third culture kid

The Global Nomads – Larissa Nugroho

The Gobal Nomads is a spoken word poem written and performed by Larissa Nugroho. Larissa says “As someone who grew up in a multicultural setting and who is currently living abroad – I wanted to capture that feeling of belonging everywhere and nowhere at the same time.”

Text:

Where is home?
Living in a suitcase
Moving from place to place
Restless
Wondering
Trying to find rest and belonging

We are the global nomads
Fitting in everywhere and nowhere
Simultaneously
Changing SIM cards constantly
Saying hi and goodbye cyclically

Though we never do it easily

We are the global wanderers
Adapting like chameleons quickly
Getting raised eyebrows when we don’t assimilate
Asking where we’re from complicates
Things

We are the global vagabonds
Passport stamps in our hearts
Luggage tags on the baggage we carry around
Of the friendships and the losses we found
Ungodly hour calls making up for the time zones
Glad that someone is always awake
On the other end of the phone

We are the eclectic tribe
With constant identity crisis
Trying to grow where we planted
Staying rooted in heritage
While stretching out our leaves
The whole world is our stage

We are the global nomads
The world is not just our oyster
It is our playground
To romp around
And play
For here
Here is our home

By CulTuremiKs, ago

In Unity We Can – bilingual spoken word poem

“In Unity We Can” is a bilingual spoken word poem written and performed by Bertha on her platform, “Being A Third Culture Kid”. The platform seeks to illuminate the experiences and significance of the third culture experience through storytelling. It aims to empower them to take up space in the world and demonstrate to those around them how to discover the beauty that is in every country, culture, and people of the world. After all, global citizenship is the single currency of the world!

Follow the platform here!

By CulTuremiKs, ago

3rd Culture Art store

3rd Culture Art is a 3rd culture community of artists, coming together to showcase their artwork to a wider audience, and have an easy platform for selling their work. Let’s face it, artists love to create but absolutely loathe having to take the time and try to figure out how to get it online in various formats. That is where we come in – partnering with our artists. They send in their artwork to us in digital format, and we take care of the rest – getting it out to you, our fabulous customers!

One of the guiding principles of our shop is that everyone should be able to enjoy art. 3rd Culture Art is a convenient and interactive space for both art enthusiasts and collectors to find pieces that cater to a wide array of tastes. With convenient shipping options and easy to use search options, you’ll easily find your next masterpiece or unique mug.

Check out the website here!

By CulTuremiKs, ago

Gold Bounty – Lanterns in the Dark

Gold Bounty is a poem by Claire Hellar Adderholt. A little about me: I’m a missionary kid who grew up in Papua New Guinea and, after living in California and Colorado, now live with my husband in Birmingham, Alabama. I’m a UCLA grad and love Tolstoy, Taylor Swift, mountain hikes, peonies, and whiskey. My work can be found at The Rabbit Room, Calla Press, Wilderness House Literary Review, and Melusine. I can also be found at @claire_de_luned on Instagram or at Lanterns in the Dark on Substack.

Gold Bounty

Shucking corn:
an oldest of human traditions.

My carpenter husband says
Let’s move to the woods and grow corn
and raise a roof over land that’s ours.

I was raised in a rainforest,
on a mountain
with fields and fields of goldenrod

the color of corn,
and shucking corn, I wonder:
is the movement through fields the same –

fields of corn and goldenrod:
does the brightness of the light
burn so transparent it glows the same the world
over –

and is there anything to distinguish old farm traditions
from the bounty the hills give, miraculous and easy –
or is it all movement, walking through slender stems that rustle,
a bounty of leaves and splendor?

all light, and green leaves,
and everything spread at our feet
for labour, and appeasement of hunger,
and a richness to satisfy
the human soul?

there is a brightness to all this transcendence.

let us go then, you and I,
to the cornfields of gold on high
and harvest, beloved, all this radiant,
given glory

Read more TCK poems here!

By CulTuremiKs, ago

Bird of Paradise

bird of paradise painting

“Bird of Paradise”
How often did I see these in Congo growing up and now even here at the coast of California and also where I live in Fresno, California. They are so beautiful and a reminder of my past in Congo. ~ Gary Prieb

What is a Bird of Paradise? Find out here!

