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Warwick Third Culture Society:

DECEMBER 2012 | ISSUE 5

inthisissue

Wishing you TCKs happy holidays! Make sure you rest up over winter break so you are ready for a crazy TCS term 2!! 2Third Culture goes Christmas Market!

fashion show

3memories

4 ‘On an Aeroplane’

5 tour!

6 ‘TCK Everywhere’

7 christmas dinner

9 cole’s article

photos by Carina Timans

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Calling all TCS members...

We've got another fantastic opportunity coming up in Term 2 for you all to get involved in!

We have been given the great privilege of being the finale act of the whole societies section in this year's

OWW Fashion Show!!

Our brilliant team are already overflowing with ideas and cooking up a storm for this year's performance. It's

going to be a fun, relaxed showcase of our amazing society to the rest of the university and beyond..!

Whether you want to model or just get involved in another great TCS event, come along to the Info

Meeting on Wednesday 5th December at 3pm in B2.02 to find out more. There are so many different parts to

be filled by everyone, from the spotlight-hungry to those more at ease with behind-the-scenes...the more

TCKs the better!

Emma Kong

One World WeekFASHION SHOW

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It’s almost time for us to leave Warwick and celebrate the holidays, but we thought we’d take a look back at what we’ve done this year - from a beautiful Thai dinner to Third Culture Gives Back to circling before Skool Dayz (wish I could remember more of that night)… IT’S BEEN AMAZING!

Term 1 MEMORIES

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I’m on an aeroplane, and we’re soaring high above puffy, white clouds (the kind that I convinced myself were solid, when I was six, and would be most comfortable to lounge on should I decide to pop out for a while); a state of transition. I exist in two worlds and none, my personal belongings and history scattered amidst two countries on opposite sides of the earth. I’m ten different versions of myself; I casually slip back into a different accent depending on where I am and whose company I’m in. Flipping through the in-flight magazine I am in a state of flux; my mind wanders into the future, eagerly anticipating seeing old friendly faces and feeling heat when I step off the plane, while my heart aches for the life and people I am, if only temporarily, leaving behind. The crazy thing is I know that all too soon I’ll be leaving again and I’ll feel the same – yet for the opposite place. The air-hostess smiles as she

hands me my chicken rice and cup of Milo I ordered, and I smile back because one, she has no idea about the emotions and philosophical thoughts rampaging about in my head and two, I’m paying for Malaysian meals with British pounds. As I look around at the crying baby (why oh why), the couple snoring on each other’s shoulders and the odd traveller pacing the aisles, I wonder what lives these people lead. After all, we’re all stuck together for a certain number of hours, then we’ll all go our separate ways and probably never see one another again. It’s a little strange, if you think about it. But it’s probably just the lack of sleep I’ve had after dragging (yet again) too much heavy luggage around (ruthless packing…never my strong point). So I sit back, taking a valuable moment away from both places to cherish every single bit of my life because really, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I absolutely love this article by our TCK Kel Joeman, reflecting on her third culture lifestyle in the sky. Also, appreciating the Milo reference!”

photo by Kel Joeman

On an AEROPLANE

by Kel Joeman

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As you may know, we are VERY excited to announce that TCS will officially be

hitting TENERIFE on the Canary Islands in Spain at the very start of the Easter Break in 2013 for our first-ever society

tour!!! This is one trip that you do not want to miss out on!

Dates: 16 March – 20 March 2013 Price: £359 (£239 deposit to be paid

upon signup)

Find out more...http://www.facebook.com/events/

472627676108739/

_________________________________

AND THE SIGNUP LINK IS UP!Get on it TCKs!

http://www.warwicksu.com/shop/product/10071900/

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This year, we’ve decided to branch out a bit and create a network of TCKs. Hopefully, there will be TCS societies popping up all over the world! This article is from my

friend at the University of Glasgow, who has definitely been a TCK all her life.

TCKEVERYWHERE

Where you’re from seems to be a big part of one’s identity. Almost as if your nationality is a type of stereotype. But what happens when you’ve moved around the place. Some people find it hard to understand that you don’t belong to one place; that you aren’t emotionally attached to only one country. For me I’m accustomed to both British and American cultures, but won’t classify myself at just that.

Although born in the states, I moved to Nigeria at the age of 2 where we lived in an American/International community, and since I’ve moved around a fair bit also in the UK and States. I haven’t seemed to mind too much as I’ve always liked the aspect of meeting new people and living somewhere

different. And I think it’s caused me to be more inquisitive. To further complicate thing my parents are Scottish, or so they say… My Dad was born in South Africa (British parents) but he too moved around the place. He found himself in Scotland going to boarding school and eventually University. My mom was born in Canada (British parents yet again) and lived there till the age of 16, when she went to boarding school and the University in Scotland. So when it comes to people asking me where I’m from, my quick reply is Scotland (parents say they are, so I must be too?) Though now that I study in Glasgow, it’s easy to sus me out as being slightly foreign. And when they ask me where home is... well my parents now live in Kazakhstan!

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DATE: Thursday 6 December, 2012

TIME: 8:00pm

LOCATION: Glasshouse Leamington, 38 Warwick Street

THEME: Formal

http://www.facebook.com/events/557644860919458/

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Zimbabwe What You Don't See on the News

Ever since first year, my friends and I have been planning a road trip, and this year we finally budgeted, did the itinerary and booked the flights. In April, we then bought a cheap 4X4 we named 'The Dudas', shipped it over to Africa and then picked it up in Gaborone to do a tour of Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa, as you can see in the plan.

These places have a special significance for me, as I grew up in Botswana and spent a lot of time in South Africa, but it was where I was born, in Zimbabwe, that I'd like to share our exploration of for now.

Arriving at the border straight out of Botswana, the differences between the two countries became apparent. After getting our visas, a man came round to our vehicle and put some sticky reflectors on each car so we ‘wouldn’t get fined’ as we watched people

carrying large electrical goods and TVs past a graveyard of discarded number plates. We registered our vehicle for temporary import and we were on the road, but we didn’t get more than a few miles before we hit a road block and got slapped with a $20 fine for not having a fire extinguisher in the cars. After signing our ‘statement of arrest’ and ‘admission of guilt’ we stopped wondering why there were no other tourists on the road. The irony is that more tourists would generate money for the trade-sanctioned, dwindling economy, yet police use them as a source of ‘alternative revenue’ for themselves.

A short drive later and we were in Bulawayo, the second largest city, the place I was born but a place hadn’t visited in over 10 years. It was strange reacquaintance, because the city seemed both far removed from the vibrant thrive I remember, yet was the same in

that all of the physical places were still there, as if it had lost the magic of childhood rather than suffered serious economic downturn. The saddest thing for me was seeing the once lush green city park I used to play in now unkempt and wilting, still bearing a sign saying ‘Merry Christmas’ (in July) as well as a broken string of lights spelling depicting ‘2000’ for what must have been the millennium celebration 12 years ago...

... read the rest of Cole’s article:http://pdfcast.org/download/zimbabwe-what-you-don-t-see-on-the-news.pdf

- Cole Soutter

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