On Mother’s Day, I posted “You Know You’re an Expat Mom When…“, which was inspired by the brilliant list below. It and others like it, have been making the internet rounds for ages, and I wish I knew who the author is, because I’d love to give credit where it’s due. At the bottom of this post I’ve added a few of the variations I’ve come across — feel free to add your own in the comments section.

You know you’re a TCK when…

• You can’t answer the question: “Where are you from?”• You speak two (or more) languages but can’t spell in any of them.

• You flew before you could walk.

• You have a passport, but no driver’s license.

• You watch National Geographic specials and recognize someone.

• You run into someone you know at every airport.

• You have a time zone map next to your telephone.

• Your life story uses the phrase “Then we went to…” five times (or six, or seven times…).

• You speak with authority on the quality of airline travel.

• National Geographic makes you homesick.

• You read the international section before the comics.

• You live at school, work in the tropics, and go home for vacation.

• You don’t know where home is.

• You sort your friends by continent.

• Someone brings up the name of a team, and you get the sport wrong.

• You know there is no such thing as an international language.

• Your second major is in a foreign language you already speak.

• You realize it really is a small world, after all.

• You feel that multiple passports would be appropriate.

• You watch a movie set in a foreign country, and you know what the nationals are really saying into the camera.

• Rain on a tile patio – or a corrugated metal roof – is one of the most wonderful sounds in the world.

• You haggle with the checkout clerk for a lower price.

• Your wardrobe can only handle two seasons: wet and dry.

• Your high school memories include those days that school was cancelled due to tear gas, riots, demonstrations, or bomb threats.

• You go to Taco Bell and have to put five packets of hot sauce on your taco.

• You have a name in at least two different languages, and it’s not the same one.

• You think VISA is a document stamped in your passport, and not a plastic card you carry in your wallet.

• You automatically take off your shoes as soon as you get home.

• Your dorm room/apartment/living room looks a little like a museum with all the “exotic” things you have around.

• You won’t eat Uncle Ben’s rice because it doesn’t stick together.

• Half of your phone calls are unintelligible to those around you.

• You go to Pizza Hut or Wendy’s and you wonder why there’s no chili sauce.

• You know the geography of the rest of the world, but you don’t know the geography of your own country.

• You have best friends in 5 different countries.

• You’re spoiled. You know it. You’re VERY spoiled.

Continue reading on I was an expat wife.