I’ve spent over three years working on a book about Third Culture Kids – and it is finally being released on August 15th!! Misunderstood: The Impact of Growing Up Overseas in the 21st Century will be available on Amazon (paperback and Kindle) as well as other ebook formats, and I will also be selling paperbacks in person.
At this year’s EPIC conference I had a team of 7 very enthusiastic and skilled young men to lead worship with. I also led a small group; we had a great time, with interesting conversations and some laidback silliness I think all teens need in life.
Changes in my accent and vocabulary have been a big part of my expat experience. There is an emotional toll that comes with having an accent that doesn’t match your passport. But it is a choice, and what I gain is worth the cost.
I struggle to tell you what I actually do in an interesting way. The highlights of my work are people and I don’t feel comfortable sharing stories that don’t belong to me alone. But I love what I do, and I want to share it with you.
A fun thing about my trips to Cambodia is relationships with the TCKs there. A highlight of the trip was when two students made comments about “saying goodbye to Tanya is easy – I know she’ll be back”. In TCK world, that’s a big deal.
My church expects to lose 30% of the total congregation every year. Last year the youth group lost 50% of our regulars. Cleaning out phone contacts I removed 39 people without deleting recent graduates – from a phone only 9 months old.
As my cab pulled up to the train station I suddenly realised I didn’t have my passport with me. Tianjin is so close to Beijing it didn’t feel like travel and it hadn’t occurred to me to bring it, but as I arrived I realised I would need it. Problem.
