Third Culture Kid Interview: Anderson on Uzbekistan

 A third culture kid (TCK) is someone who is from one country, but who lives in another one most of the time. And often they blend these two cultures into their own third culture.

This month a TCK shares what it's like to live in Uzbekistan where 83% of people are Muslim.

Uzbekistan is in Central Asia. It was a part of the historic Silk Road. The Silk Road was a path people used to trade stuff with each other a long time ago. It connected people in Europe to Asia before it was easy to travel. Today Uzbekistan grows lots and lots of cotton!

Let's dive into our TCK interview to learn more about this old country.

Name: 
Anderson

Age: 
11

Country: 
Uzbekistan

How Long I’ve Lived Here: 
9 years

Main Religion Where I Live: 
Islam

What My Local Friends Believe: 

Most of my local friends are Muslims or Russian Orthodox. The kids I talk with at my taekwondo classes talk most about video games. It seems most people here care most about money and getting more stuff.

Language My Local Friends Speak: 
My local friends speak Russian or Uzbek. Uzbek is the main language.

How Well I Speak the Local Language: (1 = not at all, 10=fluent: can easily speak, read, and write it)

8

Favorite Local Dish: 

My favorite Uzbek food is osh (also called palov), which is made of rice, carrots, chickpeas, raisins, and meat.

What My School Is Like Here: 

I went to a Russian preschool for four years. Then I went to a Russian elementary school for a year. And now I homeschool with my sister. My mom is my main teacher. On Fridays, I do a co-op with some other kids as well.

My Best Local Friend Is: 

My best local friend is Doniyor, who is also 11-years-old. He’s Uzbek and lives in an apartment on the south side of the city.

Favorite Toy: 
My favorite toys are Legos. My favorite Lego is a submarine and a broken pirate ship with a cave. My dad says I have a good imagination and I often makeup games to play using my Legos.

What I Do For Fun: 
I like to read books and to hike. My favorite book series is The Wingfeather Saga. And my favorite place to hike is a mountain canyon with a stream running through it. It’s about 2 hours from my house.

Favorite Part of Living Here: 
My favorite part of living here is having the mountains close by. I also love Uzbek food and traveling to other cities around the country. And seeing the cool architecture.

One Way To Pray for My Local Friends: 

One way to pray for my local friends is that they would read the Bible so that they can trust in Jesus. I also pray that they would have a better school system and curriculum.

I hope you enjoyed hearing from Anderson and reading about Uzbekistan. But let's keep learning more about this ancient country! 

Here are some research questions for you to dive into about this Central Asian country:

1) What is the capital of Uzbekistan?

2) What is the main language spoken in Uzbekistan?

3) Draw a picture of the Uzbek flag.

4) Bread is served with most meals in Uzbekistan. It's called non. Uzbeks often decorate the dough with special designs before baking it. Using biscuit dough, create your own patterns for your biscuits.

5) Hunting with birds—called falconry—is a sport in Uzbekistan. And it's an important part of their culture. Watch this two-minute video to learn more about this special sport. (The video shows a family from the United Arab Emirates who do falconry.)

6) What is the currency (or money) used in Uzbekistan called? 

This wraps up our TCK interview series! I hope you've enjoyed learning about different countries from a kid's perspective!

Third Culture Kid Interview: Jack on Honduras

 A third culture kid (TCK) is someone who is from one country, but who lives in another one most of the time. And often they blend these two cultures into their own third culture.

We've been talking with TCKs who are learning to navigate two cultures—the one their families are from and the one where their families live.

This month a TCK will share what it's like to live in Honduras where 34% of the people are Roman Catholic.

Honduras is home to the ancient civilization of the Mayans, rainforests, and the second-biggest coral reef in the world! 

Let's dive into our TCK interview to learn more about this beautiful country.

Name: 
Jack

Age: 
15

Country: 
Honduras

How Long I’ve Lived Here: 
2.5 years

Main Religion Where I Live: 
Catholic

What My Local Friends Believe: 

Christianity, same as me.

Language My Local Friends Speak: 
Spanish

How Well I Speak the Local Language: (1 = not at all, 10=fluent: can easily speak, read, and write it)

3

Favorite Local Dish: 

Baleadas. A flour tortilla with beens and a hard, salty cheese. Can add eggs and/or meat as well. Served mainly for breakfast, but can be eaten anytime!

What My School Is Like Here: 

I was homeschooled.

My Best Local Friend Is: 

Grant 

Favorite Toy: 
Soccer ball or bike

What I Do For Fun: 

Ride my bike and play soccer with friends every Monday night. Or tarantula hunting.

Favorite Part of Living Here: 

I really loved learning about the culture. I especially loved eating Power Chicken, which isn’t something we have in the United States. I really loved that we lived near the church and they had a huge soccer field and a basketball court and we could even play soccer on the concrete court. It was really fun to play on that with our friends. I loved walking our dog around our neighborhood—on the left would be the mountains and the city in front of me. 

