Podcasts about migration media

Jen Knight says that she "won the in-laws lottery" when it comes to her Chinese husband's parents. But luck wasn't on her side this past January, when a day after she arrived in her husband's hometown just outside of Wuhan for a Spring Festival celebration, the Chinese government started shutting down all transit links into and out of the area, effectively trapping her at Ground Zero of what would soon come to be known as the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. She was, as she easily admits, "terrified" and felt isolated, but what helped her feel less alone was participating in a study that asked China-based expats how they were feeling during the crisis. And through 2 months of lockdown in Hubei + 2 weeks of self isolation in her apartment in Shenzhen, her notions of "home" have shifted- or maybe she was just being made aware of a shift that had already taken place. If you missed it, be sure to go back one episode and listen to part 1 of this series where I speak with Chris Barnhart, who designed the survey that Jen assisted on. You can also read a summary of their findings on our blog here.   And scroll back one more episode, to #057, to hear my impromptu conversation with a group of China-based expats who found them themselves trapped in Bali just as the outbreak began spreading across China.   To learn more about Jen and her work as a life coach for women living abroad, check out her website,  https://www.jenknight.com, or follow her updates on Facebook and Instagram.    Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

This week we're kicking off Season 4 with part 1 of a special 2-part series focusing on a pair of international migrants who have written a study on how the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in China effected foreign nationals living there. The lead researcher, Chris Barnhart, was a high school teacher in Florida who'd been laid off during a round of budget cuts and was as surprised as anyone to find himself heading to China months later to be the first foreign professor at a university in Guangdong province. His experience there has been a revelation to him, and his empathy and desire to check in on fellow foreigners during the initial stages of the outbreak led him to want to quantify the resilience that he saw in the people around him. When he couldn't find evidence of anyone else studying expats in China during this time he took it on himself to gather the data... and what he found was... well, let's let him explain how things went. Read the summary of Chis and Jen's findings on our blog, here. You can contact him with questions about his study via e-mail at c.r.barnhart@outlook.com, or you can follow him on LinkedIn here.   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

We're interrupting our inter-season interregnum to bring you a discussion with a group of expats who live in China but who have found themselves "stuck" in Bali after the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan shut down virtually all businesses and most travel into the country. It's estimated that there are close to 1 million foreigners living in China, and while those who have been evacuated from, or who are still in, Wuhan and the surrounding area rightly get lots of attention, there are hundreds of thousands more folks who are either stuck somewhere, or grappling with the decision to leave or return. We've gathered 3 of these expats to talk about what it feels like to be "between homes," neither able to be where they live, nor in their place of origin, in a time of crisis. How are they dealing with their isolation? Do they feel guilty about not being in their host cities? Are they glad to have escaped? There are lots of complex emotions to deal with and we're diving right in. Learn more about Asher's groundbreaking business, Go Vegan, by visiting their website here, or by jumping over to their Instagram page. Shawn is chronicling her time in Bali on Instagram. You can follow her here.  You can see Chris' videos, where he's vlogging about his experiences as an expat both inside of and outside of China during the coronavirus outbreak, on his YouTube page here.   We'll be back in a few weeks with Season 4, so stay tuned! Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

It's part 2 of the two-part Season 3 finale, wherein Mike & Alisa take a look at the issues and problems that have come up for the in their move from Beijing to Bali with a professional. Dr. Sonia Jaeger is a clinical psychologist & psychotherapist who is one of the growing number of location independent professionals who choose to live and work from multiple places. In essence, she's always on the move. A speaker of German, French and English, she helps expats and migrants around the world with their mental health issues through remote sessions. She talks about the struggles of people who follow their partners overseas, so-called "trailing spouses," as well as the importance of finding and building community in your new home and even expat divorce! It's an eye-opening conversation that gives us lots to think about during our break until next season starts. Be sure to listen to the previous episode to hear us break down the issues that we've faced during our move to Bali!   You can learn more about Dr. Jaeger and her work, or inquire about making an appointment with her by visiting her website, https://www.sonia-jaeger.com/. You can also follow her on social media here:   Facebook Instagram LinkedIn   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Season 3 is coming to a close, and in part 1 of the two-part season finale I'm joined by my wife, Alisa Rutherford-Fortunati, to talk about our move from Beijing to Bali, which is our first transition between locations as a couple. There have been lots of unexpected twists and turns, from trouble finding a house, to developing new routines, to just getting around without the benefit of plentiful public transit. Then throw in the curve ball of both of us missing Beijing much more than we thought we would and you've got a potent brew of angst, anxiety and heartache. Will our marriage survive?! (Spoiler: It does.) To hear the interview that I did on The Bittersweet Life, click here or search for it in your favorite podcatcher. (It's episode #288.)   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net). Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Anne Scott was a digital nomad before the term existed; a "Digital Nomad 1.0" she likes to say. One day in 2010 she looked up and realized that she'd lived in 10 countries in 10 years and that she felt at home on the road. She founded Girl Gone International (GGI) to help her connect with other women who were navigating life while living outside of their home countries. Today, GGI has several hundred thousand members in nearly 200 cities around the world who hosted more than 3,000 free offline events last year. More than just a network for people who are traveling, the mission of GGI is to create a community of women who support and empower each other to live anywhere, belong everywhere, and make a home wherever they are. In addition to publishing an e-zine that celebrates the lives that women are living overseas, their all-volunteer staff is focused on hosting real-world events to spark the connections that build community. In essence, they make the online and community collide in a meaningful way.To learn more about Girl Gone International and read the latest issue of their e-zine, or to find a chapter near you, visit them on the web at https://www.girlgoneinternational.com. You can also check them out on social media: TwitterInstagramFacebookLinkedIn Stay in touch and send us comments, suggestions or interview recommendations; we're on Instagram at @PopAbroad, or you can reach out by email: michelle.ibarra@migrationmedia.net Pop Abroad is a proud member of the Migration Media network. Follow us on Twitter at @MigrationMedia_ or check us out at www.migrationmedia.net to learn about our other shows. Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Daniela Tomer, founder of Global Nomad's World, knows something about migration. Not only is she a clinical psychologist who specializes in helping families deal with the issues surrounding migration, but she's the product of migration herself. Born to parents who had fled from Eastern Europe to Argentina in the early days of WWII, Daniela migrated to Israel as a child and went through a profound identity evolution. Later in life, a move to Europe and then the US meant the loss of her professional credentials- a familiar roadblock for many who migrate. So she did the most "expat-y" thing next: Start a business to deal with the barrier. Today she is at the vanguard of a growing movement of mental health processionals who are working to create resources that will help people around the world to better deal with the complex issue that arise when they migrate. Learn more about Global Nomad's World and Daniela's work with migrant families by visiting their website,  https://www.globalnomadsworld.com/.   Dive deeper into the issues that children & families face when living overseas by checking out our past interviews with people who have gone through the experience themselves:   Ep. #033: Coming of Age As A TCK… And Then What? | Mio Rudnicki Ep. #030: A Grown-up TCK Raising TCKs & Searching for Community | Dr. Kate Bailey Gardner Ep. #025: From Raising A TCK to Empty-Nesting Overseas | Amelie Mongrain Ep. #019: Studying TCKs As A TCA | Tanya Crossman Ep. #017: “This Wasn’t A Choice She Made”: Raising A Daughter Overseas | Sarah Peel Ep. #014: Growing Up As A TCK & Developing ‘Bordered Dinners’ | Ragini Kashyap Ep. #006: Forging Your Own Identity & Socially Responsible Pizza | Kerry Lin   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net). Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Stephany Zoo is one of the young people working at the bleeding edge of economic and entrepreneurial development in Africa. She's on the ground, in the trenches, bridging the gaps between the people and the forces driving African economies and China. Currently splitting her time between Nairobi, Cape Town and China, she is the outgoing Curator of the Global Shapers Shanghai II Hub, a multi-stakeholder community born out the World Economic Forum which boasts almost 9,000 "Shapers" in 400 Hubs across 150 countries. As a part of Global Shapers, Stephany's had a hand in driving the local community's mission of inspiring people under the age of 30 to work together to address local, regional and global challenges. Members in the local Hubs self-organize to create projects that address the needs of their community. Projects are as wide-ranging as their members are diverse - in expertise, education, income and race - and they are all united by a desire to bring about change.Read all about Stephany's projects, including her "first passion," Phoenix Risen, on her website here. Or check in with her on social media: InstagramLinkedinTwitter To learn more about Global Shapers and to find a Hub near you, visit them on the web at https://www.globalshapers.org/. You can also follow them on social media here: TwitterYouTubeFacebookLinkedIn Stay in touch and send us comments, suggestions or interview recommendations; we're on Instagram at @PopAbroad, or you can reach out by email: michelle.ibarra@migrationmedia.net Pop Abroad is a proud member of the Migration Media network. Follow us on Twitter at @MigrationMedia_ or check us out at www.migrationmedia.net to learn about our other shows. Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

