Geopats Abroad : Living overseas conversations

Send us Fan MailHave you ever wondered why your immigrant parent(s) didn't prepare you for being a global citizen? Chelsea thought this when she was struggling in her first expat place. Over time she began to understand the distinct difference between her mother's immigrant experience and her expat one. In this conversation, we unpack the lasting impression that Chelsea's mom had on her expat life and which influences she kept and discarded. Original publication date: August 27, 202200:00 – Growing Up With Immigrant Parents 02:25 – Moving Abroad During the Pandemic 04:50 – Leaving China for Thailand 07:15 – Stability, Jobs, and Expat Life 09:40 – Becoming a Pandemic Parent Abroad 12:05 – First Expat Experience in China 14:30 – Teaching Abroad After University 16:55 – Why Staying Abroad Makes Sense 19:20 – American Work Culture vs Expat Life 21:45 – Having a German Mother in America 24:10 – Language Loss and Assimilation 26:35 – Immigrant Parents and Identity 29:00 – Raising a Third Culture Child 31:25 – Seeing Immigration Through Expat Life 33:50 – When Everything Comes Full CircleMore: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailHow much do our immigrant parents impact our adult expat experiences? This is what we're exploring in this conversation with return guest Alison. Alison and I dig into growing up with two unequal cultures in one household, the racial struggles she's seen in many countries during her years living outside of her passport country of the U.S. and her coming to terms with the differences between her mother's immigrant experience and her own expat life. Original publication date: August 26, 2022More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailQuestions about family can be triggering if the experience was not ideal. This is one of the reasons that Steph's talked about her family in tiny drips here and there but not in depth. But it felt disingenuous to ask other expats to open up about their early family life growing up with immigrant parents without diving into these experiences herself. So to help with this tabled turned interview, Melissa was kind enough to hop in and guide the conversation. Melissa's podcast: Tired In My Twenties: https://tiredtwenties.substack.com/Original publication date: August 29, 2022More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailHave your immigrant parents ever visited you in any of your expat places? Georges' parents have and it shifted how he understood their struggles moving from Greece to Canada. We cover a lot more ground on his parents' immigrant story and how it has both positively and negatively influenced his own expat experience. Original publication date: July 28, 2022More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailThis episode is really special for me. Last month for NaPodPoMo I had the extreme pleasure of chatting with Damon Castillo for this episode. Yes, THE Damon Castillo of the Mess of Me album that we've been using for the past 2 years in all of the Geopats Podcast Network shows. We talk about the longevity of the Damon Castillo Band, his geopatness, my favorite song on the Mess of Me Album (Saint Cecilia), his recording studio in San Luis Obispo, what music he listens to and some creative struggles. In short, we cover the elements that make up the language of music, lovely, lovely music. Original publication date: December 24, 2020More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailKen Hirano was born in Japan but his family moved to the U.S. before he started school. He returned to Japan to live a few times in his life, and now is one of them. He moved back to Tokyo about a year ago and recently (wrote a post on LinkedIn) on this geographic anniversary about his cultural and language identity. And that is what we are digging into today. This identity path took us through how he feels in different languages, why he feels more simple and defenseless in Japanese than English, how Japanese locals versus expats in Japan treat his Japanese & Americanness and where he is the most comfortable. Spoiler: none of these issues have a clearly defined answer and that is what made this nuanced discussion with Ken so interesting to have. Original publication date: September 28, 2020More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailAlison Maciejewski made me think long and hard about food photos in our shifting expat lives. How does our wanderlust come through online? But the conversation is not all serious, we have some fun comparing emoji options on Line (in Thailand) and WeChat (in China), what and where “ugly delicious food” is, and how using teen dramas are a good way to learn the Thai language.original publication date: December 13, 2018More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailHas a song ever carried you through a rough time in your life? That's exactly what happened to British international Karl when he moved to Denmark. original publication date: November 12, 2018More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailCan you imagine taking 35,000 photos in one year? Photographer Thomas Sandfield did this his first year in Hong Kong. Join