Thursday 30 August 2012

Third Culture Kids do you Dare to be Green?

In an earlier post Third Culture Kids Learning to be Themselves I had written about this poem but I had not posted the complete poem. I can really identify with the words so I did want to post the whole poem. My parents are from the blue country: the Netherlands and I grew up in the Yellow country. Well the yellow country for me would be the African culture or continent. The countries I lived in were: Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe. If you enjoy this poem and want to read more, read the poem "Who am I?" by my guest Marina Sofia, who was a third culture kid too.

By a 4 year old @DrieCulturen

Colors
by Whitni Thomas, MK

I grew up in a Yellow country
But my parents are Blue.
I'm Blue.
Or at least, that is what they told me.
But I play with the Yellows.
I went to school with the Yellows.
I spoke the Yellow language.
I even dressed and appeared to be Yellow.
Then I moved to the Blue land.
Now I go to school with the Blues.
I speak the Blue language.
I even dress and look Blue.
But deep down, inside me, something's Yellow.
I love the Blue country.
But my ways are tinted with Yellow.
When I am in the Blue land,
I want to be Yellow.
When I am in the Yellow land,
I want to be Blue.
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.


What about you. Do you dare to be Green? Do you enjoy being Green? Have you accepted that you are Green?

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5 comments:

  1. That's beautiful. It expresses what so many TCKs must feel in such a simple yet profound manner. I think most of us are green without necessarily choosing to be, and although it's so rewarding to be green, it's not always easy.

    Thanks for sharing this, I really enjoyed it!

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  2. So true what you say. We are green without choosing to be green. The question is have we accepted that? Or do we feel we have to be blue or yellow? I feel more of a whole person when I accept myself as being "green", often the odd one out, different from most people around me (except when I meet other TCKs, immigrants or expats).

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  3. I like your post! You are so right: the first time I realised that I was "green" I was a bit frightened and sad, because I felt not belonging to a group (I was 9 or 10, very early), but later I appreciated to be green, even purple (adding some other colors) especially when I was with other TCK's (or TCA then, later) and still do. Only when I'm surrounded by FCA (first culture adults) I tend to feel the difference and I try to be more yellow or blue or red. But most of the time I feel like being green-purple-brown.

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  4. Interesting Ute that you can remember the age that you discovered that you different than the rest of the group. I cannot remember when I discovered that but I remember during my teenage years in Zimbabwe that I was referred to as the "foreigner". I went to an international primary school in Malawi so we were all foreign, that was the norm. While in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe I went to a local school. I agree with you that lots of colours are part of our TCK identity. I considered adding a photo of something green to the post, but I purposely added a painting with more colour!

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    1. I remember it so clearly, because my same aged cousin in Germany made me notice that I was quite different from all the friends he had. It was a during a normal conversation and he pointed out that I didn't know most of the allusions they made. I felt foreign in Germany and foreign in Italy when I was among First Culture Children, but not when I was with my TCK friends or people that was more open-minded. - By the way: I like the picture you posted. I once posted a chamaeleon on a similar post (on expatsincebirth.com).

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