As Victoria sees it, "To become an American, you have to put in a lot of work." After all, that's been her story. Victoria's path to the U.S. started with a stroke of luck: Her mother won the visa lottery, granting her and her daughter entry to the country; but as many immigrants soon learn after they arrive, the streets in America are not paved with gold. At one point becoming homeless, acts of kindness and generosity helped them survive. Eventually, the gifted loaves of bread, the teachers who went the extra mile, and their hard work paid off. Victoria has achieved the "American Dream," having earned her PhD and achieved success in the medical equipment business. Her story is an inspiration and shows how America is made better, and richer, when we welcome the most needy of people who ask to enter. For another take on the American immigration story, check out episodes #042 & #043 to hear the about the Baba sisters and their family's journey from Sudan to the U.S. to Sudan to the U.S. (No, that's not a typo!)   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net). Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Few things are more frightening to migrants than giving birth outside of their home country. Dealing with that, and their own isolation, led Melanie Ham and a few other foreign mothers in Shanghai in the mid-2000s, to connect and build community. What began as a small clutch of expat women with babies and toddlers looking for companionship and reassurance, has exploded into Shanghai Mamas, a diverse city-wide organization with over 17,000 parents and multiple events per day. Their members connect online and offline for parent-to-parent recommendations, advice, and community-building activities such as educational talks, spa days, holiday parties, charity fundraisers, and family meet-ups, as well as their signature weekly "Parent Coffee Mornings." Many parents cite Shanghai Mamas as their key source to find their niche in the city, make lifelong friends, and manage the day to day confusion of living and parenting in Shanghai!To learn more about Shanghai Mamas visit them on the web at shanghaimamas.org. You can also follow them on social media here:InstagramFacebookLinkedInWeChat: "Shanghai Mamas Org"Stay in touch and send us comments, suggestions or interview recommendations; we're on Instagram at @PopAbroad, or you can reach out by email: michelle.ibarra@migrationmedia.net Pop Abroad is a proud member of the Migration Media network. Follow us on Twitter at @MigrationMedia_ or check us out at www.migrationmedia.net to learn about our other shows. Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Nut butters were never supposed to be a part of Meredith Sides' life; but, then again, neither was living abroad. Not wanting to choose the path that most other people in her small town followed - moving from high school into the trades, farming or beauty school - she moved to Philadelphia for college, did a semester abroad in Europe, and then, on a whim, decided to spend a gap year before going to medical school teaching English in China. 5 years later she still doesn't even know her own blood type, but she knows what her passion is, and it's nut butters. She's the Co-founder of Naked Nut Butters, a purveyor of all-natural nut butters in China. And far from having any desire to go back "home," she's discovered that she enjoys the uncertainty of the #ExpatLife. She doesn't want to feel "nailed down" by the expectations of her home culture. And with her new business taking off, she's fully invested in life overseas... and nut butters. Read more about Naked Nut Butters' recent presentation at China's Paradise Foundation annual board meeting + their meeting with Alibaba founder Jack Ma here. You can also check them out on social media:   Instagram Facebook WeChat: "NAKEDnutbutters拿颗酱"   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net). Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

When Gabby Gabriel arrived in Shanghai, she couldn't find any other LGBTQ people to hang out with. Even in China's most socially progressive, outward-looking city, life for queer people is difficult. Conservatism still rules in the wider culture, so many are forced to live either closeted or very cautiously. Faced with the need to make friends and armed with a recognition of the growing queer population's rising economic influence, she has devised a social enterprise solution to not just her social isolation, but to the wider "Qmmuinty's" as well. Her platform encourages mutual support, increased queer people's visibility, and reaches out to local businesses and institutions through sensitivity trainings and inclusive events. It's important work that she believes her privileged as a foreigner requires of her. "If we're not supporting each other, then how can we expect other people to?"Learn more about Qmmunity and download the app here: http://www.theqmmunity.com/ Follow Qmmunity on all of the platforms: InstagramFacebookWeChat: "gabbygabriel" Stay in touch and send us comments, suggestions or interview recommendations; we're on Instagram at @PopAbroad, or you can reach out by email: michelle.ibarra@migrationmedia.net Pop Abroad is a proud member of the Migration Media network. Follow us on Twitter at @MigrationMedia_ or check us out at www.migrationmedia.net to learn about our other shows. Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe! 

We all need community. And nobody needs community more than people who move overseas; we leave family and friends behind when we move, and building new networks and support systems is vital for us. This can be an especially fraught process for members of the LGBTQ community. This week, we're collaborating with our sister podcast Pop Abroad to take a closer look at how one person is turning what is normally a hardship for queer expats and migrants into a business opportunity. My guest, Gabby Gabriel, has found a way to leverage the privilege that she has as a foreigner in China to organize events and connect people and businesses in a way that supports LGBTQ people in a society where human sexuality is a taboo subject, at best, and a marker for outright discrimination at worst. Her venture, Qmmunity, is a platform that helps queer people find others like them, and helps businesses become more queer-friendly.   Learn about Qmmunity, the great work that it does, and download the app here: http://www.theqmmunity.com   Follow Qmmunity's work on all of the platforms:   Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Instagram   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net). Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe! 

Co-President of the Shanghai chapter of LinkedIn Local, Tamar Hela has been living overseas since she was 23. After studying in Spain and starting her own business, she spent time as a digital nomad, eventually making a swing back to her home in California where she switched to teaching and then made the move over to China. A training session on how to optimize your LinkedIn profile led her to discover LinkedIn Local, which is the longest-running campaign on the platform. Conceived as a way to help people bring their online connections into the real world, it boasts chapters in over 600 cities across more than 90 countries. Through offline events it helps people learn about "the person behind the profile" and build deeper, lasting relationships. Getting involved can be an incredibly powerful way to jump-start a person's professional network, as Tamar discovered when hers quickly "quadrupled" after she joined!To learn more about LinkedIn Local and to find a chapter near you, visit them on the web at https://linkednlocal.com/. You can also follow them on social media here: TwitterInstagramFacebookLinkedIn Stay in touch and send us comments, suggestions or interview recommendations; we're on Instagram at @PopAbroad, or you can reach out by email: michelle.ibarra@migrationmedia.net Pop Abroad is a proud member of the Migration Media network. Follow us on Twitter at @MigrationMedia_ or check us out at www.migrationmedia.net to learn about our other shows. Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Wherever people gather, you'll find music. This certainly holds true for migrant communities. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the music being made in the places finds its way into popular culture. In a world of streaming and niche audiences, you can find an an amazing variety of musical styles and cross-cultural mashups to tickle your ears with. One genre that is still unheralded, however, is "Expat Music." Case in point: Stevie Mac and The Mac Daddies is probably the most popular & successful party band in Beijing. Founded & led by Steven McKinney, it's an 11-piece ensemble made up entirely of expats that was born out of a need that is common everywhere- people with the talent & skill need a way to express their passion for music. You'll find groups like them in every migrant hub; but beyond local clubs and bars there aren't any platforms for them to grow beyond their local audiences. But that doesn't keep Steve down. As successful as he's been as a band leader, for him music is, like it is for most expats, a side hustle. After going to China on a lark, he co-founded and now runs a very successful kindergarten. His twin passions of music and being an entrepreneur have helped him fully embrace his unexpected #ExpatLife, and folks in Beijing can expect to see him leading his band mates for years to come. Meet the entire lineup of Stevie Mac and The Mac Daddies and hear some of their music by visiting their Facebook page, and check out some of their original music on their Bandcamp page here.   Learn more about the Beijing music scene by checking out Ep. #032 for my interview with Badr Benjelloun (link).   If you've never heard of SantaCon, check out this link!   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net). Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe! 

Originally from Hefei, China, Rebecca Liang migrated to Shanghai where she became an entrepreneur. And then her company failed spectacularly. She was jobless, homeless and went through a bad breakup. Rebecca walks us through the story of her first venture, how it seemed like a cant-miss opportunity, and then how, in the aftermath, the Startup Grind community, along with the entrepreneurs that she worked with in her subsequent job at WeWork, gave her support and mentorship that was more valuable than an MBA program. Now, as the Lead of WeWork Labs in Shanghai and Co-director of the local Startup Grind chapter, she pays that support forward by helping new entrepreneurs navigate the local startup ecosystem and find success.To learn more about Startup Grind and to find a chapter near you, visit them on the web at https://www.startupgrind.com. You can also follow them on social media here: TwitterInstagramFacebookLinkedIn Stay in touch and send us comments, suggestions or interview recommendations; we're on Instagram at @PopAbroad, or you can reach out by email: michelle.ibarra@migrationmedia.net Pop Abroad is a proud member of the Migration Media network. Follow us on Twitter at @MigrationMedia_ or check us out at www.migrationmedia.net to learn about our other shows. Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Shannon Martin thinks a lot about life stages- of podcasts and of people. Currently the Director of Communications at Podbean, the hosting platform for all of Migration Media's shows, she has a bird's eye view of the rapidly-changing world of on-demand audio and often helps shows just starting out to grow and endure. She also works with Aging Wisely, a company that works with families to help plan for the later stages of life. Given that experience + her many years living overseas, She knows better than anyone that while the #ExpatLife is full of fun and adventure, it's never too early to start thinking about how they'll spend their later years. Her work has been mostly focused on families in the US, but many of them face situations - like children who live far away from their parents - that are analogous to expats. What is it like to help plan for the care of an older parent when you live thousands of miles away? And what kind of obstacles do expats face when thinking about where they'll settle down in their later years? Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