One Way To Pray for My Local Friends: 

Pray for the medical center, the children’s home, and the church which is growing.

I hope you enjoyed hearing from Jack and reading about Honduras. But let's keep learning more about this Central American country! 

Here are some research questions for you to dive into about Honduras:

1) What is the capital of Honduras?

2) What is the official language spoken in Honduras?

3) What does the Honduran flag look like? Draw a picture of it.

4) Make Jack's favorite Honduran food, baleadas. You'll only need four ingredients to try this tasty snack.

5) What's the most popular sport in Honduras?

6) What is the currency (or money) used in Honduras called? 

Be sure to swing by next month to catch our next TCK interview!

Third Culture Kid Interview: Levi in Sri Lanka

A third culture kid (TCK) is someone who is from one country, but who lives in another one most of the time. And often they blend these two cultures into their own third culture.

We've been talking with TCKs who are learning to navigate two cultures—the one their families are from and the one where their families live.

This month a TCK will share what it's like to live in Sri Lanka where 70% of people are Buddhist.

Sri Lanka is an island country off the coast of India. Sri Lanka is packed with a diversity of animals (such as elephants, crocodiles, elephants, and monkeys) and the biggest producer of cinnamon in the world! Getting around Sri Lanka is a breeze, hop on a bus or train to get where you need.

Let's dive into our TCK interview to learn more about this picturesque country.

Name: 
Levi

Age: 
10

Country: 
Sri Lanka

How Long I’ve Lived Here: 
5 years

Main Religion Where I Live: 
Buddhism

What My Local Friends Believe: 

They believe in Buddha and Allah. I’m the only Christian boy in the class.

Language My Local Friends Speak: 

English (I go to an international school). A lot of them use English at home. Most of them also speak Sinhala. Some speak Tamil in their homes. 

How Well I Speak the Local Language: (1 = not at all, 10=fluent: can easily speak, read, and write it)

3

Favorite Local Dish: 

Rice and curry of course! Chicken curry is my favorite. 

What My School Is Like Here: 

• People wear uniforms. 
• Our hair has to be cut a certain way. 
• They teach Sinhala as a subject, along with Kandyan dancing is taught. 
• They don’t have a cafeteria, we eat in our classroom, and they have a canteen for snacks. 
• At a certain age you're not allowed to go to the playground anymore. 
• My school has all the grades from preschool up to O-levels (high school). 
• In PE if the teacher is absent, then you get to play. For the other subjects, if the teacher is absent, you can just draw pictures or read books in that period. 

My Best Local Friend Is: 

Damian. He is a Russian boy. His mother is Russian, and his father is Sri Lankan. Before he came here, he lived in Australia. 

His skin color is the same as me, and he has curly gold hair. He is very funny. We have lots of things in common. We both like going to karate class. Sometimes we get to have playdates.

Favorite Toy: 
Tigy, my stuffed animal Tigger, and my Pokemon cards. I also love my Pokemon toys. Squirtle is my favorite.

What I Do For Fun: 

Playdates with my best friend, Damian, school friends, church friends, and cousin, Josh. I like to play with my toys and Nintendo Switch. I love going to our hotel pool where we have a membership.

Favorite Part of Living Here: 

I love going to the beach and playing with my friends. It also doesn’t get the freezing winter here. I like the snow, but why does it have to be freezing cold?! 

One Way To Pray for My Local Friends: 

I tell my friends stories from the Bible and they like it and want to join in the Christianity class, but their parents don’t let them. Please pray their parents will let them join the Christianity class. Pray also that when they grow up they will remember Jesus.

I hope you enjoyed hearing from Levi and reading about Sri Lanka. But let's keep learning more about this island country! 

Here are some research questions for you to dive into about this South Asian country:

1) What is the capital of Sri Lanka?

2) What are the two official languages spoken in Sri Lanka?

3) The Sri Lankan flag is one of the oldest flags in the world, dating back to 486 BC! Draw a picture of the "Lion Flag."

4) Sri Lanka is famous for its handpicked tea. Make a pot of Ceylon tea and munch on some tea biscuits.

5) What's the most popular sport in Sri Lanka?

6) What is the currency (or money) used in Sri Lanka called? 

Be sure to swing by next month to catch our next TCK interview!

Third Culture Kid Interview: Archie in the United Arab Emirates

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in another country?

A third culture kid (TCK) is someone who is from one country, but who lives in another one most of the time. And often they blend these two cultures into their own third culture. 

Over the next few months, we'll talk with TCKs who are learning to navigate two cultures—the one their families are from and the one where their families live.

