“They listened with interest to what I told – or tried to tell – them, but it was for my sake, not for the sake of the tale. I could not say if this was my fault or theirs, or the fault of the worlds we lived in. The only thing they had understood was that I would be leaving them again, to return to a fantastic destiny.”
Robin McKinley, TCK, Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast
This dramatic short by Woodstock alum Rahul Gandotra – shot in and around Woodstock School in the Indian Himalayas – was recently shortlisted for the Oscars.
You can now watch it online or buy it on DVD.
“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”
Terry Pratchett in A Hat Full of Sky: The Continuing Adventures of Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men
…but first, I had better define “hidden immigrant.” The term comes from David Pollock and Ruth van Reken’s book Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds
As I wrote long ago:
My problem in dealing with my fellow Americans is that I look and sound American, but am not, quite. Culturally I’m a mishmash, a Third Culture Kid. I just don’t notice many of the American cultural cues, so I don’t respond the way Americans expect me to. They sense vaguely that something is wrong, but can’t quite put their fingers on what. Of course I miss cues in other cultures as well, but non-Americans make allowances for the obvious fact that I’m foreign; indeed, they would be surprised if I acted exactly as they do. (Americans usually extend the same courtesy to obvious foreigners in America.) For me, though, it’s different: in America I’m actually a foreigner, but camouflaged as a native, so I don’t have the privilege to screw up that someone clearly foreign would have.
Continue reading Coping Strategies for the Hidden Immigrant
(This exists in various versions on various sites; this one was sent to me by a friend.)
You can’t answer the question: “Where are you from?”
You speak two (or more) languages but can’t spell in any of them.
You flew before you could walk.
You have a passport, but no driver’s license.
You watch National Geographic specials and recognize someone. (ALONG THE SAME LINES: YOU RUN INTO SOMEONE YOU KNOW AT EVERY AIRPORT)
Continue reading You Know You’re a Third-Culture Kid When…