us on this Expat Rewind show for a flashback to this first year as an expat for Thomas and all the flicker fun he had.Original publication date: September 4, 2018Thomas Sandfield:https://www.instagram.com/thomassandfieldMore: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailLanguage podcaster Craig is from the UK but has been podcasting in Spain for many years. Alternatively business podcaster Pilar has the opposite geographical podcasting experience being from Spain and podcasting from the UK for a long time. And yet they found each other and created a podcast about the scene in Spain some years ago. In this conversation with Craig and Pilar we dig into what they learned about podcasting in these two countries, how the space has changed since their podcast was live and how indy podcasting differs from business podcasting. These two folks are knowledgeable and are tapped into the space in a passion led way so there's a lot to learn from them. Let's get to it!Pilar's podcast: Adventures in PodcastingCraig's podcast: InglespodcastTheir podcast on the Spanish podcasting space: https://enclavedepodcast.wordpress.com/Original publication date: July 22, 2022More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIf you've ever wondered what it's like to live, work, and podcast in Kathmandu, Nepal, this episode are for you!Big & White, their podcasting nicknames, are two American Linguists who, until very recently were living in Nepal and creating a rather hilarious audio account of their daily lives. Their episodes covered much of what expat podcasts cover like food, weather, language, and cultural differences but there is an extra kick to their podcast. Their connection and how they bounce off each other is so much fun to listen to. This is the main reason I became a fan of The Big & White Podcast in the first place and definitely why I asked to interview them for the show.Don't worry, we also talk about podcasting bits like technology, social media, podcast learning curve, editing, audience feedback, Nepali podcasts, guests, and advice for new Podcasters also. But this conversation is a bit more free-flowing than some of the other Geopats Podcasting episodes because we dipped into some of their content topics too like their visual stickoutness in Nepal (thus the name of the podcast), weight lifting and so much more.And since they are Linguists that were doing field work all over Nepal, there is an episode coming on Geopats Language podcast with that geeking out aspect as well.Original publication date: January 19, 2021More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailDavid Humphreys and Melissa Joulwan are the hosts of Strong Sense of Place, a podcast and web site dedicated to literary travel and books with vivid settings. In each episode of their show, they explore one destination and talk about what makes that place different from everywhere else on earth. Then they recommend books set in that destination and talk to a special guest.Original publication date: March 6, 2020More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailWhat do you do as an expat when your life goal is to collect and share experiences and information? You start a podcast! And that is exactly what American expat in Germany Nicole Palazzo did just after her first year in Freiburg, Germany. We recorded this mini episode on the new Podbean Live app, which was in Beta version. There were some technical issues but we pushed through and I think there is so much useful and interesting information in Nicole's audio story. In fact, she is going to come back and in the future and update us on her expat podcasting life and adventures. Hurrah. ​Original publication date: September 26, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailYuki and I sat down to have this conversation far too long ago. Life has been crazy and, to be honest, I even stopped drinking coffee for awhile. So it felt weird publishing this episode during that time.But things feel a little more frothy these days, so here it is! And here SHE is:)Yuki has sought out, enjoyed and brewed coffee in many locations globally. She's more known for her Book Nerd Tokyo Instagram account cause she's also a bookworm (yet another reason to adore her) but you'll often see coffee in her IG posts as well.Cause books and coffee go very well together.But if you're reading this, you are well aware of this glorious pairing.Let me tell you a few things you don't already know.Original publication date: February 9, 2022More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailErin and I met in Vietnam many years ago, the place where both of our coffee obsession hit a peak, so it only made sense to have her on the podcast. In this episode we dive into her coffee explorations in Australia, many countries in Asia, Italy and Canada. Original publication date: July 24, 2020More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailTravis lived in Germany and the Czech Republic for 20 years and podcasts about history on podcastnik.com. After talking about alchemy and witches as a ghost-tour guide in Prague, he teamed up with Pete Collman to figure out podcasting as a medium to tell stories