Third culture kids are children brought up in many different places during their lifetime. Most of these children move along with their parents across continents. This brings them into contact with many different cultures and extended stays in a particular country. Oftentimes, these children have to adjust and adapt to social norms that are not part of their original culture. For some, this becomes a conflict and for others just a matter of assimilating new customs. Three teens from our Teen Summer Program give their different views on the issue.

Going to high school in the United States was not too difficult for Reynaldo Ratti. The only obstacle he faced was that of severe nostalgia for his home country, Ecuador. The difference in language was also a major reason he missed living in South America. He was not used to the culture in the U.S. He felt out of place among his peers both in and out of school. In Ecuador, the social customs are very different, and in his opinion, more friendly. When greeting each other warm embraces and kisses on the cheek are customary, but here he had to get used to the stiffer handshakes exchanged by Americans.

Carina Cannon’s story is slightly different from Reynaldo’s. She was born and raised in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Her heritage, however, goes back to Latin America. Carina’s mother is from Brazil and her father is North American. Like Reynaldo, Carina too noticed a difference in social customs. When Carina goes to Brazil to visit her family, she observes many distinct disparities in the way people interact with each other, for example in Brazil punctuality is virtually nonexistent. Kiran Kumar’s experience is similar to Carina’s. She grew up totally Americanized, but visits India frequently. She saw major differences in her American and Indian neighborhoods. The informal lifestyle in India was mind blowing to her. She noticed that Indian people casually dropped by without any prior notice. The fact that family members could casually arrive and depart from the house with none of the formalities she had been used to in America puzzled her.

America is famous for its great opportunities and appeals to people all over the world for its capacity to utilize meritocracy. America is also the melting pot of varied cultures and traditions. Although, these three students have enjoyed everything America has to offer for their future, they still miss some of their original culture.

By Reynaldo Ratti, Carina Cannon, Kiran Kumar

This month we bring you our fifth and sixth articles in the series of Teen Summer Program 2009. In the last issue, teens from Latin America spoke about cultural differences found in the U.S. and Latin America and they argued that they are not only proud of their rich heritage but were open to embrace other cultures as well! Following on the same idea, we bring to you yet another intuitive article on how third culture kids adapt and assimilate the cultural differences that they experience as they move around the globe with their parents. The other article highlights how the Teen Summer Program presented the opportunity for the participants to interact and learn from teens from diverse cultural backgrounds.