If you grew up overseas as a child and then returned to the country of your parents or your passport to live, you are a Third Culture Kid (TCK). There are millions of adult TCKs spread across the world and while we come from different walks of life and hold different passports, we share a feeling of existing in between two worlds or cultures.
In the animal world, watering holes are places where all kinds of animals gather to find refreshment and restoration. Animals use the watering hole differently – giraffes will stay on the water’s edge and awkwardly bend down with their long necks for a drink. Elephants will give themselves showers. Hippos will chill out for hours in the water, like they are having a spa day. Animals don’t judge how other animals use the watering hole (we’ll leave crocodiles out of the picture for now). Each animal will stay for as long as they want, use the watering hole as they need, and then move on, a better animal for the drink or the bath.
The TCK Watering Hole is meant for grown up TCKs (and those who love them). You may not have thought about your past for many years but your international, cross-cultural childhood has shaped much of who you are today. This website will help you discover pieces of the strange puzzle that is you, pieces of yourself that never made sense before. You will feel validated and, I hope, understand yourself better.
If you are a loved one of an adult TCK, this website is also for you. In browsing through the topics in this website, you will gain an understanding of the TCK in your life whom you dearly love but can be so inexplicably hard to understand at times.
Stay at this watering hole for as long as you need; take from it what you require; maybe leave a little of yourself here as well. But don’t be a crocodile and prey on others.
Welcome to the TCK Watering Hole.