Tea moment thoughts:
"In 1984, Dr. Ted Ward, of Michigan State University, stated that TCKs (those who have grown up in many cultures simultaneously) were the `prototype citizens´ of the future. In other words, the experience of growing up in and amid many cultures coupled with a mobile lifestyle would one day be the norm rather than the exception as it was in the early days of Dr. Useem’s initial studies." Source: http://www.crossculturalkid.org/blog/cross-cultural-kids/
I found the above to be an inspiration to me at a future-oriented seminar,`Edistyksen Päivät´, which I attended today. The `prototype citizens´ of the future world indeed is reflected in the third culture kids("matkalaukkulapset" in Finnish), who carry a "third culture" within: a culture that is a fusion of all the cultural elements which they encountered as a child.
Yet, from my vantage point, it is not their possible lack of roots into one place which should be the focus (which burdensomely was pointed out by someone at the seminar); in fact the "third culture" may act as a common denominator for a diversity of experiences within global mobility. These are, for example:
Bi/multi-cultural/racial children
children of immigrants
both "Traditional TCKs (matkalaukkulapset)" and "Domestic TCKs"
international adoptees