from history. Travis has a long and complicatedly long adoration with coffee that started in his childhood upbringing in Germany. Now, he now lives in Oregon, where he partakes in specialty and 7-11 coffee.Original publication date: June 19, 2020More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailMarielle is a Data Scientist in Berlin. She is also a long-distance coffee farmer because her family started a coffee farm in our ancestral home in the Philippines (in Mankayan, Benguet). They practice organic and sustainable Agroforestry and they hope to one day export their coffee through a transparent supply chain.Original publication date: February 29, 2020More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailAna Blackstad has experienced coffee culture in so many different places that I ran out of ink during our chat yesterday. Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit but seriously, Ana moved to Prague, Czech Republic only 3 years ago but she has made the caffeinated most out of her time there by exploring both local Prague cafes (many of which are listed down below) and those in neighboring countries like Italy, Greece, the UK, Norway, Finland and Turkey. Her love of this beany goodness comes through loud and clear. Ohhhhh, just wait until you reach the part where she describes the best latte she ever had. She speaks of “peak coffee experiences” and the “theatricality” of cafes so eloquently that I think we should all adopt this vocabulary to share the coffee goodness going forward. Who’s with me on this idea? Original publication date: October 25, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailLanguage, love, identity, everything shifting at once. Two Americans who barely traveled before the Peace Corps ended up mastering Albanian, building lives in tiny towns, and falling for a place that completely changed how they see themselves. Their stories about learning Albanian in real Albanian villages, picking up slang and dialects, switching between Albanian and Greek, and figuring out daily expat life through immersion and community are wild, and honestly it reminded me how much language is tied to belonging. If you want to hear what fluency looks like when it grows out of real life in Albania, not textbooks, and how learning a language can change who you are, listen to the full episode.Original publication date: March 21, 2021More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailLanguage can be a lens into culture, a way to share our experiences and a tool to help others. These are some of the aspects of language that we discuss with guest Elizabeth Gowing. She worked in primary education in inner London before moving to the Balkans in 2006. From then until very recently she split her time between Kosovo, Albania and the UK. During her time in the Balkans she immersed herself in many of the languages used there and shares the cultural insights that she learned. One of these experiences while she was in Kosovo was co-founding the http://theideaspartnership.org/wp/ (Ideas Partnership) non-profit. She is also the owner of the https://www.facebook.com/sapuneKS (Sapune social enterprise), offering employment to village and minority community women and support to the education of their children. Elizabeth is also an author of five travel bookshttps: www.elizabethgowing.com/my-books and has translated two books from Albanian. Original publication date: March 5, 2021More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIf you've ever wondered what it's like to live and do linguistic research in Kathmandu, Nepal, this episode is for you! Big & White, their podcasting nicknames, are two American Linguists who, until very recently were living in Nepal and creating a rather hilarious audio account of their daily lives on their podcast (the https://bigwhitepodcast.libsyn.com/website (Big & White podcast). Their connection and how they bounce off each other is so much fun to listen to. This is the main reason I became a fan of The Big & White Podcast in the first place and definitely why I asked to interview them for the show. This episode is a part of a podcast pair. How apt. Original publication date: February 9, 2021More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailOn September 30, 2020 I was thrilled to lead a language learning Podcasters panel for International Podcast Day. You can watch the video of this panel on YouTube, https://youtu.be/hR8fr0Hapo0, OR you can listen to this on this episode. Thank you to Dave and Steve, the geniuses behind IPD, for holding yet another amazing year's sessions of Podcasters from around the world. And for allowing us to use the audio versions of our panel on our podcasts. Since you are language lovers, you may want to check out the other IPD sessions on YouTube IN other languages. Steph Fuccio (USA, Germany): https://www.coffeelikemedia.com/Chenelle Patrice Hancock (USA): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chenelles-language-learning-journey-podcast/id1379919326Kerstin Cable (United Kingdom): https://www.kerstincable.com/Azren the Language Nerd (Canada): https://www.youtube.com/c/azrenthelanguagenerdOriginal publication date: October 