See more paintings by Gary Prieb here!

new years dancing - three colorful African women dancing

“New Years Dancing”
Please enjoy the painting I did around New Years 2024. Without dancing African culture would be blasé. It’s found everywhere there. Some of us, including me, could pick it up a notch ourselves if we only let loose a bit and gleefully “fly”, as these three are. But then, my joints are too creaky and stiff! ~ Gary Prieb

By CulTuremiKs, ago

Yvonne McArthur – Migrations

Migrations
– Yvonne McArthur

We began as a
flock of Scots, a
Glasgow-living clan
Eaters of thick oatmeal
Musical brogue speakers

Crossed the Atlantic
Nested by the Speed River
Tossed seeds from the
Heights of Black Bridge

Some took root,
Sprouted into saplings
A forest of cousins,
Great uncles, and grandnieces
A family diaspora
Populating Canada

Others kept their wings
Soared down to Chiapas
Bushwacked through
Jungle, canoed on rivers,
Ate roasted monkey

But the wind currents called.
Drew feathered creatures
South to the highlands
Land of the Maya
To live among growers of
Garlic and onion

I learned to fly here,
Beating back and forth between
The Great Lakes and the
Caribbean Plate
Drawn to stay, become
endemic to one place. But also
Lured to fly onward forever

Yvonne McArthur is a TCK poet who grew up in Guatemala. Find out more about her or read more of her poetry here!

Read more TCK poetry here.

By CulTuremiKs, ago

Third Culture Music – Sam Cronin

In this video, Sam Cronin of Third Culture Music talks about his TCK childhood and how it has impacted his lifestyle, career, and music.

“Country or no country, nationality or not – it was the realisation that a passport means nothing, and this is an ideology that has really inspired my lifestyle today.” ~ Sam Cronin, Third Culture Music

Listen to more of Third Culture Music’s songs here.

Follow Third Culture Music on YouTube here.

By CulTuremiKs, ago

Megan Norton – TCK author and advocate

About Megan Norton:

Hello; Sziasztok; Bonjour; Guten Tag!

As the daughter of a former U.S. diplomat, I identify as a Global Nomad (Adult Third Culture Kid); and with my extensive international experience, I have a global perspective and demonstrate cross-cultural sensitivity. I have lived in ten countries (in order of moves: USA, South Africa, South Korea, Japan, Israel, Germany, Austria, Greece, Hungary, Poland, and currently in USA), 5 U.S. states (in order of moves: Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, Washington D.C., Michigan), and have visited over 30 countries.

I am an intercultural communication specialist and trainer. This title and the professional skill sets related to it have been applied in different ways over the past ten years specifically in the Third Culture Kid and transnational education space. I co-founded a nonprofit organization called “Intercultural Transitions” (www.interculturaltransitions.org) in which my co-founder and I envisioned serving our university-bound diplomatic TCK communities worldwide. I am also an independent consultant with several organizations that serve Third Culture Kids.

Find out more about Megan Norton and check out her podcast, her book, and more at her website!

By CulTuremiKs, ago

TCKs for Christ

TCKs for Christ strives to serve, encourage, and challenge teenage Christian TCKs and young adult TCKs to live victoriously with a firm identity in Jesus. TCKs for Christ considers all types of Christian TCKs such as missionary kids, business kids, diplomat kids, etc. They publish articles, interviews with TCKs, poetry and send out content via their newsletter.

Their team is made up of TCKs from around the world (five continents, to be precise) with various backgrounds, all connected by their faith, their desire to serve, and their love of writing.

Find out more by visiting their website, tcksforchrist.com

By CulTuremiKs, ago

For Faraway Friends – TCK Poems

For Faraway Friends is a collection of poems. All poems were written by Chana Noeth, and originally published on TCKsforChrist.com. Find out more about Chana and read more of the For Faraway Friends collection by clicking the link!

Letter to a Friend as I Leave

No tear runs down my cheek
As I give you a last embrace
As you stand and wave
My smile remains steady
My step is confident and sure
As I turn and walk away
Do not be fooled, my friend.
I’m not so emotionless as I seem.

As I give you a last embrace
I soak up what it feels like
As you stand and wave
I commit to memory your face
As I turn and walk away
I am hyper-aware of my surroundings.
I am pensive and sentimental
At our parting, my friend.

The air is slightly cool
But not enough to bring a chill
Your eyes are so bright and clear
The sight of them makes me smile
Your embrace is strong yet gentle
Infused with the warmth of your affection
And I’m amazed at how precious you are
Though my time here was short—
The things I’ll carry with me
The memories shared
That I’ll cherish forever.