This week I've got some more bonus content to share with you: a recent episode of The Bittersweet Life podcast. On my last episode I spoke with co-host Katy Sewall about her journey from a safe career with NPR to expat, to podcasting entrepreneur, and we touched on some of the themes that come up often in her show. In essence, I tried to do in about 40 minutes what she and her co-host, Tiffany Parks, have done over 275 episodes (so far). So I thought that it might be a good idea to share an example of the kinds of conversations that they have each week. On the episode that you're about to hear, Tiffany has just returned from a visit to the U.S. and reflects on the things about American life and culture that never fail to surprise her every time she goes back. She also reveals the surprising reaction she had upon flying back to Rome, as well as a thought she hasn’t had in all her 15 years of the #ExpatLife.   Find The Bittersweet Life wherever you get your podcasts, or check out their website to learn more: http://thebittersweetlife.net/about   Follow the show on social media:   Twitter Facebook Instagram   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

With a presence in 600 cities across 125 countries, and boasting over 2 million members, for entrepreneurs in the tech space, or anyone who is interested in the tech industry, Google-supported Startup Grind is a great way to no only meet like-minded people, but to help get plugged in to the local startup ecosystem wherever you are. Sabrina Benioudren, founder of the student chapter at Renmin University, and Co-director of the Beijing chapter, says that while Google takes a mostly hands-off approach when it comes to local chapters - especially chapters in China - they do provide a platform for their activities. This provides communities with visibility for their offline events, as well as operational infrastructure; and the company's values offer a framework that they can operate within. For people on the ground, this means that chapters are organized with the aim of empowering members to help others before they help themselves, and to make real friendships instead of just making contacts.To learn more about Startup Grind and to find a chapter near you, visit them on the web at https://www.startupgrind.com. You can also follow them on social media here: TwitterInstagramFacebookLinkedIn Stay in touch and send us comments, suggestions or interview recommendations; we're on Instagram at @PopAbroad, or you can reach out by email: michelle.ibarra@migrationmedia.net Pop Abroad is a proud member of the Migration Media network. Follow us on Twitter at @MigrationMedia_ or check us out at www.migrationmedia.net to learn about our other shows. Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Katy Sewall used to be, as she says, one of those "get-a-great-job-and-hang-onto-it" kind of people. That is, until she got an opportunity to move to Rome where her best friend from childhood, Tiffany Parks, had been living for several years. A senior producer at NPR's Seattle affiliate, Katy decided to jump at the chance for adventure and turn her experience into creating a podcast. Their show, The Bittersweet Life, has been "on the air" ever since and has become one of the most popular shows about the #ExpatLife as it's documented their respective journeys as migrants. Katy talks with me about what it was like to make the transition from a person with a career to life as a podcasting entrepreneur, the hesitancy of long-term expats to get to know short-term folks, her migration back to and within the US, and how her show has evolved - with her- to not so much ask, "What's it like to live overseas?" as it asks, "What's it like to live, and what kind of life do you want for yourself?"   Find The Bittersweet Life wherever you get your podcasts, or check out their website to learn more: http://thebittersweetlife.net/about   Follow the show on social media:   Twitter Facebook Instagram   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Everyone who moves overseas needs community, but some of us are looking for more than just camaraderie and fellowship. Rita Malvone is one of those folks. For people like her who want to dig deeper into the place where they live and who want to give back, Rotary Club has just what you're looking for. As Rita explains, people who get involved in Rotary's service projects find their lives enriched in incredibly fulfilling ways, AND that they're a part of a global network of like-minded people who are committed to making the world a better place!To learn more about Rotary International and to find a chapter near you, visit their website: https://www.rotary.org/en. You can also follow them on social media here: TwitterInstagramFacebookLinkedInWeChat: "Rotary" Stay in touch and send us comments, suggestions or interview recommendations; we're on Instagram at @PopAbroad, or you can reach out by email: michelle.ibarra@migrationmedia.net Pop Abroad is a proud member of the Migration Media network. Follow us on Twitter at @MigrationMedia_ or check us out at www.migrationmedia.net to learn about our other shows. Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe! 

Chaniece started her journey towards life overseas when she was deciding which foreign language to take in college. As it turned out, the professor with the highest satisfaction ratings from students taught Chinese, so that's what she chose. After scoring consistently high grades in her classes, she decided to make it her major and her fate was sealed: You really can't succeed in a Chinese program without spending time in China. Far from the exoticism of the #ExpatLife that many imagine, Chaniece spent time in the trenches doing menial jobs before an opportunity arose to actualize one of her passions, veganism. Now she's the CEO of Plant-based Consulting, a company that works with local restaurants and the vegan community to expand plant-based options and to reduce the amount of animal products consumed in the city. Today, after 5 years overseas, and after having learned so much about herself and developing so many new skills, can she see herself ever returning back "home?" To learn more about Plant-based Consulting and Vegans of Shanghai, you can follow them on WeChat by searching for their official account, "vegansofshanghai".   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

This week I've got a bonus mini-pod for you! Both before and after my interviews with Olivia Muszynski & Alaina Miller - the Ricci Scholars featured in my previous two episodes - we had fun, engaging conversations about a lot of topics that I couldn't fit into their podcasts, which is a pity because they're both brilliant, driven people who are endlessly fascinating. Luckily, I was able to get my microphone out for one of those chats and record it. Enjoy! Learn more about the Ricci Scholars program at Loyola University here:  https://www.luc.edu/ricci/index.shtml   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Shannon Martin has been living abroad for years. Ever since she convinced her employer to let her work remotely and she fell in love with the #ExpatLife in Spain, she's never felt the pull to go back "home." Today she's a successful content manager and PR pro who is also the organizer of the Shanghai branch of Podcast Brunch Club, a global community for people who love on-demand audio. "It's like book club, but for podcasts!" PBC is probably one of the most open, welcoming and easy-to-join communities that will help you plug-in to the local scene no matter where you are on the planet!Learn more about Podcast Brunch Club, search for a chapter near you, and check out their Listening Lists here: https://podcastbrunchclub.com/. To get a taste of what a typical meet-up is like, you can listen in to the PBC Beijing chapter's meet-up where they discussed the "Understanding China" listening list over on Migratory Patterns, or in the PBC Podcast feed here. Follow PBC on all of the platforms: TwitterFacebookInstagram Stay in touch and send us comments, suggestions or interview recommendations; we're on Instagram at @PopAbroad, or you can reach out by email: michelle.ibarra@migrationmedia.net Pop Abroad is a proud member of the Migration Media network. Follow us on Twitter at @MigrationMedia_ or check us out at www.migrationmedia.net to learn about our other shows. Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

While the small town in Michigan where she grew up is the place that she goes back to whenever she "needs a safe haven," Alaina Miller doesn't think of it as "Home" anymore. Not since she set off for school in Chicago- and especially not since she spent the last year studying abroad as part of the Ricci Scholars program at Loyola College. What's driven her constant shifts to bigger, newer locales has been the vast diversity and different ways of thinking that she's encountered at every step of her journey. She went off to college knowing that she wanted to travel internationally and saw the Ricci Scholars' program's destinations of Rome and Beijing as a natural evolution, with each stop being a jumping off point to something ever-more foreign. Her project to study migrant housing has opened her eyes to a world of possibilities, and it's been incredibly fulfilling, but she realizes that she's starting to move outside of the experience of her traditional group of friends, and that she may find herself facing the same challenge that many who have spent time overseas face- discovering that they need to connect with different kinds of people than they did before they left. Learn more about the Ricci Scholars program at Loyola University here: https://www.luc.edu/ricci/index.shtml   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

After a couple of years traveling around the world, Australian Vy Vu took a job in Shanghai's booming fashion sector. Shortly after that she set up FitFam, "A free fitness community that is accessible to all." They offer free workout classes to people of all fitness levels taught by volunteer instructors, and the idea has taken off. FitFam classes are now taught at 35 locations across the city, along with multiple locations in another 9 cities in 7 countries and regions. She discusses how she has built and runs what has now become a multinational non-profit, and how its founding principles have not only helped community members get fit, but it has provided pathways to personal and professional development for the volunteers, many of whom have gone on to open chapters in new cities when they move.To learn more about FitFam and to find a group near you, visit them on the web at https://www.wefitfam.com. You can also follow them on social media here: WeChat: "FitFamChina" Stay in touch and send us comments, suggestions or interview recommendations; we're on Instagram at @PopAbroad, or you can reach out by email: michelle.ibarra@migrationmedia.net Pop Abroad is a proud member of the Migration Media network. Follow us on Twitter at @MigrationMedia_ or check us out at www.migrationmedia.net to learn about our other shows. Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe! 

