My TCK Story #1

TCK stands for Third Culture Kid. Traditionally, it means someone who grew up in a culture that is not that of their parents. Here's my take on that story. Enjoy!

I am hit with a gasp of chill air as I enter the air-conditioned hospital. Lately, I’ve had some stingy pains in the chest area. Fearing the worst, I decided to make an appointment with the cardiologist in the nearby hospital. It is a very fancy looking hospital, fit more for the likes of a high-end hotel. It is my first time here. And since it is a private hospital, I am required to register and do some logistical paperwork before seeing the doctor. And so I am given a form to fill out.

I scribble across the form as I fill out general details about my life. It’s a very normal and typical form. A form one would fill out when applying for an ID, or a entering a country or (surprise!) registering at a hospital. Mechanically I fill out the form, writing out my name, date of birth, my nationality and eventually I hit a section that says: “Permanent Address”. Well that’s interesting. For me, the idea of a “permanent address” is very vague and always has to be contextualized first before answering.  No doubt, depending on where I am at the moment and the purpose of the form itself, I have the choice of filling out an address that is in the Netherlands, in Malaysia, in the USA or maybe even in China if I feel like it. For instance, I would fill out my Netherlands address when filling out a form in the USA where I am a foreign student. The Malaysia address would be used if it is ever related to my parents’ location. And the USA address is for shipping goods and services I need from Amazon or the like. Sometimes I just fill out my old China address if I just don’t really care. Naturally, with so many options, these forms can be a bit of struggle. Often I am confused about writing the date, since date format convention varies across the globe. Is it Year/Month/Day like in most Asian countries? Or Month/Day/Year �" the preferred way in the US? Or the European way of Day/Month/Year? Then there is the occasional section that asks for your “Native Language”. Now what does that mean, exactly? I typically assume it is asking me for my most proficient language. But many regard “native language” to be synonymous to “first language” or even “mother tongue.” But these are all different (English, Dutch and Chinese respectively). These straightforward-looking sections may be filled with deep meaning regarding how I view myself, how I describe myself and how others view me.

It didn’t used to be so complicated.

Things used to be simple. Well.. simple enough. At 9 years old, I was a Dutch kid. My parents were Chinese but I was born in the Netherlands. I was Dutch Born Chinese, congruent to American Born Chinese. I went to a local public Dutch school, I grew up with Dutch kids and I spoke Dutch infinitely better than Chinese. If asked where I was from I would say, “I’m Dutch.” If asked if I were Chinese I would say “I’m Dutch.” If someone talked to me in Chinese I’d say “huh?” I think you get the point. Everything about me was Dutch, except my skintone and my parents. I would reject anything else Chinese that would threaten the view I had of myself that I was Dutch. So things were simple… enough.

This all changed when I moved to China.

Author's Note

Is this interesting? I feel that this topic is one that not many can relate to. I want to make my story unique and interesting and yet somewhat relatable to most people.