'Based on my name, people expect me to be Indian. Based on my accent, people can't tell I am Australian. Based on my mannerisms, people can't tell I'm Indonesian.'
Claudia is a woman of raw charm. In all my encounters with her (for which I consider myself fortunate), Claudia has unfailingly and unapologetically been her relaxed, confident self. Perhaps it is this quality of hers which compels her environment to acclimate to her, as opposed to Claudia assimilating. With this, I excitedly invite you to get a glimpse into her multicultural life, one she chooses to navigate with humor and a dash of glamour.
Where did you grow up? Which cultures do you identify with?
“I am Indonesian, so that’s the culture I primarily identify with. I grew up in Australia and that’s where I spent most of my life, so I guess I associate Australia with ‘home.’ And I also identify with a little bit of Chinese culture, because I am part of the ‘Indonesian-Chinese’ tribe. I am part of that population. We have a lot of Chinese influences in our culture. That means we sometimes speak with a Chinese dialect and we eat Chinese food and we have a lot of Buddhists in our community.”
How do you answer the question, “Where are you from?” Does it depend on where you are being asked?
“Yes, it depends… Usually, I will say that I am from the place that I am currently in. For example, if I am in Indo, then I will say I am from Indo, because it’s just easier for people to [accept my answer this way]. I don’t want to go through the whole process of having to explain ‘yeah, this is my story blah blah blah,’ so it’s just easier for them to understand if I say that I am Indo. Same for Australia when I am in Australia. In college [in the U.S.], I always say ‘I’m Indonesian but I grew up in Australia.’ And people in college seem to just get that.”
Do you ever feel the need to prove your Indonesian-ness?
“It depends on where I am. In certain parts of Indonesia like the touristy Bali and where I live in south Jakarta, which are all very westernized, there are a lot of third culture kids and expats, so I feel like I am already more Indo than them by virtue of at least looking Asian. But yeah, if I go to my church or on the streets or to the mall, I have an accent which makes me sound like a foreign person speaking Indo, to an Indo person. But to me, it sounds fine and to my friends it sounds fine, but it’s because we all sound like that. We speak 50% Indo and 50% English like at the same time. Like a mixed language.”
Which country is ‘home’ to you currently?
“Oh, I don’t know… I think… I just want to say ‘Claremont’ because that’s where my pets are… But in all seriousness, I think home is actually ‘Claremont’ for now. I live at home in Claremont and I’ve lived there for a couple of years now. And where my parents live in Indonesia, I haven’t been to their new house that they moved into a year ago. So it doesn’t feel like home yet. I guess for now, it’s here. But it changes…”
What do people find most surprising about you?
“People usually ask, ‘Oh, if you’re from Australia, why do you sound American?’ This is something I always have to explain. I think my accent is influenced by my background. I grew up in an international school, that’s one. So I always had teachers from different countries. I had Canadian, Australian, Indian, Filipino, and American teachers. My parents don’t have strong distinct accents either. Oh, and movies… I am sure movies must have had an influence on my accent.”
"People usually ask, ‘Oh, if you’re from Australia, why do you sound American?’ This is something I always have to explain."
When did you start identifying as a third culture kid?
“I first learned the term from one of my mom’s friend. My mom’s friend’s kid was in the same situation as me. Like me, she was born in 1997, the year of the Jakarta riots. I wasn’t born in Indo because the riot happened the month that I was born, so I was born in Australia. There is no official history recorded of this event, so if you google Jakarta riot ’97, there’s so much that is a mystery. What we know is that this was the time of President Suharto, who was this really corrupt leader. He basically pit the Chinese-Indonesians against the Malaysian-Indonesians. During the three-decade reign as a dictator, he gave Chinese-Indonesians all the business jobs and the Malaysian-Indonesians government posts. It really divided the nation. After it was all over, no one was held accountable though. So many heads of government just left the country with trillions of dollars.
So anyway, two months before my mom’s friend’s daughter was born, her parents fled Indo and they flew to the Netherlands and she was born there. Then she moved back to Indo and she didn’t have any friends there, and I didn’t have any friends either, so our moms arranged a meeting. And her mom told me that there was this club for third culture kids, so I joined it. And I think that’s when I first realized this was a thing.
When I started identifying as a TCK, I realized I am unique but at the same time, not, because there are so many third culture kids. But everyone is different. It’s interesting because in college, I only see Asian kids who grew up in a western environment, but in Indo, I see more of the opposite. I see more western kids who grew up in Indonesian environment, and it’s hard for them to go back to Europe or back to America. It just makes you realize that where you grew up really, really shapes you. But at the same time you can’t deny the influences of your motherland.”
What has been the most difficult part about being a third culture individual?
“The most difficult part is… in this world, people always have certain expectations of you based on what you look like and maybe your name. So people, based on just my name, assume that I will be an Indian girl, and then I show up and I am not. Especially for job interviews, I show up and they are confused. I already feel that they stereotype me. And when I talk, people are surprised and say, ‘why do you sound like that?’ They will say, ‘Your voice really doesn’t suit your body.’ If I call them first and then I meet them, they say, ‘Oh my god, I did not expect you to look like that.’ So I struggle with this.”
How does being TCK inform the decisions you make?
“I take into consideration the effect my decisions will have on the communities I am part of. For example, when I wanted to go to college, there was a big push from my school community in Australia to go to school in the UK. But there was a big push from my Indonesian community to go to school in the U.S. and there was no way I could please both communities. So I had to really explain why I chose to come to California. I wanted personally to go to school in the UK, but I knew my parents wanted me to go to school in California and meet all my Indonesian friends that I didn’t have a chance to meet when I was in boarding school in Australia. They wanted me to get in touch with my Indonesian side, ironically in the U.S.”
What are some wonderful aspects of being TCK?
“One of the best things is that when you realize your position as a TCK, it makes it so much easier to integrate with different types of people. When I meet new people, I can, or at least try to, gage what sorts of people they are and it makes you more adaptable and more able to find common ground. You also have more stories to tell… Definitely.”
What advice do you have for third culture kids headed to college?
“A good piece of advice would be to try and get in touch with other TCKs, especially if you feel that you don’t fit in anywhere. First people I befriended at Claremont McKenna College were international kids and TCKs. Another advice I have is… a lot of TCKs feel the pressure to move back to their motherland after college to contribute back to their country, but I want to say, don’t feel that pressure… At the end of the day, yes, you might come from a specific country and own that passport, but you don’t really owe any country anything. We can be global citizens now.”
Chandra Family Portrait
Thank you, Claudia, for this informative interview. 07.21.19
Interview from Claremont. Parts of this interview have been edited for clarity and/or as points of correction from the interviewee.
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