Perfect Strangers
35 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 13 ratingsDo you feel the call of the outside world? What is "home" for you? Is there a place where you belong ? In this podcast you will hear stories of people who moved. Expats, migrants, refugees, everyone has his own story but by sharing it we discover or cultural differences and how much we have in common.
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Episodes
You can fall in love with who you want but ...
December 20, 2022 13:30 - 25 minutes - 17.6 MBWally's story is a tale of a self made woman in the US, of love at a time in which she couldn't legally get married, of a journey that will bring her back to Italy after a life abroad. Music: trailer's music: Paris Gipsy Swing By Dieter Van der Westen music ending episode: Camille Saint-Saëns: Danse macabre by Kevin Mac Leod
Being black but not African American in the US
November 20, 2022 13:30 - 25 minutes - 20.1 MBKirk grew up in Florida from Jamaican parents. As a child and then a teenager it was a bit complicated for him. He was not recognized as African American by African American kids but was seen as one by other kids. He had to learn how to navigate different groups and be accepted. Today he considers the skills he acquired along the way to have been essential to his success as an adult. To reach Kirk Nugent http://kirkrnugent.com/ Let's Meet! Grab 15 minutes on his Calendar - http://kirkr...
When going Home means being an outsider again
October 20, 2022 20:15 - 21 minutes - 17 MBWhat can go wrong when you have an American accent, an American passport and your parents tell you you are going home after living 7 years in Uzbekistan? You will totally fit in, finally! At least that’s what Jessi thought. I discovered her story while reading a blog she wrote for Families in global Transition, an NGO which serves as a forum for mobile individuals. I was touched by the very authentic way she described her 13 years old self facing difficulties she didn’t expect. I als...
Portable business for a portable life
February 28, 2022 19:45 - 30 minutes - 22.2 MBAs daughter of a diplomat, Amel moved to new places from the day she was born. As an adult, she wanted to pursue a career in advertizing but it turned out to be incompatible with her nomadic life. Now she helps her clients create their portable business through her own portable company: Tandem Nomads. Tandem Nomads https://tandemnomads.com/
Look at me in the eyes
November 25, 2021 19:00 - 31 minutes - 28.5 MBJean-Michel arrived in San Francisco when he was 17. His own family history has taught him that sometimes life throws you lemons. He has worked tirelessly to end homelessness with new programs at Friendship Place since 2006.
Being kind is not enough
September 30, 2021 18:48 - 30 minutes - 27.5 MBJessica moved to the US from China more than 20 years ago . She shares with us how her work as a brand strategist helped her become a community builder and why she is on a mission to transform the public education system. Jessica's podcast: Duct Tape Rocket Ship
Why is it hard to get along?
April 28, 2021 01:20 - 12 minutes - 11.4 MBThink of us as an elephant with a rider. To understand why it is hard to get along let's look at how human evolution developed our capacity to cooperate inside groups and how our intuitions guide our decisions. In this episode you will find a short summary of the book The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt and his hypotheses on why it isn't easy to get along.
If you don't know where you are going you may well end up there
March 14, 2021 19:30 - 28 minutes - 25.8 MBHella shares witht us why it made sense to create her own business. The learning curve can be steep but it allowed her to build a bridge between her roots in Tunisia and the US in which she arrived when she was 10.
I connect with people heart to heart
February 27, 2021 21:16 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBLea left the Yvory Coast to study in Paris. She then moved to Kazakstan and realized she was the only black woman in Astana. She shares her "weapons" to feel welcomed and at ease everywhere and how she learned to use emotional intelligence as she moved and worked in different places.
Roots are very important for many migrants. The case of Italian communities in the US
February 11, 2021 20:31 - 24 minutes - 22.4 MBPaolo Battaglia shares with us what he learned about migration. How and why do communities stay connected to their roots through generations? Is the migrants' experience universal? What is "italianism"? Learn more with this seasoned historian. Paolo Battaglia's book : Italian American Country: Finding Italy in small-town America
Back to the roots. Now I understand
February 11, 2021 19:31 - 24 minutes - 22.4 MBPaolo Battaglia's book : Italian American Country: Finding Italy in small-town America
All you need is love... and a rabbit
January 24, 2021 04:00 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MBDanny works four jobs and lives with a rabbit and a cockatiel. Life can be lonely but at 62 he knows what is REALLY important.