This week I'm sharing the first of my conversations with two recipients of the 2018-2019 Ricci Scholarship. This Loyola University program offers scholarships to highly qualified students to spend their junior year studying abroad in 2 countries and conducting cross-cultural research.   Olivia Muszynski owns the fact that she's still figuring things out, and it's apparent from the start when her answer to "Where is home?" is "To be determined." Having just wrapped up a year abroad as part of the Ricci Scholars program, her idea of "Home" right now is all about relationships and experiences. She's a couple of years removed from life in the small Florida town where she was raised, which she says "feels like a memory, but not like home," and she's just started exploring the world, trying to understand her place in it. It just doesn't make sense yet to declare a single location as "Home."    What began as an internal migration from the American South to blustery Chicago has quickly evolved into a desire to live overseas, and her experiences in Rome and Beijing have only served to whet her appetite for more. A self-professed nerd who "loves reading the tax code," she's been studying the differences between the real estate markets of the US, Italy and China as part of per study abroad program, and she's been discovering how financial systems fit the cultures that they're in, which opens up new avenues for understanding between us. It's a unique take on the learning experience that usually happens as people migrate!   Learn more about the Ricci Scholars program at Loyola University here:  https://www.luc.edu/ricci/index.shtml   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

One of the largest expat-focused organizations in the world, InterNations often serves as a "landing pad" for young professionals when they move to a new city abroad. This week, Romanian-born Catalina Calin, local ambassador in Shanghai (one of the 420+ cities worldwide with a local chapter), talks about how a local community of volunteers sharing their knowledge and experience with new arrivals can help to alleviate loneliness and demystify the acclimation process. To learn more about the InterNations and to find a chapter near you, visit them on the web at https://www.internations.org. You can also follow them on social media here: TwitterInstagramFacebook Stay in touch and send us comments, suggestions or interview recommendations; we're on Instagram at @PopAbroad, or you can reach out by email: michelle.ibarra@migrationmedia.net Pop Abroad is a proud member of the Migration Media network. Follow us on Twitter at @MigrationMedia_ or check us out at www.migrationmedia.net to learn about our other shows. Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Steve Schwankert is one of the proudest and most committed expats that I've ever met. Originally from "the part of New Jersey that loves Spingsteen, and not the part that loves Bon Jovi," Steven had his eyes set on moving to China as early as high school. Now, 23 years after making the leap, he's sick and tired of people asking him when he's going to "come home" - because he already is. His career in journalism has led him to many interesting projects, and his latest, the new documentary, The Six, is incredibly exciting. It tells the story of how he and his collaborators set off to unearth the stories of the 6 Chinese migrant workers who survived the sinking of the Titanic. Not only is it an incredible feat of research and storytelling, but it lays bare the risks and discrimination that migrants in the [late 19th and early] 20th centuries faced when they tried making their way from East to West. And while technology and methods of transport may have changed for most migrants since then, the story otherwise remains the same. And the greatest lesson for all of us might not be what it takes for people to make their way to a new home, but what their effort says about what it means to originally be from that place. Can you know what it means to be an American if you've never had to fight to be one?   Learn more about Steven's documentary, The Six:   Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-0gpvPHaZs Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/thesixdocumentary Website:  https://www.whoarethesix.com   Listen to my interview with Eleanor Liu (Ep. 015) here: http://bit.ly/MP015-EleanorLiu   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe! 

This week we're sharing a little something extra with you: The episode of The Stoop that got me hooked on the show! As I discussed with her during our interview earlier this week, co-host Hana Baba has explored and discovered new things about her heritage through her work producing her podcast. One of the things that she talked about with me are the particular attitudes and that Sudanese bring with them when they immigrate, and some common disillusionments that they experience after their arrival. Like many immigrants, people coming from Africa imagine the US as a haven, a moneymaking paradise. When they get here, it can be a different story. On this episode of The Stoop we meet African immigrants who tell their stories of "Coming To America," and what the wish they'd known before they came.   If you like what you hear, please check out The Stoop by searching in Apple Podcasts, Podbean, or by visiting the show's website here: https://twitter.com/theStoopPodcast. You can also follow Hana and The Stoop online on all of the platforms:   Hana on Twitter The Stoop on Twitter Facebook Instagram   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe! 

There are many pathways and support networks for people who want to develop themselves professionally while living n their home countries. But what happens when you move overseas? Where do you turn for mentoring? Who can call out the pitfalls and obstacles as you try to advance your career? Amanda Argentieri, President of the International Professional Women's Society (IPWS) talks about her work leading a volunteer-run platform for dynamic women with diverse professional backgrounds to help them connect through events that build networks, foster personal growth, and enable professional development.To learn more about IPWS, visit their webiste: https://ipwsconnect.com/. You can also follow them on all of the platforms: FacebookTwitterInstagramWeChat: "IPWS" Stay in touch and send us comments, suggestions or interview recommendations; we're on Instagram at @PopAbroad, or you can reach out by email: michelle.ibarra@migrationmedia.net Pop Abroad is a proud member of the Migration Media network. Follow us on Twitter at @MigrationMedia_ or check us out at www.migrationmedia.net to learn about our other shows. Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Hana Baba, the award-winning host of Crosscurrents on KALW & co-host of the groundbreaking podcast, The Stoop, grew up in much the same way as her baby sister, Ethar (see previous episode)- by splitting her time between Khartoum, Sudan, and the U.S. Now that she's all grown up with a family of her own, the concept of "Home" is complicated, as it stirs up feelings of longing for different places depending on where she is at that moment. Her experience being raised in wildly different environments has given her a profound desire to live in diverse, multicultural areas, and a drive to explore the complexities of the cultures that we inhabit through her work as a journalist. Her podcast, The Stoop, is an expression of this, as she and her co-host, Leila Day, tackle issues surrounding blackness, race, and identity in America through the eyes of the black diaspora.   Check out The Stoop by searching in Apple Podcasts, Podbean, or by visiting the show's website here: https://twitter.com/theStoopPodcast. You can also follow Hana and The Stoop online on all of the platforms: Hana on Twitter The Stoop on Twitter Facebook Instagram Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe! 

This week we're discussing women in leadership with Roberta Basso, International Manager for Lean In China. She traces her path from Southern Italy to the Netherlands to China, where she found herself as the only woman on a team of engineers in the industrial sector, and then again in the software industry. So how do you find your way as an expat when you're a minority (foreigner) within a minority (a woman), dealing prejudice and assimilation issues? She talks about the tools that the Lean In community gave her to succeed in her career, and how being able to find a place within a supportive network empowered her with a sense of purpose- namely, helping the next generation of women leaders and making sure that men are included in conversations about issues around gender and equity in the workplace.To learn more about the Lean In and to find a Circle near you, visit them on the web at  https://leanin.org/. You can also follow them on social media here: TwitterInstagramFacebookLinkedInWeChat (English): "LeanInShanghai"WeChat (Chinese): "LeanInzhonggouInternational" Stay in touch and send us comments, suggestions or interview recommendations; we're on Instagram at @PopAbroad, or you can reach out by email: michelle.ibarra@migrationmedia.net Pop Abroad is a proud member of the Migration Media network. Follow us on Twitter at @MigrationMedia_ or check us out at www.migrationmedia.net to learn about our other shows. Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

This week I'm bringing you the first of my conversations with two sisters who've shared a similar globe-spanning bi-cultural upbringing. Ethar Baba is the youngest in a family of 6 Sudanese-American children who all split their time between their parents' hometown of Khartoum and Washington, D.C. Moving back and forth between cultures during her childhood caused some problems, making her feel sometimes like she didn't fit in in either place. It wasn't until she got to college where was able to accept and begin to integrate her two identities. Ironically, it's only been since she started living in China, and she picked up an insatiable travel bug, that she's been able to finally get a sense of where "Home" is in all of that. For now, anyway. Note: This interview was recorded live at meeting of the Beijing chapter of Podcast Brunch Club, which is why you'll hear some moving about and the occasional clinking of glasses and silverware. in the background. To learn more about PBC check out the bonus episode from June. Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net); please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Do you like sweating and being social? South African-born and New Zealand-raised Kelly Olver shares her story of being an ex-flight attendant gym rat who has created a fitness community for women in Shanghai, called SASS.C. The idea came about as she searched for a way to combine her passion for staying in shape with her desire to find spaces where women could connect with each other. The results have been lots of sweaty empowering fun!To learn more about SASS.C and see what they're up to, follow them on Instagram at @thesass_c. If you're in Shanghai and are interested in joining, reach out to Kelly on WeChat; she's at "KiwiKells". Stay in touch and send us comments, suggestions or interview recommendations; we're on Instagram at @PopAbroad, or you can reach out by email: michelle.ibarra@migrationmedia.net Pop Abroad is a proud member of the Migration Media network. Follow us on Twitter at @MigrationMedia_ or check us out at www.migrationmedia.net to learn about our other shows. Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

We kick off Season 3 of the show by welcoming our newest team member to Migration Media, Michelle Ibarra! Her show, Pop Abroad, explores the keys to finding success and living your best life overseas. The show's first season explores the importance of community in our lives and how successful people have built theirs. Her own desire for community led her to the organization Girl Gone International, where she's thrived as the Shanghai-based Community Manager for Asia & Oceania. Along the way, she's had stints in Argentina, South Korea and Europe, and now she says that she might be ready for some time back in the US. But I'm not sure if I believe her. Given how good she is at the whole community-building thing, I think that her call to live overseas hasn't quite expired yet. Check out Michelle's podcast, "Pop Abroad" here, or by searching for it wherever you get your podcasts! You can also follow Michelle on Instagram at @PopAbroad. Learn more about Girl Gone International and search for a chapter near you by visiting them online, or on all of the social media places:   Facebook Twitter Instagram   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net); please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe! 

