Stories — TCK TOWN

Nonna’s Lunch

Living half your life in the West and the other half in the East would render one ripe for an identity crisis...

Awash With Anger

You pour your heart out. List your every reason, incident and rebuke. And still my little boat has not swamped and floundered. But now my shoes are wet and my socks are falling down in water weight…

By Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)20 March 2019TCK, TCK TOWN, third culture kid, anger, relationships, Japanese, American, Alaska, emotions, fight, growth, cultural, lessonsComment

We Held Our Breath & Grew Up

Our lives were never consistent, but his temper was.

AngerBy Molly Kaitlin (From Peru, Costa Rica, Minnesota & Florida. Living in Tennessee)16 March 2019TCK, TCK TOWN, third culture kid, family, anger, dad, fear, moving, goodbye, pain, new, cityComment

My Anger, My Shame

“He’s English, but we won’t hold that against him.” That’s probably one of the nicer remarks he invariably makes whenever anything touching the subject of England comes up…

Anger, FamilyBy Ashleigh Leyshon (From Melbourne, Tokyo & Nagoya. Living in Kharkiv)13 March 2019TCK, TCK TOWN, third culture kid, anger, parent, Dad, familiy, Mum, English, England, AustraliaComment

FARAH

I am local. I am multi-local. My childhood is a collection of short stories that flit between Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Australia...

No More Walking on Eggshells

My dad’s anger had been a constant in my world of inconsistencies…

Anger, Moving, FamilyBy Molly Kaitlin (From Peru, Costa Rica, Minnesota & Florida. Living in Tennessee)6 March 2019TCK, TCK TOWN, third culture kid, anger, parent, parents, familiy, moving, home, mother, dad, father, sister Comments

Channeling Anger into Better Relationships

I confronted him straight away about his lack of communication and professionalism. In an Australian environment this would have been dealt with even more directly and bluntly…

Tales from the Land of Pocky

I am in love with a country I have yet to visit all because of the stories from my uncle and all the ways he filled our lives with this culture…

AsiaBy Molly Kaitlin (From Peru, Costa Rica, Minnesota & Florida. Living in Tennessee)27 February 2019TCK TOWN, TCK, Tck, Japan, family, snacks, souvenirs, sushi, chopsticks, Murakami, food, wanderlust, anime, travel, live abroad, storiesComment

Karachi Theosophical Society: the Historic TCK Archive

With such an eclectic mix of people, the city had to foster pluralism and harmony. One of the key venues to do so was the Karachi Theosophical society…

How Far Being a Banana Got Me

I still remember it vividly. I was 10 years old, and I had just come home from school. I opened the door to our townhouse and found my mum in a near foetal position on the chair sobbing. This was the first time I’d ever seen my mum in such a state...

Self Worth, AsiaBy Albert Kurniadi (From Indonesia, Australia & Canada. Living in London)13 February 2019TCK TOWN, TCK, Tck, Indonesia, English, Asian women, Australian, white culture, Asian, banana, Mexico, Canada, gay community, TOP TEN Comment

Temasek Tales

I had thought of it lacking cultural fluidity, when in fact Singapore was a smaller version of Asia…

The Real Folk Blues

"愛してたと嘆くには (I was in love once, I sigh) あまりにも時はすぎてしまった (far too much time has passed me by)." There's an uproar in the karaoke box...

Music, AsiaBy Ashleigh Leyshon (From Melbourne, Tokyo & Nagoya. Living in Kharkiv)6 February 2019TCK TOWN, tck, TCK, third culture kid, music, karaoke, Japan, Japanese, Nagoya, Australian, Australia, school, lyrics, sing Comments

The Tokyo New Year’s French Fry Rally

So what did you do if you were in Tokyo with limited funds? The new year began and we were still deep in our french fry quest…

AsiaBy Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)2 February 2019TCK TOWN, TCK, Tck, Tokyo, Japan, customs, Roppongi, Shibuya, foreign students, NYE, OmotesandoComment

Words By The Sea

On the silted shores of that Kashmiri lake from my childhood - my shoes slowly ruining in the slush of snow, mud and plum blossoms - I stood beside the houseboat we were staying in (which once hosted Henry Kissinger). That was the month Indira Gandhi was voted out and my whole family got stuck in India.

Sawwah By The Sea

Your eyes watched me faithfully, fingers carefully following the dips and turns of my imperfect singing, matching the patchwork of words to the rhythm of music.

Thank You, RelationshipsBy Farah Beaini (Living in the land of the Kulin nation)26 January 2019TCK TOWN, tck, TCK, third culture kid, mountain, sea, ocean, holiday, summer, 2013, sun, skin, water, guitar, music, songs, sing, moment, human connection, connection Comment

Blood And Water

Declarations such as “shame on them”, “I’d rather my daughter died than bring dishonour to the family”, “she must’ve dabbled in black magic to brainwash that poor boy”, and “I hope they’re found and shamed publicly” were made with great gusto, and to my adolescent brain, conjured up horrific visions which nearly made me throw up my dinner...

Warming Hearts, Warring Worlds

You wonder whether you have traded one death sentence for the next as the engine fails and the old boat moans under the angry tumbling of ocean...

The Floods Are Coming

The storm was forecast to be a 10 out of 10 in severity, authorities had warned. Jokes about the apocalypse arriving rang between the desks. I’m sure I even heard someone blaming Trump for the huge weather event that was going to hit...

ResilienceBy Ava Senaratne (From Sri Lanka, Dubai & Melbourne. Living in Sydney)5 January 2019TCK, TCK TOWN, Tck, Melbourne, Sri Lanka, storm, trishaws, non-storm, TCK training, took, perspectives, emergencyComment

The Ocean Grounds Me

I miss waking up to the salty air and seeing the small dots of surfers on the water paddling out to catch a wave back in…

WaterBy Molly Kaitlin (From Peru, Costa Rica, Minnesota & Florida. Living in Tennessee)2 January 2019TCK TOWN, TCK, Tck, Minnesota, Lima, Peru, Ocean, Costa Rica, paradise, city, home, reminisceComment

The Guts of Being Cross-Cultural

With the whole of my heart (and my guts), I believe that your accent is fine just the way it is. There isn't really a right way to say 'tomato'. While you can't expect others to agree with your cultural identity, you can expect people to respect it...