Shermin arrived in the United States when she was very young. She shared her story and why it is so important for her to educate others about the Iranian culture, language, and customs.

Houssam Fakih moved to France to continue his studies after graduating from college in Lebanon. He talked about his arrival in Paris and how he became more accustomed to the French culture as he spent more time there. We discussed how his life experiences have shaped his idea of what home and identity really mean.

My guest, Alejandro currently lives in Hamburg, Germany. However, his origins started in Colombia's capitol city of Bogotá. He moved to the United States when he was 10 years old and four years ago he and his wife moved to Germany. He talked about his experiences and learnings through his various moves around the US and later to Germany.

My guest Agnes spoke of her experiences growing up in Hong Kong. We focused on the 2019 protests in Hong Kong; why the started, how they evolved, and the impact it has had on countless people's lives, but more personally on Agnes and her family's lives. She explained why she moved out of Hong Kong and how that change has been for her. This was a very personal and in some ways a tragic story of the events of the post 2019 protests.

In this second part of my conversation with Callie, we talked about what home means to her and how she identifies herself. We discussed how presumptions of others' identity(ies) can make them uncomfortable and even puts them in harmful and difficult situations, and even create disadvantages for them. We talked about equality, fairness, and more.

My guest Callie was born and raised in a small town in Connecticut, in the United Stated, when she found her love for traveling and learning about other cultures. She briefly moved outside of the United States during her college years and once she graduated she decided to move abroad more permanently. She told me about the reasons why and about her experiences along the way as well as some of the challenges. This is the first part of our conversation and I hope you enjoy it.

My guest, Emily, a professional pianist and musician left the city of Guiyang in China over 15 years ago for the final destination of the United States. However, she was not able to come to the US right away, despite having received scholarships from accredited universities. Therefore, she had to try another way to make her way to the US. She told me about her life in China and her experiences after moving out of China.

Julia, a concert pianist and professional musician, moved to the US from Ukraine nearly 20 years ago. She shared her life during the times of change prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and afterwards in Ukraine. We discussed her education and life in Ukraine. She also talked about her culture shocks and learnings in the United States as a young student and now as a parent.