Home Away from Home: Myth or Legend? | Maria Camarudin Campos | TEDxBSA Youth

Key Concepts:

• Home: Physical place vs. emotional feeling, permanence vs. temporality.
• Third Culture Kid (TCK): Individuals raised in a culture different from their parents' native culture(s).
• Global Citizen: Identity formed by the influence of multiple cultures.
• Affiliation: Deep connection to a native country.
• Emotional Significance: The importance of recognizing the emotional aspect of "home."

1. Defining Home: Physical vs. Emotional

• The speaker, Maria Cardine Campus, challenges the conventional definition of "home" as a fixed, physical location.
• Google's definition of home as "the place where one permanently lives, especially as a member of a family or household" is presented and critiqued for its inadequacy in capturing the speaker's experience.
• The core argument is that "home" is not necessarily a physical place but rather an emotional feeling.
• The speaker questions whether the feeling of home can be duplicated in different locations and whether it can follow a person everywhere.

2. The Third Culture Kid (TCK) Experience

• The speaker identifies as a Third Culture Kid (TCK), having spent most of her life abroad.
• TCKs are defined as individuals who grow up in a culture different from their parents' native culture(s).
• The third culture is influenced by both the parents' cultures and the culture(s) in which the TCK is raised.
• The speaker contrasts her experience with that of her cousins in Porto and family in Lisbon, who can be defined by a single cultural identity.
• The speaker's identity is described as that of a "global citizen" due to the influence of multiple cultures.

3. Native Country Affiliation and Identity

• The speaker discusses a conversation with a friend who feels deeply affiliated with her native country, even after living in Amsterdam for 16 years.
• The friend considers Amsterdam her "house" (a physical place) but not her "home" (an emotional connection).
• The speaker expresses doubt about her own affiliation with her native country (Portugal), having spent most of her life abroad and primarily conversing in English.
• The speaker questions whether she has the right to call Portugal "home" compared to other Portuguese citizens.
• The speaker wonders if feeling disconnected from one's native country leads to a perpetual sense of being an outsider.
• The speaker mentions spending "110-120 hours" per week conversing solely in English.

4. Creating Home Away From Home: A Case Study

• The speaker uses her sister's experience as a case study to illustrate how "home" can be created in a new location.
• The sister moved from the Netherlands to Spain and has created a sense of home by surrounding herself with people who cultivate a familiar feeling.
• Despite being 2,000 km away from her family, the sister feels close to home in Spain.
• The sister's excitement to return to her Spanish house after a summer in Portugal demonstrates the creation of an "extension of home."
• The speaker's parents have also nested in Amsterdam for the past 5 years.

5. Redefining Home: Beyond Physicality

• The speaker concludes that "home" does not need to be a single, permanent location.
• "Home" is neither permanent nor temporary and does not have to be a physical place.
• The speaker acknowledges her past struggle to define "home" within conventional definitions.
• The speaker argues that the everyday words used to describe "home" carry significant emotional weight.
• The speaker advocates for envisioning "home" as something emotional rather than physical, especially in a society that is becoming more accustomed to recognizing migrants.

6. Notable Quotes:

• "The warm feeling of home is something Irreplaceable"
• "Home does not need to be one location home is neither permanent nor temporary and for you it does not have to be one physical place"
• "...when speaking about home and our society becomes more accustomed to recognizing migrants we must not Envision home as something physical but rather something emotional"

Synthesis/Conclusion:

The speaker challenges the traditional definition of "home" as a fixed, physical location, arguing that it is primarily an emotional feeling. Drawing on her experiences as a Third Culture Kid and her sister's ability to create a sense of home in a new country, she advocates for a more flexible and inclusive understanding of "home" that recognizes its emotional significance, especially in an increasingly globalized world. The key takeaway is that "home" is not a place but a feeling that can be cultivated and experienced in various locations and contexts.