Migratory Patterns

Those of us who live overseas naturally become observers of the cultures that we move into. Among the luckiest of all expats are those who get paid to share those observances. This week's guest, Malgo Blonska, is among those lucky few. In addition to being a teacher of history and yoga, she works as a freelance journalist for newspapers and radio in her home country of Poland, where her work focuses on explaining China and its culture to a population that has its own complex history with communism. This perspective makes for unique takes on the country and city that she now feels most at home in.

What do we lose when we migrate? Those of us who have the privilege of choosing to move overseas often talk about the great things that making such a big change brings to us, like new experiences, new friends, and new opportunities. But we also leave things behind- and that can be really hard. Life moves on for everyone back home, and nothing brings that into focus more than when a loved one dies while you're overseas. Dealing with grief is a universal experience, but how do you deal with it when you're separated from your family? What does it say about he choices that you've made? And do you reevaluate them? This week's guest, Joana Savedra, is asking herself these questions after a recent death in her family, and her thoughts offer a window into a subject that is not often talked about in expat circles... or by those we've left behind.

My guest this week, Christiana Zhu, is a "returning foreigner." These are people who are first-generation nationals in one country who have migrated to the country that their parents originally left. Christiana's parents emigrated from China and raised their kids in New Zealand, and now she finds herself living in Beijing, starting a business and embracing her role as a "bridge person-' someone who can operate across cultures, helping each side understand the other. Lots of migrants feel like fish out of water. Or, at least, they're people who struggle mightily with their identity. But not Christiana. She's self-assured, goal-oriented, and knows exactly who she is and how she can use the skills that her origin story has given her to bring value to every situation that she finds herself in.

I think that she's pretty bad-ass. I think that you will, too.

This week I'm sharing a conversation that I recorded back in April with Beatrice Zhang, one of my "First Year Friends." What's a "First Year Friend?" Listen in and I'll explain. Then, Beatrice and I talk about her journey from a small town outside of Guangzhou to her jet-setting life traveling around the world as a flight attendant, and her eventual landing in Seattle. Finally, Beatrice gives me yet another way to think of what "home" can mean, leaving me to ponder: Am I a Bostonian, a Beijinger, or both? And is that even possible

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