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Nina Sichel grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, the daughter of an American mother and a German-born father. Years later, she discovered that many other ex-pats felt the same alienation she had experienced upon returning "home" to the United States. Writing Out of Limbo, coedited by Sichel and Gene H. Bell-Villada, is an essay collection by those who've led international childhoods, usually because of a parent's job. We asked Sichel to explain why these "Third Culture Kids," as sociologists call them, gain a perspective on life that suits the challenges of the 21st century.
Q. Are Third Culture Kids becoming more common?
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A. The numbers are larger than they used to be, but I also think that people are more aware of them as we've become a more global society. And the definition of a Third Culture Kid is shifting: Now it includes not just people raised overseas, but multicultural families. First-generation immigrant children have a lot in common with these kids, because they too are shuttling between cultures and may not feel at home in either one. Social change has a lot to do with it, too. People move more, even within the United States; there are fewer nuclear families; single parents move with children. More and more people have that feeling of being raised outside the status-quo culture.
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Q. One essay in Writing Out of Limbo dubs President Obama a Third Culture Kid.
A. He certainly is — not just because he moved around a lot, but because of the different cultures within his own family. He has had to adapt, and you can see how his background affects him when you look at his character and the way he approaches decision-making. And not only him; John McCain was a Navy brat, so in the 2008 election we were choosing between two Third Culture Kids. When you look at people who are well known across a variety of professions, it's surprising how many of them have had these experiences.
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