Nomad by choice, David first fullfilled his dream to live in Japan.
December 17, 2020 20:16 - 25 minutes - 23.8 MBUnlike many of us, David chooses carefully the places he moves to. It all began with his childhood's dream to live in Japan. Berlin and Porto followed. His podcast "Expat Empire" gives tips about moving through expats stories.
I made it to Tokyo. How David's childhood dream became real.
December 17, 2020 15:16 - 25 minutes - 23.8 MBUnlike many of us, David chooses carefully the places he moves to. It all began with his childhood's dream to live in Japan. Berlin and Porto followed. His podcast "Expat Empire" gives tips about moving through expats stories.
Home is where you are loved
November 19, 2020 20:21 - 30 minutes - 27.7 MBHow do you find home when you move every 2 to 4 years? How do you live with your multiple identities when you are of mixed heritage? Why is differentness a richness and not a threat? Hala's personal story and her expertise as a therapist enlightens us. Hala's Book: Bridge Between Worlds, a Lebanese-Arab-American Woman's Journey I also recommend Amin Maalouf's book: In the Name of Identity
We are moving! How do we tell the kids?
October 18, 2020 22:04 - 29 minutes - 26.7 MBPascale Brady is Founder and CEO of The Challenge Coach She does Life and Business Coaching in these areas: - Challenge coaching in life and at work through transitions or in relationships - Expatriate and international coaching, - Parent coaching She also is a certified Parent Educator She teaches PEP classes and workshops on practical parenting skills geared to each stage of a child's development, whether you're looking for new parenting techniques or faced with serious parenting conce...
Why do we love? Make friendships?What have our genes to do with that?
June 13, 2020 23:00 - 11 minutes - 10.5 MBWe all can see our cultural differences but what about what we have in common? In his book, Nicholas Christakis explains how our genes are encoded with core elements that help us build good societies. Love and friendship are two of these essential features that you find across every human community. To learn more listen to this episode or read the book. Review of Nicholas Christakis book : Blueprint, the evolutionnary origins of a good society.
17 years old Juliette is ready to jump
May 06, 2020 23:33 - 22 minutes - 20.8 MB17 years old Juliette is about to take a gap year. She will travel on two continents, work and improve her language skills, discover herself. Why did she decide not to go straight to college? Have some of her friends made the same decision? Where will she go? What does she hope for? it's all in her interview.
Amanda is an expert on chinese language and culture and long time expat
March 17, 2020 20:14 - 26 minutes - 24.2 MBAmanda has a long expat experience and shares with us how she manages to feel at home in every country and how kindness goes a long way. She teaches her chinese culture and language to children and gives us advices on how to pass on our own culture and language to our children. She also shares a few insights on her job as consultant for professionals who go to China or Taiwan.
Bonnie adventurous life began when she was 16
January 22, 2020 19:44 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MBBonnie experienced cultural differences for the first time when she was a 16 year old exchange student. Austria after WWII was very different from New-York and it was only the beginning of rich life experiences abroad. She worked in different countries, languages, jobs, married three times and now looks back on her life with a smile.
Rene is a Latino who arrived illegally to the US when he was very young.
December 09, 2019 00:24 - 21 minutes - 20.1 MBRene fleed from Guatemala with his parents when he was a toddler. They were refugees in Canada and entered illegally in the US. His father was later caught by immigration services and sent to prison. He speaks about his experience in the US as a Latino.
My dad American Dream
November 26, 2019 03:46 - 20 minutes - 19.2 MBMy dad became an orphan when he was 10, began to work when he was 13 and met American tourists through his job in an hotel in Florence, Italy. The more he learned the more he wanted to move to United States. Listen to his journey to get there and his love for cultural diversity.
Kiana is a Third Culture Kid, what does it really mean?
