Üçüncü Kültür Çocuklar (Third Culture Kids)

As "third culture kids," or TCKs, our children have not had the opportunity to go to the typical "summer camp"...what they have [said in a very secret whisper] is better. We are involved about two events a year-- one in the summer, one in the winter. The kids get to go to class with other kids from the region that are like them-- expat kids who live on the threshold between two cultures. While they have good American friends and good Turkish friends, their third culture friends will be the ones the identify most with. And that is a special gift (and I can say that...because I'm a third culture kid too).

Other than eating wild amounts of American candy with their other TCK friends at the winter event, what else is going on in our children's lives?

Lincoln is in 5th grade. Most of his brain power is spent pondering the deep matters such as legos, Star Wars and Nintendo. His class is also reading world classics (translated in Turkish) and he's getting pretty skilled at fractions and long division.

Hudson is in 3rd grade. He is the botanist of our home, with several successful transplants of spider plant pups. As for other pups, his faithful stuffed dog, JeeJee is still around and they have many adventures battling the more nefarious stuffies in the house. He is also very talented at writing stories.

Sofia is in 1st grade. She just won a medal (along with all the other snowflakes in her class) for learning every letter in the Turkish alphabet. She still wears pink on a daily basis and loves silliness, hugs and using her imagination.

Their capacity for adapting to new environments, forgiving and thinking creatively amazes us every day.