Dear Friend,

Hello! I’m Clarissa, and I’m staring at my screen wondering what I should start with to introduce myself besides my name. . . I guess I have no other choice, but to commence with the dreaded question asked by many: Where are you from? 

I’m not the only one who mentally prepares for this question every time I meet a new acquaintance or a curious stranger. You probably experienced this too. So, these are the options to choose from my mind before I answer: 

1) “I’m typing from Singapore”, but if you hear my accent and see my behavior, you won’t believe I’m a Singaporean.

2) “I’m from Singapore, but I grew up overseas.” Then you might ask me more questions. Thus, I resorted to the last option, a compressed, mini autobiography of my life,

“I was born in Singapore, but my family moved to South Korea when I was five. After four years there, we moved to China. After four years there, we moved back to Singapore. After eight years there, we moved to the Czech Republic which is where I am now.” Please don’t ask me which country I like best because all of them are equal to me. The only Country that’s the best is Heaven. And there you have it, folks: I’m a Third Culture Kid (TCK). 

“What’s a TCK?” you may ask. A TCK is a person who spends his/her childhood living in country(ies) outside his/her birth country. Match this definition with my mini autobiography and you’ll understand. Well, more accurately, I’m an adult TCK (ATCK). An ATCK is an adult whose childhood was raised in a country outside his/her birth country. If we dive into the specific subcategories of TCKs (e.g. business kids, missionary kids, military kids, diplomat kids, etc.), I’m formerly a business kid. But that’s not all I want you to know about me. 

I’m a child of God (Christ saved me in South Korea when I was seven), a writer, a pianist, a business fresh undergraduate, a daughter, a sister, a sister-in-Christ, and a friend. Through these letters, I hope to be your sister-in-Christ and your fellow TCK friend! Besides talking typing about myself, I want to get to know you too.

You’ll receive my letters once a month because I don’t want to flood your inbox. And I’m excited to share that we have TCK Guest Months! A Guest Month occurs alternating months. If you’re interested in sharing a TCK experience that Jesus has guided you through, email me for more information. Before I forget, I might leave a special post scriptum for you at the bottom of each letter.

I’m grateful that you have joined and for your time to read this. I praise the Lord and thank Him for establishing this ministry. I hope to read your reply soon!     

Very Sincerely Yours,
Clarissa Choo-Choo Train

P.S. What’s your name? What do you say when people ask where you are from? Besides where you lived, what other things about yourself do you want to let new friends know?

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