Geopats: Expat life explored in niches
If you're thinking of living outside of your passport country OR like to learn more about different cultures around the world, welcome. These are conversations that I had with other long term expats about what grounded them in their other places in the world.
Geopats: Expat life explored in niches
On Being Language Seen: A Japanese American in Japan: Ken Hirano
In this episode we are talking to Ken Hirano, who was born in Japan but his family moved to the U.S. before he started school. He has 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 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kenhirano_china-culture-asianamericans-activity-6707162545993711616-aQZP/ (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.
🤸🏽Music from
Damon Castillo (earlier episodes): https://www.damoncastillo.com/
and
Key Frame Audio (more recent eps) :https://keyframeaudio.com/
Top 3 services that have help me while living in different countries (mostly for Americans): Affiliate links so I'll get a small commission.
🔥 Traveling Mailbox: scan/forward postal service for Americans. It's saved me time, money and headaches.
https://travelingmailbox.com/geopats/?ref=3422
🔥Chase Sapphire Credit Card: annual fee, NO currency conversion fee. Used this in many countries globally.
https://www.referyourchasecard.com/19Q/MDNYO68N38
🔥 Stackry: Shop in the U.S. and have the items shipped internationally.
https://www.stackry.com/register?referral=7118738