So you've made the leap. You're living overseas; living the dream. Now what? Once the honeymoon period ends, and friends back home stop being excited and impressed by your courageous leap to find your fortune in a foreign land, things start to get real. How do you build a life overseas? How do you thrive? Michelle Ibarra, APAC & Oceania Community Manager for Girl Gone International, interviews the women who are killing it overseas to learn how they did it. Season 1 is all about community- why we need it, how we can use it to get a leg up, and how the best community leaders make theirs work. Stay in touch and send us comments, suggestions or interview recommendations; we're on Instagram at @PopAbroad, or you can reach out by email: michelle.ibarra@migrationmedia.net Pop Abroad is a proud member of the Migration Media network. Follow us on Twitter at @MigrationMedia_ to learn about our other shows. Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Season 2 has wrapped, but I'm dropping this special bonus episode as a "Going On Hiatus" present. This past spring, I organized a Beijing chapter of Podcast Brunch Club, a global community of podcast enthusiasts who gather each month to talk about what they're listening to and share recommendations. To help things along, leaders provide a Listening List of podcast episodes that follow a topic, which the local chapters discuss when they meet. "It's like book club, but for podcasts!" June's topic, Understanding China, was a great opportunity for PBC members who live in the country to share their insights with folks in chapters around the world, so we planned to livecast our conversation. That didn't work out so well (because China- thanks GFW!), but we recorded the audio to share with them anyway, and I'm dropping it here! It was a lively discussion that featured a collection of expats/migrants and local Chinese who had lots to say about what western media gets right about China, and what they often leave out of their narratives.   To learn about PBC & to find a chapter near you, reach out to them online:   Web: https://www.podcastbrunchclub.com Twitter: @podcastbrunch Instagram: @podcastbrunch   Season 3 is coming in September! Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web (www.migrationmedia.net) and please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

This is it dear listeners. We've come to the end of yet another season- and what a ride it's been! When I began this experiment last summer I was searching for community. I was thinking a lot about the changes that I have gone through as I have spent more and more time overseas, and I was wondering if anybody else out there was going through the same thing. Now only have I discovered that the questions that have been coming up for me are nearly universal among people who choose to live overseas, but there is also precious little space for us to talk about them with each other. So this podcast has not only gained a small but growing audience, but it's become a passion project that has all but overtaken everything else in my life, and it's inspired some big changes, as you'll hear... To wrap up Season 2 of the show, I'm joined once again by amazing partner in life, Alisa Rutherford-Fortunati, to talk about the incredible shifts that have taken place in our lives over the last 6 months, and how our #MigrationStory is about to undergo a drastic evolution! Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

While growing up in his native Argentina, Brian O'shea never quite felt like he belonged, so it's no surprise that his idea of where "Home" is boils down the sum of an equation with ever-shifting values that works out to something like Home = Where You Are + Where Your family Is + Where the People You Care About Are. It's probably one of the most adaptable and relate-able definitions that I've come across so far- which makes sense, since Brian is one of the most adaptable and relate-able people that you can ever hope to meet. And it's those traits that have helped him achieve massive success as a vlogger in China, where he has tens of millions of fans who tune in to his videos. He's become what I like to call a "bridge person," someone is uniquely positioned to help connect people from different cultures, and he's created a space where Chinese people can learn about their own culture through his discovery of it. Check out Brian's videos all over the interwebs!   Weibo: https://weibo.com/u/6597965349 BiliBili: https://space.bilibili.com/85835398/ Douyin: - Download the app & search for "TasteBuds伶牙俐吃" Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tastebuds88 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0BXDhou4tbzJtEiX3WIglg "I'm A True Friend," [我的真朋友]: https://weibo.com/u/6530532954 Brian's interview with Spider-Man 2 Director Tom Watts & star Tom Holland:  https://m.weibo.cn/status/4382093716997040#&video    Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Jun Trinh never thought he'd be in China. As a half-Chinese kid growing up in Toronto he refused offers to take trips there with his family. He never went to Mandarin class. But now, 11 years after a detour during an around-the-world trip all but marooned him in Beijing, he's thinking about his next steps and reflecting on the internal voyage of self-discovery that he's been on since he's been there. His time in China has not only changed him, but he's had the very rare opportunity to make a visible, tangible impact on the culture. He's opened a successful restaurant that has blazed a culinary trail in the city's ultra-competitive, world-class F&B scene, and his talents even landed him on TV, first as a contestant and a judge on popular cooking shows, and then as a host of his own travel / cooking show. So how does one follow up such n incredible decade-plus stint like that? Could the only logical next goal be to become a yacht captain in the Mediterranean? Just who is this guy, anyway? Does he even know? If you're in Beijing, be sure to stop by Jun's restaurant, 4 Corners: https://tinyurl.com/BonApp-4Corners To see a snapshot of the vanishing, ancient hutong neighborhoods where Jun's restaurant is located, check out this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nosfbGhz-EQ    Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Alex Sherr didn't choose the #ExpatLife. His parents brought him from his native New York to Hong Kong while he was in high school, but he's taken to life as a foreigner with gusto. After graduation, he spent a gap year in Beijing learning Chinese, and never left. A year of college prep was followed by enrollment in Peking University's prestigious International Relations program, where he founded the Western Student Union. But beneath the globe-trotting and academic success (he scored a B in Marxist Theory and English), is something that is unusual to most of us, but is becoming much more common: A different sense of where "Home" might be than what many would recognize. If you leave your country of origin at 14, camp out in another country with your parents until the end of high school, then move on to another country for college while your parents move to another place that you have no connection to, how can you ever feel at home? It''s something that might sound frightening to many- it feels like something vital would be lacking. And while that might be true from a certain perspective, there are benefits, such as an unlimited horizon of possibilities. If you're not attached to a particular place, then there's nothing to prevent you from going anywhere.   NOTE: You can see the weird, corny Chinese propaganda video that Alex got spliced into here: https://www.cnn.com/2015/09/24/china/china-foreign-students-xi-dada/index.html   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

What it's like to want it all, to be able to live in 2 worlds at once? Like several other people who I've spoken with,, Gabe Clermont often feels like he's rooted in two worlds: His hometown of New York, and the place where he's been able to thrive professionally. In part 2 of our conversation, we touch on the challenges that feeling at home in multiple places can present. What does it mean to be a New Yorker at heart, but not feel like he has opportunity there? And why does he miss one city while he's in the other? Is he living an "overseas story," or a "migration story?" Is he living overseas because he's mission-driven, or has he been called to it? And at our core, what makes somebody want to make such a leap in the first place? NOTE: Check out episode #19 to hear my interview with Tanya Crossman to learn more about the 50 million people who live overseas and intend to return to their places of origin.   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Gabriel Clermont has a deep affinity for his hometown of New York, yet feels that it was kind of inevitable that he made the leap to living overseas, trading one global media hub for another. Each of his parents has an extraordinary #MigrationStory, and he "Didn't want to be the least adventurous person in [his] family." As familiar as living in a global hub is to him, when he arrived, he encountered a new kind of diversity, and, unlike New York, things weren't tailored specifically for your tribe or niche. You need to find a way to fit unto the systems and communities that are here- or you create one of your own. And while the very act of being able to move abroad shows how much agency one has, it doesn't mean that the path isn't riddled with obstacles, such as the Year 1, Year 3 & Year 5 hurdles that weed out many an adventurer. And how might these challenges differ for folks who go abroad at a different stage of life? Is it easier for kids to make the leap overseas straight out of college, or is it better to wait until you've had a chance to go through some of your formative young adult experiences within your home culture before doing so?   NOTE: To hear more about Eleanor Liu, Beijing's oldest expat, download episode #15!   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Barbara Chen got her first taste of China in 1989 (what timing!), fell in love, got married, and after a stint back in the US, has called Beijing home for the last 18 years. During that time she's raised a bi-cultural family and now works as a recruiter for an American university, helping Chinese kids make the leap to the west for their education. But, as she taught me, Chinese students who want to go overseas actually have to enter a western-style education system long before they even take the SAT. This required exit from the domestic system has created a kind of parallel world where Chinese kids end up code switching between school and home, essentially migrating internally before they migrate to another country. She also taught me a new term: "Cross-culture kids" Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Born in America, Mio Rudnicki grew up as a TCK, bouncing around the world as part of a multicultural family. In essence, she's been a migrant all of her life. So when she ended up in the US for high school and college, the experience that most of us take for granted was a huge culture shock for her. How do you navigate your daily life when you're surrounded by your fellow countrymen, but they're all completely and utterly foreign to you? It brings a whole new level of dread to that first day in the cafeteria when you're looking for a place to sit down for lunch. And after school is over, what then? How do you define yourself once the familiar social structures of educational institutions are gone? It's a problem that her engineering mind is just now starting to figure out. NOTE: If you haven't yet, be sure to listen to Episode #19 to hear my interview with Tanya Crossman, as it makes an excellent companion to this discussion!   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

