Third culture kid: Iranian- Australian Nick still feels like an outsider in both countries

Key Points:

• Nick was born in Yazd, Iran, he moved to Canberra when he was four years old

• When he was eleven he moved back to Iran

• When he was sixteen he moved back to Canberra

• When he was seventeen he moved back to Iran

• Last year he moved back to Canberra, he has been here for almost a year and hopes to live here permanently from now on

Iranian born, Canberra resident Nick always struggled with a lack of sense of belonging, common for children who move back and forth between countries. They are called third culture kids.

This was particularly an issue for Nick, experiencing the drastic, cultural differences between Iran and Australia throughout his formative years. “I never felt as Australian as my friends here” said Nick, and when he was in Iran, he was referred to as an outsider.

‘Third culture kids’ is a term invented by American researcher, Ruth Useem, who spent time in India in the 1950s with her three young children. She expected her children to face isolation and homesickness. But she also observed deeper and ongoing issues when they moved back to the US, unable to form relationships as easily as other children and continued problems going into adulthood.

Now 18 and living alone in the city, Nick still feels the effects of his turbulent childhood.

At 11 years old, Nick would move back to Iran after living in Australia since he was 4. “There were a few really harsh realities I had to come to terms with” explained Nick “Once I figured that out, life got a bit easier.” Nick observed these “harsh realities” most clearly at school. “We saw kids getting hit by the principal,” he recalled. “Australian kids in class sat on the ground [but in Iran] “we had to stand up for the teacher” Nick said, highlighting the contrast between an Australian primary school and an Iranian one.

The strict nature in which children are treated in certain countries is a shock for third culture kids. Especially those who are used to Australia, a secular country and move at a young age to a theocratic country like Iran. Nick was specifically advised not to speak against any person in authority, starkly different from Australia, where protests and school walkouts are the norm.

Nick’s time in Iran in fact coincided with a significant change in government for the country. In 2013 Hassan Rouhani was elected President. Rouhani’s mission statement was to mend the damaged reputation of Iran, left by former President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Under the Ahmadinejad presidency, Nick’s relocation would have been even more difficult if possible at all.

Rouhani’s Iran, whilst easier for someone like Nick, is still not close to an easy journey. The disruption Nick and many other third culture children have experienced in their early learning is massive. It affected his social skills, having to comprehend two sets of customs.

“My vocabulary is less than average in both languages” as he was absent from large portions of his early English and Persian classes growing up.

Language barriers are a prominent way foreigners are made to feel like outsiders. Nick experiences this in both of his home countries, therefore never feeling truly welcome anywhere.