Maryann's Musings

   I have been asked A LOT, "What's the difference between and MK and a TCK?" They only ask me this when I introduce them to the term, and it's usually the first time they have heard them.  This is the difference between them: MK stands for 'Missionary Kid.' I've heard people define it as 'a missionary kid that lives overseas', but there are MK's in the US too.  TCK stands for 'Third Culture Kid.' This is because they have three cultures. The culture from their native country, the country they are living in, and the culture that they themselves make by combining these.  Most MK's are TCK's, but not all TCK's are MK's. God has called all of us to be missionaries wherever we live. This is why not all MK's are TCK's, since you can be a missionary where ever you live. If that clears up the confusion, I'd like to say that being a TCK / MK is awesome!! Some people struggle wit

 MK's just don't really get 'normal' mail like some of you do (depending on where they live...). When we get mail, it is few and far between, not to mention either partly stolen or obviously sifted through. *   My family once got a package that had been sent to Ghana by accident. When we finally got it and went through it, we had a several children's dictionary's in Slovak with the picture of a family in what looked like Moscow. Along with all our other stuff that had been torn open and gone through, rifled through, and tossed unmercifully back into the box with a bunch of other jumbled items for an innocent missionary family who was trying to learn Slovak. * Mm-hmm. Remember that the next time you try to send me mail! It may take three months to get me, and I'll probably only get half the letter! So I don't get mail. Pity. But I am okay with that now. *names and occupations are withheld to protect the guilty

Jim White & family McFarland USA 's story was one I wasn't prepared for when I first watched it. Truth be told, I was surprised at almost every turn. Jim White is fired from his position as a football coach; he moves to McFarland with his wife and two daughters. McFarland is a primarily Latino town and  very poverty stricken. When White sees incredible talent in his high school pupils, he decides to start a track team. At first the team isn't serious, but he pushes them to the top. They call him 'Blanco', Spanish for 'White.' Competing.  The team     The seven boys he trains soon rise in the ranks. The family gets their real scare on the oldest daughter Julie's quinceanera (15th birthday) when the parade of cars with her inside is attacked by gang members who are targeting the driver of her car, one of their former members. The story of McFarland was based on an actual story of an actual town of the actual peop

Okay, for all of you who don't want to hear about the end, this isn't for you. But just for a warning, I will be discussing the end in the book and comparing it to the end in the movie. SPOILER ALERT. Not exactly a spoiler, cause you knew there would be kissing, right? The end in the book is unique. I will tell you why. They don't kiss. "Unorthodox romance story!!!" you say. Let me say something. I don't think that there has to be kissing in a romance story. The end in the North & South had kissing. Definite kissing. A LOT of kissing. (my mom thinks that Richard Armatige liked the actress). Personally I like the book ending better because she puts her arms around him the way she did when she protected him from the riot. It was very unique. Not saying the movie ending was wrong or that I don't like it (actually it was pretty romantic :] ) just that I like the book ending better.  DEFINITE SPOILER ALERT   For an extra spoiler you can see the

For starters, North & South really isn't a movie, it is divided into four episodes; but oh well! I like this adaptation of the book written by Elizabeth Gaskell, and I seriously suggest it as something you should look into!                       North & South is the story of Margaret Hale and John Thornton. Margaret, a minister's daughter from the south of England. Mr. Thornton, a factory owner from the north of England. I think they showed very well the contrast of society and culture, and yet the same nationality. Margaret, her father, and her mother move to the northern town of Milton suddenly. Margaret is shocked by the poverty and apparent lack of propriety in this 'modern' town.  Her father takes on a pupil, Mr. John Thornton. Now, this was not in the book, but in the BBC drama, Margaret meets Mr. Thornton in the mill, and he is beating his worker for smoking in the cotton mill, which could cause a very bad fire.  Margaret is a

The awaited review of Paddington!!! All in all, Paddington was a great, cute, funny, family movie.  It's about a bear who visits London, England after living all his life in 'Darkest Peru.' You can imagine how overwhelmed he is! "London!" While he is in London, he stays with the Browns, a comical family who made us all laugh so hard! Mr. Brown,  Mrs.Brown, Jonathon, and Judy. But danger soon finds the little bear in the shape of a evil taxidermist with one reason in life: To kill Paddington! Millicent was played by Nicole Kidman.  My only (small) complaint about the movie is that Millicent's lines and character were a little over done, but that just made us laugh more at it! Living internationally, I know a lot of people from the UK. So watching this movie I found the British humor even more hysterical. Paddington and one of his 'antics.' Paddington in Judy's room after a bath.... Something my

     TCK's (Third Culture Kids) like to joke about how weird they are. Here are a few laughs that I've heard and some that I've added. A VERY common TCK fear. When I was young my parents moved around a lot..........but I always found them! You know you are a TCK when............. ....half your year group or class leave the country at the end of the term ....you can speak in 2 or more languages and can't spell properly in any of them ....you run out of pages before your passport expires ....you think passports are a basic form of ID that every kid has ....you don't really understand the latest film craze in your 'home' country, but you can understand films in more than one language ....you have eaten insects, parts of amphibians, or something just plain unheard of and you think it's not unusual ....the clothes you wear changes with the country you are in ....people ask you 'where are you from' and