Being a Third-culture Kid
About Georgina Neychev
Georgina Neychev is a college student who is usually found in her room studying, napping or designing for theatre. She was born in Belgium but graduated Highschool in Poland. She is a Bulgarian living internationally. She is a third-culture kid living abroad studying theatre design in New York City.
How would you describe being a third-culture kid?
“Being a third-culture kid means that]you have a different culture or nationality from your parents. So you didn’t grow up in the same place with the same references to things. I feel like in my experience… we were both born in Belgium and our parents are Bulgarian and so...as we were growing up we didn’t…[have help with] like learning at school the language. At least for me it was like I would speak French at school and come home and, I’d speak Bulgarian at home and Mom and Dad wouldn’t always be able to speak French as well. So, sometimes it’s like acting like a translator for your family as well.”
Do you think being a third-culture child has really changed how you’ve grown up or who you are?
“Definitely, I think like especially because we’ve moved around and never having the [answer to the] question, ‘Where are you from?’ or, ‘What is home?’ You can't really define that with a place. I feel like in our perspective we’ve learnt to call home where our people are or where our family is. That [means] some changes as opposed to always having a place to come back to.”
Would you want to be a “first-culture” child? (Eg. being Belgian, living in Belgium with Belgian parents)
“I don’t think so, just because, I feel [like]…my experience has helped me a lot in terms of navigating the world and knowing, how to act [in] different places, how to act with people [that] come from different places and it’s this open-mindedness…I know people from Bulgaria (and there's nothing wrong with this) but [for example] you’ve grown up in the same country, you live in the same town that you grew up in, you went to school…you know everyone and that's not a bad thing because you have your people around you but, no… I think I like where I am.”
How many places have you moved to?
“We were in Belgium until 6th grade and from 7th grade to 12th [grade] we were in Poland...and then I came here to New York.”
How have Belgium and Poland really changed how you grew up?
“[Belgium] as I mentioned before definitely your parents not knowing the language or not knowing it as well as you was a big thing of ‘this is what happened at school’ but I can't fully like ask for homework help and stuff and what I’ve learned in school is not what my parents have learned in school so that was like a big part of it…having your home life and then your school life [separately]...I feel like in Poland it was like…I went from french catholic school which was very strict…and then moving to an international school…I got to experience Poland but through an international lense with people speaking English…and my parents speaking English so that wasn't the same”
Is it common to find other third-culture children in New York?
“It’s less common to find third-culture [kids] than people who are international and first-culture who have moved…in my program we’re 11 people in my year so most of them are American.” “It’s easier to find international students rather than third-cultured.”
Would you want to have more third-cultured people in New York?
“Yea, ...you have a different foundation for how you see the world. Most of the people who aren't third-culture kids are coming here and going to an English speaking college/university, they went through an international system and so I feel like you can find common grounds for IB and stuff.”
“We were in Belgium until 6th grade and from 7th grade to 12th [grade] we were in Poland...and then I came here to New York.”
- Georgina Neychev
What are some pros and cons of being a Third-Culture kid/international?
“[One of the cons could be] you meet someone casually and they’ll be like ‘Where [are] you from?’ and you're like ‘So, how should I say this?’ I was born here, but my parents are from here and then I moved here so I guess like not knowing how to answer that question is a con. A pro is…being open-minded to stuff-ish…I don’t know how to define it, I guess just your perspective on the world” “
What allows you to call yourself Bulgarian?
“We have a passport from there so I guess you have citizenship from the place and maybe the fact that…[Bulgaria is] one of the more constant places because our parents are from there and as children we would go back there every summer and see our grandparents.” “[Bulgaria has] always been a place to come back to but not in the sense of like it being home.”
Are there any stereotypes (that you know) for people who are third-cultured or international?
“[For third-culture kids I would say] no, most people don’t know how to define that word. [For international kids I would say that] people assuming that you don’t know what they're talking about [could be a stereotype]. Sometimes people don’t always know what your country is and they try to connect it to a country that they know. So I've heard people trying to connect Bulgaria to Sweden for example. [Another thing that could be a stereotype is] people assume that because you're international you have to have an accent and so since I don't have an accent people assume I’m from [America].”
Do you think you follow any of these stereotypes?
“I don't know…I don’t always know what people are talking about. I feel like being international varies from country to country…being international in Belgium for example is very different from being international [in America]. New York is made up of so many cultures and so many people…there's still those assumptions that I talked about but it's like questions.”
Do you think there's something you’re commonly talked to/asked about being third-cultured?
“[As I’ve said before] it is common [to have people confused about my accent]. It’s interesting because I’ve also had international students ask me ‘How come you don't have an accent?’ So it’s like an assumption on both parts. It’s normal to have an accent, which it is because if you’re not from there and you don't speak the language that makes sense”
