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Third Culture Mama

Raising bridge-builders

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TCK

Third Culture

My English name is Jack.

June 18, 2020June 18, 2020 Third Culture Mama

Our oldest son is a cultural chameleon. His language and his behaviour change depending on the cultural environment. The timber in his voice will switch. He’ll count starting from a […]

Third Culture

5 wonderful new cross-cultural books well worth your time

May 2, 2018May 2, 2018 Third Culture Mama

Following a stint of abandoned books, I’ve had the pleasure of reading a few phenomenal ones that have really broadened my horizons. What a relief! It made me think of […]

Review

Meet Emily Steele Jackson, author of TCK novel “Home, James”

March 5, 2018March 6, 2018 Third Culture Mama

Last month, I devoured “Home, James“, a brand new novel (Feb. 2018) featuring Third Culture Kid, James, who makes an epic ‘return home’ to the US after growing up in […]

Third Culture

You belong here.

February 8, 2018February 8, 2018 Third Culture Mama

These days, I have been filling my fringe hours preparing for an upcoming Third Culture Kid speaking engagement. In my very early morning researching, there has been a most peculiar […]

Multilingualism

The day they asked me to speak to them in different languages

January 19, 2018January 19, 2018 Third Culture Mama

Some of our family’s best conversations happen around the dinner table. I’ll reassure you, some of our worst happen there too. Dinner in a home of young ones is a […]

Transition

The not so warm welcome home

November 22, 2017November 22, 2017 Third Culture Mama

The following is a sequel to my last post on our recent trip to America. In that article, I shared how we all went through some adjusting, after being gone […]

Third Culture

Welcome back to America, Third Culture Kids!

November 8, 2017February 8, 2018 Third Culture Mama

The kids were delirious by the time we reached the rental car place in Denver. They kept flipping from giggling to crying, while I tried to make sense of the […]

Guest Post

How families can bridge the academic gap when moving around

September 29, 2017November 9, 2017 Third Culture Mama

I am delighted to feature this guest post written by Christianna Pangalos, Founder and CEO of TwigaTutors. Christianna helps highly-mobile US families scattered across the globe, maintain a consistent US […]

Education

World-schooling… without the camper van!

September 9, 2017September 12, 2017 Third Culture Mama

There’s a LOT of buzz in my circles around “world-schooling”.  While definitions differ, most people use the term world-schooling to talk about using the world as your school. World-schooling families […]

Third Culture

When cross-cultural kids are rejected by their own family

June 9, 2017June 9, 2017 Third Culture Mama

From this side of the ocean, I don’t have a chip on my shoulder. Those little moments of laughter or mimicking or side comments are natural and usually not out […]

Third Culture

Third Culture Kids in marriage: 10 survey results & trends

May 15, 2017May 18, 2017 Third Culture Mama

This past month of focusing on Third Culture Kids in relationships has been a thrilling roller coaster to say the least. It all started when the 2017 EuroTCK consultation invited […]

Third Culture

Third Culture Kids in love: Jackie’s story

May 6, 2017May 6, 2017 Third Culture Mama

Welcome to the third and final part of the “TCKs in Love” interview series. Join me as I interview part Chinese-Malaysian, part Filipino-Chinese Third Culture Kid Jackie who is married […]

Third Culture

Third Culture Kids in love: MaDonna’s story

May 1, 2017May 1, 2017 Third Culture Mama

Welcome to part two of the TCKs in love series. Join me as I interview MaDonna, who was raised in small town America and has been married to her German-Taiwanese […]

Third Culture

Third Culture Kids in love: Suzanne’s story

April 23, 2017May 1, 2017 Third Culture Mama

Welcome to a three part series all about married Third Culture Kids and how their Third Culture affects their relationship. For our first interview, I really wanted to hear from […]

Third Culture

TCK love and marriage: survey and giveaway!

