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

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?

Twitter update week 38: news about kids growing up globally

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.

Modern technology a blessing or a curse for our third culture kids?

This week a colleague of mine had the honour of became granny for the first time in her life. A small grandson was born and she was elated! Of course we all had to hear her good news and see the photographs on her iPhone, but that was not all. She actually had the baby visible on her webcam, we could see him lying in his cot and moving his arms. When he was picked for a feed, the cot was empty. He was in a local hospital here in the Netherlands. I suppose it is rather special but how can you do your work if you can watch your grandson all day? What about the privacy of this newborn? It made me wonder if granny lived in New Zealand would she have been able to watch this baby too? Times a definitely changing. I nearly spelled "definitely" wrong because I spelled it "definately". I just discovered that definitely is the most misspelled word in the English language. Never too old to learn something new! By the way webcam was developed in 1991, but the first commercial webcam came on the market in 1994.

When I was born years ago in the Zambian bush my parents sent a telegram home to the family. My grandparents saw me for the first time on a photograph but that was weeks after I was born. These new possibilities can be a great advantage for families separated from their loved ones by many kilometres. Like the third culture kids (TCKs), children growing in in another culture. I came across a great article Grandparenting over the seas written by Libby Stephens. There is another article too How to bridge the gap: tips for long distance relationships.

Skype has made long distance calls very cheap and with the great possibility of being able to see each other. This is really good for children. When I was in Indonesia and our daughter who was 2 years old at the time was able to skype with me from home base in the Netherlands, it made her feel that I was nearby. When she was going to have her meal she asked "mum are you coming home now to eat too?"

Friends of mine recently moved abroad but on their blog they shared the added pressure the new possibilities create. How often do you skype with grandparents when you are living abroad? Sometimes with the time differences you have to be creative to be able to actually skype together.

In this day and age it is important that we talk to our kids about social media: Facebook, hyves (the Dutch youth),Youtube etc. For third culture kids (TCKs) the internet is a blessing, it makes it so much easier to stay in contact with friends all over the globe, but it can be a curse too. Just read the newspaper and see what kind of things happen using the internet. Listen and watch this: for one minute about social media and your kids. It is a short video from the website Healthy Children powered by pediatricians.

What are your experiences with having family far away? Are you able to bridge the gap? Please share your stories here, do you have advice for other families? Is the modern technology a blessing or a curse?