultures, who among themselves form a third culture which is unique to their experience, has certain ties to their parent's work overseas and is unplaced geographically.

I started reading Hidden Immigrants: Legacies of Growing Up Abroad by Linda Bell. It's a collection of interviews Bell had with 13 TCKs stemming from all kinds of backgrounds (missionary, military, government job, international business) and who all lived in multiple countries growing up. Bell herself lived overseas with her husband and had two children. She noticed her girls struggling to be "Americans" in the States and decided to research the effects being a TCK has on your life by interviewing older TCKs.

So far most of what they've described while experiencing culture shock, is very similar to what i felt and thought. I'll be posting quotes that exactly represent my experience as I read.

Hopefully this will give you a better glimpse and understanding of what this hidden immigrant experienced 10 years ago and to some extent still struggles with even now...

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