TCK stands for "third culture kid". My daughters are TCKs. This means that they don’t completely belong to the culture in which they live (Swiss), but nor do they completely belong to the cultural roots of their family (Northern Irish). Studies have been made of TCKs. There are extra opportunities (0ften they are bilingual, they have an awareness of more than one culture), but there are also difficult issues to deal with. One of these is that they sometimes live in transient communities and so they frequently have to say good-bye.
Gemma, my 18 year old daughter, has recently written about this in her blog. She has a number of friends leaving to university at the moment and it has caused her to reflect on this, and the fact that she plans to leave here in a year for university. Here is a little extract from what she wrote:
It’s so difficult to say goodbye to them…it feels, and probably this
feeling will get even more intense when they actually leave, like a
piece of my heart is being ripped out saying goodbye to each one.
Sometimes having to say goodbye to so many people makes me think that
maybe I should be guarded and not invest in people I know will be
leaving so to save myself from the pain, but then I realise how
precious each of these people are, and I never have regretted getting
to know someone! I’ve had the privilege of shopping trips, dancing
sessions, prayer times, baking, manicures, 10 year old birthday
parties, spiritual discussions, giggling fits, dreaming about ‘what
it’ll be like when we grow up’, singing, book discussions, learning to
breathe, and countless other times with these girls.
Here is the link if you would like to read her whole blog item.
