How do we learn to belong? TCKs of Asia forum (12 December 2020)

 

Can one learn how to belong? The Third Culture Kid experience makes it especially difficult for children to find that sense of belonging that we all need as humans. TCKs of Asia will be holding an online forum to reflect on whether we can learn to find community.

One of the hardest things about moving countries as an adolescent was trying to understand who I was — where did I belong? I had such a hard time fitting in. Most adolescents go through this, but the experience is extra-complicated when it involves a whole new country, culture, and language.

As TCKs of Asia write:

We all have a need to belong and be unique at the same time.... But when we grow up between different countries, languages and cultures, it can be hard to feel a strong sense of belonging to any one place or culture. [Do] we either belong or we don’t? Or can we learn how to belong?

On 12 December 2020, I'll be joining a panel of five adult Third Culture Kids of Asia as we reflect on our experiences trying to fit in and find community. And — as wiser adults?! — we hope to share some ways we learned to find belonging.

Please come and join us! You can register through the forum site.

We'll have a chunk of time for open discussion, where we hope you will also share your experiences and tell us what resonated.

(Ha, I just realized I'd already written about some of the things I want to share 😊)

More info

• Learn more about TCKs of Asia
• Check out our Third Culture Stories podcast to listen to past TCKs of Asia forums
• About Families in Global Transition, the organization that brought us together