third culture kid

TCK Training

About Lauren Wells, the founder and director of TCK Training:
“Lauren is the Founder and Director of TCK Training and author of Raising Up a Generation of Healthy Third Culture Kids and The Grief Tower. An Adult Third Culture Kid (ATCK) who spent her teenage years living in Tanzania, East Africa, Lauren uses her personal experience and education in Child Development to support families who are learning to navigate life in a new culture. She has worked with over 1,000 parents and TCK caregivers and has trained staff from over 60 organizations. Lauren lives in South Carolina with her husband and two children.”

The mission of TCK Training is to come alongside parents and sending entities for the purpose of equipping, encouraging, and empowering them to raise up healthy Third Culture Kids.

Check out the website!

By CulTuremiKs, ago

The Airplane Pillow – TCK poetry

The Airplane Pillow

I’ve been sleeping on an airplane pillow all this while
drowned in a white pillowcase
folded over and set at the top of my mat
and the impermanency has etched itself
over top of every memory I have here
I always knew I wasn’t meant to stay

But somehow that airplane pillow
folded over and over itself until it was
small enough to fit in my pocket, to go back
the same way it arrived; and all my hopes
got tiny too, squished and soft and transportable
like maybe that could make up for the rest

But it didn’t
and I left
everything
hopes and pillows
and all the rest
small behind me

~ Elizabeth Hemp

Click to see another poem by Elizabeth Hemp

By CulTuremiKs, ago

Jane Peng – military BRAT artist and painter

an abstract painting with artist Jane Peng standing next to it
by Jane Peng

When I was young, all I wanted was a normal childhood, but it was impossible. We were always moving homes and nothing in our life was permanent. Every move was a disruption, full of goodbyes and fears about an unknown future. But slowly I learned to embrace the chaos, because I realised that when I walked boldly towards the unknown and did my best, there was enough kindness in the world to catch me even when I tripped.

Through my art, I want to capture the strength of courage and kindness so anyone facing turmoil in their lives can draw strength from it. That’s why I wanted to share my art with you today. ~ Jane Peng

Check out Jane’s website to see more of her art

See more paintings by TCKs

By CulTuremiKs, ago

Home – a song by TCK artist maddie rien

HOME LYRICS

Boxed up in cars
All memories of ours
are on the go
Like footprints in snow

Autumn leaves change
But I stay the same
Green highways signs
Just wave goodbye

I’m tired of living on the road
I’m tired of leaving what I know

When will I find somewhere to call home
Is it a place or someone I don’t know
Where will I get my last set of keys
Tell me to stay without
without always leaving

My hearts content lies
Left in cement
It was permanent
Or so you said

Same stars, same sky
Same moon at night
But its different
‘Cause you’re not in it.

I’m tired of leaving what I know
I’m tired but now I gotta go

When will I find somewhere to call home
Is it a place or someone I don’t know
Where will I get my last set of keys
Tell me to stay without
without always leaving

Wishing on shooting stars
To know, to stay, to be just where you are
Am I close or are you far
‘Cause miles are like galaxies apart

Right now I have no where to call home
It may be a place or someone I hope
These will not be my last set of keys
Wish I could stay but now
Now I’m leaving

Click here to listen to this song on a streaming service

Follow Maddie on Instagram

Listen to more TCK music

By CulTuremiKs, ago

Josh Barkey – Third Culture Kid Artist and Writer

About under our own piece of sky, written by third culture kid artist Josh Barkey

I recorded “under our own piece of sky” on Sept. 13th, 2020 during a Facebook-livestream at The WAV Lab in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Just one mic, my baritone ukulele, and a bucket of jitters.

The album title was suggested by my artist friend James Alfred Friesen, then chosen from a poll-list during a livestreamed run-through the week before. After we recorded, James threw together this amazing album cover and here I am four days later, posting my first-ever EP to bandcamp.

I’m hoping that if enough people dig my vibe I’ll be able to head back into the studio with some of the musical genius-friends I’ve accumulated over the years and record a full-length album of my favorite songs.

released September 18, 2020

About Josh Barkey

When I was six months old, my Canadian father and American mother took me and my older brother Jo-Ben to the Amazon basin of Peru, South America, where we would live (excepting the odd furlough in AmeriCanada) until I graduated high school.

