One of the cool things about doing this podcast about interesting expats is that it brought me to home turf for the first time in years and connected me to some old friends I haven’t seen in 20 or 30 years. One being @fyicary, who invited me to contribute to the mural in his amazing Buckhead, Atlanta loft. @rootabagapodcast logo, hand chalked by me. 😁 And great IPA-fueled hang.
Elaine Chou was working in finance in Beijing when she decided that her true calling was helping people resolve their personal problems. She now practices hypnotherapy for mainland Chinese clients from her home in LA via Skype.
In Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago to interview Dave Sperling of Dave’s ESL Cafe and my old bandmate Paul I was treated to an impromptu interview opportunity when I discovered that my host’s girlfriend was herself an expat and digital nomad with a pretty unordinary job. Originally from Taiwan, Elaine Chou was working in finance in Beijing when she decided that her true calling was helping people resolve their personal problems. After earning her masters degree in psychology in China and training in counseling and hypnotherapy in California she created a niche career for herself counseling clients in mainland China via Skype and using hypnosis as one of her main tools – all from, well, wherever she can access the internet.
Stay tuned here for our really cool chat with Elaine about escaping an unsatisfying job, the Chinese people’s openness to therapy and hypnosis, and living the laptop job dream.
Shout out to Mario for the couch in LA! And just for fun a little theme music for the post.
What a crazy trip to Korea. So much jammed packed in I haven’t had time to share any proper photos, videos, stories. Will have to do it from the US. But in 16 days I interviewed several old friends and acquaintances for Rootabaga, I met up with tons of old friends, hung out with an actress, a model (impressed yet? 😎), an old rock star I was a fan of in the 90s, ate amazing meals, drank more than I should have and saw remote places I’d never been. Can’t wait to share more soon…
When you’re tracking down interesting expats you get to stay in some awesome homes. Case in point, my old friend and colleague John Jackson’s photography and book-filled home in a farming village outside Gwangju, South Korea.
Our “interview” was more of beer-fueled reminiscence of how we left our home countries and what’s going on with mutual friends but did eventually get around to how Brad’s passion for music turned into an award-winning career producing hit songs in Korea
I wasn’t in Korea more than half a day when the window opened for an interview with old music-circle buddy BA Wheeler – a big-hearted Newfie with an amazing and inspiring expat success story. (Brad will hate this because he doesn’t seem to have any trace of an ego or much like being in the spotlight). Our “interview” was more of beer-fueled reminiscence of how we left our home countries and what’s going on with mutual friends but did eventually get around to how Brad’s passion for music turned into an award-winning career producing hit songs in Korea and what it’s like playing drums and working with his wife’s world-touring doo-wop trio the Barbarettes.
I promise this will be a fun episode when it drops. Check out a little of the interview here:
Greetings from Saigon… Trying to record some bits in a big boomy hotel room can be a challenge. 😂 Blankets and pillows to the rescue. New logo and teaser coming very soon.. no, really..
Been trying to choose a logo for Rootabaga. It’s tough. But at least the office is comfy – on the island of Koh Rong Samloem, Cambodia. After quitting my job in Hong Kong, I needed a little vacay before starting more interviews in Korea and the US. This was the perfect spot.
We’re trying to choose a logo for Rootabaga. It’s tough. But at least the office is comfy.
No podcast episodes planned from Cambodia but it is a stop along the way – and I did run into an old colleague who, like myself and a couple of upcoming Rootabaga guests, hails from Alabama. He’s a long-term expat – a small-town Alabama lawyer who ended up teaching in Asia and eastern Europe and resides part of the year in Cambodia with his wife. Had a few too many Angkor beers and forgot to take a photo together but did manage to take a few shots of Phnom Penh the last few days.
Only one way to do a podcast with face-to-face interviews in a bunch of different countries – pack up and go. 🛶
In this case it means putting everything in storage, giving up the comfy apartment, and calling it quits in Hong Kong. Off we go Feb. 20.
Good bye cozy rooftop..
Stay tuned for updates on the road if you are following…
Rootabaga 