It's interesting, how one epiphany spawns the next. Now that I figured out what it is that I have been writing about all these years, I also know what it is that I actually *like* to write about, too. So, that said, I want to use this one blog post to invite feedback. I'm considering doing a PhD. I have a couple half-baked ideas.

1. The identity of mixed ethnic TCKs. I would explore issues such as language acquisition, the sense of home, sense of exclusion. This is based on my own experience, and wanting to know if others feel the same. I technically have two homes, but then I don't. Because I look different and am treated like a foreigner in both my 'home countries'. This is different to a standard TCK's experience of feeling 'different' despite being treated the same, aka, the experience is like that of a hidden immigrant. In some aspects, the experience may be similar to that of an adopted TCK. They look different from the people who are meant to be their compatriots, and are treated differently, and have traveled the world. But then there isn't the element of having two places that one is supposed to belong to, and not belonging.

2. Marriage migration and 'domestic workers'. I'm interested, through my current job, to explore the premises through which women decide to enter such relationships. There is a notable occurrence, albeit marginal, of women who marry men who are significantly older than them, and knowingly come to Finland, and to other countries in Europe, as wives, officially, but in practice, as caretakers for their ailing husbands. While these relationships may have been consensual, there are many factors that were not taken into cosideration at the time of agreement.

Then, there are a plethora of social issues that arise as a result of these unions. The man's children are often less than accepting of the new arrangement, and these women often either are, or feel that they are being excluded from basic rights that the wife should have. If  the woman is young enough that she has children under 18 who she brings along to Finland, there is often the issue of the social status of the children. They are often treated like second class citizens in Finland, especially by their mothers. This does not only concern the children women who marry into domestic service arrangements, but also any women who marry men who look down upon their wives as somehow inferior.

So.... one PhD idea centres around the identity issues of people like myself, and the other one centres around the social and identity issues of marginalized women and their children.

What think you? Please do comment!