DrieCulturen

Book review of the new book "Expat Teens Talk"

2012-02-15T14:06:00.000+01:00

The book Expat Teens Talk has just been published and it is written by Lisa Pittman, a practicing psychologist and Diana Smit an educational therapist. It is forwarded by Ruth van Reken, co-author of the famous book "Third Culture kids, Growing up Among Worlds".

The power of the book is that it gives expat teens a voice.

"Being an expat teen is bittersweet; You're exposed to so many amazing people and places, but there are very few others who really understand what you have experienced".

"Moving around the world helps me to appreciate all the different cultures of the people I meet".

"I find it difficult to constantly say goodbye"

The book is written for the teens, their parents and for professionals (teachers, therapists, doctors) too. As far as I know there is no book like this one available on this topic. The teenage years are considered to be the most challenging time in one's life and if during this time international moves are made it can be a confusing and difficult time. If the teenagers struggle it usually affects the whole family.

In the first part of the book there is advice from peers, parents and professionals on each subject. At the end of each chapter there is the possibility to write down personal reflections. The youngsters that give advice have been there and they know what other teenagers who move internationally go through. Being an expat teen you can often feel "the odd one out" (I know all about it), you think you're the only one not knowing how to behave (sticking out like a sore thumb), how to dress for a certain occasion or how to act. The great thing about this new book is that expat teens discover that they are not the only ones going through these transitions. They are not the only ones experiencing all these confusing emotions. That "aha" moment can help heal the pain of the teen's heart.

These subjects are tackled: the challenges of moving, sex, drugs and alcohol, stress and worry about school grades, and what happens after expat teen life. This is a down to earth, practical book. The authors have chosen to use the word "expat teens" but these teenagers can also be called third culture kids. I would have liked to see more internet links in the book. I think our expat teens are on the internet a great deal of the time and it would have added value to this book if there would have been more suggestions on where to find information on the internet. I wish this book had existed when I made my transitions during by teenage years.

If you are interested in reading more, you can read an interview with the authors of the book "Expat Teens Talk".
Find "Expat Teens Talk" on twitter @Expatteenstalk
Expat Teens Talk blog
Are you a teen and do you want to talk about your expat experience? You can fill a questionnaire in here. Number of pages: 183 pages
Published by Summertime Publishing

Related posts:

It can be lonely

Image by Gladtobeout Morgue file

Ice skating fever and third culture kids

2012-02-11T21:38:00.000+01:00

We nearly had an Elfstedentocht this weekend! It is also called the Eleven cities tour on ice skates. There was excitement in the air and in the Dutch media as due to the cold winter weather there was a possibility that the race would take place. Our hopes were high. Even the Huffington post made mention of the possibility of the Elfstedentocht. I discovered that Tommy wrote on his blog Micro Adventures all about the Elfstedentocht in English. Nearly everyone was talking about the race and the newspapers were full of articles all about it: there is ice skating fever in the air.

You need to skate nearly 200 kilometres in one day to gain the "Elfstedenkruisje", this small medal shown on the photo. The race takes place in Friesland, in the north of the Netherlands and that is where my father comes from. I can proudly say that my grandfather and an uncle of mine have in the past completed this race and have the medal.

It is 15 years ago that the ice was thick enough for the race to take place. So our hopes were high but we were disappointed as the officials declared that the ice was still too thin. Aledys Ver writes about it on her blog. Now we need a way to handle our disappointment. Thousands of Dutch people put on there ice skates today and skated on one of the many channels or rivers, just like I did.

Photo taken 11.02.12 by Janneke @DrieCulturen the Netherlands

Young and old were on the ice. I saw young kids courageously attempting to master the art of ice skating. Falling and being helped up by their parents. These kids were three or four years old. It reminds me of my first time on ice skates. I was twelve or thirteen years old at the time. Way older than all the other Dutch kids who were great ice skaters while I was just starting my learning process. That's what happens when you are a third culture kid and you grow up on the warm African continent.

We did come on leave to the Netherlands every two or three years but we usually came back on leave in the summer. It was more practical to come back to the Netherlands in the summertime because we did not have any winter clothes.

One thing I am glad about is that I did learn to ice skate. I did not give up, I did not give in. Sometimes our learning process is different as third culture kids but we get there in the end and that's what counts! Life is all about learning so just as those kids on the ice fell down and got up again let's do the same. After failing and falling, just get up, dust off the cold snow or ice and try again.

Photo taken 8.02.12 near Amsterdam by Janneke @DrieCulturen

Were there things you learned at another age than kids around you because you were a third culture kid? Maybe you are raising third culture kids, do they have a different learning process than other kids?

Related posts:

Re-entry into your passport culture

2012-02-05T09:49:00.000+01:00

I just listened to an online program by MemberCareRadio and I was impressed. I discovered that there is lots to listen to about the process of re-entry. I listened to Marion Knell being interviewed on the subject of third culture kids and re-entry into their passport culture. Marion is author of the book "Families on the Move - growing up overseas and loving it". More recently she wrote the book "Burn up or Splash down: Surviving the Culture Shock of Re-entry". What I heard makes me want to buy both books.

You probably know that I was a third culture kid entering into the Netherlands after having been born and bred in Africa. You can read more of my story here. I actually only just survived the culture shock at the time. It certainly was an emotional roller coaster, but the worst part of it all was that I did not know what was wrong with me. Apparently it helps to have access to some information before returning to your passport culture. This can be through a debriefing, from books or by talking to people who have gone that path before. Looking back I had none of these. No debriefing, no books on the subject and nobody I knew who had gone the path before me. Sometimes we third culture kids wander down lonely roads.

Marion Knell gives third culture kids 4 tips to process their emotions when re-entering (or entering your passport culture). The 4 "P"s:

Permission to express your feelings
Permission to feel pain
Pathways to say goodbye, saying good "goodbyes"
People to share your experiences with, people who are interested in your stories.

I remember that I had one friend during my university days who was really interested in hearing my stories. She asked many questions. Where did you live? What kind of house did you live in? What was your school like? What did you do in your free time? We spent hours talking while we went cycling, walking on the beach or just while drinking a cup of tea at home. During our conversations we traveled the globe. We walked down memory lane. It was heart warming.

I hope you meet people interested in your stories. Remember not everyone is interested in your stories, but that does not matter. Just don't give up telling them but find somebody who wants to listen. Joining an international students society can help because there the chances are greater that you meet others whom you can relate to and who have stories like yours. Do you have any suggestions that can help third culture kids when returning to their passport culture? Please share them.

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Ken jij een Verborgen Immigrant?

2012-01-29T20:33:00.003+01:00

"Ze zijn er wel maar je ziet ze niet. Ze lopen rond maar je hoort ze niet. Mogelijk vallen ze ook niet op, maar misschien toch wel een beetje? Ze doen niet mee met de laatste mode. Bepaalde spereekwoorden kennen ze niet. Hun taal is anders, wat voor accent is het toch? Ik kan het niet thuisbrengen."

Ja, zo was ik ook toen ik vanuit Afrika in Nederland kwam studeren. Ik was er wel maar viel niet erg op. Ik deed niet mee met de laatste mode. Op mijn middelbare school in Zimbabwe moest ik dagelijks een schooluniform dragen. Trouwens ik heb vanaf dat ik naar de eerste klas van de lagere school tot dat ik naar de universiteit ging altijd een schooluniform gedragen. Wat weet ik nou van de nieuwste mode in Nederland? Mijn accent? Het is een Engels accent in mijn Nederlands. Na de vele jaren Engelstalig onderwijs heb ik er een zachte "t" aan overgehouden. Het schijnt dat ik het woord "thee" toch anders uitspreek dan de meeste Nederlanders. Een verborgen immigrant noemen ze het ook wel. Kinderen die een deel van hun leven in het buitenland hebben gewoond en dan terugkeren naar hun "paspoort" land. Nederland is mijn paspoort land, mijn ouders zijn Nederlanders. Hier kan je meer lezen over mij.

Third culture kids zijn kinderen die in een ander land opgroeien dan hun "paspoort" land. Vroeger was het zo dat het vaak was vanwege het beroep van één van hun ouders. Meestal was het de vader die een diplomaat, zakenman, zendingswerker of ontwikkelingswerker was.

Vooral het terugkeren naar Nederland kan een flinke uitdaging zijn. Dat was het in ieder geval voor mij. Eigenlijk was het voor mij ook niet echt terugkeren, want ik had nauwelijks in Nederland gewoond. Wij kwamen wel regelmatig op verlof maar dat is toch heel anders dan hier wonen. Verlof betekende altijd dat wij weer weggingen, wij zouden weer afscheidnemen van Nederland en van onze familie hier. Op mijn 19de kwam ik alleen naar Nederland om hier te studeren. Ik was een verborgen immigrant, ik zag er net zo uit als mijn medestudenten maar ik voelde mij totaal anders, ik dacht anders, mijn reverentie kader was anders. Ik kwam er toen achter dat ik heel erg beïnvloed was door de landen waar ik in Afrika gewoond had.

Er is onderzoek naar gedaan in Amerika: "Third Culture Students, an exporatory study of the transition in the first year of college" door Dorothy S. Wiegel, University South Carolina 2010.

Deze 3 dingen hielpen studenten om een goeie start te maken op de universiteit:

De mogelijkheid om contact te hebben met docenten
De mogelijkheid om vriendschappen te sluiten met internationale studenten
Een ouder of een familielid hebben in hetzelfde land

Wat ook van belang bleek dat het fijn voor de studenten is om hun eigen verhaal ergens kwijt te kunnen.

Mijn advies is zoek iemand die naar je verhaal wil luisteren. Schrijf anders een dagboek of begin een blog. Lees ook mijn 5 tips voor jongeren die vanuit het buitenland in hun thuisland gaan studeren. Wil je meer over dit onderwerp lezen dan lees het boek "A Global Nomad's Guide to University Transition" geschreven door Tina Quick. Het is ook mogelijk om lid te worden van TCKid.com an online community voor third culture kids daar zal je meer mensen ontmoeten met een soortgelijk verhaal.

Meer lezen?

Herken je het verhaal? Was jij ook een verborgen immigrant? Heb je nog adviezen?
Foto met dank aan Doberman van Morgue file.

Teenagers: the sky is the limit?

2012-01-27T22:23:00.000+01:00

Wow! It's amazing, these two 17-year-olds from Toronto, Canada managed to launch a lego man 24 kilometers into the stratosphere. The whole enterprise cost them less than $500. They used a weather balloon, some cameras, determination, creativity and a certain mind set. They were thinking "out of the box". Well it certainly gave them "different" view of the world. A nice inspiring story.

You know third culture kid teens or expat teens are a little like these boys. They are often creative, can be determined and think out of the box. So what is it actually like to relocate across the globe with teens and how many kids are there out there making international moves. It's really hard to find the amount of kids moving. I did find some figures about the number of kids attending international schools.

At the moment there are more than 6000 English speaking international schools in the world. In 236 countries of the world (click here if you want to know in which countries) you can find an international school. There are 2.979.680 students attending these schools. Source: www.iscresearch.com. Most of the students attending these schools will be third culture kids or cross culture kids.

Here in the Netherlands there are 12.500 students attending international schools. Source Factsheet JGZ

4 tips when relocating internationally with teenagers:

The best time to move is at the beginning of the school year because that's when the groups are forming.
Include your teenagers in the preparation of the move. Take them with you to see the new country. Allow them to be part of choosing the new home and school etc.
Acknowledge their emotions. Maybe they are angry about the move or sad.
Consider taking the family pet along. Our dog made an overland move when we moved from Malawi to Zimbabwe. My dad drove our car from the one country to the next and took our dog along too. He had company on the road and we had our pet in our new home.

Do you want to read more about moving with teenagers? Check out www.Internationalfamilytransitions.com

This week I found an interesting blog: Expat Teens Talk. It's worth a visit. The blog gives insight into the life of an expat teen. Here is an example of a blog post: The positive aspects of being an expat teen. You know these teenagers are all over the globe even the sky is not the limit.

Do you have any tips when relocating with teenagers? I would love to hear them.

Related posts:

Image thanks to Taliesin Morguefile

Book review of "The Globalisation of Love". There's love in the air, all around the globe.

2012-01-22T21:58:00.000+01:00

I heard about the book “The Globalisation of Love” on The Writer’s Abroad Radio show. Jo Parfitt interviewed the author Wendy Williams and my interest was awakened immediately. When I started to think about it, I realized that there are so many people around me in a multicultural relationship (a GloLo relationship as Wendy calls it in the book). I have neighbours, colleagues, family and friends around me in multicultural relationships. Even my own relationship brings together different cultures. The reason I choose to write a review of this book on this blog is that I have a feeling that third culture kids (TCKs) probably have more chance of entering into a GloLo relationship just because they mix with people from lots of different nationalities. Adult third culture kids usually love traveling too, so you have more chance of meeting your sweetheart on the other side of the globe.

The author Wendy Williams lived in 6 different countries and worked internationally for 18 years. Wendy is Canadian and she is married to an Austrian and is living in Vienna. They have an Austro-Canadian daughter.

GloLo couples have to bring together in addition to two personalities (which is already big challenge) their two worlds. In the book Wendy touches on different issues that are all part of a multicultural relationship, for example religion, language, location, food, and children. There is even a separate chapter on the topic of meeting the parents, this event often includes lots of traveling. Wendy has interviewed many multicultural couples and has included many examples and funny illustrations of things these couples differ in. I like all the examples because it makes it easy to relate to the different topics.

The children of GloLo parents are called GloLo children. They could actually be called Cross Cultural Kids, that’s the term introduced by Ruth van Reken.

In the book there are several Top 10 lists, like the Top 10 GloLo celebrity couples (glad to see that our Dutch Prince Willem-Alexander and our Argentinean Princess Maxima are included in the list). There are also Top 10 clues that you have GloLo children.

