#third culture kid

[justseveralowls]

A message

You are loved, you are loved, you are loved, you are loved, you are loved, you are loved you are loved

#you are loved #recovery #mental health support #mine #third culture kid #our cultures are beautiful #self love #self acceptance #mental health #coping #culture #latine #queer poc #people of color

[fleuronterrobang]

There were once stickers here

ripped off, without mercy,

there were once crayon marks

painted over; off white.

There was once a nail-hole,

(Life Hack: Fill In Those Pesky Nail Holes With a Dab of White Toothpaste)

and that painting is in a box,

in a truck, going somewhere.

The scuff-marks from the dining chairs

might cost us our deposit,

but we can use a tennis ball to scrub at dinners past.

The dust that settled behind the books

are easily wiped away,

the drawer liner for the forks

peeled, folded, discarded.

The hundred-something trinkets that decorated the walls

rattle in a biscuit tin, damn screaming poltergeist,

and finally we threw away all those paper bags

saved for gifts we never gave, this house that never was.

"This was not a home," we say. "There lived no-one here."

#fleuronterrobang #words from my journal #poetry #poem #third culture kid

[diaryofaphilosopher]

This book is an exile's book. For objective reasons that I had no control over, I grew up as an Arab with a Western education. Ever since I can remember, I have felt that I belonged to both worlds, without being completely of either one or the other [...] Yet when I say "exile" I do not mean something sad or deprived. On the contrary belonging, as it were, to both sides of the imperial divide enables you to understand them more easily.

— Edward W. Said, Culture and Imperialism.

Follow Diary of a Philosopher for more quotes!

#Edward W Said #Culture and Imperialism #Book quotes #lit quotes #literature quotes #social studies #philosophy quotes #philosophy #politics #dark academia #quote #quotes #academia #gradblr #studyblr #chaotic academia #exile #tck #third-culture-kid #third culture kid #multicultural

[nameless-is-nameless]

Tiny comic about the difference between telling someone about yourself Vs being told things about yourself by someone else

#idk if this makes sense #based on a true event that happened at work yesterday #double standards I guess? #idk it annoyed me #comics! #third culture kid #kinda

[sharksandjays]

I keep seeing things about people hating on America, which, fair, HOWEVER!!

I’ve lived overseas my entire life and have only lived in America for 3 years, and while I agree with what most people say about it, I still look back at some things very fondly.

Like:

When people think of America they think of huge urban cities but!!! On my way to my cousins house you have to drive through mountains! And they live in the mountains! There’s vultures! Foxes! Deer! Rural America can be so pretty sometimes.

Barbeque resturaunts. The atmosphere in these places is so friendly! People betting on how many spicy chicken tenders/chillis they can eat before they need to order milk, veteran discounts, cheering over baseball/football games. Just people having a good time.

School spirit. From my experience overseas, one thing that really sets America apart from other countries is its school spirit! I love seeing colleges and high schools fight over who is the best. My dad sometimes sees tourists with a hat of his college on it and they immediatley bond and act like theyre friends even if theyre not even close to being in the school at the same time!

Conforming to different cultures. Yes, there are Karens and bad people out there that tell people to go back to their country and speak English, but from what I have seen, America is a beautiful mix of cultures. Native American, Chinese, South American, African, Asian. Everything! It is so interesting to see places in America where these people settle. For example, there are a lot of Koreans where I lived! International day at school was so cool with all of them in their traditional outfits, sharing their traditional food and art.

I dont know how this will be taken, but i’m just sharing what I love about the country I was born in. Maybe I could make this a series? I have lived in 6 countries, maybe I could do more about the other 5. I think that third culture kids like me have a huge insecurity about their home country being America, so I wanted to write about some positives!

#third culture kid #america #usa #my life #expat kid

[all-izz-not-well]

being a third culture kid is like i can introduce myself in 4 languages but ask me to translate a single sentence in a language without using english and my brain starts to buffer

#desi tumblr #desi teen #gulf #third culture kid

[mbrainspaz]

It's so hard to live every day in every new place with the burden of the knowledge I've had since I was 10 years old that when you disappear one day people just forget you and move on.

#third culture kid #tck problems #personal problems #nomad life #connection is elusive and illusory #loneliness is the default state of human existence

[kyungtae-nim]

Third culture kid but you're too queer for cishet folks and too cishet for queer folks

#m #third culture kid

[3rdculturecharacter]

Hey people, it's been a minute.

Let's talk about one of my favourite third culture characters, Amethyst from Steven Universe.

I'm gonna preface this by saying she in one of my top kins and I am so excited to be talking about her.

So the thing about my girl Amethyst, her third cultureness is very... understated... In that isn't not a major plotpoint.

I'm pretty sure this is because Steven already comes with a fair bit of the usual third culture angst and structurally it wouldnt make sense for them to both have the exact same character arc, especially being so close.

