If you’ve spent much time around A Life Overseas, you probably know that Third Culture Kids (TCKs) spend at least part of their growing up years living outside their passport countries, expecting a return ‘home’ to a country at least somewhat foreign to them.
When you picture TCKs, what do you see? Who do you imagine? An American missionary kid living in Africa, or Asia?That child is certainly a TCK. So is the Cameroonian daughter of a UN employee growing up in Tanzania, the Singaporean businessman’s son growing up in Thailand, and the children of a Brazilian missionary growing up in Lebanon. Each one of these examples resembles a TCK I know.
TCKs don’t just grow up around the world. TCKs are from every country in the world!
Seeing the Diversity of TCKs
I first learned about the TCK world in the context of a large international church, where families from over 70 countries met together each week for worship. It was ten years after my own teenage repatriation.
The young people in the youth group where I volunteered came from a variety of backgrounds. Some were missionary kids, while others had parents in the diplomat corps, the military, or multinational businesses. Still other parents worked in international schools, local universities, or ran their own businesses.
When we ran youth camps (and had to register with the local police), I would carry a stack of 100+ passports to the administration office of the conference centre to fill in paperwork. I knew TCKs from Brazil, Burundi, China, DR Congo, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Guyana, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Madagascar, Malaysia, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Zambia, and many more nations. (Incidentally, the paperwork process also helped me learn the Chinese names for many nations!)
One of my favourite parts of my first book, Misunderstood, is near the back. There is an appendix called “Global Contributions” which lists all the countries that the 270 TCKs I interviewed and the 750 TCKs I surveyed came from and lived in. The 165 territories listed include 153 of the 193 UN member nations. My TCK cohort came from 86 different passport countries. The first section of the book is short, but it quotes eight TCKs bearing eight nationalities: Australia, China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the UK, the USA, and Zambia.
Listening to the Stories of TCKs
It is so important to hear the stories of TCKs, including missionary kids, who live very different lives than what we might normally associate with the ‘picture’ of a TCK. They have important things to bring to the TCK table.
Through the years I’ve continued to listen, and learn, from more stories.
I’ve learned from the stories of missionary kids growing up in indigenous communities in their own passport countries (in Brazil and Australia) about the great cultural and linguistic differences they face within their own borders.
I’ve learned from the stories of Indian and Nigerian missionary kids at ‘home’, where moving to a new state can mean the community has a different language, a different religion, a different culture — and different expectations to go along with each. Places where your name can mark you as different and not belonging, all without ever leaving your passport country.
I’ve learned from the stories of Chinese missionary kids living in the Middle East and Central Asia, stuck between languages and cultures, without access to other TCKs, living vicariously through the internet.
I’ve learned from the stories of Brazilian missionary kids, changing countries and school years mid-year (something an Aussie TCK like me can commiserate with), always pushed back but never moved forward due to language barriers and curriculum changes. Many ended up finishing high school at age 20. Others were left either without the curriculum capacity to attend university in Brazil or the finances to study elsewhere.
I’ve learned from the stories of missionary kids growing up on ministry ships that travel the globe. These TCKs often have parents from different countries and/or cultures, and they may even have been born during a stop along the way. They build their own international culture on board ship as they travel. Finding a sense of belonging in any single culture can leave them feeling out of their depth.
I’ve learned that my experience as an Australian TCK going to an American school in the USA resonates with a lot of South American TCKs going to local schools in different Spanish-speaking countries, Taiwanese TCKs going to school in mainland China, and African TCKs going to school in a neighbouring country that, while also English-speaking or Francophone, was culturally very different.
Hearing Global Voices
When voices that have similar or parallel experiences to our own are easy to find, we must put in effort to find the voices that are different. That effort is so worth it! While a lot of TCK literature and conversation comes from primarily western voices, with primarily white and English-speaking backgrounds, there is a much wider variety to tap into. Here are some suggestions if you want to listen to more stories:
The Round Trip Stories podcast is currently doing a season on Third Culture Kids and has TCKs from a range of backgrounds sharing their stories.
The Living With No Roots podcast is hosted by an Ivorian/Congolese TCK who grew up in Lebanon. Interesting reflections as well as some guests who share their own stories.
Talks with a TCK Friend is a podcast hosted by a Filipino TCK who has hosted a range of TCKs from different backgrounds for conversations about their experiences.
The Global Chatter podcast shares stories from TCKs and expats all over the world with a very diverse set of experiences.
Some older podcasts (no longer updating) also hold treasures of stories for those who want to listen. Some of these include TCK Tales podcast, Third Culture podcast, Barely African podcast, When Life Gives You Calamansi podcast, and Third Culture Stories (which captures the TCKs of Asia forums).
There are also books written by TCKs from non-western backgrounds, and there is much we can learn from their insights. These include Girl Uprooted by Lena Lee, The Third Culture Teen by Jiwon Lee, and Tales of a Diplomat’s Daughter by Marie Suazo.
I always have my ears open to listen to more stories, so please share your own suggestions for us in the comments!
Coming soon…
As a researcher, I believe another important way to hear TCKs’ voices is through quantitative research. In my role as TCK Training’s research director, I am currently neck deep in data analysis following our latest survey. I was delighted to find 93 passport countries represented amongst our survey’s 1,643 respondents. We have enough variety in responses to compare responses between TCKs from USA/Canada, the other Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia/NZ. I am so excited for what we will learn as we listen to these voices! Stay tuned for the first major drop of data in early 2025.
Photo by Atikh Bana on Unsplash