I can imagine that this book would be really good for couples that are extremely in love (living in the “love bubble”) as well as not so in love and struggling with multicultural issues in their relationship. The book is down to earth and helps you get an idea of what the consequences are of starting a GloLo adventure together. The book gives you “food for thought” while you enjoy reading it. Even parents and other family members of couples in a multicultural relationship should read the book because it will help them to understand the challenges faced.

You know love is in the air and it is all around the globe, so it’s good that there are books like this one.

“There is a world of multicultural romance happening out there and it is all captured in The Globilisation of Love.”

www.globalisationoflove.com

Related posts:

Verzameling van mijn beste blog berichten over kinderen die opgroeien in andere culturen

2012-01-18T11:27:00.001+01:00

In juni 2011 ben ik begonnen met deze blog "DrieCulturen". Het bericht Welkom op deze blog geschreven op 12 juni was mijn eerste blog bericht. Inmiddels heb ik al meer dan 100 blog berichten geschreven, zijn er al meer dan 10 duizend pageviews, en hebben mensen uit meer dan 50 landen van de wereld deze blog bezocht. Ik moet eerlijk zeggen dat ik echt blij verrast ben. Dit had ik van te voren niet verwacht. Wat leuk!

Nederland op een koude winterse dag

Ik ben hier begonnen in het Nederlands maar gaande weg schrijf ik nu meestal in het Engels. Het bereik is groter in het Engels maar ik vind het ook leuk om toch regelmatig in het Nederlands te schrijven. Ik wil graag een overzicht maken van mijn beste Nederlandse blog berichten. Hier komen ze dan.

Er is een bericht die ik zelf erg leuk vond om te schrijven en dat is: Spiegeltje Rondreis met opa en oma met kleinkinderen in Verwegistan. Op de één of andere manier komen mensen regelmatig via google hier als hun zoekwoorden "Spiegeltje Rondreis" zijn. Ook het mooie blog bericht over Tropisch bloemen en verhaaltjes word via zoekmachines vaak gevonden. Een recent verrassend bericht gaat over alle verschillende nationaliteiten en verschillende talen die gesproken worden in Nederland: Veelkleurig Nederland.

Het is misschien leuk om te weten dat Expat On Air van Radio Nederland Wereldomroep zaterdag 21 januari 2012 over kinderen ging die in het buitenland waren opgegroeid, ook wel genoemd: third culture kids. Ik was te gast en kon iets over mijn ervaringen vertellen. Je kunt het hier naluisteren: Niet weten waar je thuis hoort? je bent wellicht een TCK!

Mocht je nog tips hebben over goede websites of andere tips die betrekking hebben op kinderen die oproeien in andere culturen dan hoor ik het graag. Ik zou graag meer reacties willen ontvangen om te weten of je hier nuttige informatie hebt gevonden. Alvast bedankt!

Language Links for Parents Raising Multilingual Children

2012-01-12T22:20:00.000+01:00

At the moment the blog post Bilingualism and growing up abroad is the blog post with the most comments on this blog. On twitter I also realised that I regularly retweet tweets about third culture kids learning new languages. I am really glad and thankful that my parents raised me bilingually. We spoke Dutch at home and English at school. For those who do not know, I grew up in Africa. I would like to encourage parents who are considering raising their kids multilingual: please do it and please stick to it. Your offspring will thank you some time in the future. Maybe it is not the easy road to take but it is worth it. I read this quote recently and it just stuck with me. I love it.

"One of the best presents a parent can give is the gift of a language" http://bit.ly/nD6iFM

I want to share the links of some of the posts I read. I hope you find something juicy, spicy and just what you need.

Top 10 Resolutions to Help Your Children Learn a 2nd Language http://bit.ly/vDw7PI

Excellent post from Prof. Genesee about bilingual children: http://owl.li/8ivog

"One of the best presents a parent can make is the gift of a language" http://bit.ly/nD6iFM

Talking about bilingualism http://bit.ly/AkyDH5 Including a tip for a good book: A Parents' & Teachers' Guide to Biligualism.

Wow! Patricia Kuhl: The Linguistic Genius of babies http://bit.ly/eI5dzc Exposing American babies to Mandarin. What happens?

Gestures can ease language learning http://bit.ly/y4RTdt

Research shows fewer reading errors with Dyslexie, a new font by Dutch graphic designer, and dyslectic, Christian Boer http://bit.ly/ihH5iv

7 Habits that will help your child become bilingual http://bit.ly/pXptTS

12 Common Myths and Misconceptions about Bilingual Children: http://owl.li/7OBER

Read & listen to a mum teaching her kids Indonesian. She's raising them trilingual http://bit.ly/seFkFJ

Immigration and Language: http://owl.li/7TLgV

Zie hier vragen & antwoorden over meertalig opvoeden bij @OudersOnline http://bit.ly/rZcLko

Tweetalig opvoeden, het moment is aangebroken. Ik hoop dat het lukt! http://bit.ly/vbE5lp

Please add any advice, tips, links or words of encouragement in the comment section. I really appreciate that. Questions are welcome too.

Related posts

Image thanks to Manuere, Morgue File.

Guest blog by An African Gypsy: A story of an Adult Third culture kid

2012-01-06T22:18:00.000+01:00

I was born in ex-Yugoslavia in the 1960’s. My divorced mother met a Sudanese student of Agriculture when I was five. Later, they got married and we moved: first to Iraq then Libya and traveled extensively by car through Turkey, Greece, and Egypt.

When I was twelve we settled in Khartoum, Sudan where I attended a Catholic school for girls and lived on a farm by the Nile. Sudan was a melting pot comprised of Coptics, Syrians, Greeks, Egyptians, Lebanese, numerous Sudanese tribes as well as the expat community. An entire generation of multiethnic and multifaith children.

There was something exhilarating and never monotonous about having all these customs, cultures and beliefs blend in one place, constantly something new to learn. Bewitched by the music, folklore and language of each country I have visited or lived in, I still love applying the intricate patterns of Henna and wearing the colourful Tobe. (A garment indigenous to Sudan that is draped around the body and worn loosely over the head) My favorite facet of such a lifestyle was accepting everyone equally. Colour, race or faith made no difference to me. Most people I grew up with were mixed race including my siblings who are also Muslim.

On the farm in Sudan

Even though I loved Africa I missed my grandparents, my father and my hometown. Also, I didn’t fit into any of the existing *categories* in the Sudan. I was not half Sudanese as many of my friends were and I was not an expat child whose parents worked for embassies and foreign companies. I grew up immersed in a Sudanese household, with a Sudanese stepfamily and half African siblings but my outer appearance didn’t fit my colloquial Arabic dialect or my unconsciously native mannerisms. Little children would run after me on the street giggling and shouting, “Halabiya” (Gypsy) due to my fair skin. (In Sudan, people from a gypsy origin are lighter skinned) Or they called me “Khawagiya”. Foreigner. It didn’t feel good.

As I get older, my birthplace, my hometown of Osijek by the Drava River tugs at my heart more urgently. I get emotional over Balkan songs and jokes. I miss the aroma of local bread, the delicate peaches, and chestnuts in the winter...the fields of sunflowers. On the other hand, the magnificent Nile, the scent of mangoes and jasmine and the rhythm of African drums call me just as powerfully.

Nowadays, I live in Dubai, interacting with people from 198 nationalities. Listening to the soothing echoes from a host of languages intrigues me in countless ways. Here, I blend in.

This interest in multiculture has led me to pen stories about individuals who are displaced, then thrown together in a culturally alien setting and how that changes them. My novel ‘Dubai Wives’ follows the lives of eight women from ethnically, culturally and religiously diverse backgrounds and their transformative journey in the glamorous metropolis of Dubai, a place as intricate and complex as the woven threads of a beautiful carpet.

Through all my writing and inner self searching I have realized that I will probably never be completely content in any one place, cursed and blessed by the countless forces that have shaped me.

Good sites for third culture kids: http://www.tckworld.com/ and the Global Nomads Group.

********************************************

Thank you Zvezdana Rashkovich for your guest blog! It's my honour. Zvezdana is author of the novel Dubai Wives. On her website www.zvezdanarashkovich.com you can find more information. We met on twitter @SleeplessinDubai in 2011. We have in common that we both grew up in Africa and are both (adult) third culture kids.

Ever heard of carbide shooting? This third culture kid did it in Malawi

2012-01-02T21:16:00.000+01:00

Traditionally carbide shooting is done on new year's day or new year's eve. So last Saturday I went to our family farm in Friesland (the north of the Netherlands) where my uncles just have to shoot carbide.

What you need:

A milkcan with a lid that fits on to it (the milkcan has to have a small whole in it).
A piece of carbide stone (white, see photo)
Some water
Some fire, to light the explosive gas
Some patience
Some protection for your ears, because there is a loud bang when the explosive gas comes in contact with fire.

I actually found a website that explains about carbide schooting: a Dutch favourite sport. On the internet I read that carbide shooting is still popular these days in the Netherlands.

When the explosive gas explodes after coming in contact with fire the lid of the milkcan flies about 20 to 30 meters. You have to take care that there is nobody standing in front of the milkcan at the time of ignition. Why do we do it? It's a tradition. Why do we have traditions? By the way in the second world war the carbide stone was used in the carbidelamp a lamp used on bicycles.

When I grew up in Malawi we celebrated new year with carbide shooting too. I have no idea how my father got hold of the carbide stone and maybe it is better that I do not know. I hope he did not take it on the plan, because I can imagine that that would be rather dangerous. In Malawi we did not have a milkcan bit we took a small tin can with a fitting lid, a small whole in it. We added a little water to the carbide stone in the can, put the lid on, added some fire and we made a small bang. So we had no fireworks but just a little carbide shooting. There is no new year's eve without oliebollen (here are soms photos of oliebollen). Would you call it an oil dumpling in English? It is a kind of Dutch doughnut. In Malawi my parents and our Dutch friends always baked a large pile of oliebollen. These are all part of my memories of celebrating new year's eve.

What are your memories of new year's eve celebrations? Do you have special traditions? Have you ever heard or seen carbide shooting? By the way: Happy new year to you!

Related posts:

Christmas around the world.

2011-12-25T14:04:00.002+01:00

Sorry to say I don't have much inspiration today, but I do want to wish you all a happy Christmas. So I will start by doing that in several different languages. On this website you can even hear how some are pronounced. As a third culture kid I grew up multilingual and I still enjoy hearing different languages being spoken around me.

Prettige kerstdagen en een gelukkig nieuw jaar (that's in Dutch)
Merry Christmas and a happy new year
Noflike Krystdagen en folle lok en seine (Frisian, the language spoken in the North of the Netherlands. It's the language my grandparents spoke). It's my "father tongue".
Joyeaux Noël et bonne année (French, the language I learned at school)
Feliz Natal! Feliz Ano Novo! (Portuguese, the language my parents learned when they had passed the age of 50 years and were preparing to work in Angola).
Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta (Finnish, just because the words look nice).
Glædelig jul og godt nytår (Danish, it sounds nice) .

Here is some interesting information about Christmas around the world:

Did you know that the expats in Africa are most likely to make a call home at Christmas?
Want to read more about what Christmas looks like for third culture kids? Read Libby Stephens' post called: Christmas TCK style.
Did you know that: Christmas Day is just an ordinary day for most Chinese people. Sarah Crack is a teacher in Tianjin, China tells about it on the Telegraph website.
Want to know how Christmas is celebrated here in the Netherlands? Read about it on The Expatica website.
For Dutch kids Sinterklaas is associated with getting presents. Read all about Sinterklaas on a previous blog post of mine.
Do you want to see a fresh telling of the first Christmas (done by children)? Go over to the Third Culture Kids & company website. Enjoy.

Well as a third culture kid we celebrated Christmas many times in Malawi and Zimbabwe. My memories of those times are a mixture of English carol singing, church, pot luck meals (yummy! trifles and more), new made friends, swimming, eating, making music and of course a Christmas tree. Even though there was never snow!

What are your Christmas memories? If you can say happy Christmas in an additional language please add it in the comments. Thanks.

Video: Third culture kids and Global Nomads, their point of view!

2011-12-21T21:48:00.000+01:00

Here is a film produced by ECIS. In the film children third culture kids are interviewed on different topics. These kids have lived in many different countries across the globe. Watch and listen to their story. First they explain in their own words what a third culture kid is.

This is list of the advantages of growing up as a third culture kid, as told by the children in the video.

The kids say that they:

Are more accepting of different cultures and other people.
Learn more new cultures and learn new languages.
Can understand the world better if you live in different parts of the world.
Can see more of the world and not live a boring life.
Can move around and have experiences that most other kids don't have.
Get to meet new people.
Get to make many new friends.
Have an extra level of knowledge.
Enjoy life and do not take things for granted (they have seen poverty and seen the extremes of life).
Have more opportunities and can get a better education.

In a future blog post I will talk about the challenges the kids mention. Here's a list of My 10 disadvantages of growing up in another culture. I have written about My 10 advantages of growing up in another culture.

If you want to know more about what children think of growing up abroad then I can recommend this interview What it's like to a third culture kid. Eleven year old Eliana explains all about being a TCK. She even has her own blog: TCKids (for Kids by a Kid).

What's your experience? What's your story? I would love to hear from you.

Just discovered a new book. Writing out of Limbo: The International Childhood Experience of Global Nomads & Third Culture Kids

2011-12-16T21:46:00.002+01:00

I am so excited. I just discovered a new book all about third culture kids. I just can't wait to get my hands on it. I have a love for books anyway, but if the books are on subjects that I am interested about then the love is even greater. On Amazon I discovered that this book has 498 pages, so there's lots of "food for thought" there. The book has only just been published: 1st of December 2011, by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

The new book "Writing Out of Limbo: the International Childhood Experience of Global Nomads and Third Culture kids" by Gene H. Bell-Villada and Nina Sichel with Faith Eidse and Elaine Neil Orr. For a sample of the book, including the table of contents click here.

