A couple of weeks ago I attended a very interesting
conference called Families in Global Transit (FIGT). For the first time ever I
felt that I belonged here with these people who had had the same life
experiences as me. It is said that the three most traumatic events in life are
death, divorce and relocation. But here I was in a large gathering of people
who made me sound like a rookie having moved ‘only’ 6 times.
I met a young woman who has started an organization called
Sea Change http://seachangementoring.com/.
Ellen Mahoney studied in the same school (ISSH) in Tokyo as my daughter. She
explained that having grown up in Tokyo, it was tough for her to adjust to
college life in the US her country of origin, and she found that her other
expat friends from Tokyo were similarly struggling in other parts of the world.
After facing many challenges over several years, Ellen was able to redirect her
energies into something positive; a program to mentor children in transit. I
though that this was a wonderful concept and could do a world of good for TCKs.
There was a session on the ‘beloved stranger’, nannies and drivers who become
an integral part of our lives when we live in certain countries. Thanks to Facebook
and email we can stay in touch with some of them. A common sight in many
schools is kids of some ethnicities congregating together at the lunch tables.
What explains this phenomenon? In her presentation Danau Tanu explained
intercultural dynamics of self segregation and socialization patterns at
international schools. Most interesting for me was the potential of global
leadership among adult third culture kids.
It was a stimulating experience for me, a window to a whole
different world, a feeling of belonging and not isolation. I met many
interesting people who had traveled from across the globe to attend this conference.
Two high-school counselors who had traveled from Beijing
international school summed it best when they displayed the goodbye kit that
they give to departing students. The kit contains among other items, a rubber-band
to represent the ability to be elastic in a new place, a band-aid strip to
cover up any hurts, an eraser to rub out any mistakes made as a new comer and a
balloon to represent enjoyment in a new place. Look hard enough and you will realize that
there many others like yourself, just look in the right places.
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