I've often described Badr Benjelloun as the quintessential example of a "Renaissance Expat," and this was never more obvious than when he opened Cu Ju, Beijing's first (and only) Moroccan/Rum/Sports Bar in one of the city's 1,000 year-old hutongs (alleyways). It was seen by many as a living example of the unique cultural mash-up that can only happen when you bring together disparate peoples into a city full of migrants. His #MigrationStory, which includes a stint as the "Blogger of Record" tracking Beijing's dynamic music scene in the 2000s and 2010s, illustrates how migration enlivens and enriches a place, and how people who come from abroad bring new ideas, perspectives and cultural ephemera to a city, making it a more vibrant, enjoyable place to live.   If you're in Beijing, check out Badr's restaurant-bar-livehouse, Caravan:   https://caravanbeijing.com   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Born and raised on Russia's "Fish Tail" island of Sakhalin, Margarita Lukavenko got her first taste of foreign culture when she went to Malaysia as part of an exchange program at 16. Save for her final year of high school, she's been a migrant ever since- first as a student in far-off (and practically foreign) Moscow, and then as an educator and entrepreneur in China. As we discover in our conversation, this constant living outside of her place of origin has caused her to ask fundamental questions about her identity. It's something that happens to many of us, but we rarely talk about it in such an open manner. Leave it to a Russian to state bluntly what the rest of us only hint at.   Follow Margarita on Instagram to learn more about EduMatters & her work in the field of global education collaboration: @Margarita_GlobalLiving   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts.... and subscribe!

When I met Dr. Kate Bailey Gardner in Boston in the mid-1990s she felt, as she says, "Like a bit of a social outcast." The term "TCK" was still new and she was coming to terms with her identity as a kid raised overseas who had moved back to her passport country for college. She's been on a journey to find herself and what "Home" means for her ever since. It's a #MigrationStory that's taken her from Hong Kong & Singapore to Boston, then to Beijing, then back to Boston, then to West Hartford, CT, then, with her children in tow, to Shanghai, and, finally, back to Hong Kong again. Has she finally found her place? Could her place be right back where she started?   Listen to episode #021 to hear my interview with Kate's husband, Josh Gardner, and to get the flip-side of this family's migration story. Kate & Josh are an amazing couple and their parallel journeys of self-discovery, both at "home" and abroad, are a microcosm of what millions of other families are going through all around the world.   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

We humans have a deep need for community- none more so than we humans who are living outside of our places of origin. The power of community organizing is twofold: We not only make ourselves feel like we fit and belong in a place, but it also helps us discover more about ourselves. The overseas journey of my guest this week, Abe Sorock, began as a member of the Moishe House project, which sent him down a road of self-discovery. Did he help to organize the community, or did it organize him? His current with with the Global Shapers project is an extension of this idea- The need for community to help with mentorship. As Abe notes, with younger expats there are usually lots of folks around who are either in your age cohort or who are really senior. There is a shortage of mid-level role-models and advisers. So community is necessary... This current generation has witnessed massive change and has found themselves having to live in ways that nobody has taught them how to live. And this goes double for those of us who are living overseas. Then there's the challenging notion of people who have been outside of the US for the last decade as being "The Last Americans." Learn more about Moishe House & Global Shapers and find branches near you: https://www.moishehouse.org https://www.globalshapers.org Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

My good friend Adriana, who I have known since she first moved to China from her native Romania back in 2011, is a person I've always admired. From an early age she stood out from her cohort- people who came of age just as their country emerged from behind the Iron Curtain. She discovered Couchsurfing in its early days and was an active member of the community, constantly hosting visitors from abroad. Those interactions showed her that there was a big, fascinating world out there and she's been exploring it ever since, traveling through countless counties through the last decade. She sat down with me during my recent visit to Shanghai, and we had a deep discussion about the nebulous "thing" that seems to lie within everyone who chooses to migrate. Are we born this way? What triggers the desire to move, to explore ourselves by searching for new opportunities over the horizon? Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

It'd be tough to find someone who has had a more successful #MigrationStory than PT Black, but it's also one that you would not expect. He grew up in a famous Boston neighborhood, was able to get into top schools and then launch a career in international business in New York. But after watching the second plane fly into the World Trade Center from his apartment in Brooklyn, he felt like he needed to choose an alternate path. He landed in Shanghai just a few months later. Now, after a career in market research and development that has had him at the forefront of China's historic transformation into a modern world-leading economy, he finds himself reflecting on how he's changed from the "China Guy" to the "Guy Who Knows China," and whether there is a way for him to ever go "home" again. Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

As a child growing up in the predominantly white, John Hughes-ian suburbs outside Chicago (think Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club and Uncle Buck), Daphne Cheng rebelled against the expectations of her parents' native Chinese culture, but she also didn't identify with her surroundings. She chafed at taking Chinese lessons on weekends and had a tough time fitting in with the people and institutions in the area. This led to her always feeling like an outsider, neither part of her parents' culture, nor fully a part of America. So it's no wonder that today she's one of the incredible "bridge people" in China who are living connections between cultures. And for from not fitting in, she''s discovered a thriving community of fellow American-born Chinese ("ABCs") who, like her, are eager to turn their mixed heritage into a powerful lever that they can use to change the world.    Check out Daphne's company, Superhuman: http://www.daphnecheng.com/ Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daphnecheng_/ Learn more about the concept of Ikigai (生き甲斐): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai Here's where you can find Veg Planet, the project that brought Daphne to China: http://www.weibo.com/vegplanet   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

From the very start, Amelie Mongrain has been in places where she had to fit herself into her surroundings, which might be why she says that home is "wherever my two feet are." She's gone from a child of Quebecois parents growing up in rural northeastern Ontario, to a high school exchange student in Turkey, to big city life in Montreal for university, and then to Shanghai right after graduation. Then her real adventure began. From the typical party scene as one of the very few female expats in 1990s Shanghai, to building a business in the textile sector during China's manufacturing boom, to raising a son and then sending him off to university in a "home country" that he'd never lived in, she's done it all. Now she's on a whole new adventure: Empty-Nesting. It's a story of non-stop exploration and personal evolution, where even her chosen career has become a glorified excuse to travel the world and a vehicle for offering mentoring to young professionals in her field- something she never had in her early Shanghai days.   Bonus: For more insight into the unique culture of French Canadians in Ontario, check out this great story from the New York Times that was published just a few days after we recorded our interview: Ontario Has Francophones? Oui, Beaucoup, and They’re Angry   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Kira Sirois can kick my ass. At least that's the feeling that I had when we sat down for our chat. It's not that she's mean or puts off an "I'm ready to fight you" vibe. Rather, there's a "solid-ness" to her, an inner strength that demands to be recognized & dealt with. So what happens when a tough-as-nails military brat finds herself butting heads with a machismo-filled culture? Frustration, tat's what. Kira & I talk about her journey from bouncing around the US as a kid to the better part of a decade spent in Hawaii, then to her new life in Tasmania, and how she's done it all while staying true to herself. It's an engaging #MigrationStory filled with lots of twists and turns, and it opened my eyes to the extra level of difficulty that women can face when they strike out on their own. It's something that I've read about and have been able to intellectualize, but I've never sat down and talked with somebody who was able to so passionately communicate the essence of what it means to try to stand your ground when everybody around you just wishes that you'd stop it already.   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Today I’m presenting a live recording of a special event I did at the Beijing American Center at the US Embassy to China back in December, 2018 with my former Migration Media partners Mike Shaw and Chrislyn Choo, plus Cara Gleeson. We were introduced by Janice Englehart at the BAC, the event was organized by Leslie Dong, and my esteemed friend and colleague Jonathan Garrison was kind enough to moderate the discussion. Enjoy! BLOG: https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/home/bac-final

Richard Robinson isn't a guest on this week's show because of his status as a legend in Chinese entrepreneurial circles. Nor is it because we went to the same high school (though about a decade removed from each other). He's on because he represents a phenomenon among many expats that I've noticed within myself: We grasp onto and amplify the cultural traits that connect us to our places of origin. For myself and Richard, who hasn't lived in Boston since he was 18 years old, this still manifests as a distinct regional accent, a love of local sports teams and an identification with the "gritty" and "self-important" attitudes of our shared hometown. And this core identity endures for him even after years spent doing odd jobs all across Europe, Africa and Asia, right through his experiences building companies during he dawn of the social media & e-commerce industries in China, through marriage, divorce, re-marriage and raising a family to mentoring newer entrepreneurs and teaching at a major university in Beijing.   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Migratory Patterns' 2-part Season 2 kick-off continues as I chat with another one of my BFFs from college, Josh Gardner. Josh first traveled to China in the mid 1990s as an anthropology student where he almost died when he caught typhoid while conducting research in rural Yunan province. But this didn't deter him. He came back for a short stint after graduation, and then settled into a life of middle class bliss in West Hartford, CT where he ran a China-based sourcing business & made frequent trips back. But the call of the #ExpatLife never died down, so after over a decade of hard work, during which he achieved the American Dream, he and his family sold everything and moved over to China for good.   Follow Josh on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshagardner   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

Season 2 of Migratory Patterns kicks off with a twist: On a trip back to my hometown of Boston in December for my BFF's wedding, she took the reins of the show when we sat down to talk about what life overseas is like for me. I've known Virginia Johnson since she started college, and we've been close friends for 20+ years (my wife calls her my "sister-friend," which we both love). In our discussion, we explore how I feel about my own #MigrationStory through the questions of a loved one who has been "left behind." What was it like to make the move? What does it feel like when you come back for a visit? And what can't you talk about because you don't know how to? It was a much more challenging conversation than I thought it would be.   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Podbean or wherever you get your podcasts... and subscribe!