Here's what I read about the book that made my heart beat faster:

In this groundbreaking collection, writers from around the world address issues of language acquisition and identity formation, childhood mobility and adaptation, memory and grief, and the artist’s struggle to articulate the experience of growing up global. And, woven like a thread through the entire collection, runs the individual’s search for belonging and a place called “home.”

About the authors: Gene H. Bell-Villada, born in Haiti of US parents, was raised in Puerto Rico, Cuba and Venezuela. A professor of Romance Languages at Williams College (Massachusetts), he is the author or editor of ten books, including a TCK memoir, Overseas American: Growing Up Gringo in the Tropics (2005). Nina Sichel is co-editor, with Faith Eidse, of Unrooted Childhoods: Memoirs of Growing Up Global (2004), the first collection of memoirs by Third Culture Kids and Global Nomads. Raised among expats in Venezuela, she relocated many times as an adult, and currently leads memoir and guided writing workshops near Washington, DC. Last but not least editor Elaine Neil Orr whom I heard came up with the title of the book! (Sorry Elaine I forgot you the first time round).

This is what others say about the book:

“Well-grounded in classical perspectives and new visions of what it means to live in an intercultural world, the book offers a wonderful array of memoir, research, interviews, theory and even poetry. There’s something for everyone here!” Anne P. Copeland, PhD, Director, The Interchange Institute

“I recommend this book to all parents who are creating TCKs; to teachers and professors of TCKs; for general reading and understanding of the making of a citizen of the world; and, finally, to TCKs themselves, who will see that their experiences are shared with many others.” Linda A. Garvelink, President, Foreign Service Youth Foundation

As I read about the book I think this is a "must have" for anybody doing research on third culture kids or cross cultural kids. I am glad that there is an increasing amount of books and information available for parents, teachers, therapists, adult third culture kids and anyone interested in this subject. Thanks for publishing this book!

Related posts:

Meet Sammy the snail, a third culture kid!

2011-12-13T21:16:00.000+01:00

Here are some of Sammy's tips if you are moving overseas:

Keep family traditions alive (like celebrating Sinterklaas?)
Bring soms familiar items from your home and put them in your new home.
Create a special album or a box with memories and add new things as you go along. Then when you look at it you can remember all the great times.
Stay in touch with old friends. Email is a good idea or you can also send a parcel.

Sammy hopes you have a great move!

Do you want to know more about Sammy? In an earlier post called Global Nomads on the move part 2 I wrote about Helen Maffini's book called Sammy's Next Move. Helen was a third culture kid and she has lived and worked in 11 countries. Helen is a Canadian/British educational consultant who is currently living in Australia.

Want to read more?

Global Nomads on the move it includes the short film MOVE, worth watching.
Libby Stephens explains what third culture kids are.
Children of the World: where are your roots?
Aga Magdolen's film "Les Passagers"
New book "Emotional Resilience and the expat child"by Julia Simens

Do you have tips when moving with children? If you were a third culture kid, do you have memories of your moves? Any advice?

Twitter update: week 49. All about third culture kids

2011-12-11T21:18:00.000+01:00

Having a Baby Abroad - Global Differences Series: QATAR http://is.gd/59kGNC

New book coming up: Third culture kids & Global effects on Business Sustainability.
http://bit.ly/shRSDE

How Third Culture Kid’s Natural Cross Cultural Vision Can Power International Business Expansion http://bit.ly/vDTWhB

Christmas traditions that just didn't happen. http://awe.sm/5bPbS

Immigration and Language: http://owl.li/7TLgV

Debora talks more about moving back to Switzerland as a TCK. Adjustments. Difficulties. http://bit.ly/tnPGCV

Many #expat children are 'third culture kids' find out what this means and the challenges expat parents can face http://bit.ly/u2injw

A recovering third culture kid tells of fond memories of a "Displaced Christmas" in #Japan #Brussels #Philippines http://bit.ly/vtPMwG

#TCK Writer Pico Iyer describes himself as "a global village on 2 legs" Check out this interview: ow.ly/7NKC0

So true and funny too! Read this: Top 10 Third Culture Kid Quirks http://bit.ly/uK26CA

Gijs woont nu in #Spanje: een interview met een third culture kid http://bit.ly/uUAvQa bij Wereldkids.

Want to read more? Here's my Twitter update week 43 all about kids growing up in other cultures.
Here you can find Great third culture kid information on the web.

Please add your links if you have an interesting blog or know of a good blog or website. Thanks!

Wat missen Nederlanders in het Buitenland?

2011-12-08T21:08:00.000+01:00

Er is pas De Grote Mis Verkiezing gehouden. Wat mis je het meest in het buitenland. Nederlanders en Vlamingen over de hele wereld konden stemmen. De televisie zender BVN hield deze Mis verkiezing. BNV staat voor het Beste van Vlaanderen en Nederland en is de publieke televisiezender voor Nederlandstaligen in het buitenland. Er waren meer dan 10 duizend reacties. Sommige missen een huis vol bloemen of gewoon naar de markt gaan om tulpen te kopen.

Foto genomen in Keukenhof Lisse

Op de website De Grote Mis Verkiezing konden mensen aangeven wat zij het meeste missen in het buitenland.

Hier is de top 10:

Haring 9,1%
Kroket 8,6%
Kaas 8,1% Zijn wij dan toch echte "Kaas Koppen"?
Hema 8% dan zing ik meteen "Echte Hema!"
Familie/vrienden 6,7%
Fietsen 6,5% Nederkand is ook een echt fietsland. 13,5 miljoen Nederlanders (84%) heeft één of meerdere fietsen. Lees hier Fietsen in cijfers van de Fietsersbond.
Bakker producten 3,7%
Gezelligheid 2,2% (dit is een Nederlands woord dat niet goed in het Engels te vertalen is)
Sinterklaas 2,1% ik heb laatst ook geschreven over Sinterklaas in het buitenland vieren?
Beleg/slaatjes 2,1%

Hier is een kort filmpje van het jeugdjournaal er over dat heet Kroket meer gemist dan oma.
De Belgen in het buitenland missen friet het meest (16,9%)! Er zijn een aantal overeenkomsten met de Nederlanders. Wat Belgen ook missen zijn garnalen, bier, chocola, humor en de markten. Familie en vrienden komen pas op de 8ste plaats.

Tijdens mijn kinderjaren heb ik in Afrika gewoond. Ik kan vooral herinneren dat hagelslag en drop voor ons heel speciaal waren en dat bezoekers uit Nederland dit voor ons meenamen. Er was een periode dat er geen rozijnen of krenten te koop waren in Zimbabwe en ik weet nog dat mensen dit voor ons in hun koffers bij zich hadden. Het kan ook zijn dat wij zelf krenten en rozijnen uit Nederland meebrachten. Ze werden beward voor oudjaarsavond en moesten natuurlijk in de oliebollen mix. Ik weet ook nog dat mijn oma een keer bij ons op bezoek kwam in Malawi en dat zij samen met mijn moeder witte kool omtoverde tot "zuurkool"! Ja stamppotten zijn volgens mij ook typisch Hollands.

Ik heb eerder geschreven over Herinnering aan Holland.
Waar kom je vandaan?
Vliegende Hollanders
Kinderboek "Ik Heb het Niet Bedacht"
Ontdekken dat je een Third Culture Kid bent

Wat mis jij in het buitenland? Waar heb je alles voor over om het het te eten of te kunnen doen? Herken je deze top 10?

Top 10 countries for Raising Children abroad in 2011

2011-12-05T21:32:00.000+01:00

The Expat Explorer Survey 2011 is a survey in which 3385 expats participated from over a 100 countries of the world. I am most interested in the chapter on raising children abroad. In other words that is the chapter on raising third culture kids. I want to know which country parents think is the best to raise your kids.

The survey looked at 3 main factors on raising kids abroad. These are the 3 factors:

Childcare (safety of children, standard of education, quality of childcare and overall cost of raising children)
Health and wellbeing (spending time outdoors, spending time with parents, playing sports, playing video games, watching TV, children eat less junk food now)
Integration (settled in quicker than parents, enjoyed their lives, are learning new languages, missing home and friends, social integration)

Scores from each factor are weighted to arrive at an overall Raising Children Abroad score and overall rank. The weighting applied is as follows: childcare - 33,3%, Health & wellbeing - 33,3% and Integration 33,3%.

Now here are the top 10 countries for raising children abroad according to this survey:

France
The Netherlands
Australia
Hong Kong
China
Singapore
United Arab Emirates
Mexico
United States
United Kingdom

France provides the best environment for raising children, with the Netherlands second best and Australia in third place. Children in these countries appear to lead a much healthier lifestyle: spending more time outdoors and more time playing sports. Of course I am a little proud that the Netherlands scores so well on raising children. I will share more specific results about the Netherlands in one of my next blog posts.

What are your experiences with raising kids abroad? Do they match the results of this survey? Do you have tips for other parents? Please share it with us. Thanks.

Good reads:
Bilingualism and growing up abroad
My 10 advantages of growing up abroad
Third culture kids: learning their mother tongue
Third culture kids going to university

Photo by KConners, MorgueFile

To do or not to do: Celebrate Sinterklaas abroad?

2011-12-04T21:47:00.001+01:00

Sinterklaas coming to town 2011, Nederland

It's the time of year in the Netherlands that all the children are excited. They are full of anticipation, they are expecting a bag full of presents. It's the time of year that "Sinterklaas" is celebrated. He arrived in the Netherlands on the 12th of November this year and since then there has been a daily Sinterklaas news show on television for the children. This is the Dutch website of het Sinterklaas journaal (the news). Here the Radio Netherlands Worldwide reports that Sinterklaas arrived safely in the Netherlands. This is an interesting fact: The arrival of Saint Nicholas #sinterklaasintocht even became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter for a while on Saturday.

I was talking to my brother-in-law last week and he told me that he enjoys hearing our stories and seeing the photos of our Sinterklaas celebrations in Malawi and Zimbabwe. He said "that is probably the most Dutch thing that you did when you lived there". For the Dutch community in Harare, Zimbabwe my dad was the Sinterklaas and as teenagers we dressed up as zwarte Piet (black Peter). I remember being stared at driving through the streets of Harare dressed up as zwarte Piet. I must admit I have fond memories of our Sinterklaas celebrations abroad.

On the InCulture website there is a blog post about St. Nicholas day. There a several countries in Europe where they celebrate a variation of Sinterklaas.

I met an expat here in the Netherlands and she has written several blog posts about Sinterklaas. I will add the links because sometimes it's good to have an objective description from an "outsider". To get into the feel of it. Here is Fourier Analyst her English Pepernoten recipe and her English recipe for Kruidnoten. Both pepernoten and kruidnoten are biscuits that are typical for Sinterklaas celebrations. Many schools and even daycare centres have the kids make these small biscuits as a fun activity. Here Fourier Analyst writes about the history of Sinterklaas. In the following posts she explains the traditions of adding poems to the presents and there is a lot more interesting information.
Who is coming to you house? part II
Who is coming to your house? part III
Who is coming to your house? part IV
Who is coming to you house? part V
Who is coming to your house? part VI

Did you know that half a billion chocolate coated pepernoten cookies are expected to be sold this holiday season?

There is a Dutch website for children abroad called Wereldkids. On their website you can see Sinterklaas in Madrid, Spain and in Singapore. There is even a photo competition for the best photo of a Sinterklaas celebration abroad. The winning photo's were made in Austria, Entebbe (Uganda) and Accra (Ghana), have a look.

This year for the first time in many years Sinterklaas did not officially arrive in Vancouver, Canada. The reason was that Zwarte Piet (black Peter) was not allowed to be part of the celebrations. There were accusations of racism. They decided that if Zwarte Piet was not allowed then the celebrations would be cancelled. So the question is to celebrate or not to celebrate Sinterklaas abroad? Do we teach our third culture kids abroad our home traditions or not? What do you think? What are your memories of celebrations abroad?

Vragen over wat third culture kids zijn en over identiteit.

2011-12-03T12:56:00.000+01:00

Laatst kreeg ik een email van een medewerker van My Heritage blog met een aantal vragen over wat een third culture kid is. Inmiddels hebben zij een blog bericht over "Third culture kids" geplaatst. Zij hebben een leuk stukje over Jutta König geschreven. Hier heb ik ook al eens geschreven over een artikel van Jutta König.
Ik ben blij dat er steeds meer aandacht komt (ook in Nederland) voor third culture kids. Ik was wel nieuwsgierig wat My Heritage.com precies is.

Hier komt het "MyHeritage.com is gesticht door een team van mensen met een passie voor genealogie en een goede kennis van de internettechnologie. Wij willen mensen overal ter wereld helpen om de kracht van het internet te gebruiken om hun verleden te ontdekken en hun banden met familie en vrienden te versterken."

Deze vragen werden aan mij gesteld en hier zijn mijn antwoorden, ik vond het goeie vragen vandaar dat ik ze ook met jullie wil delen.

Wat is volgens u een TCK?
Een third culture kid is iemand die een deel van zijn jeugd in een andere cultuur heeft doorgebracht. Je kunt denken aan kinderen van diplomaten, militairen, zendelingen, ontwikkelingswerkers, tropenartsen, emigranten maar ook van vluchtelingen enz. Ik ben van mening dat er in toenemende mate third culture kids zullen opgroeien. Tegenwoordig kunnen wij veel makkelijker reizen en is emigreren makkelijker dan jaren geleden.

Hoe heeft u het leven in diverse landen ervaren?

Ik ben geboren in Zambia en heb tot dat ik naar de universiteit ging in Malawi en Zimbabwe gewoond. Ik heb goeie herinneringen aan mijn jeugd. Wij hadden avontuurlijk vakanties: beklommen mount Mulanje in Malawi, zwommen in het meer van Malawi, gingen op safari in een wildpark enz. Ik heb altijd Engelstalig onderwijs gehad, voornamelijk op international schools. Met enige regelmaat gingen wij op verlof naar Nederland.

Heeft u door dit leven problemen ervaren met uw identiteit?

