Third Culture Kid? Is that someone from a poor, underdeveloped nation? Is that even PC?!
You might be wondering. Actually, a Third Culture Kid (TCK) is someone who has spent time growing up in multiple cultures. Instead of developing a culture of one place, TCKs create a mixture of the culture of their parents and whatever culture they happen to be in at that time. Some TCKs have two or three cultures combined, if not more.
In my case, I had lived in 6 states and a foreign country by the time I was 18. This gives me many characteristics of a Third Culture Kid that David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken address in their book, Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds. However, I have an additional culture, outside of the western/southwestern/east coast/southern/Czech/midwestern cultures that I’ve already absorbed. I am a Christ follower. My third culture experiences have shaped me, but more importantly, God is shaping me too. So I have a completely other culture–that of a life devoted to Jesus. The culture I have in that way is outside of the worldly cultures and will, Lord willing, be more and more real in my life.
With this culture of Christ, I have come to understand that some of the things TCKs experience are similar to the things that most Christians go through as well. As I re-read this book, I’m planning on writing my thoughts and such. I realized after an initial reading of the book I used the marks of a TCK to explain some of the behaviors I had in my life, rather than dealing with those issues. Hopefully, as I re-read and think through this book, I’ll be able to find ways to identify where I am and how the Spirit can change me to be more like Christ.
[…] did have a very TCK moment, where we talked about some of our difficulties with speaking English in the UK. They […]
[…] did have a very TCK moment, where we talked about some of our difficulties with speaking English in the UK. They […]