For the past week I’ve had the privilege of spending time with third culture kids and their parents. It has been an amazing gift and I have learned so much from the people I’ve met.

Over the weekend, I met a teenager who will be moving on to university next year. As I asked her what she might study, she said she wasn’t sure, but that she loved languages. “That’s great!” I said enthusiastically. “What a gift!” To which she replied “But I only know four languages.”

Wow! I come from a country where most kids don’t begin to learn a second language until well into their teens and move proudly into the world being able to say “Si!” and “Bueno.”

This is only one small example of the rich, diverse life of the global, third culture kid. I am more convinced than ever that this third culture kid world is real, evolving, and complicated. I am also more convinced than ever before of the need to continue expanding the conversation and speaking up for this community.

The picture I’ve included leaves out the most important words to describe all of this: “It’s complicated!” 

It’s wonderful and it’s rich and it’s life giving and it’s hard and it’s complicated. I’ll be writing more reflections later, but for now I’ll leave it to the picture.