The reason i consider myself a Third-Culture Kid (Part 2)

The reason I consider myself a Third-Culture kid is that not only was I born in a house with a variety of cultures, but because I’ve lived in different countries, with completely different cultures.

I was born in Cairo, Egypt, I got to live there for 7 years, until my dad got a job in Bahrain, so we had to move there to stay with him.

We only stayed in Bahrain for 2-3 years, the culture over there was very vague for me not only because I was young, but because I went to an international school, with so many nationalities, I didn’t even interact with locals to be able to learn from their culture. Majority of people I’ve interacted with were either British teachers or friends with different nationalities.

After living in Bahrain for over 2 years, we decided to go back to Egypt, where there I went to 5 different schools, which emphasises the idea of constant change/travel I experienced. Of course, I was exposed to many new people/friends, each had different traditions and mindsets.

These past experiences and constant change helped me later when I travelled to Scotland, again surprise surprise, we moved there because my dad got a job.

In Scotland, I got to experience a whole new culture. The culture here was almost the opposite to the one in Egypt, but there were still some similarities. The thing about being Third-Culture kids is that we tend to be a Culture Chameleon, thus, I managed to adapt to the new culture.

The only difficulty was the Scottish accent, this took a while, I’ve been taught English since I was a child. But when I came to Glasgow, it took me a good 2 months to even understand what the teacher was saying in class, I spent those 2 months nodding to anything that was being said or asked.

Nevertheless, the journey doesn’t end here in Scotland, I’ve been planning my whole life to go to Germany, so this year I’ve planned to go live there, then come back to Scotland for my final year of university.

The reason i consider myself a Third-Culture Kid (Part 1)

For those of you who are probably asking what does a "Third Culture Kid" mean? a Third Culture Kid is a person that their own “personal culture” is considered a fusion of 2 or more cultures.

Before I talk about why I consider myself a third culture kid, I want to give the story/background of some of my family members. First, let’s start with the grandparents as they, of course, have a big influence on their kids (my parents).

So for my Mother’s parents, each of them were born in a different city in Egypt, my Grandmother was from Ismailia (الإسماعيلية), and my Grandfather was born in El-Mansoura (المنصورة), both places have different traditions and different culture. My Mother was born in Cairo, so she got to experience something similar to being a Third Culture Kid, but still, both Grandparents traditions and cultures weren’t totally different, it is still domestic, but with very subtle differences.

On the other hand, my Father’s parents were both from different countries. My Grandmother was from Hamburg, Germany, and my Grandfather was from Cairo, Egypt. My father had already experienced being raised by two completely different cultures even before travelling anywhere, later in his life he got to live in Germany, Egypt, Lebanon, Algeria, Dubai, Ireland (both Ireland and Northern Ireland), and Scotland.

Now imagine being in my position where both parents are considered Third Culture Kids. It’s a Culture blend. You walk into the living room with one of your parents watching German TV and walk into the other room with Egyptian radio or TV on.

The next Blog will be on how I actually consider myself a Third Culture Kid. How I’ve managed to live in more than three countries.