And honestly I don't think it's nesserary a bad thing. As much as a third culture character like Spider from Avatar can complement and enrich the narrative by being third culture, a character like Amethyst can do some pretty tangible good by just existing as she is (wich makes sense cuz that's kinda touched on in her character arc)

Her third cultureness isn't egnored: she's unlike the other Cristal Gems in that she's picked up human habits like eating and sleeping, playing video games, watching TV, having human friends, being the first to use phones (as well as being much more culturally American in general).

Her non human side is shown pretty cleverly. She's a gem of course, does and knows alot of gem stuff, but in particular, because she's immortal and doesn't need basically anything to survive, she can be super disregarding of things humans need to make money and live off, or will take them time and energy they don't always have to fix (just like the other Cristal Gems)

Or

This totally feeds into her immaturity, since she didn't develop under the strict culture of Homeworld like all the other gems, but the chill, flowy environment that is beach city. Pair that with the fact of her having basically no physical chalanges while living on earth and you can see how she would develop an "the whole world is my playground" mentality.

Speaking of her development, let's talk about that!

*Proceeds to rant about character design for a while*

Ok so her shapeshisfting powers are super interesting, because as we can gleen from the movie, when she first emerges she copied and shapeshisfted into who or whatever she came across to get her bearings.

(I'm gonna say that's some developmental issue unique to her or maybe all overcooked gems, since we see other quartzes emerge and they don't do that, maybe that's coding for something, not sure).

Her copying is very in character for a third culture kid, and if you look at her formations in order it kinda seems like she's inadvertantly copying the developmental pattern of a human child? (over a much longer time ofc). Then she went through a long pase of partially covering her gem with her shirt and also after a while she gives herself bra straps wich (much like the extra cleavege rose gave herself) she absolutely couldn't have needed, probably copying humans.

Then in future her design speaks volumes! Her top and shoes are that gem-wear seran wrap stuff, ofc with that little unnecessary rip around her gem cuz she gotta. And then those cute frayed jorts with the stars on being so human and organic. It's all really saying, "I'm a bit of both worlds and we all cool with it."

More thoughts on the rip: it could be ripping the gem-wear to say I'm not JUST a gem, highlighting her human side, it could be there to reveal her gem/draw attention to it like "I'm Amethyst, loud and proud", it could be just cuz she really f***** loves ripped clothes. Idc wich any works good 4 her.

It really shows her full journey of self acceptance.

I feel like alot of the emotional pitfalls Amethyst runs into during her character arc are also very relatable to me at least as a third culture person, even if in her case they aren't directly realted.

Feelings of guilt for existing, feelings of not belonging, self isolation, feelings of not being good enough, comparing yourself to others and rebelliousness are all pretty common.

So it makes nothing but sence for her to be quietly third culture.

Also this:

Wich is the lerfect segway into:

My big PSA related rant

This... This will end me. Honestly I'm not even mad about the style rn.

REBECA you could have chosen ANY other Cristal Gem from this one.

The problem here is, I could see a bunch of humans discriminating against Amethyst for whatever reason actually having an impact on her. Amethyst is the ONLY cristal gem who could tangibly be vulnerable to any form of gem racism, garnet and pearl would just pick the haters up and put them back over the fence.

This whole thing is just highlighting how you didn't explore that angle. Not to mention that the whole show established her to be very close to humanity, and then she just turns to the camera and says "wtf, I'm actually nothing like people"? It just feels wrong.

Also you gave my girl the most handfisted one, idk why those two googly eyed toddlers having a detailed understanding of the neuances of racism seems somewhere between unrealistic and straight up bizarre.

(Ok I tell a lie, the guitar dad one was kinda a mess but nobody even remembers that one so whatever)

That aside, this one should have been on Garnet, she is the most detached from humans of the trio (except for pearl, but I think she's better in that classroom scenario), she should have been the one saying "yea, comparing us ist right" and it would have made sence because it's already evident in the show.

Amethyst should have been the one at the playground, she doesn't even have to drop out of the sky, its AMETHYST! she can totally just be hanging there.

They did her so dirty! At the end she even gets pissed off about having to stay longer to fix the thing SHE had a problem with.

Don't get me wrong, ist an invaluable message and Im totally on board but gurl what happened?

Hit the image limit... Gonna make a part 2 and get back on the original point oml

#steven universe #amethyst su #third culture chatacter #third culture #third culture kid #character design #character analysis

[needlessthoughtsandpoordecisions]

People who are used to being thought of as “normal” often glamourize “not normal.”

“It must be so freeing.”

“I love how your brain works.”

“That’s so cool, I wish I could do that.”

You don’t understand. People have been telling me I’m “not normal” since I was born.

I’m multiracial, so right off the bat, I was different from the other kids. No matter where I was. I’m a foreigner in every country. I don’t belong anywhere.

