Collide Issue 30: The Middle

think that’s one of the things about being a TCK that’s
not as well understood,” said Jung.
The concept of liminality is strongly emphasized within
the TCK community. According to Victor Turner, who
came up with this particular concept, the attributes of
liminality are ambiguous, since the individuals transcend
the classifications of cultural space. Liminal entities are
neither here nor there.
Using this concept, Jung compared the TCK
experience to that of a coming of age or transition
from childhood to adulthood. In the middle of it, there
is a process—an experience or timeframe spent in the
space between childhood and adulthood. All the rules
are broken, expectations are suspended and there is
immense potential.
“This concept helps understand why TCKs are not just
a blend,” said Jung. “A blend is when you combine and
work together with the rules and expectations of both.
With TCKs, it’s both a combination and it’s a whole
new culture, and the whole new culture is constantly
changing. It is not geographically based, so the rules of
culture don’t apply.”
TCK World, the official home for Third Culture
Kids states that a TCK can never revert to being a
monocultural person. Parents of TCKs can return
“home” to their country of origin, but the children,
enriched by having shared life in their formative years
with another people group, will find characteristics of
both cultures in their very being.
Raffelia Yong is a TCK who was born in Malaysia
and moved to New Zealand at the age of 15. Yong said
that despite differences in both accents and culture, she
has taught herself how to adapt.
“I have learned to keep myself in check every time I
go back to Malaysia,” Yong said. “I did not want to be
judged because my accent was different, so I developed
this skill to just switch my accent.”
She added that she finds herself having to be the
middle person, explaining different cultures to different
people. She considers both New Zealand and Malaysia
her home.
“It doesn’t matter where it is; home is anywhere you
feel comfortable in,” Yong said, who is now a nurse in
New Zealand.
Junior biology major Valerie Valencia, who is also a
TCK, said that she has had her fair share of struggles
after experiencing life in both the United States and
Mexico.
“I remember when I went back to Mexico, I was
called racist names because I grew up in America and I
spoke fluent English. I eventually made a lot of friends
because they would come for my help with English
homework,” Valencia said.
Valencia said that she eventually learned to adapt,
although she did not quite fit in the culture of Mexico.
“I did have to explain a lot of culture differences when I
went back to Mexico, because I adapted in America and
I was used to doing things a certain way,” said Valencia.
“I also became the translator of the family, translating
from English to Spanish and vice versa to my parents.”
If Valencia had to call somewhere home, she would
point to where she grew up in Indiana, the location of
her childhood memories.
TCK Network President Heather Ardill, who was
born and raised in Nigeria, believes that the time she
spent as a child around people from different countries
helped broaden her worldview.
“Being a TCK has given me the opportunity to have
greater appreciation for people coming from different
places. I can understand people from different cultural
backgrounds more than someone who maybe has spent
the majority of their life here in this country,“ said Ardill.
“It doesn’t matter where it
is; home is anywhere you feel
comfortable in.” - Raffelia Yong
“I grew up with people from Lebanon, India, China,
South Korea and Australia. I’ve grown to understand
how they do different things and the way they interact
with people.”
Growing up, Ardill was acutely aware of her
surroundings. When she goes on missionary trips, she
finds herself advising other people to embrace the
discomfort of cultural differences and to seek attunement
to the rhythms of other’s customs.
“Whenever you come into a situation that you’re not
familiar with or uncomfortable with, or a culture that
you’re not aware of, just watch and observe,” said Ardill.
www.theclause.org/collide • 23