You know you’re a TCK when ..

And to round up my previous post, a list of 31 points on how to know if you are a TCK. I found it on one of the websites and had a good laugh reading it. It hold true for me in 28 points.

- “Where are you from?” has more than one reasonable answer.

- You flew before you could walk.

- You speak two languages, but can’t spell in either.

- You feel odd being in the ethnic majority.

- You have a passport but no driver’s license.

- You go into culture shock upon returning to your “home” country.

- Your life story uses the phrase “Then we moved to…” three (or four, or five…) times.

- You wince when people mispronounce foreign words.

- You don’t know whether to write the date as day/month/year, month/day/year, or some variation thereof.

- You think VISA is a document that’s stamped in your passport, not a plastic card you carry in your wallet.

- You own personal appliances with 3 types of plugs, know the difference between 110 and 220 volts, 50 and 60 cycle current, and realize that a trasnsformer isn’t always enough to make your appliances work.

- You fried a number of appliances during the learning process.

- Half of your phone calls are unintelligible to those around you.

- You believe vehemently that football is played with a round, spotted ball.

- You consider a city 500 miles away “very close.”

- You get homesick reading National Geographic.

- You cruise the Internet looking for fonts that can support foreign alphabets.

- Your minor is a foreign language you already speak.

- When asked a question in a certain language, you’ve absentmindedly respond in a different one.

- You miss the subtitles when you see the latest movie.

- You speak with authority on the subject of airline travel.

- You have frequent flyer accounts on multiple airlines.

- You constantly want to use said frequent flyer accounts to travel to new places.

- You know how to pack.

- You have the urge to move to a new country every couple of years.

- The thought of sending your (hypothetical) kids to public school scares you, while the thought of letting them fly alone doesn’t at all.

- You think that high school reunions are all but impossible.

- You have friends from 29 different countries.

- You sort your friends by continent.

- You have a time zone map next to your telephone.

- You realize what a small world it is, after all.

A few changes

I haven't been writing, I know. Things have been a little busy lately... But during the last month I had an interesting realization concerning the blog. 
I kept wondering what the whole blog was about. It was just me scribbling some random thoughts on my travels, and places I have lived, and culture, and cultural differences. All interesting topics, but I could not find a common denominator other than myself. But then I came across this thing called TCKs, Third Culture Kids, and I realized that is EXACTLY what the blog is about.
So what is a TCK? It is "someone who, as a child, has spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than his or her own, thus integrating elements of those cultures and their own birth culture, into a third culture." I won't go into all the details about being a TCK now, but you will get the picture from reading this blog. And if you crave some quick knowledge there is always wikipedia, an online TCK community, online classes for TCKs, and a really great book.

A TCK is still human

A quite personal article in a webzine for TCKs (Third Culture Kids).

The girl writes about how she almost lost the ability to feel connected to people. It's a typical syndrome for TCKs. Good for her that she managed to overcome it.

Follow to the article:
"A TCK is still human"

You have been too long in Korea when... (alcohol)

... when you start turning your head away from the table when drinking alcohol with elders.
... when you hold up your glass with two hands when someone older wants to pour you more alcohol.

No kidding. That's the 'polite' behavior in Korea.
When drinking with elders and somebody wants to pour you alcohol (and you cannot pour alcohol for yourself. never.) you first hold up your glass with two hands (never one. that is disrespectful.) and the elder pours you a drink. Then you wait for the cheers (at least during the first round).
While drinking you hold your glass with two hands, turn your head away from the elders, and drink. When an elder sits at your right, you turn left. When you have two elders at both your sides you turn completely, or you 'hide' the drinking with your hands.
With friends you can use one hand, unless they are older, then at least in the beginning use two hands. But never pour alcohol for yourself on your own. Never.

On my first evening back home after Korea, I actually did it during dinner with my parents. I was so tired after the long flight that I wasn't thinking much and we were drinking wine... That was a little embarrassing, but caused lot's of laughter.

To see what I mean, watch the video from 2:46. You got it all shown there ^^~

On Regret

My big sister... wait, well... I don't really have one, but I have a friend, who is just like a big sister to me, so I think of her that way.
Anyways, my big sister send me a beautiful e-mail recently (all her e-mails are pretty awesome tbh), in which she writes about decision making (yeah, it's connected to this post).
Without much further ado, a quote on 'regret':


"And as for regret, I think it's a matter of our mindset. I don't think we should regret anything that's happened in our life, anything that we have choosen. It's best to focus on being grateful for all the good and so called bad."

To sum up...

To sum up my previous post :
(English translation bellow the picture)
haha, found the English original!

The choices of a nomad

If you live everywhere, home is nowhere.
I miss having one cupboard with all my clothes in it, I miss having all my books in one place, I miss not having to jet each Christmas and Easter back to where my parents live. But things are just things, worst is missing the people.
In my life skype is more important than the mobile phone. But it's hard to keep up on everything through skype. It makes me feel like I am always the audience, never part of anything, as if the real life was passing me by. People fall in and out of love, graduate, get engaged, pregnant, celebrate b-days, get sick and healthy again, and I am never part of it.
So what keeps me going? Ambitions and restlessness. But I think I'm getting old (lol), I find it harder and harder to let go of the ties. The life of a nomad is no easy life. People may think that there is a lot to envy, but truth to be told, being a nomad feels like standing outside on a rainy day, watching the cozy lights behind the glass windows.
I think I got to the point where I am no longer willing to sacrifice my personal life (because that's how it ultimately feels like) in order to satisfy crazy ambitions. Likewise, I am not yet ready to trade a childhood dream for the pursuit of a home. The latter possibility feels like trading a bird in the hand for the two in the bush. It's like relying on dubious luck and I was never big on taking chances.
Right now I want everything. EVERYTHING!! I am not willing on giving up anything, neither my friends, my family, the handsome guy who is waiting somewhere, a cupboard with all my clothes and all my books, nor the travels, the thrill of living in new places, my ambitions, a degree at the most awesome university.
What to do? What to do? Think, think, think...