April 19, 2017May 1, 2017 Third Culture Mama

Calling all Third Culture Kids in love, married TCKs or all you brave monoculturals married to TCKs! 🙂 I am collecting some data for a workshop I am hosting for […]

Third Culture

6 Ways to show some love to a TCK

February 13, 2017February 13, 2017 Third Culture Mama

By now, you know what a Third Culture Kid (TCK) is. It’s highly possible TCKs are all around you. They are the expat kids, military kids, missionary kids, navy kids […]

Third Culture

Where do I belong? The early years.

January 24, 2017January 26, 2017 Third Culture Mama

Could my young children already be wrestling with their cultural identity? In preschool?? As with many profound reflections, this one came about at the table, where precious friends asked us […]

International Move

The year of the table

January 11, 2017January 13, 2017 Third Culture Mama

There is something about “The Table” that keeps drawing us in. Even before we moved to France, we owned a well-loved dining table that came with a leaf to extend […]

Motherhood

The Granny I want to be.

November 1, 2016November 1, 2016 Third Culture Mama

After dropping the kids off at our little village school, I took the right turn that takes me back home. I checked over my shoulder for oncoming cars, and it […]

Travel with kids

Holidays are for world-schooling

October 30, 2016November 1, 2016 Third Culture Mama

Well, we’re back from our adventure to Italy. Wow. The film director and family were staying at our place between the London film premiere and a London award ceremonies (yeay!). […]

Transition

The Q&A edition!

October 25, 2016November 1, 2016 Third Culture Mama

In this post, I ask my husband (aka Tall Mountain) to share from his perspective how the transition has affected him.. Alright. Why don’t you start by painting a bit […]

Cultural Reflections

Not all French people are foodies

October 7, 2016November 1, 2016 Third Culture Mama

France has got to be one of the most romanticized countries on the planet. Foreigners picture men wearing berets kissing kids in knee-high socks as they cycle together to the […]

International Move

Surprised by Culture Shock!

August 30, 2016September 1, 2016 Third Culture Mama

We’ve lived in France for 90 days and it has probably taken several years off my life. We figured our move with little ones trailing behind was going to stretch […]

Third Culture

Growing a world-shaped heart

July 27, 2016 Third Culture Mama

I just love that French word “terroir”, most often used in reference to wine. Terroir describes that dynamic process by which the whole environment: climate, geography, soil, air – gives […]

Third Culture

The fantastic gift of being a Third Culture Kid

July 20, 2016July 21, 2016 Third Culture Mama

Hey kiddos, it’s your own Third Culture Mama here (with papa chiming in!). It’s your parents who watch from the edge of our seats as you slowly attempt to recreate […]

Third Culture

New Eyes for an Old Home: Adult Third Culture Kids

June 29, 2016June 29, 2016 Third Culture Mama

“I am sure you’ll be so thankful to be back home in your country” wrote my friend in a farewell card as all the cogs were in motion for us […]

Transition

Big news for our family

April 27, 2016April 30, 2016 Third Culture Mama

In case you’ve caught word, friends, the rumors are true. In just five weeks from today, we will move our little family of five to a village in France. It’s […]

Review

All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes

January 23, 2016January 25, 2016 Third Culture Mama

I jumped right into All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes, the fifth of Maya Angelou’s seven part autobiographical series and I thoroughly enjoyed it. In this installment, Angelou writes about […]

Third Culture

6 tips for TCKs returning “home”

January 18, 2016January 19, 2016 Third Culture Mama

The move to my passport culture, a country I hadn’t lived in for 20 years, was littered with pain and grief. I felt the physical ache in my heart as […]

Review

On race, immigration and love: Americanah

August 27, 2015August 28, 2015 Third Culture Mama

Introducing a book that depicts life pretty accurately on three continents and unpacks the sensitive subject of race in a relatively non-judgmental fashion. It’s a book that also humanizes the […]

Long-distance

Beyond Skype: let’s stay in touch!

