TCKs

Third-Culture Kids: Growing Up Everywhere, and Nowhere

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You who are on the road must have a code that you can live by.
And so become yourself, because the past is just a goodbye.

Graham Nash – Teach Your Children

“A Third Culture Kid (TCK) is a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture.  The TCK builds relationships to all of the cultures, while not having full ownership in any. Although elements from each culture are assimilated into the TCK’s life experience, the sense of belonging is in relationship to others of similar background.”

David C. Pollock & Ruth E. Van Reken

Third Culture Kids – available from Amazon UK | US – If you are a TCK or have a TCK in your life, read this book!

Do I Qualify? (As a TCK, that is)

See the timeline. Yeah, I guess I qualify.

Stephen Alter, a Woodstock alumnus a few years older than myself, published a book in 1998 called All the Way to Heaven: An American Boyhood in the Himalayas. It’s not an entirely satisfying book; he leaves too many questions unanswered about how he did finally deal with the confusions of identity and culture caused by his unusual upbringing – confusions very familiar to many of us. But there are some beautiful and funny stories and plenty of description, which makes it a good introduction to the place for those who’ve never been to Woodstock (and a great nostalgia trip for those who have).

Resources for TCKs


very comprehensive Wikipedia article
At Home Abroad (regular section of the International Herald Tribune) – e.g., When Expat Runs in the Family
Expats Reunite
Interaction International
Global Nomads International
TCK World
Third Culture Kids: Returning to their Passport Country
US State Department links page

April, 2004: In Memoriam

Dave Pollock, tireless advisor, counselor, and advocate for third-culture kids, died on Easter. I had the privilege of attending his TCK workshop at a Woodstock reunion; these workshops were epiphanies of self-understanding and healing for many of us. TCKs worldwide will miss him, and are grateful for all that he has done for us.

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videoblogging

My Upgraded Videoblogging Rig

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Back in May of 2008, I wrote about the equipment I was using in my videoblogging for Sun. I’ve had a few upgrades since then:

Camera: Canon Vixia HV30 ($600) – I’ve only had this since early December and haven’t used it much yet. I didn’t feel I needed HD, but it’s hard to avoid buying it these days, and the camera can be set to shoot in plain old DV if I decide that’s better for my (web) purposes. I still insist on shooting to DV tape, for the same reasons I gave before: “Tape is a cheap form of permanent backup, and it stores the video in a high-quality, raw AVI format that I can edit with the software I have, and can output at DVD quality (or better) if I need to… Hard disk cameras, on the other hand, often compress while you’re shooting into a lossy video format – that’s why they can fit so many hours of video onto a small internal hard disk.”

  • Handy camera feature: My old Panasonic camera could run from a battery or from wall current, but only one or the other could be attached. This meant that, if I was running off wall current, there was always the risk that someone would trip over the cord and dislodge it, bringing filming to an abrupt halt. The Canon allows both the battery and the wall plug to be attached at the same time, so this is no longer a risk.

Mics: I’m still using the Rode mic ($150) when I’m shooting a roomful of people, any of whom is likely to burst into song… er, questions… at any moment. But nowadays I also have a great set of Sennheiser Evolution G2 100 series wireless mics ($530). When I bought them, B&H Photo was offering a kit with two lapel mics with transmitters, two receivers, and one handheld mic with transmitter (plus a few goodies). I gave one set of lapel mic, transmitter, and receiver to Peter, who is also videoblogging now. We’ve been using the handheld in interviews (I need to get something made up for it like the news stations use, with an OpenSolaris logo), the lapel mics for one-person videos such as presentations.

BeachTek Audio Adapter: ($180) Had to get a new one to go with the new camera, but these new models should work with just about any videocamera. Still great for all the same reasons as before.

Tripod: Got a compact Bogen Manfrotto ($95) that folds up to 16″, so it fits in my carry-on bag.

Extras: For international travel, the camera’s power supply can handle 110 or 220 volts, but it’s got an American plug, so I need to carry plug adapters for all the countries I’m visiting. I’ve learned that these can be flaky and are easily lost, so it’s good to have extras. It’s also good to have an extension cord and a multi-plug power strip for conference situations, when it’s a fight to the death for outlets. If you have outlets to spare, people sitting near you will be heartily grateful.

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Woodstock School

Woodstock School: Study in India’s Himalayas

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I attended Woodstock School, an international boarding school in Mussoorie, Uttaranchal, India, from 1977 to 1981 (when I graduated from high school). It meant a great deal to me, and, like many other alumni, I am very actively involved with the school.

The Woodstock School pages on my site are for present, former, and future students, staff, parents, and friends of Woodstock School – and anyone else who would like to learn about this unique and wonderful institution.