My childhood, then, was spent migrating from fruit tree to fruit tree, paddling a dugout around Yarinacocha, and catching iguanas and boa constrictors and anything else that got too close to my bare, nature-stealing hands.

These days, I live a pretty idyllic life: I keep house with my fabulous wife, hang out with my family, play a little soccer, and write. Oh boy, do I write.

I’ve got aspirations, see?

I intend to write and write and write until I croak, telling stories that entertain, delight, and challenge the entire world. I’m honing my craft in the belief that this will lead to widespread acclaim, which will assuage all my insecurities and give me the financial resources to buy everybody I know a pair of gold-plated pinking shears. Because that makes total sense.

Mostly, though, I’m trying to do it for the love. Writing and making is at its best a love-based endeavor, and I want nothing more than to up the love-quotient in the world before the lights go out. I firmly believe that storytelling is the best way for me to do this.

Check out Josh’s blog and his other art here

Check out some more TCK music here

By CulTuremiKs, ago

A Night In Transit – by forecast

by forecast, a TCK who grew up in Spain and the USA

Artist’s description of the album:

“So this album means a lot to me. We all go through these tough times, our “nights in transit,” where we struggle to get somewhere during a precarious time in our respective lives.


As I’m becoming an adult, being that I’m 20 now, I get it. You don’t just wake up one day and say “okay, I’m an adult now,” and that’s that. No. It’s a phase. Just like transit systems; it takes time, but you’re moving forward. It’s all about the progress you make, and you’re rewarded for it. It’s all a part of growing up. For anyone who’s reading this and resonates with you, then this album is for you. You can make it through your night in transit.
It may feel like it’s taking a while (I mean, have you ever tried to stay up all night? It drags ooooon for so long), but you’ll be rewarded for it in the end.

Stay strong, keep moving on. It’s worth it. I believe in you.”

Check out the album on Spotify or on iTunes!

More music written by third culture kids
By CulTuremiKs, ago

Interaction International

Interaction International

Interaction International collaborates and networks to provide a quality flow of care for the global TCK community; this is accomplished by a worldwide strategy of developing services and resources, providing curriculum and training, and advocating for the needs and potential of TCKs.

Core Values

Prayerfulness
Interaction International is committed to prayer and discernment for forward movement, direction and growth.

Comprehensive Care
Interaction International advocates and works for the improvement of care for TCKs of all backgrounds, with a focus on those from the faith community, and their supporting communities globally.

Sustainable Generosity
Interaction International stewards resources and personnel in an open-handed and responsible manner that promotes longevity while living by faith.

Team Cohesion
Interaction International’s staff team is committed to faithfully caring for each other professionally and personally.

Continual Learning
Interaction International is committed to practices of deep listening, education, and growth to enhance our responsiveness to the changing realities of those we serve.

Visionary Strategies
Interaction International pursues cutting edge solutions to challenges, needs, and potentials of TCKs; raising the standard for improved care and equipping.

Collaborative Leadership
Interaction International strategically pursues relationships towards common goals in current and future expansion of TCK care. We support and champion what others do well and seek to lead humbly, creating connection and synergy.

By CulTuremiKs, ago

Homesick by Alice Merton – a TCK song

HOMESICK LYRICS:

I was the new kid
I was scared of dogs and the weather
Never went on a field trip
Scared I’d lose my mother and father

I was the new kid
Didn’t understand what’s going on
But I tried my best to fit in
Started putting it in a song

No I don’t get homesick
But I’m sick when I’m without you
And I don’t feel lonely
I just wanna be alone with you

And I said I’d never write a love song
Because they always end
But you caught me off guard
And I found a home again

No I don’t get homesick
No I don’t feel lonely

I was the new kid
I like to wear the same shirts again
It reminded me where I’ve been
All the places I’ve left my brothers

I was the new kid
I never understood what’s going on
And I didn’t know how to talk
So I put it in a song

No I don’t get homesick
But I’m sick when I’m without you
And I don’t feel lonely
I just wanna be alone with you

And I said I’d never write a love song
Because they always end
But you caught me off guard
And I found a home again