It’s moist outside and I try to place it—
I’m not sure it’s quite drizzling
But it’s not considered a fog—
Even the not-rain can’t decide
But to lightly imply precipitation
Not really enough for an umbrella
But by the time I’ve walked far away
It’s enough to leave me wet
With reality: I’ll miss you.

And I’ll miss this street
And I’ll miss that tree
And I’ll miss that shop
And I’ll miss the church
And I’ll miss this weather
That can never decide
Whether it’s coming or going
Just like me: I hope I’ll return
But I don’t know if I ever will.
And just like you say of the weather,
It’s the spice of life.

And I wonder what you’re thinking
As I leave you
I wonder if you’re wishing
I would cry or show emotion
I’m pretty sure you’re thinking
You’ll miss me too
And I’m thinking
How much I used to hate it
When people would leave me.
I know the feeling all too well.

I’m remembering how I felt
When a friend came who I grew to love
Poured herself all in (just like I have)
Explored and tried new things—
It felt like I’d known her for ages
We talked about everything—
And then she was gone.
And she left with a smile on her face
No promise of return
(And I begged her to return).

(She never did.) Now I’m in her place
And I’m reliving that parting—
I don’t know exactly what you’re thinking
But I suspect I know
And that knowing makes this parting
Very poignant for me.
I’ve always been sentimental
But it’s hard to leave a place
When I know how it feels to be left
It’s harder to enter a place
And dive all in
When I know it might hurt you to love me.

Dear friend, I don’t know why
Life is filled with partings
But it is.
And that friend I met long ago
Taught me a lesson about loving wholly
So as much as it may hurt,
I think it’s worth it
And I hope you’ll understand
That if I never see you again
It’s not because I don’t love you.
I do.
And I’m so grateful I didn’t let fear hold me back
From loving you.
I think I finally understand how she felt
When she had to leave me.
Though I’ve not seen her since,
I learned much from her
And laughed and loved
Even as I have with you.

Labor of Love

A groan of anguish seeks to escape—
I barely contain it.
Why, why, WHY
Why does it feel so broken?

This was to be a joyful reunion,
A celebration of the fruit of many years—
Yet here is heartache in the happiness.

All those years of labor and love,
Learning, laughing, making mistakes,
Working hard, patiently longsuffering.

All those tears of frustration and fear,
Not knowing if the work would last another day
Drudging through bias and politics and sickness and war
(Both the seen and the unseen)

All those years
All those tears
And for what?

After pouring our lives into these people,
This project, this purpose,
We’ve come back to visit and we find
Such heaviness and hardship.

Was it in vain?
To be put in a box and shut away
As if it never happened?

Was it a waste?
All those years
All those tears—
Gone?

I said my goodbyes years ago
And tucked the memories into my heart
As mementos of my childhood,
My home, my friends.
I thought I said goodbye.

And then I came to visit.
All the memories, all the hopes and fears
And laughs and loves
All the good years
Came flooding back.

But now I must leave for good.
My heart is breaking again,
Worse this time because
This crack is on top of another
Not yet fully healed.

All those years
All those tears
And for what?
Would it have been better
To never come here?

I cherished this place as my home
I loved these people as my family
I embraced this culture as my own
And then I had to leave—
Oh, how ecstatic this return!

Every moment excitement and joy
Every interaction perfect
Like I’m home again!
But now it hits me.

I’m giving her my last hug—ever?
Will I never walk this street again?
Will I never eat fruit from that tree again?
Must I truly say goodbye
To this place I love?

Oh, the tears
Oh, the years
The pain of this loss is physical.

Why does it feel so broken?
Will it ever be okay?
And yet
There is grace through the turmoil.

Love and loss
Lament amid joy
Seeds to harvest
Unity amid division
Together and apart.

All those years
All those tears
Seeds were planted.
Bridges were built.
Love was grown.

Maybe it seems
Worthless
Useless
In vain
Or a waste
But no.
We serve a God who’s always working
Who’s bigger than space and time,
Injustice and poverty.

Our work was not in vain
Because the work was God’s.
These friends are not lost
Because they’re eternal family.
This people is not done
Because we’ll worship with them
In paradise.

All these years are in His hands
All these tears He holds in a bottle.
God is working,
Just wait and see.

Read more TCK poems about faraway friends here.

By CulTuremiKs, ago