Ja dat wel. Ik voelde mij in Afrika erg Nederlands met mijn blonde haren en blauwe ogen. Wij vierde sinterklaas thuis en spraken over Nederland als "thuis". De schok kwam toen ik als 19 jarige zelfstandig naar de universiteit ging in Nederland. Ik kwam erachter dat ik er misschien wel uitzag als een Nederlander maar ik voelde mij veel meer een "African". Inmiddels heb ik begrepen dat ze dat ook wel een "verborgen immigrant" noemen. Niemand kon aan mij zien dat ik mij helemaal niet thuis voelde in Nederland. Ik kende de grapjes niet, de TV series, de normen en waarden. Het was zo verwarrend en een hele eenzame tijd.

Op mijn blog heb ik er iets over geschreven: Waar kom je vandaan? Hier kan je ook meer lezen over terugkeer. Wat mij geholpen heeft is het lezen van het boek "Third Culture Kids, the experience of growing up among worlds" geschreven door David Pollock en Ruth van Reken. Ik kwam er achter dat er niks mis was met mij maar dat mijn verwarring alles te maken had met mijn levenservaringen en het opgroeien in andere culturen. Het was zo herkenbaar, heerlijk. Wat een verademing. Ik hoop erg dat er meer bekendheid in Nederland komt over third culture kids daarom ben ik ook mijn blog DrieCulturen begonnen. Ik denk dat de informatie in dat boek veel mensen kan helpen.

Voelt u zich Nederlander?
Ja ik voel mij Nederlander maar toen ik jaren geleden met het vliegtuig aankwam in Zimbabwe weet ik dat ik op het moment dat ik uit het vliegtuig stapte en de geur op snoof en de warmte voelde wist "dit is thuis", dit voelt zo goed. Mogelijk voel ik mij dus ook wereldburger. Ik bloei op met mensen van meerdere culturen om mij heen. Daar geniet ik echt van.
Ik wil nog iets toevoegen. Ik ben erg blij dat mijn ouders mij Nederlands hebben leren spreken en schrijven. Ik denk wel dat taal en identiteit verweven zijn. Lees hier meer over op mijn blog bericht over taal. Ik heb op mijn blog een aantal voorbeelden van Nederlanders die een deel van hun jeugd in een andere cultuur gewoond hebben, (TCKs).

Voor diegene die dit lezen en in het buitenland opgegroeid zijn: Voel jij je een Nederlander of een wereldburger. Hoe was het om terug naar Nederland te komen? Waar liep je tegen aan?

Third culture kids: learning their mother tongue.

2011-11-28T21:22:00.000+01:00

As I was on twitter tonight I realised that the tweets I was sending were mainly about language learning. So I thought that's what my blog post will be on today too. As you know I am an (adult) third culture kid. Born and raised in Africa but with Dutch blood. There are many advantages of growing up abroad but one of mine is that I was raised bilingually. We spoke Dutch at home and English at school. It was very tempting to mix English words into our "home" language but my parents had clear rules on that one. Especially when we as kids were quarreling we had a tendency to switch to English.

Now I am living in a Dutch environment but to this day I enjoy speaking English with by brothers and sister. We don't do it all the time but is feels so "comfortable". Even on the telephone we just switch from one language to the other.

It's good to have a family language plan. A language expert writes about it: Family Language Planning - A Tool For Success.

So what was my parents' plan? I'm not sure but here are a few things we did:

Wrote Dutch letters to our family
Sang Dutch children's songs, especially on long trips in the car! My mum knew lots of songs and loves singing. Songs like "Hansje Pansje Kevertje die klom eens op een hek..."
Carried kilograms of children's books in our suitcases when returning back to Africa. This was in the time before you could order books through the internet.
Were members of the children's library in Harare, Zimbabwe (that was 366 kilometres from Bulawayo where we lived).
Had Dutch lessons during the holidays. As kids that was terrible, but now I am terribly grateful!
Read many Dutch children's books.

I just want to encourage parents raising multilingual children. Please don't give up. I know it takes effort but know that in the long run your children will be grateful. Recently I have spoken to third culture kids who cannot speak their mother tongue well and they really regret it. A good site for information on this topic is Multilingual Living. Read this good advice on their website: 10 things you should NEVER say to your bilingual child.

Here's some food for thought on this topic:

Make language learning fun.
Don't listen to people who think that speaking the native language at home should be stopped.
Be patient. Being patient is the key for your child to build confidence in a second language.
Find material that helps with the language learning (like DVDs, computer games, books, CDs).

Want to read more? Bilingualism and growing up abroad.

Do you have thoughts on this topic? Parents do you have advice for other parents? Third culture kids do you have something to add? Please share your comments. (Photo thanks to Griet, Morgue file).

Third culture kids and exciting new things!

2011-11-24T22:12:00.001+01:00

Art: someone did something new....spotted in Holland

There are some things that I really enjoy doing and one of those things is: "doing something new!" The past 6 months has been full of new things. I will just name a few:

Started this blog: DrieCulturen
Made a twitter account. You can follow me @DrieCulturen
Tweeted more than a thousand tweets.
Discovered that there are actually people who want to follow me.
Planted potatoes in our own garden for the first time in my life.
Harvested and ate my homegrown potatoes. That was so exciting!
Made strawberry jam from homegrown strawberries for the first time in my life.

Some time ago I wrote a Dutch blog post on this same topic. The post is called "Nieuwe dingen doen". In my post about the disadvantages of growing up in another culture I mentioned that "restlessness" is one of the disadvantages of having had lots of change during childhood. As a result of the restless I want change or new things. Some third culture kids say they want to move house every 2 years. They feel an "itch", they just have to move. A long time ago I decided that I want to grow some roots where I am living now, so I will not move but just stay here even when I feel the "itch". Life is all about making choices!

Now to tell you about the most exciting new thing. I have recently been asked to write a guest post for Expat Explorer. The great news is that today my post has been published on their blog. So I want to invite you all to hop over to their blog and read "Where are you from?" It's a real honour to have been asked to write about third culture kids for their blog. Thank you!

I have been writing on this blog for just over 5 months now. Just for fun I will list a couple of my favourite blog posts on my blog. By the way I really enjoy writing on this blog.

Have you done anything new recently? Do you have an urge to do new things? How do you handle the "itch" (the extreme desire to keep moving)? I would love some new comments on the blog so please few free and let me know what you are thinking. Thanks.

My heritage of growing up overseas. Part 2: a heart for the children of this world

2011-11-20T16:01:00.000+01:00

Today, the 20th of November it's Universal Children's Day. This day is internationally known as the international day for children. So that's what I will to write about today. You probably know that I grew up in Africa and now live in the Netherlands. Recently I wrote about My Heritage of growing up overseas part 1: Respect for malaria. Today I will write about my heart for the children of the world. As a child I say parents in Malawi who had to walk for more than an hour to get health drinking water for their children. I saw children begging on the streets, holes in their clothes. I saw children who could not go to school because there was no money to pay school fees. I saw rich kids too but the children in need made a lasting impression on me. Somethings in life you just don't forget!

The 20th of November marks the day on which the United Nations general Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989 (now 22 years ago).

What are children's rights?

All children have the same rights. All children have the right to life through the provision of basic needs - water, food, shelter and health care.
Adults have to think what is best for the children when they decide about things. All children should be safeguarded against all forms of abuse, neglect and exploitation, and are entitled to live in a safe and caring environment.
All children have the right to live and develop. All children should be able to grow to their full potential through quality education, leisure and play.
All children have the right to say what they think and be respected.

Just a little more history: in 1953 the United Nations general Assembly proclaimed that Universal Children's Day would take place annually on the 20th of November. The problem is that in 1925 the World Conference for the Well-being of Children in Geneva, Switzerland proclaimed June 1 to be International Children's Day. So now Children's day is celebrated on different dates around the world.

To celebrate Universal Children's Day young people from across the globe created the video project "We will change everything". This creative collaboration shows the power of the web, as the filmmakers have not met most kids, yet the children managed to create a song about their hopes and dreams. The video clip was shown during TEDxYouthDay 2010 in 60 different cities and it invites you to contribute too! Watch and enjoy it.

Today there is a Tedx Youthday in Amsterdam. Children and young people are able to express there ideas. They have a right to say what they think and be respected!

Here is a short film about the millennium goals of the UN. Unicef (the United Nations Children fund) lets us know that 6 of 8 goals are related to children's welfare. The target date is 2015. So there is a short time to go. The goals which affect children are the following 6:

Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Less children are hungry.
Achieve universal primary education. All children have primary school education.
Promote gender equality and empower women.
Reduce child mortality, so less children die.
Improve maternal health. Healthier and happier mothers.
Combat Hiv/Aids, malaria and other diseases. Less parents get sick, healthier families.

Let's hope this world will become a better place for our children to grow up in. What are your thoughts on this subject? Have you seen children that have left a lasting impression on you?

Great Third Culture kid information on the Web

2011-11-17T22:34:00.000+01:00

Every now and then I post twitter updates but recently I realized that not everyone is on twitter. I wasn't until a couple of months ago. In this post I wrote about my first adventures on twitter. You can follow me on twitter @DrieCulturen. Just today I read that the number of active twitter accounts in the Netherlands increased by 60% in the last 10 months. Well that's all for now about twitter, because I decided to give you links to good third culture kid information on the web. If you are a third culture kid looking for information or a parent raising children internationally do have a look at these sites.

Libby Stephens wrote a great blog post on her favorite third culture kid resources. Libby Stephens is a cross- cultural transition consultant and she has worked with TCKs for more that 25 years.
Denizen online Magazine it's dedicated to TCKs. Interesting information: like an infographic about third culture kids.
Educating Global Nomads a blog by Rebecca Grappo, a Certified Educational Planner. She is also mother of 3 grown expat children. On her blog you will find information about education, international schools, special needs and more.
Multilingual Living is a place where parents raising children in more than one language and culture can find inspiration, tools, advice, wisdom and support! Worth a visit.
In Culture Parent is a website for parents raising little global citizens. There's lots of different information there.
MummyinProvence Ameena Falchetto is third culture kid and an expat living in France. She has lovely posts on her site about the Global Differences in Baby-making. Nice photos and advice from mothers who have been there before.
Julia Simens she is author of the book "Emotional Resilience and the Expat Child", educator and consultant. She has a blog and here are her "Mustreads".
Raising My TCKs it is an online community with personal stories about parenting third culture kids.

I hope you find what you are looking for. If you know of good sites, please let me know. If you need information about third culture kids but you can not find it, please let me know. Maybe I can help.

Children of the world. Where are your roots?

2011-11-14T22:25:00.000+01:00

While searching on the internet I came across this nice film. I like it because it is about third culture kids in the Netherlands. I hope you enjoy watching "Children of Roots 2: Eindhoven Trailer".

This film has been made by Ritti Soncco. She is a writer, performer and filmmaker. She is an (adult) third culture kid. She was born in Peru, spent her childhood in Nigeria and she currently lives in Southern Germany. The film has been made in coloration with the International School in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

"The potato Ochoa continues the search for his roots... On his travels around the world, he meets the students of the International School of Eindhoven.

12 international students and 2 international teachers tell him their stories... Where is home? What does it mean to be "international"? If we grow up among many cultures, where do we have our roots?"

If you want to enjoy it to the full you should really watch Ritti Sonocco her earlier film called "Children of Roots Trailer". This is what part 1 is about:

"The little potato Ochoa awakes one day in a German potato field. Confused about being so far away from home, he explores the city of Ulm, where he befriends three South American women and asks them how they live in a foreign country without forgetting their roots and culture. He then decides to return to Peru to seek out the home he once knew and ask his fellow Peruvians if they would ever consider emigrating from their country.

A puppet-documentary on the nature of home, integration and cultural heritage. Dedicated to the potato scientist, Dr Carlos Ochoa."

I love the creativity of third culture kids. Thank you Ritti Sonocco for your lovely documentaries!

Do you want to watch more films about third culture kids? Have you seen Aga Madolen's "Les Passagers"? It's really worth watching. Have you found your roots? Are you searching for them? Do you have advice for others in search of their roots?

Veelkleurig Nederland

2011-11-10T21:23:00.000+01:00

Wist je dat Nederland nog nooit zo veelkleurig geweest is als nu. Dat hoorde ik in Het Klokhuis op donderdag 10 november 2011. Er leven in Nederland ongeveer 190 verschillende nationaliteiten naast en door elkaar heen. De klokhuispresentatoren Dolores en Mustafa leggen samen met hun ouders uit hoe Nederland zo veelkleurig geworden is. De ouders van Dolores zijn uit Suriname gekomen en de ouders van Mustafa destijds uit Marokko. Het is een leuke uitzending om te bekijken.

Kijk hier naar: Het Klokhuis, uitzending Veelkleurig Nederland

by J.Durham Morguefile

In 2007 was Amsterdam de meest multiculturele stad ter wereld. Of het nu nog steeds zo is kan ik niet goed terugvinden maar volgens mij is het wel zo.

De top 3 multiculturele steden van de wereld zijn:

Amsterdam met 178 nationaliteiten in één stad in 2010
Antwerpen, België met 164 nationaliteiten in 2007
New York, U.S.A. met 150 nationaliteiten in 2007

De meest voorkomende "vreemde" nationaliteiten in Amsterdam zijn:

Marokkaans
Turks
Brits
Duits
Surinaams

Wat voor talen worden er in Nederland gesproken? Het Nederlands en het Fries zijn de officiële talen van Nederland. In de 4 grote steden van de Randstad worden er, naast het Nederlands, 110 talen gesproken.

