A recent book, “The worlds within” gives - in their own words - a first-hand account and around the world for young global nomads (also known as TCKs, Third Culture Kids) who grow up overseas while accompanying their globally mobile parents.   They write about growing up and being exposed, every few years, to extremely different cultural backgrounds, languages or schools and starting anew every time.  They are from different nationalities, speak different languages at home, their parents work for very different sectors (business, missionary, academic or diplomatic sectors are just a few) and in different countries.  In spite of such differences, TCKs share similar if not identical perspectives of the world at large, are familiar with extreme adaptation processes and can express cultural triumphs or challenges sometimes in more than one language.  They also question their own cultural identity in the context of what “home” really means to teen global nomads constantly on the move.

At home in more places than the nationality stamped in their passports, they build relationships across cultures and at different schools, leaving with their expat parents to start again and in a different country which can be stressful for the whole family, no matter how many times it's been done in the past.  Some of these young writers in the above-mentioned book write with confidence about personal experiences in adapting:

• “being new in a new place is normal, it’s actually the only constant and everyone realizes that we are different”.   

• "I've been in all climates, handled numerous different currencies, can recite the safety instructions given on commercial plane rides. Everywhere I go feels like home to me"

• All these places are my home.. oh, the memories they bring back.. Home…it has no borders”

• “ I have a Dutch passport but I am so much more”.

Ease to acquire new languages and adapting to very diverse environments are skills that young global nomads learn while crisscrossing the globe but it is not always as glamourous as it sounds, depending on the sector, the region of the world they relocate to and  political, social or economic events that can and will take place.  There are obvious challenges and personal struggles that come with moving often across borders and learning and navigating daily activities by local standards.  Young global nomads cultivate and maintain friendships, family relations and communications across continents.  Dealing with distances and time zones becomes a necessity and gradually, the norm.   So they have a lot to offer in understanding cultural differences and can bring an interesting youth perspective about global topics to their current environment. 

A teacher in a small private school presents this short exercise to some of his secondary students (many of whom are international students) at the beginning of each school year.  Responses to the questionnaire, whether the students are global nomads or not, usually lead to a robust and introspective exchange about cultures, language acquisition, travels, geography and current global events.  This exercise could easily be adjusted for different groups to share cultural differences and perceptions.

You are a TCK if…

• You flew before you could walk
• The best word for something is the word you learned first, regardless of the language
• You get homesick reading National Geographic
• You have a time zone map next to your telephone.
• You know how to pack
• your 5 best friends are in different countries/you sort all your friends by continents
• You have personal appliances with 3 types of plugs, know the difference between 110 and 220 volts
• You cruise the internet looking for fonts that support foreign alphabets
• You miss the subtitles when you see the latest movie.
  
• You speak with authority on the subject of airline travel.
• You have two or three passports
• You believe vehemently that football is played with a round, spotted ball.

(The Worlds Within, an Anthology of Tck Art and Writing : Young, Global and Between Cultures)

Edited by Jo Parfitt , Edited by Eva Laszlo-Herbert , Contributions by Rebecca Grappo)

Chantal Duke

Executive Assistant & Visa Manager, member of NAIS Global Advisory Working Group