Charles blogged about the Dedication of Sebastian, Jasper, Sela & Carys on Sunday. You can find Charles blog here along with the text of his Testimony and pictures of the kids!
i’m reading a book right now on third culture kids. a third culture kid is a child who has spent a significant portion of their developmental years away from both of their parents home country and culture. if we moved to canada tomorrow, none of our four would be considered tck. after six years, probably.
there are many positive aspects to living overseas for the children and i appreciate them so much. one of the BEST is that my children are colour blind. they don’t have chinese or indian friends, they have friends. amen. fantastic stuff. sebastian certainly has a better sense at four of the globe than i did at 10 which is good. he is certainly more aware of global events and they are more personal. earthquake in the philippines? did it hurt baby melissa?
however, what does he know of what it means to be canadian? (tomorrow, we touch on what do canadians know on what it means to be canadian). what does he suffer being so far away from relatives and his home and native land? he doesn’t remember the one time he has seen real snow. he has never skiied.
earlier this year it was suggested that we no longer exchange christmas presents with a member of the family. if i didn’t have kids, i would have said, super great idea, let’s do it. as it was, i suggested that we continue. my main reason for wanting the kids to keep receiving presents was this: the hong kong side of the family was the only part of the family they wanted to stop sending gifts to. they weren’t stopping purchasing gifts, just gifts to people they weren’t with at Christmastime. us.
that my kids aren’t with their family at Christmastime is mc and my own fault. i felt badly asking that the gifts continue but i don’t want my kids to ever find out that they were excluded because they weren’t around. or to feel they weren’t thought of because they weren’t around.
many canadian families live provinces away and see their grandparents and aunts/cousins as often as my kids see their relatives. i suppose it should make me feel better that this fear of distancing our children from their relatives and roots has been going on since laura ingalls was writing. today it doesnt.
Reader interactions
5 Replies to “tck”
Yes, for the kids you should keep in contact, and keep Christmas as if you were there.
I haven’t seen it, what are your plans for returning to Canada? How much longer in HK? You make it sound so nice, a place to stay for a long time.
My husband and I both live in a different culture than our own, and so our kids, when they come, will have 3 cultures and 2 languages to adjust to. I think about what you said a lot, even more so since I work with so many who are also transplants in the UK. Wondering what country my husband and I should be buried in is enough to shoot me straight up in bed at night. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It’s a crazy small world we live in these days when we can jump in and out of countries and cultures so quickly, but I wonder if it just adds to the confusion…
Hi Tess, we have sent a few emails back and forth a few years back. I used to live in Hong Kong as a child and I consider myself a third culture kid. And now as an adult, I can tell you how much I appreciate my parents for giving me that opportunity. Sure, there were days that I hated being so far from grandparents, cousins, etc, and as a snotty little kid, I let my parents know. But since I have become an adult, I truely appreciate the experiences that I had in Hong Kong. And upon our return to the US, I have formed very close ties to certain family members. And I am blessed to still consider my high school friends from Hong Kong my best friends – while we may be spread out on different continents, we are always there for each other – 10 + years later.
I only know you from your writings here, but I can tell you that you and Charles are giving your 4 beautiful children a wonderful gift. There is something magical about Hong Kong. Think of it as giving them the best of everything. They have you and Charles to guide them, the wonderful experiences and opportunities that they are being exposed to in Hong Kong, and a place that they can always go home to – Canada with all of their family.
I love reading your writing. You and your family are an inspiration.
i think you and mc are doing a wonderful job of keeping your children in touch with the western family and giving them a great gift by giving them an eastern family as well. even on the same continent it’s not easy to keep family in touch. california, and that part of the family, is only accessible to us via airplane, just as canada is to you. our airplane ride is shorter and less expensive, and yet you still make it to canada more often than we make it to california. laurels to you!
Hi,
I am a third Culture Kid and I created a website for TCKs at
http://www.cafepress.com/tck
Take a look around
Thanks