De top 5 talen in de steden in Nederland zijn:

Turks
Hindi
Arabisch
Engels
Berber

Waarom schrijf ik eigenlijk over de veelkleurigheid van Nederland? Op deze blog gaat het veel over third culture kids (TCKs), het gaat over kinderen die opgroeien in andere culturen maar hier in Nederland hebben wij die andere culturen om ons heen. Wat een rijkdom! Wat bijzonder dat er zo veel talen gesproken worden in dit kleine landje. Wat bijzonder dat onze hoofdstad de meest multiculturele stad is ter wereld. Volgens mij moeten third culture kids of global nomads zich wel thuis voelen in Nederland met zo veel diversiteit aan mensen en culturen om ons heen. Mocht je het niet zien, zoek het op en je komt het tegen. Ik ga een volgende keer over cross cultural kids (CCKs) schrijven. Dat zijn bijvoorbeeld kinderen van immigranten, asielzoekers, kinderen die ouders hebben van twee verschillende culturen. Heel boeiend.

Het leuke van third culture kids (zoals ik ben), wij zijn niet bang van de veelklerigheid van Nederland. Wij zijn gewend om mensen van verschillende nationaliteiten om ons heen te hebben. Ik geniet ervan.

Ook worstelen wij als TCKs met soortgelijke zaken als immigranten. Dit gedicht genoemd "Gevangen tussen twee culturen" sprak mij erg aan. Hier ook een gedicht van een Nederlandse TCK "Wortels".

Hoe kijk jij als third culture kid naar de veelkleurigheid van Nederland? Wat vind jij ervan?

My 10 disadvantages of growing up in another culture

2011-11-08T22:11:00.001+01:00

Photo by Anita Patterson Morgue file

The last post was My 10 advantages of growing up in another culture. This week it is about the disadvantages of growing up in another culture. I do think the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages but the are real challenges when you grow up cross-culturally and when you relocate as a child many times, like my family did when I was growing up. In this blog post you can read how many times I moved as a child. Here are my tips when moving with kids.

So here are my 10 disadvantages:

Having had to move often.
Saying "good-bye" many times. I remember my parents used to tell friends and family that they preferred everyone to say "hello" to us and welcome us back to Holland at Schiphol international airport than that they would wave us goodbye. Maybe they found saying "good-bye" difficult too?
Being far away from family and friends. I found this great blog post by Libby Stephens Grandparenting over the seas. Some good advice, worth reading. I grew in the age before email and skype. Communicating is a lot easier these days.
Not knowing where "home" is.
Not knowing the geography of my passport country. I never had geography of the Netherlands. When I had geography in Zimbabwe it was mainly "African" geography.
Not knowing certain popular TV shows, songs etc.
Having a kind of restlessness. I need new challenges and changes. I even find it difficult spend time at home during a holiday period.
Preferring not to change my email address or telephone number if it is not absolutely necessary. In this I prefer to keep the same email address for ever if possible.Making it easier to stay in contact with old acquaintances?
I have some language difficulty (with Dutch), I attended international and local schools, this was all in English. We had some extra Dutch lessons but I don't feel very confident in writing Dutch.
Not knowing all the Dutch sayings.

On the internet I came across The 10 Lifestyle habits of third culture kids. It gives insight into the life lived by third culture kids and the kind of baggage you are left with as a result of you experiences.

"Every parting is a form of death, as every reunion is a type of heaven." ~Tryon Edwards

I don't think the list of disadvantages is complete but for now it is fine like this. What disadvantages do you experience or did you experience?

My 10 advantages of growing up in another culture.

2011-11-03T21:51:00.001+01:00

Photo from Morguefile by Hotblack

This week I read a post written by Expat with kids. The post is about The 4 attributes of third culture kids. These attributes can make third culture kids global citizens of this world. The post is my inspiration for this week. Thanks.

So here are my 10 advantages of growing up abroad, of being a third culture kid.

If you are a third culture kid, you have probably developed:

Cross-cultural skills, I enjoy meeting people from other cultures.
Observational skills
Social skills, being good at making friends "quick".
Linguistic skills, you speak more than one language.
Adaptability, like a chameleon. Don't adapt too much. Read my blog on "Third Culture kids learning to be themselves."
A broad world view, thinking "outside of the box"
The capability of mentoring others because life experiences have been so varied.
The skill of being less judgemental.
The ability to being independent and autonomous.
More maturity than others of your age.

You know why we have developed the observational skills? When we were put in a new situation we had to "check out" the new situation. We had to quickly analyze what was going on around us. What should I say? How should I do things. I kept my ears and eyes open to see what was happening around me. I do think you are in a state of alertness when entering into a new situation, a new school, a new culture. I know what it is like to feel the "odd one out", because I have been the "odd one out" many times. I still quickly sense that somebody feels uneasy in a social situation. This has to do with my own experience.

If you want to read more on this topic I would really encourage you to read the book: "Third Culture Kids, The Experience of Growing up Among Worlds" by David Pollock and Ruth van Reken.

Do you want to read more about the advantages and disadvantages of being a TCK in this document.
Here you can read my Dutch post De 10 voordelen van het opgroeien in het buitenland.
Deze hoort er natuurlijk ook bij: De 10 nadelen van het opgroeien in het buitenland.

Read: My 10 disadvantages of growing up in another culture too.

Are you a third culture kid and would you like to add something to this list? What do you think of these advantages? Parents of third culture kids what are your thoughts on this topic?

Twitter update week 43: All about kids growing up in other cultures

2011-10-30T16:57:00.000+01:00

9 Great tips @MultiLingLiving Baby steps to biliteracy http://bit.ly/sFb7aw
start when the baby's in the womb

Thanks for the mention by @ExpatInfodesk "10 more tweeters all expats should follow"
http://bit.ly/sgWbYU

Dutch third culture kid celebrating halloween in Beirut http://bit.ly/shcLmi all about growing up globally!

I was on the great wall, sorry to have missed out on the toboggan! Sounds like fun read @InteractivExpat http://bit.ly/vxsVJ3

Orchids, I love tropical flowers.

“Learning a 2nd language: I know my children will be thankful later on” http://bit.ly/uuaWbM

Freshaliciously- Sunshine Soup by Jo Parfitt is the perfect book to read if you are an expat. Loved it!
http://wp.me/p1g9kZ-dc

Read this @MoveOneInc Children of expats may gain valuable advantage in global workforce arena
http://bit.ly/tc7iET

"Preparing Your Global Nomad for Transition to University" by @tinaquick http://bit.ly/tFypQu

RT @Libby_Stephens TCKs would you describe yourselves as rootless? Look forward to your thoughts on http://tinyurl.com/44tys2b

Informative post: A Guide to relating with third culture kids, written by a TCK: http://bit.ly/sxiQR4

An unexpected culture shock on returning home (China) from overseas. Third culture kid Elizabeth tells her story http://bit.ly/nUoHxj

Wish I could attend @Xpatathens 3 nov'11 20 pm free lecture on Third Culture People A New Cultural Reality http://bit.ly/pMGJZg in Athens

Interested in how a guidance counselor at an international school in China explains what third culture kids are? http://bit.ly/qDl6te

Have you heard of the new book for third culture kids? Slurping Soup & other Confusions http://bit.ly/qZTRVO

Interesting article @denizenmag The right to vote in the place you live...complicated!
http://bit.ly/mTTTjL

Wisten jullie dat Mauro ook een third culture kid is? Net als ik, lees meer over TCKs
http://bit.ly/sKowBo Wat zijn dat?

Leuk stukje over third culture kids @MyHeritageNL http://bit.ly/t8XViN Ken je Jutta König? Weet je wat TCKs zijn? Wereldburgers?

For more links see my twitter update week 38 all about kids growing up globally. Do you have any interesting links on this topic? Please let me know.

Libby Stephens explains what third culture kids are!

2011-10-28T21:03:00.001+02:00

Libby Stephens explains in this short video what third culture kids are. Libby is a cross-cultural transition consultant. In short she knows lots about third culture kids and has been working with them for more than 25 years. Let's just say she's an expert on this topic.

In my last post A confession to make about the term third culture kids I already wrote about the definition.

Putting it simply. She explains what the 3 different cultures are.

The first has to do with legality. What is your nationality? In my case that would be Dutch.
The 2nd culture has to do with geography. In which countries have you lived in? I have lived in Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and the Netherlands.
The 3rd culture has to do with community. It is all about a group of people that have lived some of their growing up years internationally. So this is all about relationships. It's true I really feel at home in an international environment.

Have you seen the short trailer "Les Passagers" all about third culture kids by Aga Magdolen. It's really worth watching!

Do you have any questions about what third culture kids are? Have you heard of the term before?

A Confession to make about the term Third Culture Kids

2011-10-27T22:09:00.003+02:00

Well I have to admit that I have a confession to make. So listen all. I hope you have discovered that I am passionate about third culture kids and that I want more people to know what third culture kids are. I want you all to know why and how cross-cultural childhoods affect children and that cross-cultural childhoods do matter.

For those who are new to this DrieCulturen blog. I want to let you know that it all started on the 12th of June 2011. As I write I want to let you know that the past 24 hours people from 8 different countries have visited this blog. You came from Germany, Singapore, India and Sweden for example. The blog is just over 4 months old and people from more than 50 countries of this globe have visited here. I am so glad you came and I really hope you found what you were looking for. In Indonesian they say "Selamat Datang" meaning Welcome!

The most readers to date were from these countries. Here's my top 5:

the Netherlands
USA
Belgium
UK
Canada

Now the confession. When I started this blog I took the definition of third culture kids from wikipedia. Recently I discovered that experts like Ruth van Reken are not happy with this definition and actually think it is a little incorrect. This is the definition I found on wikipedia in June 2011.

Wikipedia:
A third culture kid (TCK, 3CK) or trans-culture kid is "someone who, as a child, has spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture."

To all the readers who have read the definition on my blog I want to say I am sorry that I had the wrong definition. The problem with the above definition is that it talks of integrating pieces of culture. Culture is not individualistic, it must be shared.

The correct definition is the definition used in the book "Third Culture Kids, The Experience of Growing up Among Worlds" written by David Pollock and Ruth van Reken. So please forgive me for leading you astray. I will better my ways from today.

“A Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture. The TCK frequently builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture may be assimilated into the TCK’s life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background.”

While I am writing this blog post I have just discovered that wikipedia has recently changed the definition of a third culture kid. It is now a correct definition. In April 2011 Ruth van Reken wrote an article explaining what third culture kids really are.

Dr. Ruth Useem a sociologist from Michigan state was the first to introduce the name third culture kids in the 1950's. Originally her definition was very simple "A third culture kid is a child who accompanies a parent into another culture".

If you want to find more information about third culture kids visit TCKid.com
DenizenMagazine is an online magazine dedicated to third culture kids and written by third culture kids. It's really worth a visit.

Read my blog on: Third culture kids learning to be themselves and on cultural identity confusion and third culture kids. Well that's enough talk on definitions. I was really relieved to discover that I was a third culture kid. Relieved that there was not something wrong with me but that the feelings I experienced had to do with my cross-cultural childhood. What a relief that was, of course it does not explain everything but it gave me a good starting point from which to go forward. What are your thoughts on "third culture kids"? Are you one? How was it to discover that? Do you know one? Please share with us. Thanks.

Ontdekken dat je een "Third Culture Kid" bent.

2011-10-23T09:59:00.001+02:00

Tegenwoordig zijn er steeds meer kinderen die opgroeien in andere culturen. Op mijn werk is er pas een collega vertrokken naar Australië met 3 kinderen. Een vriendin uit mijn studie tijd woont en werkt in Mexico met haar man en 3 kinderen. Andere bekenden zijn dit jaar vertrokken naar Peru met 4 kinderen. Het reizen gaat steeds makkelijker en door de mogelijkheden van internet lijken de internationale grenzen steeds meer te vervagen. Zelf ben ik geboren in Zambia en heb ik als kind in Malawi en Zimbabwe gewoond. Ik heb eerder al een blog geschreven: Waar kom je vandaan? Het gaat over mijn begin tijd hier in Nederland.

Doordat wij steeds meer en makkelijker internationaal verhuizen ben ik van mening dat het aantal kinderen dat buiten zijn of haar eigen paspoort land opgroeit alleen maar zal toenemen. Deze groep kinderen hebben de naam third culture kids gekregen. Ze hebben een deel van hun ontwikkelingsjaren doorgebracht in een andere cultuur (dus meestal in één of meer landen). Ik heb nog geen goede Nederlandse vertaling voor het woord third culture kids gevonden. Ze worden wel eens derde-cultuur-kinderen genoemd maar persoonlijk vind ik dat geen mooie term.

Laatst kwam ik een artikel tegen over de fases die je doormaakt bij het ontdekken dat je een third culture kid bent. Het spraak mij wel aan en ik zal het hier kort toelichten. Ik heb deze fases zelf ook doorgemaakt maar op dat moment had ik het zelf natuurlijk helemaal niet door. Meestal is het moment dat je ontdekt dat je een third culture kid bent ergens in je tienertijd of iets daarna.

1. De fase voordat je iets over third culture kids weet, onwetendheid

Ik heb veel fijne herinneringen aan deze tijd: kamperen in Zimbabwe, vuurtjes stoken tijdens het kamperen, mount Mulanje beklimmen in Malawi, zwemmen in het meer van Malawi, veel verschillende kinderen in mijn klas op de internationale school. Wij moesten wel regelmatig verhuizen en afscheid nemen maar dat deden de andere "expats" om ons heen ook. Het was dus normaal in mijn beleving. "Anders zijn" was ook normaal.

2. De ontdekking dat je een third culture kid bent

Dit gebeurde bij mij toen ik het boek "Growing up Among Worlds" van David Pollock en Ruth van Reken aan 't lezen was. Het was zo'n aha moment. Opeens begreep ik mijzelf beter. Opeens lag het niet aan mij, maar hadden de gevoelens die ik had, de eenzaamheid, het onzekerheid ook te maken met mijn verleden. Het had te maken met het opgroeien in andere culturen/landen. Ik kwam er achter dat ik niet de enige was die deze gevoelens had. Er waren meer third culture kids! Het was een gevoel van opluchting.
Ik werd mij ook meer bewust van de nadelen van het opgroeien in het buitenland.