November 06, 2019 20:32 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MBKiana is a third Culture kid, growing up in different countries none of which the country of origin from her parents. She doesn't belong completely somewhere and she feels home when she is with other international kids like her. She has learned to adapt and be resilient, taking the positive parts of each culture. She shares her experience from childhood to today as a college student in the US.
Kiana is a Third Culture Kid, listen to her for the inside story
November 06, 2019 15:32 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MBKiana is a third Culture kid, growing up in different countries none of which the country of origin from her parents. She doesn't belong completely somewhere and she feels home when she is with other international kids like her. She has learned to adapt and be resilient, taking the positive parts of each culture. She shares her experience from childhood to today as a college student in the US.
Kiana is a Third Culture Kid, listen to a personal story of being one
November 06, 2019 15:32 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MBKiana is a third Culture kid, growing up in different countries none of which the country of origin from her parents. She doesn't belong completely somewhere and she feels home when she is with other international kids like her. She has learned to adapt and be resilient, taking the positive parts of each culture. She shares her experience from childhood to today as a college student in the US.
Felix experienced a big culture shock when he arrived in the US
October 08, 2019 20:53 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBFelix tells us about his childhood with deaf parents in central Switzerland, his travels to work and learn languages while still in high school, his journey to South America during his gap year and how it helped him choose his field of study, his culture shock when he arrived in the US and everything he learned along the way.
Why does a well traveled Swiss man experience culture shock in the US?
October 08, 2019 15:53 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBFelix tells us about his childhood with deaf parents in central Switzerland, his travels to work and learn languages while still in high school, his journey to South America during his gap year and how it helped him choose his field of study, his culture shock when he arrived in the US and everything he learned along the way.
Felix already worked abroad as a teenager to learn languages
October 08, 2019 15:53 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBFelix tells us about his childhood with deaf parents in central Switzerland, his travels to work and learn languages while still in high school, his journey to South America during his gap year and how it helped him choose his field of study, his culture shock when he arrived in the US and everything he learned along the way.
How does moving change us? Why do we need to belong? Ever experienced reverse cultural shock?
September 17, 2019 22:00 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MBAlison has a rich professional and personal experience of moving to new places, how it changes us, what it triggers, how to adapt, and why we experience reverse cultural shock. She shares what she has learned through coaching both expatriates and Americans coming home, and personally living in different countries. She offers us very insightful observations.
Roya left Iran as a young woman to study, she has never been able to go back
April 30, 2019 23:05 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBRoya had to leave Iran in order to study abroad. She never thought she wouldn't go back but like for many migrants the situation in her country never allowed her to come back home. She shares with us her life as a teenager in Iran and her path in the US. We also learn what is important for her raising her children in a different culture.
Roya left Iran as a young woman in order to study without knowing she wouldn't come back
April 30, 2019 22:05 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBA brief summary of this episode
Noelle voulait quitter Paris et sa routine, elle partage son expérience américaine avec nous.
April 13, 2019 02:48 - 36 minutes - 33 MBNoelle a déménagé plusieurs fois enfant, elle a toujours gardé le goût de la nouveauté. Elle partage avec nous l'expérience de venir vivre aux USA avec ses enfants.
Ken was 23 when he moved to a place he had never heard of before
March 28, 2019 01:45 - 33 minutes - 18.5 MBKen didn't know anything about Asia when he was offered a job abroad at age 23. He learned a lot even founding his own business oversees. He lived in many different places and experienced reverse culture shock coming back home. Now he is a little bit of a world citizen even if as he says he will always be American.
Ken was 23 when he moved on the other side of the world
March 27, 2019 20:45 - 33 minutes - 18.5 MBKen didn't know anything about Asia when he was offered a job abroad at age 23. He learned a lot even founding his own business oversees. He lived in many different places and experienced reverse culture shock coming back home. Now he is a little bit of a world citizen even if as he says he will always be American.
Arlette migrant journey begins with WWII
February 12, 2019 21:00 - 46 minutes - 33.5 MBArlette was born in Cuba from a single mother who crossed the ocean to flee WWII France. She later moved to New-York. A vibrant story of a migrant child who struggles to fit in but finds her way.