13, 2020More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Steph Cook of Transcontinental Overload is kind enough to ponder 3 aspects of German that strike me (Geopats Steph) as strange. Her insights and humo(u)r about these differences is a sheer delight. You will never hear the German language in the same way again. Original publication date: July 17, 2020More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan Mail​As a writer and playright, words are what Jeremy Tiang uses to share his ideas about the world and all of its ambiguity. In his prose he addresses issues of identity, culture, and the boundaries of what we think these things mean. His upbringing in Singapore was multicultural and yet it was not. So much so that when asked what his first language is he replies, “It is complicated” and it is easy to see why.​Singapore, very much like Jeremy and very much like most curious, discerning people such as yourself (yes, listeners, I am talking about you), is in a state of constant change. This change includes how it shares itself with the world and Jeremy plays a part in how we see both Singapore and its people, especially, if I understand it right, those who are not often portrayed in the national narrative. original publication date: October 9, 2018More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailLiv is in an interesting language experience right now. She grew in New York City using Cantonese with her Southern Chinese mother and some Mandarin Chinese with her Taiwanese father. She then picked up Spanish and English in her diverse NYC environment. She has traveled extensively and has learned a few more languages along the way. But it is now, while living and working in Shanghai, China, that she is faced with a myriad of language AND cultural obstacles that she feels the most challenged by.Original publication date: June 16, 2018More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIn December 2019 my dear friend Shannon Martin and I sat down and recorded an episode about The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. We were so intrigued with the book that we wanted to repeat the process with the more autobiographical version of the book, A Moveable Feast.And then we both left China and you know what happened.We did record this follow up episode in mid-2020 but life was still hectic. So here it is, nearly a year later. Thank you to Shannon for being so patient during this time.Original publication date: June 5, 2021More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailLove, loss,new beginnings, it's what we think of when we dream of moving abroad. But what about expat circle gossip or food culture shock moments. We rarely talk about those moments. Author Antonella does though, in her touching book, Parsley & coriander: Life in China with Italian flavor, which is set in Suzhou, China. Join us for the wild ride. Original publication date: December 20, 2020More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailOne year ago today Nicole from the Expat Cast, former guest and guest Host Tatjana and I discussed the book Schadenfreude, a Love Story: Me, the Germans and 20 Years of Attempted Transformations, Unfortunate Miscommunications, and Humiliating Situations That Only They Have Words for in an episode. After I moved to Berlin, Germany I posted a photo of my neighborhood and Tatjana reminded me that this street was mentioned in the book. I decided tor reread the book and also reached out to the Author to see if we could ask her some questions. We are so thrilled that she said yes. This episode is the conversation that I had with Rebecca about her book, with prerecorded questions from Nicole and Tatjana, of course. Original publication date: July 27, 2020More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailWelcome to the bookish world of Japan. Guest Host Tatjana from Craving Expat Life chats with Yuki from Book Nerd Tokyo about Japanese books, specifically Banana Yoshimoto’s “Kitchen” in this conversation. They explore Yuki’s life between Japan and the USA as well as Tatjana’s discovery of Japanese literature, translations, and stereotypes. Original publication date: May 29, 2020More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailDo you read about a place before traveling there? Yup, so do we. By we I mean Mel and Dave, two American expats living in Prague, Czech Republic and Creators of the Sense of Place Podcast. Oh, and myself. In a few podcast episodes Mel and Dave have already perfected the art of diving deep into a place via books and the people who love them. Original publication date: February 21, 2020More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan Mail​Years ago an expat friend of mine made a comparison with the Lost Generation in Paris in the 1920’s and Western expats in Asia in the early 2000’s and I have never forgotten it. Shannon Martin returns to the Geopats Podcast for a dive into Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” book about his slice of the Lost Generation so that we can dig into this expat generation comparison with about 100 years time difference between them. We will be following up with a conversation about