What Is A TCK?

In my last post, I talked about how I'm happy that I'll be able to be a part of the Third Culture Kid (TCK) Network at Azusa Pacific University. I realize that some of you might not know what a TCK is. Well, basically, it's a person who has grown up in different cultures and can't really identify with a specific culture.

Here are a few examples that prove that I am a "member" of this group of people:
(Of course, not all Third Culture Kids are like me, but they are similar.)
- I hate the question, "Where are you from?". The answer is always complicated.
- The question, "What do you consider home?" is also kind of complicated for me.
- Whenever I greet a person I often feel a little confused...do I shake this person's hand? Do I hug them? Do I just say "hi" without any physical contact? Do I kiss them on the cheek? If I do kiss them on the cheek, how many times do I kiss them (some people give 1 kiss, some 2, some 3)?
- I dream in three different languages
- When I dream, my mind often gets confused and I'll have people from Portugal hanging out with me in the States, people from Italy and the States hanging out with me in Portugal, etc.
- I've lost track of the number of times I've been on a plane
- I often refer to "Americans" as if I'm not one of them
- Although my passport is American, sometimes I have no idea what my American friends are talking about
- I often feel like I don't belong to and can't relate to the people around me
- People say that I have a little bit of a strange accent when I speak (both in English and Italian).

Some months ago, my mom was going through some friends of ours' papers and found a whole stack of papers on Third Culture Kids and right at the top was this poem:

Colors - by Whitni Thomas, MK (1991)

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.

(Just so you know, MK stands for Missionary Kid and PK is a Pastor/Preacher's Kid)

We had some friends over for dinner a few weeks ago and one of them said during a conversation about refugees, "You know, now they've come up with a term, Third Culture Kid Syndrome..." and my mom interrupted him saying, "That's what she is" and pointed to me. He looked at me a little awkwardly and said "Oh...I'm sorry".
I found it amusing. It sounded like I have some kind of disease or something. =)