Braids & Jade

After a much-needed summer break, we're back! Meet Patrick Smith more famously known as The Paper Pat, an English teacher living in Japan.

Patrick and I discuss how to stay positive during some pretty awkward cross-cultural encounters, living in China and Japan, and how he's accumulated over a million followers on TikTok.

Where to Find Patrick:

TikTok

Instagram

Twitter

Are you a person of color learning an Asian language? Connect with us at [email protected].

Make sure you follow us on social media:

Instagram: @braidsandjade

Facebook: @braidsandjade

Twitter: @_braidsandjade

This week we're in Thailand! Discover Mackenzi Bell-Nugent, a certified yoga instructor, professional dancer, English teacher and two-time cancer survivor.

Mackenzi and I discuss dismantling white supremacy in the wellness and TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) spaces, overcoming social anxiety when learning a language, and what she's looking forward to with the recent reopening of Thailand's borders.

Where to Find Mackenzi Bell-Nugent:

Instagram

Show Notes:

Be The Match

Learn Thai Language with Ling

Simply Learn Thai Language

Are you a person of color learning an Asian language? Connect with us at [email protected].

Make sure you follow us on social media:

Instagram: @braidsandjade

Facebook: @braidsandjade

Twitter: @_braidsandjade

This week we head back to China - Nanjing, China, to be specific, to meet with the visual anthropologist, content creator, and ex-pat, Briana Lennet.

Briana and I discuss what the heck a contemporary anthropologist actually does (admit it, you don't know either), dismantling systems of oppression that black students face, living in China in the age of COVID, and ways we're keeping our mental health in check. 

Where to Find Briana Lennet

Website

Instagram

YouTube

Are you a person of color learning an Asian language? Connect with us at [email protected].

Make sure you follow us on social media:

Instagram: @braidsandjade

Facebook: @braidsandjade

Twitter: @_braidsandjade

In this week's episode, I meet Brittany Edwards, author of Taiwan: An Underrated Paradise. Blending travelogue and guidebook, this book chronicles Brittany’s encounters with culture shock and the places and people she meets while living in Taiwan. Her venture reminds us what it means to explore - beyond the picture-perfect moments and into the history of a place and the journey to self-discovery. 

Brittany and I discuss learning Mandarin, reclaiming the "spark" once we moved back to the U.S., and applying to a Fulbright Program.

Where to Find Brittany Edwards

Instagram

Youtube

Show Notes:

Fulbright Program

Traveling Black Women Network

Are you a person of color learning an Asian language? Connect with us at [email protected].

Make sure you follow us on social media:

Instagram: @braidsandjade

Facebook: @braidsandjade

Twitter: @_braidsandjade

In our very first minisode, I had the chance to talk to Renée, a model, dancer, actress, entertainer, and trailblazer who moved from New Jersey to the vibrant city of Seoul, South Korea.

Renée and I discuss building out a freelance career in Asia, the thriving black creative community in Seoul, and learning how to finance study trips to Korea.

Where to Find Renée Simone

Instagram

Twitter

TikTok

Youtube

Show Notes:

Renée's Korea Times Interview

Viki

Are you a person of color learning an Asian language? Connect with us at [email protected].

Make sure you follow us on social media:

Instagram: @braidsandjade

Facebook: @braidsandjade

Twitter: @_braidsandjade

Hasani knew at a young age that learning Chinese would unlock a whole new world for him. Now, he's a Schwarzman Scholar living in Beijing and running a successful TikTok page showcasing his life exploring China.

Hasani and I discuss his journey to fluency, and the highs and lows of living abroad as a black student.

Where to Find Hasani

TikTok

Instagram

YouTube

Are you a person of color learning an Asian language? Connect with us at [email protected].

Make sure you follow us on social media:

Instagram: @braidsandjade

Facebook: @braidsandjade

Twitter: @_braidsandjade

Jonathan's 10+ years in Japan sound like a dream - from living in the tranquil countryside to moving to Tokyo and launching an international video production agency, BENTO LABS. Now, Jonathan faces a new journey: moving back to the United States.

Jonathan and I discuss the highs and lows of learning multiple languages, Japanese work culture, and what he's looking forward to the most once he's stateside.

Show Notes:

The Black Japan Experience

Where to find Jonathan:

Instagram

Twitter

Are you a person of color learning an Asian language? Connect with us at [email protected].

Make sure you follow us on social media:

Instagram: @braidsandjade

Facebook: @braidsandjade

Twitter: @_braidsandjaade

Living with a chronic illness is scary - discovering you have a chronic illness in a foreign country where you don't speak the language fluently is even scarier. This, however, didn't sway Rumbiey, founder of Purposefully Healthy from discovering her passion in Traditional Chinese Medicine and sleep research in Shanghai.

Rumbiey and I discuss life in China as a black student, working with traditional Chinese doctors, the current political climate of Sino-African relations, and empowering people of color to own their space.

Where to Find Rumbiey

Website

Instagram

Are you a person of color learning an Asian language? Connect with us at [email protected].

Make sure you follow us on social media:

Instagram: @braidsandjade

Facebook: @braidsandjade

Twitter: @_braidsandjade

Show Notes:

BOSS LADY Shanghai

Articles on Sino-African Relations:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/18/podcasts/the-daily/cobalt-climate-change.html

https://www.csis.org/analysis/where-africa-china-relationship-headed-2021

https://thediplomat.com/2021/12/is-the-africa-china-relationship-at-its-lowest-or-highest-level-yet/

Tayler was in her mid-twenties when she decided to take the plunge and move to South Korea. Little did she know this decision would help launch her wildly-successful Youtube series Tayler With An E, where she showcases her day-to-day life as a black woman living in South Korea.

Note: This interview was recorded in 2021.

Only 4% of black Americans hold a degree in world languages - and only 5% of all students who study abroad are black, why is that?

Braids & Jade explores societal topics that have caused the major racial divide in the language-learning community, specifically within travel and language-learning groups in Asia, one of the large growing and influential global networks in the world, with very little POC representation and leadership.