Hemingway’s more autobiographical version of “The Sun Also Rises”, “A Moveable Feast” in 2020, when both of us will possibly be living in Western Europe. Original publication date: December 13, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIn this podcast episode, I am honored to talk with Tina Kanagaratnam about the book The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. Tina is a Bookish Expat with both strong literary and historical knowledge of China. I have been to a number of bookish events in Shanghai where Tina has joined in to provide some historic context to the texts that we were discussing. Every time I have blown away by how knowledgeable, insightful and personable she is. Tina is one of those people that balances intelligence, perspective and humor perfectly. Original publication date: August 23, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailWhat do you get when you have two American Expats and one German Expat talk about a book by a former American Expat living in 1990’s Former East Germany? This culturally windy episode dripping with heaps of blasted stereotypes, linguistic gems and lots of laughter. We are delighted to have Nicole Palazzo, Host of the Expat Cast Podcast on the show today. Original publication date: July 26, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailThe Global Soul by Pico Iyer is a seminal geopat book. Stephanie and Summer (Steph’s Co-Host on the new podcast Creatively Complicated) dig into this book in a very big way. This is not a regular episode because Steph is not interviewing Summer about her reading story but instead they are discussing both of their reactions to this book. Summer read this book for the first time recently thanks (or no thanks, lol) to Steph’s persistent recommendation and Steph tried to reread it for the first time since she fell in love with it in 2002. Original publication date: July 5, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIn the podcast episode we chat with Tatjana, in her words “a German married to an Indian-Chinese - or Chinese-Indian depending on the mood of the day”. Tatjana grew up wanting to live in different countries, so she went into Hospitality in order to do so. Of course, at the same time she read voraciously. In fact, while living in Dubai, one of the six cities she has called home thus far, she met her husband. Just before she moved to India to be with him she started reading the works of Indian Author Chetan Bhagat. And thus began her bookjucation of India and Indian culture. I was fortunate enough to sit down with Tatjana in my home in Shanghai and chat about some of Chetan’s books that had an impact on her life in India. We also dig into her bookology, her favorite books and places to read them and so much more. Original publication date: May 31, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIn the podcast episode we chat with Evo Terra . Some of you might remember him from season 2 of the Bangkok Podcast with Co-Host Greg Jorgensen, However, Evo’s podcast history goes back much farther than this. In fact, one of his podcasts was the 40th podcast of all time (there are rumored to be about 700,000ish podcasts listed in Apple Podcasts right now) and he wrote the first Podcasting for Dummies books. We recorded this interview about the time of his one year reverse culture shock anniversary (exexpatsary?) returning to the U.S. after living in Bangkok, Thailand for a few years. He selected the book, Working With The Thais to talk about.Original publication date: April 23, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailCan social media ground us and make us feel more at peace in this crazy world? This conversation with Tania from Swahili Secrets will present an answer to this question that is not common but very refreshing. Tania was born in Kenya and moved around a lot. Her geographical footprint includes 4 other African countries, Thailand, Austria and Germany. Although she calls Germany home, her heart and her projects revolve around Kenya. In this conversation we follow her online journey from her first chat room all the way through to her current day Instagram world. This IG space includes the travel services of Swahili Secrets, the African inspired merchandise of Bantu Sisters, and the community oriented The Kenyan Kind. In this conversation we chat about:her amazing geographical trajectoryher first experiences online & her current onlinenessprivate and public social media choiceshow her online posting habits have changedthe online lessons she’s learned over time Original publication date: April 2, 2021More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan Mail​Has music ever soothed your soul and made you feel connected again? Yes, me too. And it sounds like the same happened to James when he was an expat for well over a decade. He is back in his home country now so his perspective on his time in the Czech Republic and China are especially poignant. As is the origin story for his intensely researched and impressively sounding podcast, the Centuries of Sound. Original publication date: July 18, 2020More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan Mail “...they say that it