Australian TCKs
I am working on a new project! Because I don’t already have enough on my plate… To help explain why, I’m going to tell you a story.
I grew up in the Australian cities of Sydney and Canberra. Then, my Dad’s company transferred him to the USA, and our family moved there for two years. I was 13 when we left; my sisters were 11 and 9. We were Australian TCKs (Third Culture Kids).
We attended local US schools, with US curriculum that was very different to what was taught in Australia. The spelling was different, the history was different, they didn’t use the metric system, maths and science were organised very differently (especially from middle school onward). These differences significantly affected my education long term.
We were novelties, with our Australian accents and vocabulary. I joined the family a few weeks later, after touring with my Australian youth choir. One of my first days in Connecticut, my mother and I went to my sister’s middle school (where I was due to start classes the next week) to teach her Science class how to play cricket. The science teacher was obsessed with Australia and gave the class a lesson off before Spring break for this activity. A few months later I began at high school, where I was one of 3000 people (2400 students, 600 staff) and easily picked out by anyone as The Australian - the only one in the entire school.
Two years later we returned to Australia (repatriated) and to my dismay I realised I didn’t completely fit in there anymore either. My accent had shifted and I gained the nickname Miss America. I had trouble connecting with peers because all my stories for the past two years had happened elsewhere.
At age 21 I moved to China, where once again I was often the only Australian in the room. This time, however, I was often with others who were also the only ones from their nations as well, so there was a camaraderie. Not long after, in 2005, I began working with TCKs - kids growing up in China who were not Chinese. I even met a few Australian TCKs among them! As I began to also work with TCKs in Cambodia I met even more Australian TCKs.
Over time I learned more about TCKs, engaged with TCK resources, even created TCK resources. One thing that has remained true through that time is that Australian TCKs are under-resourced. There are very few programs and networks to help Australian TCKs connect and receive support. There is often little interest, and very little money, devoted to TCK resources in Australia. The TCK literature that exists is helpful, transition to adulthood type materials are centred on Northen Hemsiphere school years and often quite American in style.
“Here in Thailand I have to explain all my Australian terms, that Christmas is in summer and still the 25th of December and stuff like that, but then back in Australia I need to explain everything! I have to explain the school system, that I’m half a year behind because we start in August. Telling stories I have to translate what was said into Thai. Even if other people have other weird habits I still have to explain mine because I picked them up in Thailand. — Katherine, 18”
Misunderstood, page 25
So here’s the news! I have joined forces with Kath Williams to work on a resource specifically for Australian TCKs. She has been working with TCKs in Australian since 2015, preparing them to transition to lives overseas, and to transition back to life in Australia, with Interserve and Missions Interlink. She has lived overseas as an adult, but has much more Australian adult life experience than I do! Between the two of us, we have a wealth of experience with the different stages of life that Australian TCKs go through, and the resources that help them adjust wherever they are.
While we are planning and writing, we are also researching. We have a survey currently out, learning from the experiences of Australian TCKs of all ages. If you, or someone you know, lived outside Australia as an Australian child/teen (like I did) we want to hear from you!
