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.

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?

Hello there blogger

So, I'm pretty much going to use this blog as a dumping ground for random thoughts. I guess it'll mostly be about whatever I'm studying/reading (the two can be separate or the same) at the time as that's largely what I  think about. There'll probably be some gaming stuff or random rants interspersed.

For the poor sods who don't know me but have stumbled across this blog and is wondering what exactly a TCK (a grumpy one nonetheless) is, let me explain. A Third Culture Kid, or TCK for short, is an individual who spent a large period of their childhood in a culture other than their parents' and/or passport country. For me this was spending a little over 8 years in Thailand from the ages of nearly 10 - just over 18.

Now, maybe you're wondering what the "third" part of the term means. Well, even if you aren't, I feel like explaining it so I'm going to. The "first culture" is your parents' culture. For me this was New Zealand culture. The "second" culture is the culture of the country you move to. Once again, in my case, this was Thailand. The "third culture" mentioned in the term itself is a merging of these two cultures along with the weirdness that comes out of growing up in such a way.