November 25, 2013

20 Signs that you're a TCK

Sometimes, being a third country kid is the best thing on the world. Other times... it feels like the worst. Being in any case, here are some signs that you're a TCK.

1. You've become a master mathematician by trying to calculate when your friends in other countries are available for skype.


Or just figuring out how to message them, actually. You leave a message for then on faebook when you go to sleep, and wake up to a response sitting in your message box. Like elves left it during the night.

2. You have sounds from every continent on your playlist, mostly sent to you by friends who think it's the tops, which makes for an entertaining car trip.

I have French rap and K-pop, Israeli rock and spanish pop, to name a few. When you shuffle my ipod, you shuffle the world.

3. Speaking of car trips, you are the absolute best at keeping yourself entertained on ten hour long trips, being by car or boat or plane.

You know how long of a book you need for the trip, how much video and how much music. Car games? You're the boss.

4. A birthday tradition is seeing how many languages you can sing the song in. And, calculating what time to have the party so your friends can skype in.

Blowing out the candles becomes a game of patience.

5. You actually use Facebook as a way of staying in touch with all your friends who have left. Because good-bye is never really good-bye...

6. Even so, you've said more good-byes than you'd ever want to say. And it hurts every time.

7. You tend to use the correct pronunciation of words, so people think you're presumptuous. 

"What was that?" Oh, I'm sorry, let me add an accent for you. Noooooow it makes sense.

8. You don't speak English with your friends, or English; you speak Frenglish and everyone gets what you mean. Because sometimes, one language has a word that just fits better.

The english language has just beautiful descriptive words. Splash, fling, I just love saying them. How many different words for throw do you have? More than the french do, for sure.

9. One of your friends speaks seven languages, and all it does it make you jealous because it puts your 2 (and a half!) to shame.

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO BRILLIANT?

10. Fast food is like a strange exotic experience for you. 


11. You get culture shock every time you step into a supermarket, no matter which country you're in.


12. You can still remember a time that there were no oreos in your country. You laughed when a friends ran up to you with a pack of "amazing cookies!" they had just bought at a local store, before crying for joy.

Oreo day. June 3rd, 2010. Ah, I can see it clearly now...

13. You dread the question "where are you from" because THERE NEVER IS A SIMPLE ANSWER!

Yes, i'm from France; my english is good because I'm american; no, I was not born in the states.... every. single. time.

14. You know that fitting into a country isn't just about speaking their language, but also how you present yourself. Your demeanor changes every time you speak a different tongue.

It has often been said that the French as cold people: they are not, they are just more reserved to strangers. They think American's are a little 'too much', over the top. It's all a question on perspective.

15. You know how to calculate how long someone will take to answer "how are you doing?" because it's entirely cultural.

Because in the US.... they will actually tell you.

16. When you grandparents freak out about you taking the metro by yourself, you smile and remind them you've flow across entire continents alone. 

17. Your extended family always says 'welcome home' to you, no matter how many times you remind them that your home is 'across the pond'.

18. Vacation? what vacation? you mean going from door to door under your grandmother's wing, as she shows you off to family you haven't seen for two or three years, yet who somehow know everything about you? I may need a vacation from my vacation.

Speak French for the man! Was my grandmother's whenever my sister and i went to visit her. I didn't know half the people I met, but they sure knew me.

19. Planning a trip? Let's call so and so and see if she'll be available to hang out once we get there!

They always know the best places to eat, too!

20. The day you finally knew what it was like to be the one leaving home; and had to say good-bye for probably the last time.

Are you a TCK? is there anything I left out? let me know in the comments!

Sarah

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