GNGC: GLOBAL NOMADS of GORDON COLLEGE

By Jesse Poole

When asked, Kiwa Takatsu, ’11, art major, can’t just pick one home. She shrugs. Japan? Nepal? India? Although Japanese by nationality, Takatsu grew up in all three Asian countries and before answering she must first contemplate.

“Where are you from?” What seems like a straightforward question is anything but when asking a ‘global nomad.’ Most will meet the question will a pause of silent consideration. How would this ‘simple’ question ever be met with query? Perhaps this individual lost home or misplaced it.

Anthropologist Norma McCaig coined the term ‘Global nomad’ in 1984, and sociologist Dr. Ruth Hill Useem coined the term ‘third culture kid’ (TCK) in 1963; both refer to a person who has spent a significant part of her or his developmental years outside their parents’ culture.

McCaig and Useem were both American expatriates who grew up around the world and raised families outside of the U.S. Both have since passed away, but their work has been significant for many TCKs.

The reentry process is but one of many ordeals of the TCK subculture. “If I go back [to South Korea] it’ll be different,” said Katie Han, ’12, biology major. “People my age won’t be able to relate to me.”

Han moved from Korea to Leonia, NJ, when she was 12 years old. She speaks Korean fluently, but spending so much of her life in the United States, outside her parents’ culture, makes her a TCK.

Many TCKs perceive their experience as beneficial. “You see that there are different ways of thinking, not just one,” said Inn Gee Kim, ’12, double major of political studies and philosophy. “You get the chance to learn more languages and you obtain perspectives that not many of kids get.”

“Benefit-wise, I gained an attitude and an understanding unlike my U.S. peers, as a result of the exposure to other cultures,” said Rini Cobbey, Associate Professor of Communication Arts. “I had, from an early age, exposure to how diverse the world is. It helps my creativity.”

Professor Cobbey was born in Vietnam and grew up there and in the Philippines. “At the time my peers were being exposed to U.S. pop-culture in the States, I was being exposed of other pop-cultures.”

That’s not always easy though. Some struggle with balancing tradition with new ideas and customs. “It’s difficult to see your parents raise kids who are going to be radically different from them or enticed to think differently,” said Kim, who grew up in the Philippines. Although a neighboring nation, it’s culturally worlds apart from South Korea, his country of nationality.

It’s not only difficult for parents. “It's inevitable that you will feel alienated from the peers of your original culture,” said Kim. “Because friendship lies in the factor of ease and comfort. Having different ideals takes that ease away.”

Very often, TCKs leave what they begin to consider home at a young age, a process many don’t experience until the collegiate adventure. They must leave their houses, their friends, favorite foods, along with an entire culture, and start anew somewhere else.

“To leave will indeed be bittersweet,” said Sam Taylor, current 16-year-old American TCK. “It's a kind of conundrum, because the closer I get to South Africa, the more I'll miss it. But I guess my goal has always been to miss it.”

TCKs grow to understand distinctive places, diverse cultures, and atypical ideologies. "Global nomads are very good mediators," wrote McCaig in a journal during her field research. "Whenever TCKs move into another culture, they become very good, objective observers."

They're like cultural sponges," said McCaig. "Those skills translate into ideal requirements for combating racism and advancing social and refugee work." And unfortunately, this seems to be just what the world needs.

“From TCKs we can learn creativity, flexibility, and sensitivity,” said Cobbey.

Perhaps you’ll notice who the global nomads are when you ask, “Where are you from?” TCKs often hold distinct ideologies that may be healthy to listen to and consider.

“The nature and role of national or cultural identification and loyalty,” said Cobbey, “Come into view [for TCKs] in ways that people growing up in one place, with one defined citizenship and culture, may never have recognized before.”

“When we have a chance to interact with someone who has formed a sort of third culture of identification,” said Cobbey, “We can start to think about our own previously unconsidered loyalties and assumptions.”