This month a TCK will share what it's like to live in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where 65% of people are Muslim. The UAE is a country where people from all over the world live! Only 11% of people living in the UAE are Emirati! Around 59% people are South Asian, 18% Arab, and the remaining 12% living in the UAE are Westerners, East Asians, or African.

Let's dive into our TCK interview to learn more about this desert country.

Name: 
Archie

Age: 
10 (and a half!)

Country: 
United Arab Emirates (UAE)

How Long I’ve Lived Here: 
8 years

Main Religion Where I Live: 
Islam, but lots of other religions, too.

What My Local Friends Believe: 

My best friends are Christian, Greek Orthodox, and Muslim.

Language My Local Friends Speak: 
A lot of my friends speak Arabic, but one of my best friends speaks Greek, and another one speaks Arabic. 

How Well I Speak the Local Language: (1 = not at all, 10=fluent: can easily speak, read, and write it)

In Arabic, I would say about 3.5. Maybe better if they talk slowly. 

Favorite Local Dish: 

Kunafa! It’s like heaven on a plate. It’s delicious, hot cream covered in crispy flakes, and then the whole thing is fried. Then, while it’s still hot, it’s drizzled with a sugary syrup. It’s a dessert but it’s my favorite thing to eat. 

What My School Is Like Here: 
My school is international, so the students are from all over the world. My teacher is British, and most of the teachers are either British or South African. 

My Best Local Friend Is: 

I can’t really pick just one. My three best friends are Cameron, Dawoud, and Theo. 

Favorite Toy: 
Nintendo Switch

What I Do For Fun: 
Play Nintendo Switch! But I also really love to play football (soccer) and basketball. 

Favorite Part of Living Here: 
I like how diverse it is here. All of my friends are from different parts of the world. It’s fun to celebrate different holidays with them and eat foods that their families ate in their home countries. 

One Way To Pray for My Local Friends: 

Pray that my friends who don’t know Jesus would believe and follow him. 

I hope you enjoyed hearing from Archie and learning a bit more about the UAE. But don't stop learning about the UAE yet! 

Here are some research questions for you to dive into about this Middle Eastern country:

1) What is the capital of the UAE?

2) Arabic is one of the official languages of the Emirates. What's another one?

3) What does the UAE's flag look like? Draw a picture of the Emarati flag.

4) Luqaimat is a popular food in Emirati culture. It's a sticky and sweet treat. Find a luqaimat recipe online and make it for a snack for your family.

5) What's the most popular sport in the UAE?

6) What is the currency (or money) used in the UAE called? 

Be sure to swing by next month to catch our next TCK interview with Levi in Sri Lanka! And don't miss our interview with children's author, Diane Stortz, next week.

Third Culture Kid Interview: Max in Morocco

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to live in another country, then this series is for you!

A third culture kid (TCK) is someone who is from one country, but who lives in another one most of the time. And often they blend these two cultures into their own third culture.

Over the next few months, we'll talk with TCKs who are learning to navigate two cultures—the one their families are from and the one where their families live.

This month a TCK will share what it's like to live in the north African country of Morocco where 99.6% of people are Muslim. Many people living in Morocco are considered unreached. This means they don't have a chance to hear about who Jesus truly is.

Let's dive into our TCK interview to learn more about this beautiful country.

Name: 
Max

Age: 
12

Country: 
Morocco

How Long I’ve Lived Here: 
9 years

Main Religion Where I Live: 
Islamic

What My Local Friends Believe: 
That Jesus didn’t die on the cross for our sins

Language My Local Friends Speak: 
Arabic

How Well I Speak the Local Language: (1 = not at all, 10=fluent: can easily speak, read, and write it)
9

Favorite Local Dish: 

Seafood – fried octopus

What My School Is Like Here: 
I’m homeschooled in French

My Best Local Friend Is: 
A boy named Taha

Favorite Toy: 
Nintendo Switch

What I Do For Fun: 
I play basketball in my courtyard with my hoop

Favorite Part of Living Here: 
I like how everything here is cheap compared to America. For example, a surfboard, a wetsuit, and a surfing teacher to go surfing is 10 dollars (100dh).

One Way To Pray for My Local Friends: 
Help them to repent from their sins and pray that they would ask God’s forgiveness.

I hope you enjoyed hearing from Max and learning a bit more about Morocco. But don't stop learning about Morocco yet! 

Here are some research questions for you to dive into about this African country:

1) What is the capital of Morocco?

2) Arabic is one of the official languages of Morocco. What's another one?

3) What does Morocco's flag look like? Draw a picture of Morocco's flag.

4) Tagine is a popular dish in Moroccan culture. It's like a stew with spices. Find a tagine recipe online and make it for dinner with your family.

5) What's the most popular sport in Morocco?

6) What is the currency (or money) used in Morocco called? (Max mentioned it above, but what's its full name?)

Be sure to swing by next month to catch our TCK interview with Archie in the United Arab Emirates!