More to Read on This Site

The SAGE Program

…offers semester, full year and gap programs at Woodstock and other international schoools.

The School Today

Wildylog – Pete and Dot Wildman are staff members at Woodstock School, natives of Liverpool. Pete’s been keeping a web site of pictures and journal entries about their Woodstock experience. His writing is warm, funny, and reflects very well the open-mindedness and sense of adventure that brought them to India. You’ll enjoy this site whether or not you have any ties to or interest in Woodstock.

My daughter Rossella attended Woodstock as a senior, graduation in 2008. Her India adventures can be seen here.

Would you like to attend Woodstock? or work there?

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Woodstock School

Woodstock School Links

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Woodstock in Film

Woodstock stories have been made into films. Both the films I’m aware of have made it to the short lists for nominations in the live action short films category for the Oscars, as well as winning other film awards. Both films were also made by Woodstock alumni:

  • The Road Home by Rahul Gandotra (available free on the site!)
  • Kush by Shubhashish Bhutiani

Woodstock on TV

NDTV’s Rocky and Mayur visit Woodstock to talk about… the food. But the piece covers much else that is fundamental about the school, and shows the environment beautifully.

There are many sites where you can get more information and news about Woodstock (expect this listing to grow, though the date on the post will not change).

Woodstock School site

SAGE, the organization which sends students to Woodstock (and on educational tours) from the US and other parts of the world.

WS Alumni – if you’re an alum or former staff member, this site is for you.

Facebook groups:

Alumni Sites

Many people who have been involved with Woodstock have their own websites and blogs. They don’t all necessarily write about Woodstock, but it’s fascinating and instructive to see what our extended Woodstock family gets up to.

Alumni in the News

White Skins, Brown Souls – Though the article does not say so, all but one of the people mentioned are Woodstock alumni!

Some Alumni Careers

Woodstock Writers – from fiction to physics!

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bio, technology, what I do, women in technology

The First Colorado Front Range Girl Geeks Dinner: Jai Ho!

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The first Colorado Front Range Girl Geek Dinner was held on Thursday, March 5th, on Sun’s Broomfield campus. More than 80 people attended, only one of whom was (a very brave) male.

Sun sponsored this first one with food, drink, and venue. There was plenty of interest from other individuals and businesses in helping with the next (contact me to be put in touch with the now-being-formed committee). Thanks to the many who helped spread the news (including Jeremy Tanner, who helped get the word out to startups and other smaller businesses). We had at least 80 attendees (probably more – I don’t think we caught quite everybody at the registration desk), and were in touch with several dozen more who couldn’t attend on this particular date but definitely want to participate.

With this kind of momentum, I think the next CO FR GGD can take place in about two months (but I’ll be leaving it up to others to organize that one as I expect to travel heavily from now through July).

The atmosphere in the room was electric and inspiring, and I hope was encouraging for those who had recently lost their jobs (or fear they might soon). Women helping women can be a powerful resource in the workplace, and that’s what Girl Geek Dinners are about.

Colorado GGD

^ listening to Linda, the “voice from on high”

Linda Skrocki put together a presentation which I ended up delivering (with her participating by phone) because she was home with a flu and didn’t want to infect the rest of us.

Our aim was to showcase Sun’s many activities in social media, in order to illustrate how other companies and individuals can use social media to enhance their own brands, win friends and clients, and influence people. Social media is important in just about any job these days, so I hope the information was useful to other women wanting to add to their work skills.

 

I noted a lot of interest in the room at the idea of managing one’s personal brand and identity online; that might be a topic for a future talk. One attendee wanted to talk more with us about Sun’s “radical transparency” in relation to a project she’s working on. And it seems that people want to hear more about videoblogging, which of course I’m happy to discuss anytime.

Colorado GGD

My only (personal) disappointment was that I was so busy running the show, I had very little time to talk with anybody – and there was a roomful of fascinating women I’d love to know more about. I look forward to making up for that next time!

Thanks to Kristin Tulp of Level3, we had TV coverage, with a segment by Jodi Brooks of CBS4 news (Denver) on Friday night. As part of a series on “Beating the Recession,” the piece talked about how we “Geek Girls” are rallying together to help ourselves and each other in a hard job market. I don’t know whether the segment will be posted on their site. Perhaps if enough of us ask them…? Here’s the transcript: ‘Geek Girls’ Gather In Broomfield For Networking

other coverage:

In case you’re wondering about the title: Jai Ho is the Oscar-winning song from the end titles of  Slumdog Millionaire. The song’s composer, A.R. Rahman, says that Jai Ho translates as “May victory be yours.” Which seems to me a fitting benediction for my fellow girl geeks.

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