Thank you, Asia "TCKs" (80 days left)

March 12, 2021

In six months Alec will return to the school system from which he began his career in kindergarten.  It is possible, even likely, that he will re-meet students who were in his class twelve years prior.  How has his road diverged from theirs?

Alec and Adam are now third culture kids (TCK).  That is, their lives have been shaped by living outside of their passport country. In other words, they have lived away from home.  What is the impact of this on those of similar stories?  I invite you to read Third Culture Kids by David C. Pollack to learn more.  I first read the book our first year abroad in 2010-11.  At that point I was simply becoming informed of what my children might experience in life.  In short, TCKs are on the whole more worldly, more flexible, adaptable, and able to make friends easily.  They also tend to have more difficulties staying in relationships for the long haul or staying in one place for long.  Army kids have a similar profile. 

Alec with school friends from KIS.

First, living in Korea and Hong Kong has afforded our students access to very different cultures than that of their parents who grew up in the Midwestern States of the US.  For example, the ever-present Christian culture of Wisconsin has not been present for them.  Instead, our children have been exposed to Buddhism, Hinduism, and local culture of sea gods and goddesses.  They have passed by multitudes of temples or even individual alters burning incense and offering fruits.

Thailand Monastery 

Alec at AMIS (Association in Music for International Schools) in middle school. 

They have encountered classmates and their families hailing from SE Asia, Europe, North America, and the Middle East.  They have walked down streets hearing Korean or Cantonese or Mandarin or French or English.  They have been afforded American-style educations, but from teachers hailing from Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Spain.  

Alec concluding 8th grade. 

We are incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity of living and traveling abroad.  (More about the travels later.) Yes, our kids have experienced life far differently than we did at their age.  They are now TCKs. Thank you, Asia, for bringing richness and experiences to their lives that are beyond measure.

Photos by © Brenda Brayko. All rights reserved.