{"id":141982,"date":"2022-06-28T14:12:55","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T12:12:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=141982"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:26:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:26:21","slug":"pancake-with-saffron","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2022\/06\/28\/pancake-with-saffron\/","title":{"rendered":"Pancake with saffron"},"content":{"rendered":"

In December, I have a Christmas tree in my home, with lights, baubles and a lovely tree-topper. Sometimes I even put a gift underneath it, which makes it look like that scene from the first Harry Potter film. But the strange thing is that I don’t celebrate Christmas.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>, \t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPauline Wiersema<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

I probably need to explain that. Instead of giving presents at Christmas or eating together on Christmas Eve, I give and receive gifts on 31 December and then we all eat together at home. How did that start? No idea, it\u2019s always been tradition with us. It\u2019s only recently that I\u2019ve been able to explain this: I\u2019m what you call \u2018a third culture kid\u2019. I grew up with the two different cultures of my parents as well as Dutch culture. That blend then creates a third culture. As a third culture kid (or even fourth culture kid, because my parents both come from different countries), it\u2019s interesting to see how confusing that can be for other people when you don\u2019t fit in a certain box.<\/p>\n

I grew up in the Netherlands. I went to primary and secondary school here, and now I\u2019m at university. I grew up with Dutch and non-Dutch friends, and I regularly went to dance and tennis lessons until I\u2019d had enough. Sometimes I went with friends to after-school club, where we were given orange squash and a white roll with a slice of cheese. At the same time, I grew up with parties in the homes of Turkish friends of my parents, and every year I went to visit family in Iran. I also celebrate (Persian) new year in the spring, and I like to eat very late in the evening. But I regularly have chocolate vermicelli on bread for breakfast, and recently I had pancakes for dinner for the first time. I straddle three cultures, but I now feel comfortable with that. I\u2019ve discovered its added value; it means that I\u2019m connected with all the cultures and can move through life like a chameleon.<\/p>\n\n\t

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