This week Jun and Daniel interview Nelson, a third-culture kid who was born and raised in Brazil before attending college in the US and eventually settling in Korea. They explore his unique journey navigating multiple cultural identities, from experiencing racism as an Asian in Brazil to voluntarily serving in the Korean Marines during a college gap year. Nelson shares how being an "outsider" everywhere ultimately became his superpower, allowing him to bridge different cultural groups. They discuss a wide range of topics including what life was like in a Brazilian international school, cultural differences in dating, gift-giving customs, military service, and Nelson's unexpected rise to social media fame in Korea.

If you're interested in hearing a fresh perspective on Korean culture from someone who approaches it with a "bridge-builder" mindset, or learning about the rich complexity of Korean diaspora experiences beyond Korean Americans, tune in to hear Daniel, Jun and Nelson discuss all this and more! Also in this episode, Daniel shares his struggles with maintaining a fresh perspective on familiar surroundings, Jun explains why Koreans might be hesitant to greet strangers, and Nelson reveals his theory about how societal environments shape our behavior more than we'd like to admit.

Guest Bio

Nelson is a third culture kid trying to build bridges.
He's working on an app that teaches Korean and Japanese:
https://teuida.page.link/cho

You can find him on:
http://instagram.com/sochourner
http://tiktok.com/@sochourner

Crying In My Jacuzzi
a podcast exploring the ebbs & flows of living an examined life. hosted by Dana Balicki

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As a reminder, we record one episode a week in-person from Seoul, South Korea. We hope you enjoy listening to our conversation, and we're so excited to have you following us on this journey!

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