gives them a perspective of Germany from outsiders eyes. That was a surprise for me.” Shaun, Host of Expat Life GermanyThe Germany Experience (formerly Expat Life Germany) is one of those podcasts that you listen to as you are doing something else (for me I was cleaning the apartment) and then find yourself stopping, grabbing a drink and sitting down to listen. Why? Because the authentic, thinky conversations that Host Shaun has with his guests are so calm and intriguing that you want to give them your full attention. This is exactly why I had to reach out to Shaun and ask him to join us on this new Expat Podcasters show.Original publication date: September 30, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan Mail"I actually believe that China is about 15 times more advanced in the usefulness (with social media) than the United States." Keturah Kendrick. Keturah’s online activities changes a lot when she moved to China, but not in ways that you think. Keturah is an intelligent, articulate and delightful person to talk to. I met her at a Podcast Creators meeting in Shanghai, China a few months ago and knew instantly that she needed to be on this podcast for y'all to meet. Her honesty on her online activities pre and post moving to China is really interesting. Keturah is now back in New York City in the U.S. doing her book tour for "No Thanks" and suffering through the adjustments of not using WeChat and the other mobile conveniences in China that she aptly describes in this conversation. Original publication date: September 27, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIn this episode I am pleased to welcome Yunus Emre Karasakal, a Turkish expat in Shanghai, China. Yunus is a Brazilian JiuJitsu (BJJ) Instructor here in Shanghai as well as an Abu Dhabi World Pro Masters Champion (Brown Belt) and an IBJJF Asian Open Champion (Brown and Black Belt). Yes, for the language geeks, he gives BJJ instruction in English and Chinese and yes, we chatted about him coming on the Changing Scripts show soon, don’t worry. Yunus is the first expat I’ve talked to that spends more time on his host country’s social media platforms than the ones he used before moving abroad. The platform he uses the most is the very popular Chinese video app, Douyin, which has an outside of China app spin off called Tiktok. He brings BJJ to a funny level on this current platform. If you don’t have Douyin, don’t worry, you can still see some of his videos on Instagram. Original publication date: September 13, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIn this podcast episode, I chat with Ting, a Third Culture Adult who is currently interviewing fellow TCKs and TCAs about their experiences. I first heard about her project when I went to a TCK event in Shanghai earlier this year. During this event Ting shared her experiences living in China, Singapore, the U.S. and Hong Kong- all before she graduated from college. She had, as many geopats do, a complex mix of conflicting emotions and experiences connected to this multicultural identity. More on her story in a moment.Original publication date: August 16, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIn this podcast episode we chat with Brendan Davis, an American expat who has lived in China for many years. Brendan is a Film and TV Writer, Producer, Director and fellow Podcaster. His podcasts are: If I Knew You Better, Big Fish in the Middle Kingdom and How China Works. Brendan somehow has kept grounded as has been involved with some pretty spectacular creative projects globally. Okay, to be honest, he is a bit crazy, good crazy, as his website, https://www.crazyinagoodway.com admits to. The kind of crazy that you want in your life and in your earbuds. In this conversation Steph and Brendan chat about how his move to China changed what he did online, how he is splitting his time now that he has decided not to work IN China but will continue to keep a home base (and an Internet connection) here, and how he cultivated his crazy in a good way online persona while being a deep, thought provoking and may I say, wonderful human being.Original publication date: June 21, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIn this podcast episode we chat with Kelly Merks, a Texas expat who has lived abroad since 2011, in Japan and in the Netherlands. Her Twitter bio tells is: “A Texan full of fernweh (NOTE: “fernweh is a German word that means “ A Farsickness or Longing for Unseen Places.). Noob knitter and clay thrower. Fairy godmother of @WeAreXpats, a project of @xpatarchive: http://wearexpats.org “​​@WeAreXpats is how Kelly and I first met online and connected over discussions of place, social medianess and expat life. For those of you not familiar with rocur accounts, they are rotating accounts where usually 1 person in that category (in this case, an expat) tweets for a week and then the account will rotate to another person after that. Kelly started this rocur account while she was a volunteer at the Expatriate Archive Center in The Hauge where she now is their Public Relations Manager. Outside of the EAC, Kelly also is raising a tiny human with her husband and somehow finds time to write about her geographic pondering in her blog, Bullet Trains & Bike Lanes.Original publication date: May 14, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIn this podcast episode we chat with China-United States Binational Documentarian Hao Wu about how his movement between these two countries has affected what he has done online, both in personal and professional capacities. Hao grew up in China and has had healthy movement from China to the U.S. and back in his adult life. Although he is currently based in New York City, he admits that he is most interested in stories about China.