Interview with graphic design student Jessica Wen on her Third Culture Kid Book Project

Let me introduce you to Jessica Wen. She is the creative inspiration behind the "Third culture kids- Self Identity Accordion Books".

I came across the project on the internet and I am really enthusiastic about it. I am so glad Jessica agreed to tell us more about herself and her project.

1. I really love your TCK project. Each little book contains a unique story just as each third culture kid has a unique story. Please tell us about your project and how you came up with this idea?

Thank you very much for your encouragement. It really means a lot to me! I'm a junior graphic design student at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Baltimore, Maryland, United States. I started my TCK book project for a artist book class with Laurie Snyder— it was my final project for the semester, and I really wanted to make a project that speaks for my identity and my background; then... obviously, the TCK idea came to mind. 

I started the project by surveying myself and 4 other TCK friends regarding to each of our unique background. (Lived in how many countries/ speaks how many languages/ definition for being a TCK/ most belonged to which culture...etc.) 

And then, each person's story was individually made into their own mini accordion book. This set of 5 books were meant to view individually as well as together as a whole set. Each book's color, font, and layout were carefully considered base on each individual's personality. The cover for all books were hand cut (debossed) with the characters "TCK". The idea is that each TCK, on the surface level, looks just like an ordinary person with ordinary background. However, once the audience open the book— you started to see the unique international perspective and value. 

 

2. You are a third culture kid too. In which countries did you live and where are you now?

Yes, I am a TCK! I was born in Taipei, Taiwan (a lovely little subtropical island). My family moved to Germany when I was 3 &4, and then we moved to China when I was 5 &6. Then, I came to the United States for education by myself when I was 16 years old. Now I am still living in the US (Baltimore, Maryland). I am sure I will most likely move to a new country again in a few years, but I just dont know where just yet.... I am keeping my options open. 

 

3. What do you consider to be the advantages of growing up as a TCK?

This is actually a question on my TCK books, too.  

Personally, I think the absolute advantage of being a TCK is: Maturity, Independence, Understanding of others, world perspective, and being able to speak more than one language. 

4. What about the disadvantages? Have you experienced those?

Difficult to fit in different social expectation; lack of sense of belonging; culture-shock whenever going 'home'... Also, I call this an 'invisible mental switch' — it is like having multiple separate language system/ culture/ social value/ expectation in the back of the mind, and with one switch/ one plane ride... we, the TCKs, need to be able to change into a whole another person in order to 'fit in' with the locals.

5. When and how did you discover that you are a TCK?

The Book "Third Culture Kids, The Experience of Growing up Among Worlds" by David Pollock and Ruth van Reken was certainly one strong force to help me discover myself being a TCK. It is such a wonderful book— I remember I ordered the book from amazon, and as soon as I start reading the first few sentences on the first page... I told me friend who was sitting right next to me at the time "I think I am going to really enjoy this book...", and then, yes, I absolutely loved it.

6. What advice would you give to other TCKs?

Always remember— that there are many MANY of us out there! You are not alone! 

For my own experience, I never knew about term TCK until last year... and surprising, I then realized most of my friends are also TCKs (including my suite mates).

7. "The TCK is part of our identity. And there's def space for more art/ design!" these were the words you twittered to me. I agree completely but please share your ideas on this topic.

I think art/ design is all about expressing the artist's own special voice. 

With our current globalization trends, more and more children are raised as TCKs. Therefore, I think this will soon become a topic with higher awareness— which means, more people will want to express their own special voice through art/ design/ writing/ blogging/ or simply the daily conversations. 

However, I don't think any of these actions is about emphasizing the how special/ different the TCKs are... but rather, a simple act of sharing and exchanging ideas.

8. On Facebook I saw that expat parents wanted to have a nice little accordion book made for their child. I would actually like one too telling my unique story too. It's would be a great treasure. Will this just stay a project or will you expand on this idea? What do you think?

With all honestly, I never thought of expending this project beyond classroom before this interview… 

However, the more I think about it... I'm certainly interested in producing more TCK books based on each individual's unique story. I think its going to be a wonderful experience to meet new people, share my design skills, and even potentially bring in some income. I think its going to be great!! 

