TCK

TCK
Originally uploaded by alliancevideoblog.

Within the past few weeks, we visited with MKs ( missionary Kids) in both Senegal and Malaysia. Spending time with the dorm parents was almost like therapy as we talked about the struggles and joys of being TCKs (Third Culture Kids). Apparently, a bunch of MKs got together and made a book full of "memories". These are just a few that made me chuckle with nostalgia.

You know you're an MK when...

You don't know where "home" is.
You speak two languages but can't spell either.
You watch national geographic specials and recognize someone.
You don't know how to play Pac-Man.
You wince when people try to pronounce foreign words.
You save your used tea bags.
You tell americans that democracy isn't the only viable form of government.
You can amuse yourself for hours with cardboard boxes.
You can't get past "oh, say can you see.." in the national anthem and have to watch others to see which hand to use.
You feel odd being in the ethnic majority.
You think you hear your home country's language when you play records backwards.
You know someone with the same name as your compact car.
You go to a church you've never been before and find your picture on their bulletin board.
You automatically take off your shoes when you get home.
You won't eat Uncle Ben's rice because it doesn't stick together.
If you are speaking to someone with an accent, you can't help immitating it.
You wake up one day and realize that you're not a foreigner anymore.
You wake up one day and realize that you really still are a foreigner.

Ford Ephriam Dennis

Grandpa
Originally uploaded by alliancevideoblog.

My grandfather is a remarkable man. A farmer, a builder, a poet. He taught me about the earth and how to love it and to know it. He taught me the joy of laughter. He taught me the importance of family- though time and distance may separate us, we are still loved and bound together.
Two days before i returned from Africa, Ford Ephriam Dennis passed from this life to another place. Time, distance, saddness and grief, i have learned, cannot take away the love for we are still bound together. I have a sense of joy knowing that he is reunite with my father. Their legacy together gives me the greatest confidence in the goodness of mankind and in the life to come.
i love you Grandpa!