Airports are a second home to you

Maybe its just me, but I find that any airport I go to all around the world there are those simple things that seem so familiar. In a life that is always changing, never the same. When all my friends have left or even if I leave the country I spent my entire life or the last few years of my life in, the airport comes as a comfort to me. Because each one is so familiar, homecoming to him. They are the waiting lounges, the sounds telling you which flight is about to go off, the tiled walls, the baggage claim.
Sometimes for myself I find even being at an airport more my home than my bedroom, although in confession I love a real bed rather than seats. But I always feel at home in airports, the people going and coming. The knowing that this place is assuring me that I am onto my next adventure... and I love adventures. Whether its visiting a friend, visiting an ancient artifact or going back to my passport country, the airport has the different things that make you feel loved. And not to mention the McDonalds at every airport ;) haha
But I guess I'm finding it hard to explain, but it just leaves you with that feeling, that being in airports and where the lead me to is how I want to be going forward. And I'm loving it ;)

Keep Smiling :D
Sarah Ann

...sleeping in airports and airplanes is second nature to you

So I just had an awesome summer vacation! And we traveled a lot, lots of car rides, airplane rides. I did an all nighter the night before I had to go onto an airplane.
But I was just realizing for myself I was able to fall asleep almost anywhere else almost faster than I can fall asleep than I do in my own bed... *shocked face*. Maybe its just cause I'm so tired but I think I've just adapted. TCK ADAPTION! WOOP WOOP!
Almost every car ride we had I thought okay, I'll read a book and then we arrive at our stop 3-4 hours later and my parents shake me to wake me up... haha... opps.
Also the day I just had an all nighter, I feel asleep when I was waiting at the airport for our check in since we were there an hour early, I guess I was just so comfortable at being at home at the airport that I just kinda fell asleep!
When I was really young I used to be the kid that would be so excited to go on the airplane that I could hardly sleep the night before and would be awake the entire airplane ride. I still get excited but I've adapted to being able to sleep, but I still love airplanes.
Well, if you have any awesome falling asleep stories and agree with me that falling asleep in airports, airplanes and car rides is a TCK thing write your stories in the comments bellow!

Keep Smiling :)
Sarah

...saying goodbye to your friends is saying goodbye to home

There is a saying home is where the heart is. I was just at an awesome camp for 4 days over the easter weekend with all my best friends and lots of TCKs. Saying good-bye to them was like saying good-bye to home. You build your home around friendships and people. When you have to leave its like even though your back in your own bed, your own home and school its still not home and you've left home. Sometimes it feels strange to be home and not feel at home and how when you were in a hotel that you felt SO at home! And the home was with your friends!
It also is with the people back in the countries we live in when someone leaves its like having your home leave you and even though you are still there life is so very different. 

...If you've watched the princess bride...

...Not once, not twice, not even five times.  You might be a TCK if the number of times you've seen the princess bride has reached double digits, and you can recite almost the whole script from memory.....not quite sure why this is though, does anyone have any insights?

...You seem to have a different view of how time passes

Sure, time is measured in seconds, minutes, hours and days, everyone knows that!  If you're measuring something really long you might even use years, haha, but even so, usually you don't count the time since you last saw your best friend in years, or you talk to them and see them at least once a week, sometimes every day.  As a TCK I see most of my best friends once every few years, and then I only get to spend a few days with them.  When your best friends live in three different countries and you might only have met them face to face two or three times, then you're probably a TCK.  We measure time in years, or at the least in months.  How many months till I see my family or till I can talk with a friend? Till I can walk into a house that has running water, till I can take a hot shower, till I can eat junk food (Ok, I don't actually look forward to that one).  Despite the fact that we see our friends only once every few years, and that every time we see them they've changed radically, this only helps to strengthen our relationships.  You know that it takes more than a few thousand miles of dessert or ocean to separate us, and we know that someone's always there for us.  I personally don't regret counting time past between reunions in years instead of days, and I'm looking forward to the next time I can get together with every one of my buddies scattered around the globe.