For those of you who are interested... send me an email at jwen@mica.edu, and let's discuss!

9. Are there new projects that you are working on at the moment?

At this point, I have about 5 projects going on at the same time, but nothing is directly TCK related... 

It is certainly a busy life style, but I love what I do, and its awesome! 

If you are interested in what I do as a designer, you can find me at the following places: 

Website: www.JWenDesign.com

Twitter: @JWenDesign

Tumblr: JwenDesign.tumblr.com

About Jessica on her website

10. Do you have any last words of encouragement? Or can you recommend interesting websites or books for third culture kids?

hmm, interesting TCK websites... 

I personally think Denizen Magazine is amazing (but I am sure everyone else knows it too). 

In terms of some last words... 

I just want to thank Janneke again for giving me this wonderful experience to talk about my work. I am deeply honored! :) 

 

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Thanks again Jessica.

Would you like the story of your life in a small accordion book? Do you have any encouraging words for Jessica?

A third culture kid speaking "I'm not from anywhere"

"Where are you from?" is a difficult question for third culture kids (or expat kids). Often there is no simple answer. Just like Victoria explains on this video. She actually often answers "I'm not from anywhere". When you hear her story you will understand why she says that. For those who do not have time to watch I will let you in on her secret. The background of her family is Ukrainian but she was born in Richmond, Virginia, she lived in Russia, Italy, Syria, Germany, China and then back yo the USA. (Excuse some of the language in the video). I have included this video because Victoria explains what is was like to return to the USA. She discovered that she felt so embarrassed because she did not know how to say "the pledge of Allegiance" , she could not name all the American presidents, she had not had American history but I am sure she knew lots of other things. Victoria was teased for not knowing the names of all the presidents, imagine that. People asked her the dumbest questions: like did you ride camels wherever you went in Syria?

Moving was a constant factor in her life. There was always only a short time to make friends before she would loose them again because they would move on. She really wonders how people can live in one place all their lives, is it not boring? Victoria is looking for an international job because that's what she is comfortable with, that is what she knows. She says the best way to discover a culture is to eat the food. She ends by saying that she has to go and do something, learn a language or make a move.

Just like Victoria, I found it hard to answer the question: where are you from? I remember being embarrassed because there were things here in the Netherlands that I did not know about. To this day I am still not very good in Dutch geography, knowing where place are. I can tell you lots about places in Zimbabwe, would that do? I recently discovered that there is an online mentoring program for expat youths called Sea Change Mentoring. They aim to prepare young people returning to their "home country" to minimize reverse culture shock and to maximize the benefits of having lived abroad. That sounds really good, I wish there had been something like this when I moved from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe to university in the Netherlands. That was a real shock, I wrote about it earlier: The most difficult transition for third culture kids.

What was your experience like? Did you have embarrassing moments? Did you have a reverse culture shock? Do you have advice for kids returning to their "home" country? Do you know where you're from?

Related posts:

• My 10 disadvantages of growing up abroad
• Neither here nor there...where do I belong?
• Third culture kids and cultural identity confusion
• Third culture kids learning to be themselves
• How to relate to non-TCKs by Ruth van Reken at TCK Academy

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

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:

1. Are more accepting of different cultures and other people.
2. Learn more new cultures and learn new languages.
3. Can understand the world better if you live in different parts of the world.
4. Can see more of the world and not live a boring life.
5. Can move around and have experiences that most other kids don't have.
6. Get to meet new people.
7. Get to make many new friends.
8. Have an extra level of knowledge.
9. Enjoy life and do not take things for granted (they have seen poverty and seen the extremes of life).
10. 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.

My 10 advantages of growing up in another culture.

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:

1. Cross-cultural skills, I enjoy meeting people from other cultures.
2. Observational skills
3. Social skills, being good at making friends "quick".
4. Linguistic skills, you speak more than one language.
5. Adaptability, like a chameleon. Don't adapt too much. Read my blog on "Third Culture kids learning to be themselves."
6. A broad world view, thinking "outside of the box"
7. The capability of mentoring others because life experiences have been so varied.
8. The skill of being less judgemental.
9. The ability to being independent and autonomous.
10. 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?