My 10 advantages of growing up in another culture.

Photo from Morguefile by Hotblack
This week I read a post written by Expat with kids. The post is about The 4 attributes of third culture kids. These attributes can make third culture kids global citizens of this world. The post is my inspiration for this week. Thanks.

So here are my 10 advantages of growing up abroad, of being a third culture kid.


If you are a third culture kid, you have probably developed:
  1. Cross-cultural skills, I enjoy meeting people from other cultures.
  2. Observational skills
  3. Social skills, being good at making friends "quick".
  4. Linguistic skills, you speak more than one language.
  5. Adaptability, like a chameleon. Don't adapt too much. Read my blog on "Third Culture kids learning to be themselves."
  6. A broad world view, thinking "outside of the box"
  7. The capability of mentoring others because life experiences have been so varied.
  8. The skill of being less judgemental.
  9. The ability to being independent and autonomous.
  10. More maturity than others of your age.
You know why we have developed the observational skills? When we were put in a new situation we had to "check out" the new situation. We had to quickly analyze what was going on around us. What should I say? How should I do things. I kept my ears and eyes open to see what was happening around me. I do think you are in a state of alertness when entering into a new situation, a new school, a new culture. I know what it is like to feel the "odd one out", because I have been the "odd one out" many times. I still quickly sense that somebody feels uneasy in a social situation. This has to do with my own experience.

If you want to read more on this topic I would really encourage you to read the book: "Third Culture Kids, The Experience of Growing up Among Worlds" by David Pollock and Ruth van Reken.

Do you want to read more about the advantages and disadvantages of being a TCK in this document.
Here you can read my Dutch post De 10 voordelen van het opgroeien in het buitenland.
Deze hoort er natuurlijk ook bij: De 10 nadelen van het opgroeien in het buitenland.

Read: My 10 disadvantages of growing up in another culture too.

Are you a third culture kid and would you like to add something to this list? What do you think of these advantages? Parents of third culture kids what are your thoughts on this topic?