On the other hand, I watched the Baader Meinhof Complex and Grand Ècole today. Watching stories in European settings made me keenly aware of how I experience distant proximities – things that are physically distant but feel emotionally close – because I’m a third culture kid. I recognize the leftist rhetoric of the RAF from Sweden. I knew kids in school whose parents were in some radical leftist organization that was spied on by the secret police. I recognize the styles of conversation, the landscapes, the apartment highrises. They look like the one my parents are sleeping in as I type. And I realized that my husband can watch such movies but not see the same thing I see, because it’s both emotionally and physically distant to him.

I also met a man from Mexico at a barbecue last week. I could see we were very similar – insiders and outsiders at the same time. I recognized the looks he got from the others for telling funny stories about Brazil, Portugese, and his Spanish. (Which were similar to some of my Swedish-Norwegian stories.) But I also recognized the ease with which he sat down in a patio full of white Americans. He was not a stranger, he belonged – if only more visibly partially than I, who am white and sound like and American when I speak. I knew he knew when we both said the same thing about disliking communism because we knew so much about it at the same time. And I was right – he married an American too.

My husband thought it was strange that I thought we had had shared experiences. I think it is strange that he cannot see. But this – this is more than just paperwork. These experiences and differences in how I and locals in my life see things, these are the things I wanted to blog about. So here’s a new post, for once in a long time.

As I stayed and “felt the love go around”, it became clear what I was doing there.  When I was at the rally, a girl from my law school spoke about the legal implications etc., both in a Federal and Californian context.  She was representing my Evidence professor there,  herself a very spunky and vivacious lady who had filed an amicus brief against Ken Starr (who himself had also taught Jurisprudence at my school).  However, most important were the words of one of the pastors at that reformist church, “The minority NEVER has to live apologetically at the acceptance and tolerance of the majority or mainstream”, which mirrored my thoughts.  I understood then that this was not about mere gender orientation and institutions under the law, but about the attitude of society in general to the concepts of relatedness, intimacy, equality and unity that have been the pervasive common thread, be it in the Code of Hammurabi, the Torah, Bible, Koran or Bhagavadgita, the Magna Carta, the Declaration des Droits des Hommes, the US, South African or Indian constitutions among others, the Grundgesetz der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the UN Charter, or several EU declarations.  The only difference is since we as TCKs have not yet given ourselves recognition, let alone been able to expect it from the world’s great institutions.  It may come too late for some, but come it will, and many of us will be able to benefit and flourish, as no doubt many of us already have in the face of the adversity.  I could see that the discussion was taking on currents that our discussion may take on in 5, 10 or 20 years.  But it was more apparent to me than ever that because of our different socialization and indeed sexualization, we are indeed a distinct variation on the species, one that needs an identity and desperately requires protection from the whims, laws, bureaucracy, mores, social contract and judgments of the “mainstream”.

I told the pastor at that church that I would be back to introduce the TCK concept and issues to her.  I also was able to explain the issue to some other friends that had no idea at all, some of whom even met the definition of TCKs.

“In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.” – Pastor Martin Niemöller

]]> http://blog.globalistgirl.net/2009/03/05/anti-prop-h8-and-repercussions-for-tcks/feed/ 2 http://blog.globalistgirl.net/2009/03/04/albert-einstein-the-proto-tck/ http://blog.globalistgirl.net/2009/03/04/albert-einstein-the-proto-tck/#comments Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:22:36 +0000 Ranterraver http://blog.globalistgirl.net/2009/03/04/albert-einstein-the-proto-tck/ Well, not exactly, it’s just that the Swiss and Americans called him a German, the Germans called him a Jew, and the French (in their usual style) favorably styled him a “Citoyen du Monde”.  Not to mention that he is accused of stealing his Serbian ex-wife’s research.  And actually worked for the Swiss Patent Office (this TCK also works in Patents when there is work available).

If you call the Westin Seattle and they’re full, they refer you to another nearby Starwood property called Sixth Avenue Inn. Do not book a room there. It is the nastiest, dirtiest hotel I’ve ever set foot in, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the Westin other than having the same owner. If other regular chains are full, consider the Mayflower Park Hotel. It’s not part of a chain, but it’s a very well-maintained old hotel close to the convention center. The restaurant has excellent but reasonably priced food and the bar is ambient.

American Airlines has terrible customer service and can’t seem to get a plane off the ground on time to save themself from bankrupcy, not even in and out of their hub. The reason they call seasoned travelers “Road Warriors” in their in-flight magazine is probably that inevitably, one must be a warrior when dealing with them. Congratulations to those who make it to warrior status – I will remain soft-footed and meek and fly United exclusively. The time it took American Airlines to fly me from downstate Illinois to Seattle is the time it takes United to fly me from downstate Illinois to Chongqing. And that’s including immigration at Capital Airport. It’s quite obvious that no one expects me to have 20 years of international travel experience and think that I will put up with all kinds of ridiculous things because I’m young.

Back to presentation – I’ve lost 36 hours of work thanks to AA and Sixth Avenue Inn.