..."home" is something hard to find

For many TCKs we've moved a lot. If someone randomly comes up to me and says where is your home and where you are from? I would stop and stare. I wouldn't know exactly what to say. I'm from America by blood yet I don't feel american and don't really want to associate myself as an american. I grew up in two parts of this island called Bahrain but I don't feel like its home there either. Not to mention my hair and skin colour make me feel extra different.
For some tcks there will be moments of awkward pauses because one thing is true. We have no home on this earth. No matter where we go where we travel we may find senses of this is what home will be like but it never lasts long enough to enjoy it.
For me when I'm around my TCK friends and worship God that is when I feel the most at home, but those times are rare and I'm come to realize this world is not my home. Only heaven is and I'm just an individual made to make a small difference on a big world which I will travel but never settle. 

... you're not sure what “home“ means.

We once played a game at youth group where we had to go to the corner of the square which related to us. The squares were titled: Home is.... 1. Where my family is. 2. Where my house is. 3. Where my friends are. 4. Nowhere. Out of 21, two teens walked to the one for family. 19 walked to the corner saying: nowhere. I was one of them.

...the first language you learned how to read and write was not of your parents tongue

To many, they are surprised when they learned that I learned how to write and read in Arabic before I even knew how to write and read in English. When I start to go to a new piece of paper to write I catch myself writing from right to left instead of the "normal" left to right. I find comfert in the swirls and the beautiful letters. The sounds and the "r"s which swirl down my tongue. I sometimes call it my second mother language as Arabic has become apart of me.  Though I had to stop for a few years my love for the language has only grown stronger  also my desire to learn more.
Growing up there is such a difference as I find myself being caught by the little things and catch phrases I learnt back when I was a little girl that I hadn't heard for years. The memory of when you are little stays for a long time. Every country, every language, every friend and every tongue.
I started off in a fully Arabic preschool so although I could before speak English, I learnt how to write and read in Arabic and converse with others.
Its sometimes a blessing to have several mother languages. They become part of your thoughts and make you who you are. Its those little things that make you special, and for us TCKs unique.

...if you are afraid to say goodbye

Unlike Nadia, I go through many many goodbyes. I myself pull away once I know a person is leaving. When I meet someone new I want to know exactly how long they are going to live here so I let them know enough of me to be my friend but not enough to know me fully. Its like I hide a secret part of my heart because I'm afraid of being hurt. As someone young I loved and cherished amazing people and then when they left it left me heartbroken. Everyone only lives here for about 2-3 years but when its friends you thought would be there with you forever until you both graduate... that's when it hurts the most. Like one of my closest friends from childhood who I've known for 12 years has been with me through a lot, is leaving this summer. And I'm staying for another two years until university. I had never expected this to happen and it takes all my strength not to pull away a little. I know this goodbye is going to hurt.
I'm scared for everytime I say goodbye and I cry for so long. Sometimes I don't even know how to really even deal with it. Its something that nags at me. Last summer I had many dear friends leave and in shock I could not cry, it took me about a month to really realize they were gone never to live near again. Its normal as a TCK to feel lonely after these moments but it doesn't give us reason to pull back forever. We were put in this world for a reason to help people. We can't do that if we don't speak, so even though it hurts I've learned to expand to share myself so that hopefully one day I could inspire someone.

... watching Les Miserables was like creating your childhood from your parents'.

I finally had the chance to watch Les Miserables yesterday, as it just came out in Germany. I don't even know where to start on how much I loved it. I was so afraid of being disappointed because the first meant so much to me and my family, and I was just delighted to see how much effort and passion was put into it. The first time I watched it was with my parents in the basement, under piles of blankets, and it was the scene where the bishop gives Jean Valjean a second chance, changing his whole story. And yesterday, reminiscing over my favorite scenes was remarkable. It was literally like reliving the first time my parents watched the first version of Les Miserables. What's weird is that most Germans do not have this attachment to it ... a TCK thing perhaps? :)

-Hope

... if you are afraid of growing close to people because you know they will leave again soon.

This is not something I have had to suffer with so much, but there are times where I see myself drawing away from people because I am preparing my heart for the goodbye. It's not healthy, although it is awfully common. A friend told me a few days ago to not think about them leaving. It allows for the time together to be lived to the fullest and although it will be more painful when they leave, you will have created a much more intimate friendship, which, in today's world, can still be upheld. Please don't be afraid to grow close to people as a defense mechanism -- we were born for relationship, and I want to encourage you to enjoy it while you have it, and perhaps it will never end ;)

-Hope

.... if you have traveled a bunch.

