Stories — TCK TOWN

My Pandora's Box

Should I leave it there? Another year won’t hurt. Or venture to lift the lid…

The Flaws of My Perfection

Life is a tightly budded flower, thorny and gnarled on a bush, wind battered and opened to bloom, not their store bought plastic flower…

Linguistic Inequalities of x>y

Maybe not everyone will attain the same goals, but why can’t everyone be given the ability to do so?

Education, AsiaBy Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)13 March 2021TCK TOWN, TCK, TCA, school, maths, teacher, teaching, Guam, parents, English, class, learning, embarrassment, Wester PacificComment

No Foreign Coins in Tokyo This Year?

Announcements in Korean, Chinese, English and Japanese haunt the three-quarter empty passageways that are usually full…

COVID-19By Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)13 February 2021TCK, TCA, third culture adult, third culture kid, TCK TOWN, Japanese, Japan, HONG KONG, HARROGATE, Seattle, USA, Travel, COVID-19, coronavirus Comments

The Ghosts of Hot Chocolate

Our neighbors and my family sat huddled at a table, Bathed in the smoky vapors and light from a kerosene lantern, With the smell of temples, Like mosquito coils from Japan…

Stained Glass Shards of Autumn

A promise of fading light and cooling mercury…

Halting Proximity

Conversations are briefer. There is no physical contact. Our sense of community is bruised like a peach rolling from a table and making contact with a marble floor...

COVID-19By Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)23 September 2020COVID-19, office, lockdown, third culture adult, third culture kid, TCK, employees, handshake, hug, injured, connection, lossComment

Rainy Day Laundry Blues

A living room window with vapor rising, Frames a moose huddling over the steam for warmth.

WaterBy Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)29 August 2020rain, TCK, third culture adult, third culture kid, guam, france, tokyo, hong kong, alaska, korea, yorkshire, laundryComment

My Psychological Tattoo

You were always worthy, Until you made me unworthy, Emotional handcuffs clatter to the floor, Freedom…

ChangeBy Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)29 July 2020relationships, third culture adult, third culture kid, tradition, culture, self worth, self love, love, loss, separationComment

Weaving Stories of Washing Rice

Images appear and race into the mist, to places I’ve been, the food I’ve made and the people I’ve shared meals with…

FoodBy Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)15 July 2020TCK, TCK TOWN, Third Culture Adult, third culture adult, culture, story, identityComment

Emotional Djinn

My surgical mask is my veil. Modesty or mortality?

COVID-19By Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)5 July 2020TCK, TCK TOWN, COVID-19, masks, isolation, wfh, distance, social distancingComment

Tin Can Martial Law

When we were politely locked into our hotel in Delhi nine months later due to the street uprisings, the desk manager profusely apologized to us…

Shall We Dance…Apart?

Hide your face. Hide your ethnicity. Avoid the racist taunts. Avoid the politics of being stupid…

COVID-19By Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)3 June 2020TCK, TCK TOWN, birthday edition, COVID-19, masks, isolation, wfh, distance, social distancingComment

Your Goodbye—My Hello

We met, a unit. Things progressed. New challenges, fewer meetings, simple distractions…

Goodbye, RelationshipsBy Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)2 June 2020TCK, TCK TOWN, Third Culture Adult, third culture adult, culture, story, identity, goodbye, goodbyes, friend, friendship, leaving, travelComment

Alone in a City of 13 Million

I took great pleasure banning the the rest of the world…

Asia, COVID-19By Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)16 May 2020TCK TOWN, TCK, Tck, alone, lonely, solitude, Tokyo, Alaska, connection, disengagementComment

"Where was I" Cookies

But where is home for me? It cannot be just a single place.

COVID-19By Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)6 May 2020TCK, TCK TOWN, Third Culture Adult, third culture adult, culture, story, identity, COVID-19, cookies, cooking, baking, recipeComment

When Hate Goes Viral

When hatred goes viral, be careful. Your words come back to bite swift. And hard enough to draw blood…

COVID-19By Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)22 April 2020hate, coronavirus, TCK TOWN, Third Culture Adult, third culture kid, culture, nationality, diversity, race, generosity Comment

The Lagoon of my Backwardness

My language and culture—nothing? Savage me, as you sit there reading books to sail, ignoring heaven and nature…

Vegemite Homesickness

When I think of Vegemite, I think of Japan—Tokyo specifically. When I first started working in Japan, about half of my co-workers were from Australia…

FoodBy Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)1 April 2020TCK, TCK TOWN, Third Culture Adult, third culture kid, food, vegemite, Australia, Australian, Japa, Tokyo, Alaska, Amazon, family, visit, vacationComment

The Ebb and Flow of Guam

Of all the places I lived, the beach was closest on Guam. I remember white sand on northern island beaches burning my feet, and those same feet running tourist crowded expanses to the promise of cool, aquamarine lagoons…

WaterBy Paul Kennedy (From The Western Pacific, South East Asia, Europe & Alaska. Living in Tokyo)28 March 2020Third Culture Adult, third culture kid, water, TCK, TCK TOWN, storm, Guam, beach, touristsComment