3. Aanpassen aan je nieuwe identiteit

Ik werd mij meer bewust van de voordelen van het opgroeien in andere landen. Zie ook mijn eerder bericht over de 10 voordelen van het opgroeien in het buitenland. Ik ben gaan nadenken over hoe ik mijn culturele gevoeligheid meer zou kunnen gebruiken in mijn toekomst.

4. Het integreren van het "third culture kid" zijn in jezelf en verder gaan.

In deze fase ben je minder bezig met "het anders zijn", met je identiteit als third culture kid en nu begrijp je dat deze term ook niet alles verklaard. Het is de fase van accepteren en verder gaan. Zelf keuzes maken, vrede sluiten met je verleden en je heden. Niet zo naar de verschillen kijken maar naar de overeenkomsten tussen mensen.

Hey it's Johnny C heeft in het Engels over deze 4 fases van ontdekking geschreven.

Kijk hier naar een kort filmpje "Les Passagers" het gaat over third culture kids (TCKs).
Hier legt Libby Stephens in een korte video uit wat third culture kids precies zijn. Zij heeft al meer dan 25 jaar ervaring met het werken met TCKs.

Ik ben erg benieuwd of jullie deze fases herkennen? Hoe was het voor jou? Zou je hier op willen reageren? Heb je advies voor anderen?

Have you heard of the magazine: Among Worlds? Especially for Adult Third Culture kids (ATCK).

2011-10-20T20:21:00.001+02:00

I recently took an international subscription to the magazine "Among Worlds". It's a magazine to encourage and empower adult third culture kids. In June 2011 the magazine celebrated its' 10th anniversary. The magazine is a quarterly magazine is published by Interaction International.

The September 2011 issue is all about "Social Networking". I will mention a few articles so you have an impression. There's an article written by Morgan McDermott about "Far-away Family & Friends Stay Close on Skype". She's a TCK who has lived in Holland, India, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Of all the social media options she uses skype the most. She even talks to her grandfather on skype! She uses skype to play "checkers" with her grandmother.

There are articles about facebook and TCKs, an interview with TCK Jamie Farr on TCKs and the social network revolution. In the interview there is something about the possible exhaustion that can be a result of a TCK trying to communicate with so many people from the past. While I am writing this I realize that this could be an nice topic for a future post, who knows?

There is a book review about the book "Memories of the Sun". The book is written by Jane Kurtz, it contains a wonderful selection of stories concerning her beloved Africa. Sounds interesting to me (seeing as I have some "African" roots). I must admit I have not read this book...yet. Jane was a TCK too.

I like this quote that I found in the Among Worlds Magazine:

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, What?! You Too? I thought I was the only one." C.S.Lewis

Here's another quote from the magazine:

"I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world"
Mary Anne Radmacher Hershey

Musings of a third culture kid has written a review on this magazine, even thought it 3 years old it's still interesting to read. Review of Among Worlds Magazine.

I have only read 2 issues but I enjoyed reading the articles and I do think that the magazine is really worth reading for TCKs and ATCKs. There are helpful articles and articles that make you think.

Do you want to read more? Here are some books I have enjoyed and maybe you would too.

Have you heard of this magazine? If you have has it helped you? In what way?

10 Travel Tips from an Adult Third Culture Kid

2011-10-16T18:04:00.000+02:00

This post is all about traveling well in an airplane. As a kid I traveled many times. It is impossible to count the number of times I have flown in an airplane. Tomorrow I will be returning home and traveling for more than 24 hours. I will start the journey by car but most of the time will be spent in an airplane or waiting at an airport. I have a stop over with about 6 hours at an airport. It could be that third culture kids (TCKs) are experts in traveling. What do you think? So here are my 10 travel tips when traveling by air:

Drink lots of water.
Stretch regularly.
Make sure you have your book, i phone, mp3 player or whatever you want to do nearby especially on a long flight.
Have the medication you need to take with your meal at hand (and not above in the stowaway like I did on the journey to Asia). I needed to take my malarone (anti malaria medication) with my breakfast. Do read my earlier post about My Respect for Malaria.
Keep your camera at hand just in case you want to take shots out of the window, just like this photo above.
Take "patience"with you. It is handy when you wait in long queues.
Take a pair of socks with you, if you are lucky you will get a pair for free.
I always have some toiletries in my hand luggage.
Make sure you switch off your cell phone, and that you know the code to switch it on with.
Take along your passport!

For more tips on air travel with young children: checkout Helen Maffini her website.
I just discovered that Heidi Sand-Hart started a new blog called Globebug and it is dedicated to her love of travel. Heidi is an adult third culture kid too and is the author of the book "Home Keeps Moving".

For those traveling: have a good journey. Try to make the most of it.It's really amazing that we can fly and see so many different parts of the world. I'm sure there are more tips, do you know some more? Please share them. What do you always take in your hand luggage?

Cultural Identity Confusion and Third Culture Kids

2011-10-07T07:28:00.002+02:00

Recently I entered the world called Twitter, it is may be something like the "expat bubble", if you're in it you know exactly what I am talking about but if you have never been part of that world it all seems so foreign. Well that's what I had with the world called Twitter. I seemed to have convinced myself that I could not understand the twitter language. After hearing someone speak about the great advantage of combining a blog with being active on twitter, I was convinced. I was going to dive into this new world and conquer. In the beginning I had some culture shock problems. I had no idea what the hashtags mean. I only just discovered that #ff means #followfriday. So on Friday people twitter that giving suggestions who to follow. Wow, I'm never too old to learn and neither are you! By the way if you want to follow me on twitter find me @DrieCulturen.

So while I was in the twitter world I came across this interesting quote.

It is a quote by Libby Stephens :

"In the 25+ years of working with third culture kids, I don't find cultural identity confusion to be a big issue until the TCKs return to their passport country"

The quote resonates in my heart because it is exactly my experience. There was no problem in my life until I went to the Netherlands to study when I was 19 years old. So what was the confusion?

Suddenly I discovered that I looked Dutch but did not feels Dutch. No that's not quite right. I did feel Dutch. I mean while I lived in Africa I felt Dutch. It was only when I lived with the Dutch in the Netherlands that I discovered that I looked the same but I felt different. Inside me I longed for Africa and I thought maybe I look Dutch but am African on the inside?

Earth by PSchubert Morgue file

At my secondary school in Zimbabwe I was called the "foreigner". On my identity card in Zimbabwe it said "alien". It really is a great feeling, being 16 years old and being called an "alien". Sorry folks this is not a made up story, this is real life. Are you starting to see where the confusion stepped into my life. Recently I discovered that there is a word that described me. I was a "hidden immigrant". TCKid.com says hidden immigrants look alike but think different. So things only got better: from foreigner, to alien, now a hidden immigrant. Later I discovered that I was a ATCK too...

You can read an important book by Kay Branaman Eakin called "According to my passport I'm coming Home" (free download here). It contains lots of information on third culture kids returning to their passport countries. What are the challenges?

Read my Dutch post about retuning home: terugkeer, re-entry, help!

Did you or your kids experience cultural confusion, and in what way?

Reverse Culture Shock and Third Culture Kids

2011-10-03T21:13:00.001+02:00

I found this video on a blog post on the website Abroad Effect. The website is about "Going Abroad. Coming Home changed". So it's all about culture shock.

Click on the link and watch this short video called "A Meditation on Reverse Culture Shock" by Smitha Prasadh: It's really worth watching. I was impressed. She choose this topic because she had just experienced it after living in Japan for 2 years and she was doing her thesis on this topic.

I'm still wondering whether third culture kids who have always lived outside of their passport country can experience a reverse culture shock too on going (back) to their passport country. Would you call it a culture shock or do you call it a reverse culture shock? Tina Quick calls it "transition shock". Well I certainly had a "transition shock" coming from Zimbabwe going to the Netherlands to study at 19 years of age.

On the website International Family Transitions you can read more about culture shock and what it is.

What will the culture shock be like in the country we are going to?

Read my Dutch posts on this subject:

Christy Childers, a third culture kid (TCK) has just recently moved to England and on her blog she has started a series of posts on 31 days of culture shock. So even we third culture kids can still experience culture shock!

What's your experience with culture shock or with reverse culture shock? Do you have advice for people experiencing culture shock? Please share it.

Bilingualism and Growing up Abroad

2011-09-28T22:02:00.002+02:00

I just read Libby Stephens' blog Bilingualism and Emotional Competency. I would like to encourage parents, educators and third culture kids to read her post. It is really full of information.

Libby writes that language is so often tied to identity. I really agree on this one. Many of you have probably read my story. I was born and bred in Africa. After living there for the first 19 years of my life, I left Zimbabwe and headed off to the Netherlands to study at university. All my years in Africa had not changed the colour of my blond hair and blue eyes. My passport too was Dutch. So even though I had never really lived there many people referred to me as the Dutch girl. Well let me tell you that "the Dutch girl" was so happy that her parents had made the effort to teach her to speak, read and write her own language: Nederlands (or Dutch).

During my time in Africa many hours of my holidays were spent learning Dutch. It was compulsory. My parents always ensured that we spoke Dutch in the home. You must understand that all my schooling was in English. In Malawi I attended international schools. Often it was very tempting to switch to English when I was playing with my siblings, but my parents kept their ears open.

We were encouraged to write letters in Dutch to our grandparents and extended family. My mother ensured a never-ending supply of Dutch children's books. In Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe there was a small library with Dutch children's books and so we would travel 366 km to get new library books. I am telling you this to show you the amount of effort needed to learn a language or to keep the language fluent.

I am so grateful that my parents encouraged us and made such an effort to teach us our family language. How would I have ever been able to communicate with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc if I had not been able to speak Dutch? Please parents make wise choices on this language issue. Seek expert advice, don't take the easy road. Remember language has everything to do with identity. Remember there is also a language of the heart.

Every now and then I meet people who regret that their parents did not teach them to speak their home language. Well I could write another whole post on this subject but maybe I can summarize it in two main words: PAIN and REGRET.

Morgu file Vahiju

Recently I even read that bilingual brains are more healthy. Canadian neuroscientist Ellen Bialystok finds that people who speak two languages cope significantly better with the disease. Even late-life language learning is beneficial, probably because it is way of keeping the brain active.

Some time ago I wrote a post in Dutch called taal.
I also wrote about the book Make Your Child Multilingual by Silke Rehman.This is my most recent post: Third culture kids learning their mother tongue.

Do you have advice on bilingualism or multilingualism? Do you have tips for parents? Did you grow up bilingually? What's your story? Please share it.

Flexibel Leven - met een slaapzak op zak: het leven van een TCK

2011-09-23T20:49:00.000+02:00

Dit is deel 2 geschreven door mijn zus, zij is mijn eerste gastblogger. Bedankt! In deel 1 heeft zij geschreven over Flexibiliteit en medeleven van een TCK. Hier komt het vervolg:

*************

Ik weet niet meer of het een uitspraak is van mijzelf of van één van mijn broers maar na weer een verhuizing vroegen wij ons af waar thuis dan eigenlijk was… Het antwoord dat mijn moeder daarop gaf was: “Waar je slaapzak is, dat is thuis”.

Voor veel TCK’s zal dat vaak zo voelen. Het “thuis zijn” is een vluchtig concept. Je bent ergens nog maar net en meteen moet je al naar een nieuwe school, zwem- of muziek les… Je moet zo snel doen alsof je thuis bent terwijl het allemaal nog zo vreemd aanvoelt. In een onbekende omgeving was mijn slaapzak en ons gezin het enige dat een gevoel van geborgenheid bood, het enige dat niet vreemd was. Het gevoel dat je thuis bent is dan niet zo sterk verbonden aan een huis of aan andere materiele spullen, het zit in het geritsel van die slaapzak, de geur en de kleur.

Ik weet nog goed dat ik naar een nieuwe school ging waar je een bruin koffertje moest hebben waar je naam met witte letters op stond. Ik was ongeveer negen jaar en het was belangrijk voor mij dat mijn schooluniform klopte en dat ik dus ook het juiste koffertje had. We waren nog maar net verhuisd maar mijn vader zorgde dat mijn naam in nette, witte letters geschilderd werd en de verf was nog maar net droog voor dag 1 in Grade Four. En toen bleek dat mijn ongewone Nederlandse naam in koeienletters op afstand te lezen was terwijl klasgenoten hele kleine, bescheiden lettertjes hadden. Tja. Zo is elke TCK wel eens de vreemde vogel. En na zo’n dag ben je blij om “thuis” in die bekende en vertrouwde slaapzak te kruipen.

Foto gemaakt door mijn zus

Wat ik nu als ATCK als groot voordeel ervaar is dat ik niet veel nodig heb om een thuis te maken. Bij deze meest recente verhuizing heb ik wel heel wat dozen laten verschepen maar die spullen heb ik niet nodig om mij thuis te voelen op een nieuwe plek. Ik vind het heerlijk om zo flexibel te zijn! Ja natuurlijk zal het best een tijd duren voordat ik echt thuis ben in Gent maar vanaf dag één, dat ik mijn slaapzak uitrolde in een hoek van de nieuwe woonkamer kon ik het thuis noemen. En ook al kruipen er mieren over de keukenvloer en versta ik de buurman niet. Ik ben thuis hier.

Thuis? met dank aan Arvydas Morgue file

Het aanpassingsvermogen dat je met verhuiservaring opbouwt is waardevol. Met wat creativiteit en hetgene wat zich in een nieuwe omgeving aanbiedt kan een gezin vaak in korte tijd een thuis gevoel creëren. Misschien is het de manier waarop je een simpele pasta schotel maakt, een kaarsje aansteekt of de aanwezigheid van de verjaardagskalender aan een spijker aan de muur... Thuis kan je bij je hebben zonder veel mee te hoeven sjouwen.

************

Ken je het boek Home Keeps Moving al van Heidi Sand-Hart? Het is geschreven door een adult third culture kid (ATCK) en het gaat onder andere over de vele verhuizingen: Home keeps moving....