Leave a comment below with your crazy anecdotes of traveling, which countries you have been to, and/or send me an email at Ggirl615@gmail.com so I can share your awesome stories. :)

-Nadia


I guess I shall be the first, although this isn't really a comment, but all the same, here goes.
I was born in Yemen, have been to Egypt, Bahrain, Somalia (kind of complicated to explain... but I think it counts), Germany, the UK, Holland, Spain, Switzerland, WV, Georgia, Virginia, Ohio, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Washington DC, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Turkey.
I honestly think there are more places, I just can't think of them at the moment. Will add more as they come ;) 

Longest flight time: 36 hours (all in all, including airports etc. Flight was from Sana'a Yemen, through Frankfurt, through Detroit,  then to Parkersburg, WV).

I have sooooo many more places I want to go. Some call me a wandering spirit... who knows how many more countries I will be able to add to this list within the next few years.

...You go into culture shock upon returning to your “home” country

As TCKs we spend the majority of our lives in very diverse worlds of people of different colour skin, different types of accents, and different ways of living. There may or may not be technological advancements.  Many ways that are normal for those in the home country is very different to the life style of a TCK.
As myself every time I go to america I'm shocked by the type of clothing I see every time. A shirt back to my home would be a dress in my "home"/passport country. Life is just very much different as the world is many times very different from our passport countries. The lifestyles so different to ours that when we are there and people expect us to be like them we many times go into shock. Many TCKs get into culture shock when coming back to their passport countries due to the types of life changes. 

...If compared to many around you you are very good at world geography!

I have found that TCKs are very good at understanding what is going on in the world, we understand world politics and the problems in them, and we have a much much greater appreciation of cultural differences and lifestyle differences throughout the world! We don't see it through the lens of our own culture but can take an outsiders view and see, interact and understand with what is going on elsewhere.
Many of my TCK friends really understand or are at least following the political movements in the middle east for example, while to most of my other friends who have grown up in the west it is just something on the news in the evening. This is partly because as TCKs we won't be happy just living in one country and all the things happening now might affect us or at least our friends.
On top of this we do sooo much travelling around the world and meeting new people, we do get to learn so much more than somebody just watching the news.

Stephen

...you feel odd being the ethnic majority

Most of the time as TCKs we grow up in these situations where we are never the ethnic majority. You grow up not really having the same hair, eye or skin colour as everyone else around you and you become accustomed to that and sometimes you even start to believe you are apart of them. When I was younger I wanted to dye my hair black because I was the only blonde in the whole school but I was glad for brown eyes like everyone elses! You grow up then being so used to be either called the blonde or brown haired girl or the one of fair skin that when you're in a room of people who are from the same ethnic backgrounds like you, your completely and utterly lost its like your world has gone upside down and you blend it. But the thing is once you grow up being different its hard to blend and it is our personalities as well as who we are in the inside and the out that sets us apart fully.

Keep Smiling :)
Sarah

…you feel at “home” in airports.

As a TCK we spend the majority of our time in Airports traveling to new places, new adventures sometimes even new homes. Some of our best memories and our saddest ones are in airports. If we've gone through the same airport many times its like coming home when you enter in seeing your favorite shops, benches, or restaurants  Every airport though unique are many times the same. The view of the airplanes are always sometimes the most friendliest sight in the world, but sometimes they can be the worst. They can tear you away from those you love most but sometimes they can bring you to be around those you love most. With our lives very unstable and sometimes understanding the stability of the airport is the best. The waiting for the plane, the different types of planes, even the bathrooms. They sometimes are the places that just feel like home.

Keep Smiling :)
Sarah 

...you have a watch with multiple time zones on it

You might be a TCK if you have a watch with the time in 50 different countries on it, and start to learn the time differences between you and different countries or continents.  It's really handy when I travel a lot to not have to always be resetting the time, and also know when not to call friends overseas (No matter how long it's been since you've talked with your best friends they still don't seem to eager to catch up at 3 in the morning, haha).  Then again, I guess that knowing what time it is in other countries might also tempt you to make prank calls on people in the middle of the night, hahaha

