The rumours are true. Even though I resisted the urge to start a podcast in a pandemic, I gave in when I realised this pandemic isn’t finishing anytime soon and my friend Jim and I have been talking about this for a decade.
Jim pushed it to happen. I kept saying “yes” and “sure, let’s do it” and he booked a meeting and then actions were allocated and before I knew it, we were eight episodes recorded and five published on YouTube.
What is it about?
Expats. Yes, expatriates and why they moved. Stories about learning another country and its people. All the things that changed them; the myths they have busted; and mostly why others should try another county and why they won’t regret it.
I hope you can join my friend Jim Galindo and I as we travel the world through the eyes of Strangers in a Strange Land.
Episode One: Biaka
Biaka – #India to #Taiwan to #Missouri Biaka Zaidarhzauva is a Mizo-Indian living in Kansas City, MO with his wife, two kids and two cats. Originally from Mizoram, India, he grew up speaking mandarin and English when his family moved to Taiwan in 1987. What was suppose to be a two year stint on the island became twenty-five years for their whole family. In college, Biaka found himself transported to Missouri as a ‘pit-stop’ before heading to New York, but like most plans, he ended staying in Joplin, MO for 11 years and meeting and marrying his wife.
Episode Two: Hughbert
#Uganda to #Minnesota to #California Hughbert is a software engineering expatriate that moved from Uganda (East Africa) in 2008 and lives in California (USA). He has six siblings that live in Uganda, USA and the UK He enjoys playing pool, traveling, movies, startups, economic empowerment and the capital markets.
Episode Three: Candace
Candace is a Computer Scientist and Sydneysider who grew up wanting nothing more than to be a doctor and to travel the world doing it (world to 12 year old Candace = Africa, South America, rural Australia, Sydney). She attempted to get into medical school for 7 years (and failed 6 times) then woke up one day and realised she was missing out on other opportunities in the meantime. Approaching her 30s, she figured she’d apply for a job away from Australia to explore the “travel” side of her childhood dreams (those under 30s working holiday visas for Australians in the UK sure sounded attractive). And there was this new idea in its infancy – that maybe she’d take her childhood hobby of coding a little more seriously and see if she might enjoy it as a career. Candace is currently Equity in Tech Advisor at Paritii – a woman-owned, Innovation Strategy firm delivering data-driven, sustainable and equitable strategies to medicine, technology, and education. Her areas of focus are racial equity, income equity and accessibility. Candace is also a Software Developer at No Moss Co – a humanist, socially responsible, anarchist collective of executives, directors, engineers, coaches, learners and problem solvers who have an aligned purpose toward cooperatively progressing human endeavor. Prior to her role at No Moss Co, she spent 6+ years at Amazon as a Software Development Engineer where she worked on several web-based projects for EC2 and Amazon.com. Candace currently lives on Gadigal land (Sydney CBD).
Episode Four: Claire
Claire, was born and raised Perth, the capital city of the Australian state, Western Australia. Being a dual Australian-American citizen at birth, Claire decide to spend some time in the US which lasted longer than she planned. She first moved to Colorado at the age of 22, then to California, and then to St. Joseph, Missouri to be near her father where she has lived for 14 years with her now husband Chris.
Episode Five: Megan
Megan made big life changes after moving from #Paisley, Scotland to #Sydney, Australia; changing careers from being a lawyer to a Yogi and having 2 children. After 17 years as an #expat in Sydney, she returned to Paisley, Scotland to be near family where she continues to make changes in her life.
Damana Madden 