Community

One thing that is both a perk and a downfall of being a TCK is being a part of the community of TCK's around the world. Some people see this as a bad thing, because it's one of the only communities that we can sometimes feel like we belong to, which can lead to loneliness when we can't be with these people. However, others see it as an amazing thing that we are able to connect so easily and so deeply to people we may have never met before, just based on past experiences. I can see both sides, the good and the bad. Growing up, I didn't feel close to my family in America whenever we visited back home. The culture was too strange and my cousins talked about topics that I had no information about. However, I also didn't click with the people in my hometown overseas. I was too different from them: I looked strange, had an accent and spoke poorly, and was too quiet.

This is the life of a third culture kid: not really fitting into any singular culture and instead creating their own. This led to me being sad a lot of the time because it felt like there was no one who understood me and could go through this with me.

But then there were the meetings. My parents would have long boring talks in a fun country with other parents of TCK's. Us kids were left to hang out together. This was where I found my people. These people understood my lifestyle without me having to explain it to them. They understood the problems that I had to struggle with, because they went through that exact same thing.

I met all of my best friends at these meetings, and we continued to see each other twice a year for many years. These were my favorite times of the year,  when I could see  people  I relate to and could finally feel at home. It was a special connection that not many people get to experience in their life.

The only problem with not having all of your friends in a singular place, however, is that it's not very stable. Most of my friends eventually moved to a different country or went to high school in the states. I no longer had a source of friends, and that made me return to being sad.

My mentality went back to being 'why bother talking to other TCK's if I'm never going to talk to them again?' I closed up to other people at the meetings, but now I regret this. Meeting people like that is an amazing experience that is unique to TCK's, and I was so lucky to have people that I automatically clicked with. Every one of these people also made an impact on my life, no matter how small, and shaped me to be the person I am today.

God put all of these people in my life for a reason, and I am grateful to be a part of this community of third culture kids, and to live this unique life that has been put out in front of me.