Foreign, Or

Check out our convo with Tien Chi Fu, Taiwanese-American producer, writer, and director. Episode description below, stylized as a screenplay.    Enter TIEN, (30s), a fast talker who’s into unhinged behaviors and sub-subcultures.    We begin in 90’s Taiwan, musing on how growing up in the ‘middle-of-nowhere’ came with its own unique cultural self-esteem.   FADE IN 周杰倫 Jay Chou | 夜曲 Nocturne CU...

Allow me to introduce you to Lee, American-born ForeignOr, at your service. From military training in Philadelphia to co-op living with the hippies in Santa Barbara, Lee brings a balanced voice in a world of extremes. After more than twelve years in Shanghai riding fixies and running corporate charity initiatives he left to find his new purpose. Today he's volunteering full time on the border of U...

You just can’t keep up with a Hero. Olivier Dressen , aka Hero , is a multidisciplinary artist that just can’t stop working. “To be an artist is to be cursed,” he muses, and it’s clear that the curse of creativity will not let this Belgium-born Bangkok resident rest. From gypsy roots to indie film fame, Olivier has creative-directed multinational teams from Paris to Shanghai to LA and beyond. We t...

My host sister from China, Shan Shan Nie , is a lot to live up to. With a masters’ from Harvard, a corporate job leading leaders, and a newly published novel this Sichuan-born beauty embodies the American dream. In our chat we go from rebelling to excelling, hacking the ACT/SAT exams, using higher education to serve a purpose, and self-financing your dreams. We also nerd out on crafting characters...

Urmi Hossain is the perfect brown girl. At least that's what her Bengali parents want her to be— and like many Southeast Asian women she still struggles against those rigid cultural norms. We talk to this third culture kid about growing up in Italy, Muslims in Montreal, and the family expectations that led her to fight for women's empowerment. Bonus: get some Toastmaster tips on public speaking in...

In part one we introduced some of your juiciest scammer stories. But in part two we had to ask ourselves: were these ForeignOrs really scammed? Or did they just learn some tough lessons about life abroad? Judge for yourself as Dill gets arrested, Renzo gets off scot-free, and Bob continues to twist trust in a fairytale place called Nomadland.

Living a somewhat disjointed life filled with translations and transient people ForeignOrs can make a perfect target— or unknowing accomplice— in a scam.  In part one we dive into pyramid schemes, a cariñoso con artist who cheats friends out of their money, and 'Bob-types'— enigmatic serial entrepreneurs who prey on digital nomads.  

Say hello to Tavey, our Blues Brother who used to 'sunlight' as an ESL teacher. A Taiwanese-American turned Beijinger, this bar boss always comes correct in business casual... but he might botch his exit and end up sleeping on your couch.   Now, a surprise move back to the U.S. has this pandemic repat reinventing himself once again. Listen to Tavey cogitate on TCM fire massages, the Fukienese pira...

IrishBrit Dillon King spills on bootlegging in boarding school, starting  whisky clubs in China, and how independent cask trading actually works. Now Dill is a burgeoning viral video star spitballing on spirits in Mandarin.    

ForeignOrs all over the world are drinking too much. By using alcohol abroad some find it easier to socialize, to relax, to escape. In "Sovereign" an anonymous expat abuses alcohol to free himself from the life he has chosen. 

If a festival could be personified, Sofia Ballon Hamann would be it. Escaping the gravity of home, Shifei has a hard landing back into the land of academia and finds herself working at a Dutch McDonald's. The struggle is real in this completely inconclusive conversation about a Foreign-Or life in medias res.

If a festival could be personified, Sofia Ballon Hamann would be it. Following the Peruvian globetrotter we go from backpacking in SE Asia to the first Shifeistival in Beijing to a longer-than-expected landing back home.

If a festival could be personified, Sofia Ballon Hamann would be it. This first episode digs into her American schooling in Peru, life as an international student in Indiana, and the ups and downs of internships abroad.

Former reporter in China turned life coach in Germany Andrea Hunt talks expat exes, freedom versus stability while abroad, and the paradox of "the plan".

Thoughts on leaving one's adopted home during the pandemic.    Read Katie (Dolly) Deighton's original post "On Leaving" here: https://medium.com/the-privileged-immigrant/on-leaving-7f334d8aed50   Say hellooooooo Dolly to the author on Twitter @dollydeighton

1st generation Dominican-American Felmar Dean explores the complexities of Afro-Latinos from his lively Harlem studio. From journeying to the DR to find his father to caring for and commiserating with his aging immigrant mother, Felmar fights to stay connected through blood, sweat, and art. 

Hailing from South Africa, Debbie-Lee Van Ginkel spent 17 years in Beijing. Now she is starting all over again in Siem Reap, living her best life as a NIA instructor and cat butler.

Akua Naru is a riddler, a rhymer, and a foreign-or who lives here and there and everywhere. This emcee’s complexity is reflected in the black music she shares all around the world.

Robbie Worth is a real life ninja. The American is a 10th degree black belt and teaches budo taijitsu in Chengdu. In his spare time he cycles, works with leather, and throws knives.

Zovi , the French founder of comic 'zine Shaving in the Dark  told me about missions, music, and her transformation to become the Foreign, Or in Shanghai who 画画s.