To wrap us Season 1 of Migratory Patterns we end where we began: by welcoming my amazing wife & partner, Alisa (Margaret!) Rutherford-Fortunati, onto the show. A lot has changed since we recorded what was supposed to be a test interview in early April. Now, one move across town, a Masters degree, and 19 episodes later, we sit down to... well, I don't know, really. Alisa surprised me with the topic, which was supposed to be a rap session about which of our memories anchor us to our individual identities, and what sensory experiences go along with them. As we quickly discovered, my brain doesn't hang onto experiences the same way that hers does, and the resulting conversation that we have about this clash causes us to reflect on what makes us feel safe and "at home," and how we're able to blend our lives together while each processing the migration experience in our own way.   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: migratorypatterns@migrationmedia.net    Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

When you consider that, according to the U.N., there are over 250 million people living outside of their country of legal residence, it's pretty shocking that there hasn't been very much social research conducted on them. This week's guest, Tanya Crossman, is one of the people trying to change this. 2 years ago she vented her curiosity and frustration at the lack of scientific literature on the subject into a large study of Third Culture Kids (TCKs) that became her revealing book, Misunderstood: The Impact of Growing Up Overseas In the 21st Century. In it, she explores the attitudes of Millennials who have grown up as TCKs,and uncovers some surprising trends, including the fact that 85%-90% of adult TCKs have a positive feeling about their childhood and that kids being raised overseas have more in common, and share more common cultural milestones, with other kids being raised overseas -no matter where they're living or where their parents are from- than they do with kids being raised in their "home culture," or even their parents! These trends, and the overall growth of the global migrant population, are direct challenges to traditional notions of things like home, patriotism and the very concept of a national identity being defined by one's citizenship within a nation-state.   Find Tanya's book, Misunderstood: The Impact of Growing Up Overseas In the 21st Century, here: https://tinyurl.com/Misunderstood-Book   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000 eMail: migratorypatterns@migrationmedia.net    Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts... and subscribe!

Like many people who choose to live overseas, Katie Capstick never imagined that she'd leave her home in the northwest corner of England... until a chance conversation with a Chinese student at university led to an internship with the U.N in Beijing. After 6 months in China she was hooked, and for the last year and a half shes been doing the "Expat Two-step," scrambling to find jobs that would allow her to stay in the country. Now she's got her sights set on following her passion of working for gender equality around the world, but will she do it as an "expat" or a "migrant?" Or do we need a new word that doesn't carry any of their baggage?   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @zax2000eMail: migratorypatterns@migrationmedia.net    Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net    Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on Apple Podcasts... and subscribe!

Sarah Peel is one of my Beijing friends from way back, and one of the friends who I admire the most. Originally from a small town in Ontario, she's lived near Hiroshima, Japan, Beijing, and has been in Shanghai for 6 years. We met for a drink at our favorite Beijing bar to catch up, and so that she could tell me the details of her #MigrationStory. She's got a teaching career that she's built from scratch, even though it wasn't a path that she ever saw for herself until she moved overseas, and an amazing daughter who she has raised into a pretty amazing person- all while navigating the crazy world of cross-cultural living, international marriage and divorce, and single motherhood in a foreign country. She's got wisdom to spare and a story we can all learn from.   If/when you're in Beijing be sure to check out Revolution Bar for the best casual cocktails & Cultural Revolution kitsch in the city:   https://tinyurl.com/Revolution-Beijing   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @MigrationMedia_ eMail: migratorypatterns@migrationmedia.net   Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

Today I can announce that I am honored to have been invited, along with my Migration Media cohort, to speak at the US Embassy here in Beijing on Thursday, December 13, in celebration of International Migrants Day. We've put together what should hopefully be a fun and fascinating evening, and I hope you’ll join us if you can. More information and the SIGN UP link are in the blog post below. BLOG POST: https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/home/bac

As if choosing the #ExpatLife wasn't a big enough change in one's life- imagine falling n love almost as soon as you get to your first new country. In one sense, taking a big life-changing leap may seem easier if you're thinking of doing it after just having taken another one, but all too often overseas relationships, especially those that come about during one's first year abroad, flame out. It's simply too intense of a period in a person's life, and there's way too much change going on, for things to turn out for he better. This week's guests, Cara & Liam are the exception that proves the rule. The couple met early on during their first stints as teachers in South Korea and have been together ever since. Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net  Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

This week's guest has seen it all. 99 year-old Eleanor Liu might very well be the oldest foreigner in China, who's been living the #ExpatLife since the early 1980s. Born in Tennessee in the days after WWI, she came of age in the American South during the Great Depression and WWII. In the years that followed she would graduate from university, get her Masters degree and meet the love of her life, John Liu, a decommissioned Chinese solider who had been stationed in The U.K. during the war. Their mixed marriage, raising of their family & opening one of the first Chinese restaurants in Indiana would be amazing enough, but that's just where her story begins. Eleanor and John eventually found themselves in Taiwan, and then Mainland China, within a few years of Deng Xiaoping's opening of the country in 1979. They built a home in what was then the outskirts of the city, and spent the next 20 years splitting their time between Beijing and the US. Now they're in Beijing full-time, where 4 generations share the courtyard house that they built so many years ago. Through it all, Eleanor's love of teaching has driven her and helped her make a meaningful impact, no matter where she's lived. She taught English to the first crop of Chinese students who were chosen to travel overseas for university after Deng's opening, and she's taught Tai Chi at a YWCA back in the US. And in this interview she teaches me that home is where you make your mark and where your loved ones are. Buy Eleanor's memoir, The Red Thread, here: https://www.amazon.com/Red-Thread-Eleanor-Liu-ebook/dp/B079K6NN7K  Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: mike.shaw@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net  Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

Those of us who live overseas naturally become observers of the cultures that we move into. Among the luckiest of all expats are those who get paid to share those observances. This week's guest, Malgo Blonska, is among those lucky few. In addition to being a teacher of history and yoga, she works as a freelance journalist for newspapers and radio in her home country of Poland, where her work focuses on explaining China and its culture to a population that has its own complex history with communism. This perspective makes for unique takes on the country and city that she now feels most at home in.   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: MigratoryPatterns@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net  Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

Ragini Kashyap's migration story has taken her all around the world- several times over. It's that upbringing, which has exposed her to cultures in the Middle East, India, Canada & the U.K., which has helped foster her desire to bridge the divides that so often separate people, while her deep love of food has given it form. Ragini's "Bordered Dinner" series is an idea that is as simple as it is powerful: Design a dinner menu centered around dishes from a region of the world that has been divided by geopolitical forces (most often by conflict). Then bring folks from both sides of the divide to sit down and revel in the common smells and flavors that continue to bond them, even though walls may have gone up between them.   Listen to the profile of Ragini's Bordered Dinners on PRI's The World here: https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-08-29/cross-border-meals-connect-people-countries-conflict   Ragini on...   The web: https://www.thirdculturecooks.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thirdculturecooks    Get in touch w/comments suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: MigratoryPatterns@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net    Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

Angela Kalberg was looking for adventure when she came to China. It was the second time that she'd migrated in her life; the first was when she moved -almost at a whim- from her home in Kansas to Arizona for college. So after 10 years in Phoenix, which included a career in social work, when she decided that she needed another change of scenery, China seemed like a great choice. And it has been, though it has presented her with the challenges that face most Asian-Americans when they migrate to Asia- they're perceived as being neither Asian or Western. And that's confusing.   Now she's experiencing a whole new aspect of the migration experience: Motherhood. What is it like to start a family while overseas? What are the fears and advantages? And can the separation from one's home culture actually make you feel closer to your local community than you would if you were back "home?"   Get in touch with comments suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: MigratoryPatterns@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

In this episode of “Big Fish Side Dish”, I sit down with Mike Shaw, the founder of Migration Media (MM) and host of “Migratory Patterns”, and Chrislyn Choo, fellow MM team member and the creator of her 2-pronged project “Chrysalis”, to discuss the MM platform, the proper launch of the 1.0 version of the MM website, our various shows, my NEW show “How China Works” with Yingying Li, and much more. Good fast talk. Enjoy! All links at the BLOG POST: https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/home/bfsd-mm

Aladin Farré is a Parisian documentary filmmaker and editor based in Beijing. He is also the host of “Middle Earth: China’s Cultural Industry Podcast”, a monthly show that I happen to like a lot. In this episode we discuss all of the above as well as Aladin’s experiences navigating his way into the Chinese film industry and the absolute necessity of finding a good local partner. Plus, I share some news about Migration Media, my new show with Yingying Li called “How China Works”, and more. Enjoy!  All links at the BLOG POST: https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/home/aladin

