TCK Identity: I am a walking exotic complication

The wind makes me feel so free and happy. Helsingborg, Sweden. Oct 2017.

To understand a third culture kid is to dissect a Kue Lapis (thousand layer cake) or a millefeuille. Or if you love wine as much as I do, a heavily textured aged wine. There are so many layers to a person who identifies as having grown up as a TCK. I am no different. But perhaps it does get a bit complicated from the historical point of view.
Some people have told me that I am exotic. What does the word exotic mean?

exotic

adjective

1. 1. 

   originating in or characteristic of a distant foreign country.

   
   

   "exotic birds"

   
   

   synonyms:

   foreign, non-native, tropical;  alien, imported, introduced, unnaturalized "exotic birds" foreign, faraway, far off, far-flung, unfamiliar; distant, remote "exotic places"

   • 
     

     
     
   • 
     

noun

1. 1. 

   an exotic plant or animal.

   
   

   "he planted exotics in the sheltered garden"

   
   

   
   

   
   

   
   

In most instances, when someone tells me that I am exotic, I want to punch them in the face because I am not an animal or a person to be stared at like exotic animals in a zoo or fetishised. Lets start with the complications...
My name...
My name gives no indication to my ethnicity, nationality, or birthplace (yes ALL three represent different countries).
My cultural belonging and accent is also associated with a country that is neither of the above because I grew up in International Schools. But also one of my previous homes. I have multiple around the world.
My parents grew up straddling different cultures, countries, racism, and multilingual households. Bless them. Yes, it gets complicated.
My ethnicity or heritage if you were to get into the nuances of history has had tumultuous bouts of racial riots, racism, hierarchy, segregation, ridicule, nomadism, immigration, to put it simply: complication.
The sum of all these parts are just the starting point of how textural and "exotic" complex being that I started with.

But I am not special. At least I do not think I am.

I just have whole load of very different stories that most people who have "sown and grown in one place" (Alex Graham James poem from the TCK "bible" of Third Culture Kids). I am different. And difference in society gets marginalised, bullied, put on a pedestal, exoticsized, fetishised, "model minority", martyr, etc. I am different when I am in places where I look different than most. I am different when I am in places where I look like I should belong. Over the years, I have embraced this difference but most have not.

So no, TCKs shouldn't be placed in the "special" category. We have different stories but we also have similar stories of growing up, coming to terms with dealing with adolescence, growing pains, going to university, living on your own, working, settling into a routine schedule, etc. It doesn't matter where one lives. The point is that we are all human and we are just trying to exist in this world together.

Third Culture Kid Spotlight: Meet Jenny!

This global citizen and adult third culture kid is truly remarkable. Meet Jenny!

What is your name? 

Jenny Vera Sorn Jensen

Where were you born?

Bangkok, Thailand

What is your heritage?

Danish, 

German, 

Thai, 

Chinese, 

and Native American

Where have you lived and how long at each place?

Merrill, Wisconsin 2 years

Mumbai, India 3 years,

Mahe, Seychelles 3 years,

Istanbul, Turkey 2 years,

Bangkok, Thailand 3.5 years,

New Delhi India 3 years,

Green Bay Wisconsin, USA 2.5

Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA 2.5

Silver Spring, Maryland, Washington, DC, and Burke, Virginia USA 3 years,

Raleigh North Carolina, USA 15 years,

Atlanta, Georgia USA, 1 year

What is your definition of 'home' and how is it different from those around you?

I discovered while I was in college, that home was a very different concept for me versus my peers. This came to light when a good friend of mine was sad and upset that her parents were selling her childhood home.  To her home was that house, she had the same bedroom from birth till she went to college. I could not wrap my head around that concept. To me home was where ever I happen to be, it’s not structure, not really a place even, just where I am.

Where do you consider home and why?

My definition of home has not changed, it is where I happen to be. Even when I visit places I tend to call the hotel room, ‘home,’ and the place where all my things are as home base. Right now home base is Atlanta.

However, when people ask me where I am from, I tend to say Raleigh, North Carolina since I lived there for 15 years. It is much easier to say that then to explain, why I’m from everywhere and nowhere and feel like a citizen of the world. 

Do you have interests in the following: foreign languages, international relations, travelling, international politics, different cultures of the world, etc...  Yes/No If so, do you think your background has helped you develop these interests? 

Yes!! I believe my background helped foster my love and  for travelling, history, foreign languages, international politics and cultures.  I realized once I came to study in my country of passport that I was the odd duck out. Many of my peers never moved from their birth city, let alone lived outside the US.  At an early age TCK’s learn to adapt, explore and adopt languages, customs and weave those into our own fabrics. This makes us unique, since we lived in places that most people only read about, or see in movies. What some consider far flung places we use to call home base, and we saw firsthand how policies and politics play out on the world stage. We were effected. By the age of 10 I have lived through 2 coup attempts in the Seychelles Islands, and while the majority of the world does not follow what goes on in that tiny island nation- I do.  The need to know what is going on in the places I lived in is very strong. My heart has been broken many times over the violence and elections in Istanbul. To know that New Delhi is getting hotter each year due to climate change is hard to observe.  I follow my old home base cities closely, but also follow the rest of the world.

What are your thoughts on globalization? Current political situation? 

The world has gotten smaller and smaller with each passing year. I grew up in a world with no email, and received my first email address when I got to college. Now I can video chat with my cousins in Thailand through a phone. Technology is amazing! The world will continue to get smaller for better or worse, and I try to see the good that comes from that, but I am well aware of the consequences too. Politically, this world is in a mess- not just the USA and the UK,  but the whole world. I view this as the last gasp of the an old ways of thinking, and this will pass.

How are your thoughts on world affairs different from those around you?

I believe I am more interested and in tune with world affairs than most of my peers and colleagues. Most people only care about what is happening in their own surroundings, with not much attention to rest of the world. However, I have found some of my peers are interested in European politics, but that is where that interest ends.  

Do you plan on incorporating a large amount of travel with your career?

Yes yes yes! In fact I travel a lot in my current position, and I believe more travel is on the horizon and I welcome it with open arms!

Connect with Jenny on Facebook and LinkedIn

Thank you Jenny for sharing your story!! If you would like to be featured on this series please drop me an email at ahdancecompany@gmail.com

Follow my blog with Bloglovin