Foreign, Or

Check out our convo with Tien Chi Fu, Taiwanese-American producer, writer, and director. Episode description below, stylized as a screenplay. 

Enter TIEN, (30s), a fast talker who’s into unhinged behaviors and sub-subcultures. 

We begin in 90’s Taiwan, musing on how growing up in the ‘middle-of-nowhere’ came with its own unique cultural self-esteem.

FADE IN

周杰倫 Jay Chou | 夜曲 Nocturne

CUT TO:

SMALL TOWN PENNSYLVANIA - circa 2009:

Tien has dropped out of college to work the cigarette counter at a Walmart.

TIEN

I want to live in a place where

nobody cares where you’re from.

INT. APARTMENT IN DEEP BROOKLYN 

Three roommates from different countries discuss what home is, the power dynamics within religion, and the bittersweet joys of filmmaking.

FADE IN

Beastie Boys - No Sleep Till Brooklyn

INT. FOREIGN, OR PODCAST - PRESENT DAY:

TIEN

I think the biggest mindset shift

was when my daughter was born.

I just needed to give filmmaking a shot.

I don't know what this process is going to be like.

But, this is like a dream. Like, who's...?

We all know people who are

doctors, lawyers, accountants.

Great.

How many successful filmmakers do we know? 

Barely anyone! It's a dream, but...

I just need to give it a shot.

FADE TO BLACK

How's that for a cliffhanger? Enjoy the show, ForeignOrs!

LINKS

Check Tien's Instagram

Peep Tien's Website

More on Tien's short film The Sheep

Allow me to introduce you to Lee, American-born ForeignOr, at your service.

From military training in Philadelphia to co-op living with the hippies in Santa Barbara, Lee brings a balanced voice in a world of extremes. After more than twelve years in Shanghai riding fixies and running corporate charity initiatives he left to find his new purpose.

Today he's volunteering full time on the border of Ukraine, helping evacuees and supporting NGO relief efforts. Learn how health setbacks, broken-hearted boxing, and dehydrated borscht play a role in Lee’s evolving mission to serve.

LINKS

Hope Shelter Ukraine 

Ptaha

MUSIC

Drill Sergeant DePalo X The Kiffness - I Left My Home  

Round Eye - City Livin' 

Ukrainian Folk Song 🇺🇦 ARMY REMIX | Andriy Khlyvnyuk x The Kiffness

You just can’t keep up with a Hero.

Olivier Dressen, aka Hero, is a multidisciplinary artist that just can’t stop working. “To be an artist is to be cursed,” he muses, and it’s clear that the curse of creativity will not let this Belgium-born Bangkok resident rest.

From gypsy roots to indie film fame, Olivier has creative-directed multinational teams from Paris to Shanghai to LA and beyond. We talk financing your freedom to create what you want, directing actors solely based on raw emotion, and developing creative community wherever you go.

There’s not enough time to cover all this man’s artistic accolades so PLEASE, peep these:

LINKS

https://www.herodirector.tv/ 

https://designhero.tv/

https://www.olivierdressen.com/

https://www.studiosupremefilms.com/

designhero.shop

https://www.instagram.com/herodirector/

MUSIC

Les Yeux Noirs (Dark Eyes) | Django Reinhardt | Pomplamoose ft. The Vignes Rooftop Revival

Summer in Portofino

SPRITE x GUYGEEGEE - ทน

My host sister from China, Shan Shan Nie, is a lot to live up to. With a masters’ from Harvard, a corporate job leading leaders, and a newly published novel this Sichuan-born beauty embodies the American dream.

In our chat we go from rebelling to excelling, hacking the ACT/SAT exams, using higher education to serve a purpose, and self-financing your dreams.

We also nerd out on crafting characters, choosing what to reveal to your audience, influencing young adults in the fantasy adventure genre, how to better connect with readers, and other lessons learned from countless manuscript revisions.

Check out this sister-sister convo on leadership, resilience, and an ode to those old school pocket translators!

LINKS

Website

The Belt of Chaos on Amazon

MUSIC

Chinese Middle School Calisthenics Jam 

Ondara - "American Dream" 

The Dragon Boy / The Bottomless Pitt (From 'Spirited Away')

Urmi Hossain is the perfect brown girl. At least that's what her Bengali parents want her to be— and like many Southeast Asian women she still struggles against those rigid cultural norms. We talk to this third culture kid about growing up in Italy, Muslims in Montreal, and the family expectations that led her to fight for women's empowerment.

Bonus: get some Toastmaster tips on public speaking in your non-native tongue!

LINKS

Check out Urmi's website, watch her spit wisdom on how to pass your CFA exam on YouTube, and get her book Discovering Your Identity: A Rebirth From Interracial Struggle on Amazon.

Cu Ti Lu Dissi - Amanda Pascali (Sicilian folk song)

Renato Carosone - Tu Vuò Fa LAmericano

Maher Zain - Assalamu Alayka (Arabic) ماهر زين - السلام عليك

In part one we introduced some of your juiciest scammer stories.

But in part two we had to ask ourselves: were these ForeignOrs really scammed? Or did they just learn some tough lessons about life abroad?

Judge for yourself as Dill gets arrested, Renzo gets off scot-free, and Bob continues to twist trust in a fairytale place called Nomadland.

Living a somewhat disjointed life filled with translations and transient people ForeignOrs can make a perfect target— or unknowing accomplice— in a scam. 

In part one we dive into pyramid schemes, a cariñoso con artist who cheats friends out of their money, and 'Bob-types'— enigmatic serial entrepreneurs who prey on digital nomads.

Now, a surprise move back to the U.S. has this pandemic repat reinventing himself once again. Listen to Tavey cogitate on TCM fire massages, the Fukienese pirate perspective, and how Tiny Robot Love Doctors can heal you.

Check the 8Ways Games website and get your Tiny Robot Love Doctors now

Watch Tavey Lean and the Solid Gold Dream Machine and listen to the EP

See 4Corners memories including the epic Bar Breaking parties

Read Tavey's piece The Last Flight on leaving Beijing during the pandemic

IrishBrit Dillon King spills on bootlegging in boarding school, starting  whisky clubs in China, and how independent cask trading actually works.

Now Dill is a burgeoning viral video star spitballing on spirits in Mandarin.

ForeignOrs all over the world are drinking too much.

By using alcohol abroad some find it easier to socialize, to relax, to escape.

In "Sovereign" an anonymous expat abuses alcohol to free himself from the life he has chosen.