ATCK

It's been a while since I've talked to anyone about being a TCK (Third Culture Kid) or now an ATCK (Adult Third Culture Kid). Today somehow the subject came up with my fiancée and it took me back to when I was first finding out about it. A TCK is not a complicated concept. The first culture is the "Passport" country, the country that your folks are from (also where you passport says YOU'RE from!). The second culture is that of the country where you grew up (Spain, in my case) and when you throw the experience of the two together, you get a unique "third" culture.

No two are alike, though they are all similar in many ways. David Pollard was one of the really big names on the subject, especially in a list as short as that. I didn't actually realize that I was any different from other kids until I read about it and that suddenly made a lot of past experiences much clearer.

Now, as a functional adult, I have a job I really like, I am engaged to a beautiful, wonderful woman that I absolutely love, I'm working on my MBA & MMK and am enjoying life immensely. But I am still different. I am lucky enough to work in an environment where I'm not that different and my fiancée was actually the one to point that out.

This is a subject that I could go on and on about but I think this is enough for now. I guess the point of all this is you may find TCK's in the times and places that you least expect it.

Do you know any TCK's?