...You know the National Anthem of other Countries but not your Passport Country

As I grew up in the middle east it was mandatory to learn my national anthem, of the country I lived in. We used to stand outside as the beautiful red and white flag was raised on the flag post and we sang the national anthem in Arabic.
Today, even though I'm in a totally different school (another story that will be told later) and we don't need to sing it but every time when it ends up coming on TV I start singing it as many people might do. Its become my national anthem. Although to others who move to bahrain for their 2-4 year stay due to oil all think I'm seriously weird as I do not know the American National Anthem and my passport country is America. To the random American's who move to bahrain they become instantly shocked. Sometimes even my indian or british friends know the american anthem more than I do! I also know other national anthems such as the british national anthem.
Life is a strange book of events :)
Sarah 

... If You are Shocked When a 15 Year Old Tells You He/She has Never Been on a Plane Before.

This happens so often to me! Now living in England, many of my friends don't know any of the joys (and horrors!!!) of travelling via plane! I have now been over 60 maybe even 70 flights and I can't believe that there are so many people who haven't!

- Stephen

Its like a crashing sense of shock. You cannot believe what you've just heard. TCKs practicly live on airplanes we feel at home there and sometimes we get cramped but its our life. We travel so much so when someone our age hasn't it is the strangest thing in the world.

-Sarah

...the time zones of different countries confuse you

So as many American's might know it's Super Bowl season. And no. I'm not a Super Bowl fan, my dad is so I watch it with him to spend time with him but also to get to know this weird game of American Football (I do prefer Rugby though I think its much more interesting then American Football) but anyways when its time you get to spend time with the people you love you do enjoy it.
So this morning I freaked because I knew the Super Bowl was on a Sunday and we normally watch it in the mornings and when I asked my dad, he told me it was on Monday morning... See this is what I don't like about the time zone difference when it come to your favorite TV shows (internet now helps supply them to the remote areas of the world and yes we do have internet) like for me the Lizzie Bennet Diaries (totaly off topic but if you haven't seen them watch them NOW)
It just annoys me how I know its a sunday or maybe a tuesday but I have to wait all the way to the next morning or even a few hours after to be able to watch certain things or even to talk to certain people. Well all in all is to say time zones confuse me into thinking things I'm excited about aren't till the next day. Yes to all you wondering I will be watching the Super Bowl in the morning :)

Keep Smiling :)
Sarah 

...If Most of Your Best Friends Live on Separate Continents/Countries

-Connor

... you say "khalas" to express frustration

I guess all TCK's are weird. So does that make the weird ones normal?
Throwing in random words from every language is part of my vocabulary. The other day, my piano teacher thought I was French because I said, "Je ne sais pas." She then tried communicating with me, and I sounded like Mr. Bean with his: A oui!
I guess you know you're a TCK when every language is your language and you are surprised when others don't understand your expressions because to you, they make complete sense. I guess screaming "khalas" at the end of your exam to pronounce completion, or yelling it through the corridors to demand someone to stop being annoying, seems weird to some people, but to me, it couldn't be more normal.

Nadia

...You sort your friends by continent

I'm a strange TCK. I grew up in 1 country. But my experiences are no different than many others. I grew up in a developing country that is not the same since I first moved here 15 years ago. During my lifetime I've seen many of my friends pack up and move on to other countries, places and different worlds as it seems.
I'm Sarah, I live in Bahrain and I sort my friends by continent.

Growing up I met so many diverse people from the places I visited to the camps I've gone to and the friends of my family. So now I basicly have friends living everywhere. New Zealand, Germany, Eygpt, America, Jordan, Turkey, Czech Rebuplic,Uganda etc. This list goes on and on. Every time I look at a map I think hey gee! That's where this and tho lives! I want to visit them one day (also another thing about TCKs... we can't stand still we always need to travel or at least me...) When someone starts talking about a certain country I envision a map in my brain and think of who I might possibly know who lives there or even if the country sparks any memorizes. Those people you get to know around the world do become special in your life. They hold onto you forever.

The world is a source of new adventures and hope.

When you look at this map, it may seem ordinary to most but to us TCKs it sparks memorise of our times with the people we love most the times of laughter and joy. The people that surround this little world of ours. They are all really really special.

The world is a source of adventure and a life full the be lived in.

Please stay tuned for more a better "You Might Be A TCK If..." posts :)

Lots of Love,
Keep Smiling
Sarah