Abstract
The goal of this article is to increase awareness and understanding of third culture kids (TCKs).-children who spend all or part of their child/teen years outside their passport country because of a parent's employment abroad. They are introduced as one example of Cross Cultural Kid (CCK) and compared with other children who are socialized in an international context-immigrant children and children of cross-national couples. The origin and meaning of the term TCK, now generally applied to all children of expatriate parents, is described.Variations in TCK childhood experiences are discussed along with overarching questions of belonging and home common to all TCKs. Difficulties associated with reentry to the passport country-grief and loss, hidden immigrant, belonging and home-are related to the need to find a meaningful group identity. American TCKs are compared with TCKs from other countries, with special attention to Japanese kikoku shijo.
