TCK Stuff

I had a thought. Possibly an obvious thought, but to me it was a new thought. Indiana Jones is a third culture kid. Not just because he has an American accent but obviously grew up somewhere other than the States, but because he actually has a few traits that are fairly common in us TCKs.

• Despite having an American accent, he's not fully American, or possibly not American at all (you never seem to find out much about his mother). His Dad is Scottish.
• He blends in rather well in multiple cultures and seems to have no trouble getting along with the locals (other than the ones actively trying to kill him). However, when it comes to being in his home country, he feels uncomfortable and out of place.
• Although he cares for his friends, he seems to have trouble maintaining relationships. He will leave people behind on a moments notice to go off to something more exciting. Yes, I know a lot of us TCKs are better at saying good bye than this, but we're also often more ready to move than most people.

It's nothing all that serious, but I find it to be an interesting thought.

On another note, I'm finally planning a specific short story for the TCK writing project I'm working on. This is opposed to just brain storming for general ideas for the series. I'm planning on writing it as a series of short stories. Each short story will focus on a specific character. These characters will almost definitely be recurring and at times loosely connected.

The story I'm currently working on is essentially about me. This makes sense as I haven't managed to actually get around to talking to other TCKs about their experiences for this project. I WILL be doing this before I make other characters, but I figured for now I should just get on with writing an actual story and seeing how it goes. The story is based on my first experience in Singapore. My family and I stayed there for a few days on our way to Thailand when we initially moved there. The experience was... interesting. I love Singapore now, but to 9 year old me it was a bit overwhelming.  Anyway, you'll get to read about it when I publish it. It could be a while, I have to plan it, write a draft, read over the draft, write another draft, get people to read that draft, get people to give opinions on the draft, write another draft... you get the idea.

Are Apostrophes Really Necessary?

I'm (Im) undecided. Matthew Malady in this article seems to think otherwise. The general argument for eliminating apostrophes in the article is the fact that while reading we can put things into context, which should fairly quickly eliminate any confusion. The main argument for keeping them is pretty much the opposite; we need apostrophes to help avoid confusion. User "kinnaq" on reddit (yes, I'm quoting a reddit comment) gave a pretty good example of what could happen "Well well have a tougher time reading some stuff. Were wont to change stuff for the sake of changing stuff, but we arent sure we wont regret it." Gotta admit though, sentences like that are pretty uncommon.

I personally am a fan of correct usage of apostrophes. I do have to wonder why though. Is it because they really are all that important, or is it because I feel like it just feels wrong when they're (theyre) misused?  The English language is changing, it always has been. It's (Its) been around for hundreds of years, and if we were to try and read English from 600 years ago we would have a pretty hard time. Conversely, English 200 years in the future would probably be pretty hard for someone from today to understand.

What I feel the debate really comes down to is "Do we embrace change or don't (dont) we?" Will we really miss the apostrophe, or will we get over it (as a society of readers/writers, I know some individuals never will). I personally will continue to use them unless they somehow get completely phased out. I will probably always feel a little bit weird when they aren't (arent) used when they should be.

Look at the Bright Side

I have a history of being a pretty negative person. This is kinda given away by my handle "grumpytck". It sometimes takes a lot of effort for me to be a positive person, even though I know full well that I'll be much happier with myself and others if I focus on the good things and not the bad.

From a recent discussion with a friend via Tumblr, I've realised that a lot of third culture kids (some much, much more than others) can fall into the bad habit of focusing on the negative sides of being a TCK. Weird friendships, culture/reverse culture shock, lack of sense of belonging. You know, the normal stuff. It is vital that we don't let ourselves fall into this habit. Yes, some people's experiences growing up over seas will definitely be much more difficult than others. Some people will have absolutely hated (or do hate) the country they're in. There are definitely people that have had a much harder time than I did growing up in Thailand. This will make it much more difficult to view being a TCK in a positive light. However, regardless of how difficult it has been, it's really important to think about the good aspects of growing up in the way you have. At the very least you'll find yourself feeling a little bit happier, even if you can only think of one or two things you liked. I agree that it's important to talk about the issues you have, especially with other TCKs, but it needs to not be the complete focus. The good experiences must be talked about too. By focusing on the negative you're probably going to end up remembering things as shittier than they really were which is just going to make you feel even worse about things. Don't fall into that cycle. Don't encourage it either. If you discover someone falling into this, do your best to pull them out. I can't say how one would go about doing this, different approaches are necessary for different people.

Remember, being a TCK isn't a bad thing. It's not even a good thing. Being a TCK is a state of being. It has it's pros and cons, but it's just something you are. You'll be living with the fact you're a TCK for the rest of your life, so why not focus on the good rather than the bad?