Een andere vraag die vaak speelt voor kinderen die in het buitenland opgroeien en die vaak verhuizen is: Waar kom ik vandaan?

Hoe creëer jij een gevoel van "thuis"? Heb je tips?

Twitter update week 38: news about kids growing up globally

2011-09-21T15:08:00.000+02:00

Sorry to have become a little slack about writing my twitter updates. I posted a comment on an interesting blog Expat with Kids. She wrote a post about third culture kids and she has several posts on this topic. She gave me a compliment for my twitter update which made me feel I must write a new update.

Autumn started today on this side of the globe

This is what I twittered about recently. I hope the links lead you to information you are looking for. By the way autumn started today on this side of the globe.

InterNationsorg Are you a third culture kid? Do you agree with the term? Read blog for some thoughts: http://bit.ly/nyqyg4

Infographic of the modern third culture kid: http://bit.ly/qyBUva via @denizenmag interesting! Home? = complicated

Great article @denizenmag Sharing TCK experience thro' design http://bit.ly/ghJ1P6 Nice information package on TCKs international project?

6 Positive strategies to make a teenage repatriation less traumatic:
http://bit.ly/nQOWxx any advice?

Heard of the @tckbookproject? visit site http://bit.ly/c7fNcn and click on "news" to read an interview by South China Morning Post

@heyitsjohnnyc Culture shock: 24/7 or never again? bit.ly/q5QCm4

Social media: What parents should know ow.ly/6q5m5 important for TCKs

Post by WifeinaSuitcase English as She is Spoke* bit.ly/os4kgw Is it "rubbish" or "garbage"?

TCK @childerschristy How to Cope with Change: my top 5 tips
http://bit.ly/pWXEOy

@mdmaurer Are you global minded? How about your kids? What are you doing about it? http://bit.ly/obMncT

Love the suggestions in this blog post! Responsible global citizenship builds bridges http://ow.ly/6tYHt

5 things to look for in your college hunt, part of our #college guide for #TCKs: http://ow.ly/6oeuF.

@membercaremedia What kind of stressors affect our TCK kids during times of transition? dld.bz/Sqzu

Have you heard this? 101 pianos set up in Tilburg - play me, I'm yours!! http://bit.ly/ocYRu8

Nederlandse kinderen in het #buitenland in #schooluniform: artikel bij @RNW http://bit.ly/naGGJ0 wat vindt jij ervan?

If you would like to read more twitter updates about children growing up in other cultures:

week 34
week 33
week 32 (at the time of writing this is my 3rd most read post on this blog, must be interesting..)
week 31

Please add your news or links. It's all about children growing up in other cultures. Thanks.

Raising awareness about third culture kids: a brilliant idea.

2011-09-17T21:45:00.002+02:00

Recently I stumbled on an interesting article in the Denizen online magazine. It is an interview with Alicia Ingruber (an ATCK) and the titel of the article is Sharing the TCK Experience through Design. I was impressed by the content of the article and even by the title.

Alicia is an adult third culture kid, she was born in Australia, and lived in the Philippines, Canada, Cyprus and New Zealand. I was also excited to discover that she is partly Dutch too! At the age of 22, she discovered she was a third culture kid (TCK). She is a graphic designer and she created an information package for young TCKs moving to New Zealand.

There are 3 parts to the TCK information package:

A children's book for 6 - 10 year olds. It is a story all about moving and going to a new school.
A booklet for parents, with on one side the positive aspects and on the other side the negative aspects of being a third culture kid. It includes tips for parents.
It is a card game: all about creating a sense of belonging. It is a conversation starter.

Alicia "We need to get more awareness out there. Being a TCK is something you should be proud of, and that there are so many people going through the same things you’re going through."

I am excited about the information package. Is it not possible to make it an international project? A global information package available for parents, teachers, international schools, expats, companies etc? What do you think? Could it be possible? Do you have suggestions? Please let me know. Thanks.

New book: Emotional Resilience and the Expat Child by Julia Simens

2011-09-16T22:34:00.000+02:00

Julia Simens has recently written the book Emotional Resilience and the Expat Child practical storytelling techniques that will strengthen the global family.
Julia Simens is an author, educator, consultant and presenter with a focus on international relocation. This has kept Julia coming and going from the USA for over 20 years. She has worked on five continents with families who are relocating all over the world. With a focus on family therapy and early childhood education she has helped many children and families adjust to their global lifestyle. Read more: http://www.jsimens.com/

Doug Ota, child psychologist has forwarded the book. He writes that the book "has broken the skill of understanding feelings into easy digestible and imminently practical steps that any parent can apply. No book has ever done so with the special issues of an expatriate or mobile population in mind."

Definition of the word "Resilience" according to Wikipedia:
"Resilience refers to the idea of an individual's tendency to cope with stress and adversity. This coping may result in the individual “bouncing back” to a previous state of normal functioning, or using the experience of exposure to adversity to produce a “steeling effect” and function better than expected."

The book is essentially written for families with younger children (unto approximately 8 years old) but it contains lots of information on different kinds of emotions (like fear, anger, grief, sadness, and aggression, just to name a few). It would be good for parents, grandparents, teachers and anyone working with third culture kids (global nomads) or expat children to read this book. Let's face it we all want to raise resilient children, don't we?

In the book Julia writes "Reflections about moving" and one sentence just jumps out of the page. It is the sentence:"Children understand and want to talk about what their life has been being an expat child". I think it is so true. Remember I know what she is talking about, I made several international moves as a child. I think this would also be true for children of refugees, immigrants, international adoptees and other kids known as cross cultural kids. So please let's make an effort to talk with these kids moving globally.

Watch this film and experience the book launch in May 2011 at the New International school in Thailand.

Here is a book review of "Emotional Resilience and the Expat Child" written by Wordgeyser (an expat blogger living in the Netherlands).

Read an interview of Julia Simens done by Linda on her blog "Adventures in Expatland"

Listen to Jo Parfitt interview Julia Simens on the Writers Abroad Radio Show. It's all about why Julia wrote the book.

Julia wrote an article for the website Expat women For Mothers: But just how resilient are you raising your children to be?

Interested in reading more books on this topic?

Do you have any tips to raise resilient children? Please add your tips.

Flexibiliteit en medeleven van een TCK

2011-09-13T23:19:00.000+02:00

Graslei, centrum Gent, België

Mijn zus is pas verhuisd vanuit Canada naar België. Dat was haar elfde verhuizing – geloof ik. België is het 7^e land dat zij nu thuis gaat noemen. Terwijl zij een tijdje geleden druk bezig was met inpakken las zij op deze blog dat “vaak verhuizen” boven aan de lijst stond van nadelen van de (a)TCK ervaring. Dat zette haar tot nadenken. Het is een voorrecht dat zij mijn eerste gastblogger zal zijn. Welkom en bedankt. Ik hoop in de toekomst vaker gasten hier aan het woord te laten komen. Hier volgt deel 1 van haar bijdrage Verhuizen als voordeel.

***

Als TCK ben ik mij in meerdere landen thuis gaan voelen. Al de verschillende culturen hebben toegevoegd aan de vorming van mijn persoon, de gewoontes en tradities waar ik mij mee identificeer. Een TCK heeft een flexibele identiteit waarmee je medeleven kan tonen aan hele verschillende mensen en dat zie ik als voordeel.

Blue Jays stadion- Rogers Centre Toronto

In de week vóór mijn meest recente verhuizing ben ik nog naar een honkbal wedstrijd geweest van de Toronto BlueJays. Ze speelde tegen een Amerikaans team en van te voren – traditie getrouw – werd zowel de Canadese als het Amerikaans volkslied gezongen. De tekst werd geprojecteerd op een scherm in het stadion en ik hou van zingen dus ik zong allebei mee. Niet omdat ik mij nou ontzettend verbonden voel met die nationaliteiten maar wel uit respect. Een volkslied heeft een plechtige waarde die ik op veel plaatsen in de wereld in grote en kleine ceremonies heb mogen ervaren. Niet meezingen vind ik altijd een beetje brutaal – en je ziet het zo vaak, vooral bij sport evenementen.

Ik raakte aan de praat met een aantal toeristen waar ik naast zat en tijdens een pauze vroeg iemand waarom ik allebei de volksliederen meezong. Goeie vraag. Toen ik uitlegde dat ik Nederlandse was en geboren in Malawi begreep de desbetreffende dame er nog minder van. Er is geen enkel volkslied dat ik helemaal uit mijn hoofd ken, wel zijn er vijf of zes die ik aardig mee kan zingen!

Ik zing mee omdat ik mij wil verbinden met het moment en de mensen om mij heen. Door mee te zingen hoop ik waardering te uiten voor de plechtigheid, voor het samen zijn. Dat betekent niet dat ik het eens ben met alles waar deze staten voor staan. Ik kan mij voorstellen dat je als Canadees of Amerikaan op deze manier de honkbalspelers bemoedigd. Ik kan mij voorstellen… Het is een manier om mijn inlevingsvermogen die over de jaren door vele verhuizingen gecultiveerd is te uiten.

Schrijver Adriaan van Dis vat het voor mijn gevoel goed samen. Hij heeft het in zijn boek Tikkop (2010) hier niet specifiek over TCKs maar ik voelde mij aangesproken. Jij ook?

“Zwjimelaars waren het, aanstellers die grote complotten vermoedden, maar toch leerde hij van die mensen: ze maakte zijn wereld groter, verpletterde hokjes in zijn kop. Je kon in twee, drie landen leven, ook als je niet rijk was, en in meerdere culturen. Tussen fluweel en schuurpapier. Het decor bepaalde je rol. Als je niet precies wist wie je was, moest je zo nu en dan een ander kunnen zijn.”

Third Culture Kids Going to University

2011-09-09T22:05:00.001+02:00

Graduation

Have you heard of Denizen Magazine? It is an online magazine dedicated to third culture kids also known as TCKs. There are more than 14 people contributing to this magazine. See the list of contributors here. It is a very multicultural group of people that have lived in many countries of the world. I am enthusiastic about one of their latest articles: A Third Culture kids guide to college. The article is full of links and worth reading if you or someone you know is going off to university or college. Please share it with your friends and family.

I remember the question I came to dread when I started university here in the Netherlands. It was the question: "well where are you from?" Now there someone just asked me one of the most difficult questions there is to answer. In my mind I would think shall I give a short answer or shall I give the whole story? The short answer was "I am from Friesland" (that is up in the north of the Netherlands, where my dad comes from). By the way in Friesland many people speak Frisian. I can actually speak some Frisian too. It has happened that when I gave the short answer and said that I came from Friesland, the reply was "so that explains your accent". Little did they know that the accent in my Dutch was actually an English accent. Now for the long answer I sometimes gave: I was born in Zambia, lived in Malawi, my parents now live in Zimbabwe. My parents are Dutch but I have never really lived here. Usually after the long answer our conversation would end. We had no similarities, my background was so totally different to their story. Occasionally there was the odd question: in what kind of house did you live in? What did you eat there?

Denizen Magazine has another article on 8 do's and don'ts for introducing your TCK background. How can you celebrate your experience abroad without boasting? It's worth reading if you are about to start at a new school or college.
The first tip is interesting:

"Don't give everyone you meet your life story"

So maybe I should have answered with the short answer instead of giving people and overload of information within a few minutes of meeting me?

A book worth reading if you have just started university is "The Global Nomad's Guide to University Transition" written by Tina Quick. She is an adult Third Culture Kid (ATCK) who, having made 18 moves (9 of them before her 10th birthday) understands well the cycle of loss and grief involved in a cross-cultural lifestyle. Tina has raised her own TCKs across four cultures and continents including Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. On the website International Family Transitions Tina gives a list of 10 things every global nomad should know before leaving for university.Check it out.

Recently I wrote 2 blog posts in Dutch. One is about one of my first days at university and the other has 5 tips for students coming from overseas.
Waar kom je vandaan?
5 tips voor jongeren die vanuit het buitenland komen en in hun "thuisland" gaan studeren

Do you have advice for third culture kids going to university or college? Please share it with us. What were your experiences?

Image thanks to hmm360 Morgue file

Twitter update 5 september news about third culture kids

2011-09-05T21:25:00.000+02:00

I want to share some good links with you. I twittered about these links the past few days.

Family fun!

10 Lifestyle habits of third culture kids http://bit.ly/nsQKSz written by Brian Royer

You might be a third culture kid: if you speak 2 languages, but can't spell in either...
http://bit.ly/qEx3U7

@Denizenmag interview with TCK who is president of a university in Paris: all about
#TCKs&career bit.ly/roCYFd

Bilingual babies' vocabulary linked to early brain differentiation: http://bit.ly/n36PD8 via @AddThis

@Windmilltales Todays blog post Xpat Blog Hop - Hardest thing to adjust to..http://bit.ly/omWncI
5 tips for future #expats to Holland!

#TCK life has another post. Hope you're liking them, #ThirdCultureKid community. thirdculturekidlife.wordpress.com/2011/09/01/the… Post by James R.Mitchner

@SharonStirling Anyone got a hankering for sweet potato fries with garlic & Thai basil? wp.me/p159rs-mE/ lovely blog by and 4 #TCKs!

'Should our kids go native too?' International vs. local schools, via Expatica. http://bit.ly/qBN36P

@ExpatAngels Expat Divorce. ow.ly/68IAl What about the kids?

J Simens.com New Post - World-wide childhood games teach valuable skills.
Read it now at http://bit.ly/oDfKW9

5 tips for surviving the worst roommate ever @RebeccaGrappo written by a #university graduate TCK http://bit.ly/nIAT6K #TCKs #transition

Wereldschool: Boekentip voor expats om kinderen voor te bereiden op vertrek: Anderland boeken. Biedt gespreksstof en handvatten. http://bit.ly/mef2R8

Multicultureel opvoeden, ouders willen wel maar weten niet hoe..http://bit.ly/ppflzO #opvoeden #diversiteit

Image thanks to Kakisky Morgue File

Third culture kids learning to be themselves

2011-09-02T21:18:00.002+02:00

Today it's all about the word "LEARN". You may have seen the 3 short films called MOVE, EAT, and LEARN. Well I am writing a post on each word. The first post was Global nomads on the move en second post was the palettes of the global nomad, all about food. I am writing about these three words because the words capture the life of third culture kids well.