This week I'm chatting with the newest member of Migration Media, Chrislyn Choo! Her new vlog/docuseries, "The Chrysalis Chronicles," launches today and it follows her journey as she explores her family's roots across Asia. So how does a Jersey Girl wind up trekking around the globe in search of her identity? And how is her search changing her? It's a fascinating discussion that not only examines her own reasons for taking on this huge project, but it speaks to the mission of Migration Media: We are burning to tell the stories of migration in a world that doesn't seem ready to acknowledge it as an experience that gets more and more normal every day.   Check out The Chrysalis & subscribe here: https://www.chrislynchoo.com/chrysalis Chrislyn on Twitter: @chrislynchoo   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: MigratoryPatterns@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net  Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

There’s BIG NEWS coming from the Migration Media world over the next couple of months, and today’s show highlights a great interview you might’ve missed with Chrislyn Choo, one of the MM partners, recorded shortly after I first met her, along with a new introduction to give you the rest of the story since the initial release. This show is being released on the same day that Chrislyn is releasing her NEW blog / video series, THE CHRYSALIS CHRONICLES, linked below - it is fantastic and you should check it out now! The whole thing has been remixed, remastered, and re-contextualized to give you a cool new experience listening to it. Please enjoy, and check out Chrislyn’s new video series and blog via the links in the show notes!  Find all links at the BLOG post here: https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/home/cchoo2  

What do we lose when we migrate? Those of us who have the privilege of choosing to move overseas often talk about the great things that making such a big change brings to us, like new experiences, new friends, and new opportunities. But we also leave things behind- and that can be really hard. Life moves on for everyone back home, and nothing brings that into focus more than when a loved one dies while you're overseas. Dealing with grief is a universal experience, but how do you deal with it when you're separated from your family? What does it say about he choices that you've made? And do you reevaluate them? This week's guest, Joana Savedra, is asking herself these questions after a recent death in her family, and her thoughts offer a window into a subject that is not often talked about in expat circles... or by those we've left behind.   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: MigratoryPatterns@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net  Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

Sometimes the #ExpatLife can sneak up on you. This week's guest, Mariya Kuznetsova, had planned to do a couple of years at university in Beijing studying Chinese and international relations before she headed back to Russia. But an internship turned 2 years into 3, and then another, and another... Now 7 years later she's still going strong, having undergone profound changes along the way, looking very little like the woman who left Novosibirsk.   Towards A Compassionate Nation: https://www.tacn.org   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: MigratoryPatterns@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net  Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

My guest this week, Christiana Zhu, is a "returning foreigner." These are people who are first-generation nationals in one country who have migrated to the country that their parents originally left. Christiana's parents emigrated from China and raised their kids in New Zealand, and now she finds herself living in Beijing, starting a business and embracing her role as a "bridge person-' someone who can operate across cultures, helping each side understand the other. Lots of migrants feel like fish out of water. Or, at least, they're people who struggle mightily with their identity. But not Christiana. She's self-assured, goal-oriented, and knows exactly who she is and how she can use the skills that her origin story has given her to bring value to every situation that she finds herself in. I think that she's pretty bad-ass. I think that you will, too.   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: MigratoryPatterns@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net  Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

Bahamian Jared Dillet traded a life on the water for a life in the sand when he relocated from his native Nassau to Beijing, on the edge of China's Gobi Desert, 4 years ago. You can't really ask for a more radical geographic change than what he and is wife have gone through, but as he says, they've been pleasantly surprised at how quickly they've taken to the expat life. Having made the conscious decision move to overseas when they did, essentially as part of a career change after at least a decade of working on or in the ocean in some capacity, is proof that it's never "too late" to become an expat. And, as happened with him, once you take the leap, you may be surprised at just how much your life experience may have prepared you for all of the changes that come your way once you land in your new "home." Get in touch with comments suggestions or interview recommendations:   Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: MigratoryPatterns@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net    Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

Kerry Lin is a case study in how migration screws with traditional notions of "home" and identity. Born in France to an ethnic Chinese Cambodian and an Englishwoman, she doesn't claim to have "French blood," has almost no connection to Cambodia, and would never be accepted as Chinese. She tailors her response to the question "Where are you from?" to the person asking (she will tell a French person something different than a Chinese person, for example). Listening to Kerry talk about her journey, how it has shaped her, and what kind of a future she envisions for herself gives us a glimpse into how an ever-growing slice of humanity is thinking about themselves.   Gung Ho Pizza: http://gunghopizza.com/en/   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: MigratoryPatterns@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

Russians are some of the most interesting expats around. With a reputation for being ultra nationalistic, it's amazing that 9-10 million Russians, out of a total population of just under 145 million, have chosen to live overseas. This week I talk with Marina Barayeva, a marketing consultant from Yekaterinburg who, after years of traveling around the world, has found a home in Beijing. Her experiences, and the evolution of her concept of "home," are a testament to the power of migration to reshape people's lives, no matter what context they come from.   Listen to Marina's podcast, "Marketing for Creatives," here: http://intnetworkplus.com/category/marketing-for-creatives   Follow her on Twitter: @MarinaBarayeva   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: MigratoryPatterns@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net    Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

This week's interview was a complete surprise. When Nancy Zhou came over to my place for lunch, the plan was to hang out and catch up, but as we started to tell our respective Beijing arrival stories, I simply had to turn on the microphone and capture hers! Nancy was born in Beijing, but moved to Sacramento when she was 11, switched to Los Angeles for college, and stayed there for several years afterwards. Then, a family illness brought her back to Beijing for a visit- but the Sichuan earthquake in 2008 kept her here, and even forced a career change. Nancy shares what it was like to go from living in China, to growing up American, then to coming back as an adult. It's a complex story that challenges typical notions of identity and definitions of "home."   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: MigratoryPatterns@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

This week I'm sharing a conversation that I recorded back in April with Beatrice Zhang, one of my "First Year Friends." What's a "First Year Friend?" Listen in and I'll explain. Then, Beatrice and I talk about her journey from a small town outside of Guangzhou to her jet-setting life traveling around the world as a flight attendant, and her eventual landing in Seattle. Finally, Beatrice gives me yet another way to think of what "home" can mean, leaving me to ponder: Am I a Bostonian, a Beijinger, or both? And is that even possible?   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: MigratoryPatterns@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

With the launch of Migration Media last week it only made sense for my chief collaborator in this crazy scheme, Brendan Davis, to sit down so that we could take a deep dive into his migration story. What drives a guy from the American Deep South to strike out on a career in music, film and television in LA, and then ultimately follow those passions to China? The seeds may have been planted early on with an upbringing that featured lots of migration within the US, followed by a chance encounter in his teens with some Asian philosophy texts. The journey that followed has brought him to Beijing where is busy trying to find ways to bridge the cultural divide between East and West.   Brendan Davis' interview on the "Fei's World" podcast: https://www.feisworld.com/blog/brendan-davis Brendan Davis' interview of me on his podcast, "Big Fish In the Middle Kingdom": https://www.crazyinagoodway.com/home/2017/12/6/mike-shaw Brendan on Twitter: @VeritasInLux   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: MigratoryPatterns@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net   Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!

Mike Shaw and I are pleased to be co-announcing the launch of our new global expat platform, Migration Media. I am moving this show to the MM platform and Mike has just released the first episode of HIS new show, "Migratory Patterns", under this banner, too. There is lots in the works and MUCH more to come from not only us but from a whole host of contributors from around the world (!), so I/we hope you will become a friend and a fan and enjoy the journey with us. This special short episode will give you the basic information, but please check us out and friend us up at all the socials and other sites below to stay in touch! Get social with Migration Media at: Facebook: www.facebook.com/MigrationMedia.Global Twitter: twitter.com/migrationmedia_  Instagram: www.instagram.com/migrationmedia_global/ Soundcloud feed: soundcloud.com/migration-media Website: www.migrationmedia.net And check out Mike Shaw’s new show “Migratory Patterns” here: http://anchor.fm/migratory-patterns

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Migratory Patterns is now a part of Migration Media!   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MigrationMedia.Global Tiwtter: https://twitter.com/migrationmedia_ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/migrationmedia_global/ Soundcloud feed: https://soundcloud.com/migration-media Website: www.migrationmedia.net 

We kick off the Migratory Patterns podcast with the most important expat in my life: my amazing wife, Alisa Rutherford-Fortunati! Far from an act of nepotism, I used this interview to have a long-overdue deep dive into what motivated her to leave home, drive across the US alone, move to New Zealand and eventually end up in Beijing... where she married me! Alisa's story is awesome and she spins a great yarn. So sit back and enjoy her tale of searching for a place to call home; its a journey that many international migrants are on.   Hear all f the details about how I began my own journey to the #ExpatLife, as well as the full story of how Alisa and I met on Episode #29 of the Big Fish In the Middle Kingdom podcast: http://bigfishmiddlekingdom.libsyn.com/029-from-boston-to-beijing-mike-shaw   Get in touch with comments, suggestions or interview recommendations: Twitter: @MigrationMedia_eMail: MigratoryPatterns@migrationmedia.net  Check out all of the shows in the Migration Media network on the web: www.migrationmedia.net    Please take a moment to "Like" us and leave a review on iTunes... and subscribe!