August 20, 2015August 21, 2015 Third Culture Mama

8264km / 5135miles. That is the closest I have lived to my parents in the past seven years. In the meantime, we’ve had children that can walk, talk, communicate. Despite […]

Multicultural

“They’re gonna hate you for it”

July 16, 2015July 17, 2015 Third Culture Mama

I have been grateful for so many encouraging comments and emails about traveling with small kids, multilingualism, and cross-cultural living on social media. Then, almost out of nowhere, this one […]

Multilingualism

Bilingual Avenue Podcast

June 17, 2015June 17, 2015 Third Culture Mama

I am really honored to feature on this week’s episode of Bilingual Avenue, a weekly podcast with insightful tips and advice from language experts and normal parents like us, raising […]

Travel with kids

“H” is for…Humility

June 5, 2015October 21, 2015 Third Culture Mama

“I’m going to China, where are you going, Grammie?” Ayo asked last week as if nothing were. I didn’t think much of it at the time but it really marked […]

Third Culture

Good grief.

March 26, 2015March 28, 2015 Third Culture Mama

Late last night, I mustered up the courage to flick through my old blog that accompanied me like a best friend from graduate school, outlasting even my first two real […]

Multicultural

Beautiful multicultural books for children

March 3, 2015June 19, 2015 Third Culture Mama

Take a quick tour of the children’s classics in Anglo-Saxon literature and you will see a glaring predominance of Caucasian protagonists. I don’t feel it is wrong to feature white […]

Multicultural

What? I’m not calling them “maids”!

February 13, 2015June 19, 2015 Third Culture Mama

It started with a whole lot of tension and ended with a whole lot of compromise. It climbed hills of heartache but led to a lush land of so much […]

Third Culture

Ditching Brittany

February 10, 2015June 19, 2015 Third Culture Mama

I sat in my favorite solid wooden chair at our kitchen table and stared out the window. Many an “aha” moment has come to me on this comforting chair with […]

Motherhood

Be.

January 19, 2015June 19, 2015 Third Culture Mama

You know you are getting older when you get all negative about setting New Year’s resolutions. It’s kind of sad when you lose that youthful trust in humanity and in […]

Third Culture

That global vs. local tension

December 3, 2014May 6, 2015 Third Culture Mama

A friend of mine recently sent me a message with a question that got me thinking. He asked me how I developed a hunger for both local and global experiences, […]

Multicultural

Advent around the world

December 1, 2014December 1, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Living in Germany first gave me an insight into the craft of the homemade advent calendar. Ten years ago, a German friend of mine showed me a perfectly engineered cardboard […]

Cultural Reflections

God Bless America.

July 5, 2014March 5, 2015 Third Culture Mama

The first Fourth of July I experienced as an Adult Third Culture Kid was in 2008. We went to some highly political parade in the middle of the country. We […]

Travel with kids

East Hampton: a maid’s embrace & survival parenting

October 15, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

After filming all week in NYC, the production team moved to East Hampton for the weekend: a wealthy coastal village located on the peninsula east of New York. Ayo and […]

Cultural Reflections

When less is more…

October 2, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Last week, I returned our ill-functioning blender we had bought over two years ago. Tall Mountain put it on my “to do list” and I shuddered thinking of the battle […]

Pico Iyer: Where is home? (TED Talk)

August 1, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

I posted this beautiful TED talk by Third Culture Kid author Pico Iyer to my Facebook wall the other day, but I am not sure the fast pace of social […]

Travel

Cupcakes & hotdogs

July 7, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Today was the first day I have felt like myself again following another gruesome trip over the Atlantic. The airplane didn’t turn back this time, but we missed our connection in […]

Review

The World Until Yesterday

March 21, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

I first heard about best-selling author Jared Diamond and his newly released The World Until Yesterday – What we can Learn from Traditional Societies in an in-flight magazine. In the […]

Review

Bend, Not Break

February 23, 2013November 23, 2014 Third Culture Mama

Unexpected packages are the best! Well, non work-related unexpected packages, that is. The other day, that sort of package arrived on our doorstep. It gets better. It was addressed…to me! […]

Happy Birthday, Charles Dickens!

February 7, 2013February 7, 2013 Third Culture Mama

One always begins to forgive a place as soon as it’s left behind. -Charles Dickens

Un peu de tout

November 14, 2012December 13, 2012 Third Culture Mama

A bit of everything. My kid smells like a skunk. I need to strip his dipes again. It’s the second time in five months, so I’m not complaining. Especially, because […]

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