“Yeah, but you’re special! You stand out!”

Do you know how exhausting it is to stand out every time you leave your house? Do you know how many times strangers have demanded to know why I look different? And do you know how much it sucks to constantly be praised for being able to speak my first language?

All throughout my school years, teachers told my parents I was different. I was highly gifted, unusually intelligent, full of potential. When I took math tests and had to show my work, my math teachers would be dumbfounded because I solved problems in my own ways, completely differently from what they taught us. On standardized tests, I was always in the 99th percentile. Classmates would submit their homework to me to get it checked before submitting it to our teachers. I was called a walking encyclopedia, a cyborg, and even a term that basically meant “mafia lieutenant.” I was regularly discounted from class surveys for being an anomaly and teachers told students not to compare themselves to me because I “didn’t count.” Everyone in my life defined me by how “not normal” I was.

That prompted the masking. I spent years and years desperately trying to hide my authentic self. I manufactured my outward appearance by scripting what I would say, rehearsing my behaviour, and actively suppressing the most objectionable aspects of my individuality. But every time I got comfortable around someone and let bits of my true self show, I was seen as a novelty. At best, I felt like a museum exhibit. At worst, I felt like a shackled circus sideshow. I was never just another person. No one felt the need to recognize my humanity.

Over the last few years, I’ve been fighting hard to undo the damage of masking for so long. I have friends who accept me for who I am, even if they don’t quite understand. I’ve had romantic relationships, and a few people have even been in love with me. I’m still “not normal,” though, and thought it would always be that way.

Then something happened. I met someone, someone who identifies as “normal,” and seems it, at first. But I started noticing something bizarre. He can finish my sentences. He isn’t surprised or caught off-guard by me. I’ve never had to explain my thought process to him. My own mother has to ask me what I’m talking about all the time, but he just gets it. He’s never called me “special.” He doesn’t laugh at the way I act. He doesn’t point out when I do something others would think of as outrageous. And, for the first time in my life, I get to feel “normal.”

Imagine living your entire life breathing smog and secondhand smoke. Then one day, someone drives you up to the mountains in the middle of nowhere and you breathe fresh air for the first time. Your reaction is probably along the lines of:

“What the FUCK is this? Do other people know about this?? …They do? …Wait, some people get to experience this all the time?”

You find out not only that there are people who have never had to breathe smog, but that you were missing out on fresh air without even knowing it.

He’s my fresh air.

Unfortunately, he’s not interested in me, so my lungs are still full of smog.

But why, you ask, does feeling “normal” feel good?

Being “not normal” means you are constantly justifying, rationalizing, defending, and explaining yourself.

I just want to breathe.

#normal #not normal #neurotypical #neurodivergent #multicultural #third culture kid #hapa #masking #auDHD #gifted kid #love #relationships

[wickedwitchofthesouth]

In the argument of whether or not they should explore kamala's complicated relationship with her Pakistani-ness as someone who has never lived in the country, I think its a brilliant idea. As a third culture kid myself, i know it comes with its own set of battles, and I would love to see that on screen in a character that I already see so much of myself in

#ms marvel #kamala khan #she is so important to me #i love her #pakistan #third culture kid #the marvels

[nashira]

after Maria @shylovrs ❣️ written in the Barbie poetry workshop this afternoon !

the prompt starts, "In what ways are you isolated from your younger self? […]" — this one reflects some third culture kid feels. yeah

Maria's original poem under the cut! / photo credit

#poetry #poets on tumblr #spilled ink #spilled poetry #poets of color #poetry community #poems #third culture kid #filipino #filipino poetry #wlwocpoetrynet #wwnet #wearywritersnet

[njbpoems]

my motherland is fragments of different countries

n.j.b.

#tck #Third Culture Kid #diaspora #written thoughts #spilled thoughts #thoughts #countries #travel #motherland #global #writing #writer #write #writers #written #creative writing #poetry #poem #Poems #poet #spoken word

[3culturekosher]

Do you love shakshuka? If you’re uneasy about cooking shakshuka yourself, we’ve got tips for a smoother approach: like a goulash, shakshuka for your very first time!

#recipe #recipes #shakshuka #cooking tips #kosher #kosher food #kosher recipes #MENA recipes #MENA food #diaspora #diaspora cuisine #diaspora food #third culture kid #third culture kosher #3ck

[writergracethepanda]

I’ve been trying to get reacquainted with my TCK identity, and part of that is conciously shifting my vocabulary back to what it was like before I returned to the U.S.

#writergracethepanda #tck #third culture kid

[oldnightcollage]

Fly Away Home

#collage #collaging #collage art #art #artwork #crafts #surrealism #surreal art #thailand #third culture kid #tck #tck problems #culture #international #expat #homesick #homesickness