I don’t feel alone
I don’t feel alone
I don’t feel alone
I don’t feel alone

I was the new kid
I was scared of dogs and the weather
Never went on a fieldtrip
Scared I’d lose my mother and father

I was the new kid
Didn’t understand what’s going on
But I tried my best to fit in
Started putting it in a song

No I don’t get homesick
But I’m sick when I’m without you
And I don’t feel lonely
I just wanna be alone with you

And I said I’d never write a love song
‘Cause they always end
But you caught me off guard
And I found a home again

No I don’t get homesick
No I don’t, no I don’t, no I don’t, no I don’t
And I don’t feel lonely
I just wanna be alone with you

I don’t feel alone
I don’t feel alone
I don’t feel alone

No Roots by Alice Merton

Alice Merton’s YouTube channel

By CulTuremiKs, ago

Just A House To Me – a poem about transition

Just A House To Me

  You had spent your entire life in one home:

                   your mom’s run-down condo in sleepy Antrim, New Hampshire where you
                   grew up eating inauthentic General Tso’s chicken at Ginger House and 
                   picking up sesame bagels with cream cheese at Audrey’s 
                   on Wednesdays,

  knowing 
  everything 
  about your town, 
  your home, which step 
  in your staircase creaked, 
  the exact shape of the burn 
  mark on the left side of your fridge. 
 
                   The mahogany closet in your basement where you used to curl up at age 
                   4 to play hide-and-seek with your three sisters, the bookshelf you broke 
                   then repaired at age 10, the army green quilt you received from your 
                   grandma at age 13 that covers the twinbed in your room, in your home, in 
                   your town. 

  By the time I met you I had lived in over 25 places in 

       Korea                           England 
                      Tanzania
                      South Africa 
                      Kenya
                                       Lithuania
              Chile          U.S.A.

Some homes, some houses,

     never
     knowing 

     the houses
                 I lived 
     I was packing     unpacking,
              readjusting   new places.

                      thrill of leaving           Cockroach House,  
         bittersweet       goodbye     Mango Tree House,  
                   Jacaranda House, the comings           goings 
        formings          memories, never          feeling 
              rootedness.

     And maybe that’s why we had to end our relationship:
     I was a home to you, but you were just a house to me.

By Melanie Han, an avid traveler and a poet who was born in Korea, grew up in East Africa, and is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing in Boston. She has won awards from Boston in 100 Words and Lyric, and her poetry has appeared in several magazines and online publications, such as Fathom, Ruminate, and Among Worlds. During her free time, she can be found eating different ethnic foods or visiting new countries.

Other poems by Melanie Han
Can I Roll, Slice, Stack Memories?
Dar es Salaam Delicacies

By CulTuremiKs, ago

Language Miracle – a third culture kid poem

Language Miracle

I came home
from school one day
and you were gone.
Mom said it was because
you missed Grandpa and
you missed Korea and
you didn’t wait for me
because you were bad
at saying goodbyes,
but I knew better.
You left because
you were fed up
with me, fed up
with trying
to teach Korean
to a granddaughter
who kept refusing.
So you went
back to your homeland,
a land I didn’t feel
was my home,
with nothing but
6,381 miles, 12 hours
on the plane, and
hurt between us.

“My Dear Yeast,
You know I grow up in Korea while Japan abuse
forbid speak our language as child force learn
Japanese language of oppress and change
my name to other country. Yoshiko, they call me.
Many word gone when release from Japan.
Japan burn thousand and thousand book
force study Japan forbid our language
prison for people who wrote our words.
Release from Japan regain our language miracle.
I proud of my people my movement regain
history country culture. Yeast, grow up
in foregin country no use our language.
And what do you know about war for our country?
Last wish for Yeast. Learn language.
Love,
Halmoni”

By Melanie Han, an avid traveler and a poet who was born in Korea, grew up in East Africa, and is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing in Boston. She has won awards from Boston in 100 Words and Lyric, and her poetry has appeared in several magazines and online publications, such as Fathom, Ruminate, and Among Worlds. During her free time, she can be found eating different ethnic foods or visiting new countries.

By CulTuremiKs, ago