Third culture kids are sometimes called chameleons. Recently Libby Stephens had a transition seminar with 36 third culture kids (TCKs) and the kids were asked to write a list of charateristics of TCKs. One of the words on the list was chameleons. Chameleons adapt well to their environment. They can change colour. The changing of the colour is for social signalling and for purpose of camouflage. Third culture kids, just like chameleons are experts in adapting to their environment. It is something they have had to learn. It is something I had to learn. The Dutch girl with blond hair and blue eyes growing up in Africa. Every time I was placed in a new situation I had to observe, watch and learn:

Chameleon

What are the rules here?
What is "normal"?
What do they expect me to do?
What am I not meant to do?
How can I pretend not to be different?

The observing, watching and learning was tiring. Adapting again and again and again and again. Usually it happened unconsciously. Trying to mix into the new environment. Even when I came to the Netherlands to study, I looked just like all the other Dutch students but I felt so different. It was so confusing. I felt so lost. How could I learn to be just like them? Would it be possible? Recently I discovered that there is a word that describes me "a hidden immigrant", I look the same but think differently due to my experiences growing up abroad. Something I have been thinking about is: could it be possible to adapt too much to my environment and thus loose a little of myself in the process? I think that could be possible and it is a little scary.

Have you read the poem by Whitni Thomas called "Colors". It is written by a missionary kid (MK). It is about growing up in a Yellow country and having Blue parents. Living in the Blue land there is still something Yellow deep inside and living in the Yellow land the person wants to be Blue. This is the ending:

"Why can't I be both?
A place where I can be me.
A place where I can be green.
I just want to be green."

I want to learn to be green. To accept and learn just to be myself. To adapt and adjust when necessary but not to lose a part of myself. Growing up in another culture has made me different. What about you? How is your learning process? Have you learned to be green? Have you accepted yourself just as you are? Please share your thoughts with us on this topic.

Here you can watch the short film "Learn". All about learning in other cultures...

Read my post about Cultural identity confusion and third culture kids.

Image thanks to Pablogv2004 Morgue file.

Rina Mushonga een voorbeeld van een cross cultural kid (CCK)

2011-08-29T15:28:00.001+02:00

Heb je de naam Rina Mushonga al gehoord? Zij is een Nederlandse/Zimbabwaanse zangeres die in India geboren is. Lees hier meer over Rina Mushonga: het beste van twee continenten. Rina is een third culture kid (TCK) maar ook een cross cultural kid (CCK). Een cross cultural kid heeft ouders afkomstig van verschillende landen of culturen.

Rina zegt "ik kom niet van één plek en mijn muziek ook niet".
"Ik verwerk zowel mijn Europese als mijn Zimbabwaanse achtergrond in mijn muziek"

Luister naar Rina:

Wil je meer muziek van Rina horen? Dan kan dat op http://www.youtube.com/rinamushonga.

Er zijn veel meer mensen die een deel van hun jeugd in het buitenland hebben doorgebracht. Hier zijn meer voorbeelden van Nederlandse adult third culture kids (ATCK). Ik heb ook eerder geschreven over Ank Oosting en Jutta König. Haikaa is ook een artiest net als Rina Mushonga. Haikaa is geboren in Brazilië en heeft in Amerika en Japan gestudeerd. Vaak zie je dat mensen die een deel van hun jeugd in een andere cultuur doorbrengen ruim denkend zijn, creatief, inventief, and they "think outside of the box"! Er zijn meer voordelen wat betreft het opgroeien in het buitenland, maar er zitten natuurlijk ook nadelen aan.

Het lijkt er op dat het Rina goed gelukt is om de verschillende culturele componenten van haar jeugd te mengen in haar muziek. Is het jou gelukt in je leven? Zou je er misschien iets over willen delen? Voeg dan een opmerking toe. Ik wardeer het. Wil je meer over mijn verhaal lezen?

Twitter update week 34: news of children growing up in other cultures

2011-08-26T20:44:00.000+02:00

Image thanks to Emk Morgue File

This is what I twittered about this week. I hope the links lead you to information you are looking for.

STUDY: Learning A Second Language Boosts Toddlers' Brain Function
http://j.mp/o8GWkk

How do you keep your cultural heritage alive? http://tinyurl.com/3rktmuq

Are you saying goodbye to family & friends? Expat life is fully of goodbyes
http://bit.ly/n4hCCj

Interesting perspective on the TCK/ATCK/TCA labels.
http://bit.ly/rfuJgK

New Post Julia Simens - Why TCK's find it hard to go home . . ..
http://bit.ly/mUJnoo

Bullying: when it happens, why it happens, what parents need to know.
http://ow.ly/67W3P

You want to read the universal declaration of human rights in over 300 #languages? You can even hear some http://bit.ly/oc5jQt

Following on with the homesickness theme today – an interesting article -
http://tgr.ph/oxpvwx

@heyitsjohnnyc "Excuse me sir, you are not who you say you are"
wp.me/pVZuH-jz

Check out the new blog post - That new school term...
http://bit.ly/qQ0Pti

TCK and career @Denizenmag Story of how Emily quit job became a great sales person, relates quickly&makes friends #TCKs http://bit.ly/pkvUB4

@CNNGo is looking for stories about the best and worst of living abroad. For more information:
http://ow.ly/62jEW.

Check out our #Top10 #Dutch #Universities for #InternationalStudents series of articles
http://bit.ly/nE5S4x

Whitni Thomas wrote this poem in '91 describes torn loyalties of Third Culture Kids
http://ow.ly/67A3i

How to give your child a multicultural education
http://bit.ly/r0pzDj

Go to a UK university? I'd rather #study #abroad -
http://tgr.ph/nL4AWh

TCK Nicole Boyce shares her experiences living in the UK, Hong Kong and New Zealand
http://ow.ly/6cIWi

A TCK wrote a post: understanding me: #TCKs list of characteristics&you know you're a TCK when.. http://bit.ly/qEx3U7

Read what #TCK high schooler Charlotte Day has to say about her displaced life:
http://wp.me/p11cxT-1gU

New Blog: #Relocation: Comparing conflicting constitutional rights of parents
http://bit.ly/p8T3wS

Reverse Culture Shock - USA Over Consumerism http://su.pr/3iarBp

Feel welcome to add your news or links in the comment section. I heard that there were some problems when adding comments, I have solved these problems. So hopefully it is easier you to add your comments. Thanks.

Global nomads on the move part 2

2011-08-24T15:02:00.000+02:00

Recently I wrote a post Global Nomads on the Move but I just felt that there was more to say about this topic so today I am writing part 2. It's all about moving internationally with children. Sometimes when I talk to parents about the experience of their kids moving around the globe I get this "knot in my stomach" feeling. The parents talk about the numerous moves as if it is as easy as getting up in the morning. Moving has become an "everyday" thing. For children moving is a major thing. Needless to say that an international move has even more impact.

I am developing an allergy to the superficial and colourful advertizing done by relocation companies and other companies sending expats abroad. You know it is true that having kids does not mean you cannot move overseas but it does mean it makes everything a lot more complicated.

Moving abroad alone means:

packing x 1
homesickness x 1
culture shock x 1
adjusting x 1
trouble x 1

Moving abroad with a family of 5 (2 parents and 3 kids) means:

packing x 5
homesickness x 5
culture shock x 5
adjusting x 5
trouble x 5

Of course it is an adventure too but the problem is the children do not get to choose whether they want to move. They are at the hard end of the deal. There is a Dutch book called "Ik heb het niet Bedacht" by Marjanne Simons. Translating the title would be something like "It was not my idea". I like that title.

Thanks to Lisa Solonynko Morgue File

Children might be angry about the move. They might rant and rave. They might be sad about it. Moving has a great impact on the life of a child. I have a few suggestions for parents.

Please:

Try to take a look at the move from the kid's perspective.
Take your child seriously.
Listen to what they are saying about the move.
Don't ignore their questions. Try to answer them honestly.
Don't ignore their emotions. Acknowledge their feelings.
Make a memorial box (maybe a shoebox). Together with your child put in small treasures, special objects, photos, things that bring back memories of the old home, of friends and family. Take the box with you.
Make time for the children during and after the move. Kids need a little extra attention if possible.

Thanks to Cohdra Morgue file

You can read more tips for moving overseas with kids here. Helen Maffini has written a children's book: Sammy's Next Move, it is all about Sammy the Snail moving to a new country. Reading this book with your child is a good way to prepare them for the move ahead.Would you like to read a book review of this book by Wordgeyser? Jo Parfitt recently interviewed Helen Maffini on the Writer's Abroad Radio show on how Helen produced this book totally online, just in case you are interested.

Moving internationally with children has become easier, do think of the kids before, during and after the move. What are your ideas on moving internationally with children?

Twitter update week 33: news on kids growing up in other cultures

2011-08-19T21:44:00.000+02:00

These were my twitters in week 33: they are all about children growing up on this globe. Children probably growing up multilingual and often in other cultures. Children who are referred to as third culture kids.

New blog post by Libby Stephens about last week's latest transition seminar with 36 third culture kids(TCKs): http://t.co/Lyo5zOl About the characteristics of third culture kids.

College bound kids: practical stuff for heading overseas
http://t.co/zmrICLG by @wordgeyser

10 things every global nomads needs to know before leaving for university
http://t.co/yMipjB9 @tinaquick

Trying to raise bilingual kids? How to stay on track when English is easiest |
http://bit.ly/rl6uoR

Writers Abroad radio show 13 by Jo Parfitt – Kath Smith of Parents on the Move and Beyond Broken Families http://bit.ly/qxh7qk

New post by JSimens: Parenting: As they get older does it get easier?
http://t.co/dvhsJzY

Books: A love story (and memories) New post from Musings of a third culture kid
http://t.co/iv1GAEZ

Schiphol: a cleaning car with windmills!

10 Tips for How to Talk to Children About Difficult Issues: http://t.co/acHJQqh

Anyone moving to Kenya? Expat guide to schools there @telegraphExpat http://t.co/hQ8aKAv

Kijk naar "blogger in beeld" in het WereldExpat magazine van @RNW
http://t.co/vwiRzEf

A new personal post @heyitsjohnnyc on the phases he went thro' discovering he was a third culture kid #TCKs
http://t.co/qiVBzUN

"Flying Solo" is an article about sending your kid 2 college from overseas by Rebecca Grappo. Tis the season again. #TCKs http://bit.ly/nCpIkO

20 things to teach your child
http://t.co/ZUAB7ZX

5 Things you need to know before taking your special needs kid overseas
http://t.co/BWdZFr2

Is your child ready for school? 6 ways to help a child: about early learning. Free download!
http://t.co/Zofz6UR

Pregnancy around the world: a slide show 16 different countries. New Life!
http://t.co/oVzNa5U

Multilingual Living Newsletter:
http://t.co/hK5z6Xi

Mobility magazine online: Families moving to Asia? Think of schooling first. especially in Hong Kong http://t.co/miMZ9d8

TCK tries to stay connected with his non-TCK cousins
http://t.co/t9Z0TX8

27 Years of Nomadic Living by @GetInTheHotspot
http://t.co/p5bz8Nt

‘British #children have the most miserable upbringing in the developed world.’
http://bit.ly/qm2rFl

Looking for more news?
Twitter update week 32
Interesting worldwide third culture kid news

Telling the kids about the international move: make the announcement special. Plan a family meeting. advice from book Raising Global Nomads.

An international move is a life-changing event for the entire family, it should be treated with respect its magnitude deserves: Robin Pascoe.

Please add your news or interesting links as a comment. Thanks!

The palettes of the global nomad, all about food

2011-08-17T21:50:00.000+02:00

Fried flying ants: photo thanks to L.Lagore

As I wrote in the post Global nomads on the move recently 3 films have be made called: Move, Eat, and Learn. Today my topic will be on eating. Global nomads have taste buds that are used to the tastes of the world. There are so many different dishes, so many different tastes, and so many different foods. Just to discover them all is an adventure. The short film at the end captures this adventure well. Tastes and smells bring back memories of my childhood in Africa.

Words I associate with the word "EAT":

Enjoy
Appetite
Tasty

One of my favourite desserts is pavlova, a meringue based dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. I first ate this dessert in Zimbabwe probably at a potluck meal. A potluck meal is meal where everyone just brings something along to share with all. It is so much fun, a great surprise what will be on the menu, and a good way of tasting different dishes. Originally the pavlova is from New Zealand or Australia. I found a recipe for you. You can decorate it with the fruit of choice. By the way potluck meals are great in international communities because everyone can share their home country food.

The blog Persimmons and Chesnuts is written by an adult third culture kid who lived Japan as a child. The writer has developed a passionate love affair with food and especially Asian food. The blog has a post called The palettes of TCKs: chicken wings, it is worth reading. There are more recipes on the blog.

Once I was in Indonesia and I had the privilege of tasting klappertaart, an Indonesian-Dutch dessert, delicious! I wrote a post on eten in het buitenland (a Dutch post on food overseas) before. One of the strangest things I ever ate were fried flying ants, they are really crunchy! Here's the recipe. I found somebody else who ate them too and wrote a post on eating flying ants. I must admit that I recently refused to eat fried scorpions (China), the thought of eating a scorpion was just too terrible. There was no way it was going to find it's way down my gut!

My roots are Dutch and seeing as I live in the Netherlands I suppose I must make mention of Dutch food. Well on the blog Clogs and Tulips you can find more information on stroopwafels, boerenkool, patat and other foods. What are your eating adventures? Have you eaten strange foods? Do you have "food" memories? Please share them with us.

Click here for the film EAT. Enjoy!