​One of these China focused projects, People’s Republic of Desire, is about the Chinese live streaming platform YY and specifically about two popular Hosts on the platform. This documentary was screened in Shanghai, where I am currently living, earlier this year. Shannon Martin of Podbean and our local Host of the Podcast Brunch Club was there as well. In fact, during the screening and for days after the event, Shannon and I exchanged ideas, questions and ponderings about the documentary. We are very grateful that Hao was kind enough to agree to an interview so we could ask him about when the Internet became an integral part of his daily life, how creating a documentary about the trials and tribulations of live streaming for years affected his own online activities and the how his online tasks change, even now, when he flies from the U.S. to China and vice versa. Note: Hao’s latest project, All In My Family, about his alternative family journey from within a traditional Chinese family structure, is on Netflix May 3rd, 2019.Original publication date: April 20, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIn this podcast episode we chat with long term China Expat Andy Curtain about his geographical movement from Melbourne, Australia to Shanghai, China and what effect it had on his online activities/presence. Even though he was online quite early in Australia with IRC and ICQ, he admits that most of his current online activities have been utility based, focusing on his stand up comedy promotions and community building. ​As a fellow Content Creator (and Influencer, lol), I find it very interesting that the making of his podcast, Stuck in the Middle, helps him process his own comedic material. There is so much to say about Andy, the deep impression he has made on the stand up comedy scene in China and his own business savvy that has impacted how I think of my own creative endeavors on and offline in the short time since this interview took place. But for now I will just say thank you Andy for coming on the show and sharing your story. Original publication date: April 9, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIn the Podcast episode, we talked to Tanya Crossman, author of Misunderstood The Impact of Growing Up Overseas in the 21st Century about her experiences learning and using Mandarin Chinese since she was a teenager. Tanya has a deep connection both to Chinese culture and language but her language story does not stop there.Tanya's website: https://www.tanyacrossman.com/Original publication date: April 1, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIn this podcast episode we chat with Eva Yoo, a Korean Tech Journalist who has lived in the U.S., the UK, Ecuador, Israel and China. Last year she completed an 8 month cycling trip from Shanghai, China to the UK, along the ancient Silk Road.During this trip she did many interviews with people working in startups. But Eva is so much more than the sum of these actions: she is a kind, thoughtful and curious person who makes the balancing of IRL and VRL (offline and online lives) look easy and I greatly admire her for that. Original publication date: March 26, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailIn this episode we chat with Alexandra Talty, an American who has lived on and offline in Italy, the Dominican Republic and Beirut, Lebanon, where she has been based for 4 years now. Over the years Alexandra has taken full advantage of online opportunities available via blogs/blogging, social media platforms, and YouTube.She maintains a healthy IRL-VRL (online-offline) balance with regular social media fasts and by participating in and hosting online groups that meet in person. She is very honest and candid about her experiences being a foreign, American, female Journalist and all of the advantages and disadvantages those pieces of her identity invite as she works online while living abroad. Original publication date: March 5, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio

Send us Fan MailTHIS WEEK we chat with Greg from the Bangkok Podcast . Greg moved from his passport country of Canada to Thailand 17 years ago. His IRC chatroom habits at home changed quite a bit since this move and we try to sort out (Canadian vowel here folks!) if it was the changing digital landscape or his move to another country (and all of the cultural and social changes that go with the expat experience) that brought on these changes, including writing his blog, Greg to Differ and creating the Bangkok Podcast.Original publication date: February 12, 2019More: https://linktr.ee/stephfuccio