Last year I moved from North Africa to the U.S. for college and, through a series of movie-worthy events, have been dating my incredible boyfriend for about 8 months now! Wanna know something? He’s not a TCK!!! *gasps*
I remember making him read KLDSCP’s article titled “Top 10 Reasons to Date a TCK” to remind him just how lucky he is to be dating such a cool person like me, but I recently thought about all the pros there are in dating someone who has lived in the same city for all 21 years of his life!
So for my fellow TCK college students out there, here are the top 10 reasons I LOVE dating a First Culture Kid:
1. You get lessons on U.S. culture- free of charge!
2. You get to feel famous by constantly explaining how you know someone in literally every country.
3. You know how you love to talk about yourself and tell all your crazy TCK stories? Now you automatically have someone there to listen to you when everyone else gets tired of it!
4. You get brownie points with your SO’s family because they love all the souvenirs you bring them!
5. You get automatic connections with everyone your SO is friends with. Definitely a plus if you just moved somewhere and you don’t know anyone!
6. You get your own life coach: someone who will kindly tell you how NOT to dress, talk, and react publicly to Trump’s presidency.
7. You don’t have to convince them to travel overseas with you because they’ve never been and want to see the world for themselves (a huge plus if you want to move back overseas!).
8. You get to be a personal tour guide! Showing someone that you care about the places and experiences that have shaped your life helps you recognize just how important your TCKness is… I guess you could even say they can help you heal and appreciate your roots even more.
9. Your TCK pride is challenged and you are humbled through admiring someone so different from you.
10. You gain +1 more reason to fall in love with somewhere new.
Are you dating a non-TCK? Share this with them to tell them how much you appreciate them!