Extra Credit: Teapot Emblem

A traditional Arabic teapot
http://www.tarteebi.com/site/contest765.html

Dubai is a common topic throughout my blog posts. This is represented by this Arabic teapot that I have chosen to be my emblem. I chose this to be my emblem because it represents not only Dubai, but also the meaning and experiences that I relate to Dubai. I spent almost all of my life there and learned more about other cultures and people than I could ever have learned if I had been born and raised in either of the countries that my passports are from (I have had a British passport my whole life and have recently acquired an American passport). 

To me, this Arabic teapot portrays what it means to be a third cultured kid (TCK). To me, it means not being sure how to respond to the question, 'Where are you from?' or 'Where do you consider your home?'. It means being tolerant of people of all cultures and being open and respectful to new things that I encounter. It also reminds me of the quote (included at the end of this post) that I came across a while ago that I take very much to heart. I can strongly relate to this because not being from the same countries that my parents, friends and people around me are from has always enveloped me in a strange sense of loneliness; as if no one can really understand my background and the way it affects how I view the world and I can never understand the same for them. 

"TCKs incorporate pieces of different cultures into themselves and appreciate them, but there’s no sense of ownership—many are loners. They don’t belong, not even to the place on their passport.’"
—David Pollock, El Paso Times