In this episode, my friend Tim and I have a candid conversation about our personal relationship with our Asian heritage. Tim, who works as a math, English, and physics teacher by day and has some impressive dance moves by night (just kidding, but he's a great dancer), shares his thoughts on the challenges of navigating language and identity in liminal cultural spaces. On a lighter note, Tim tells us why he decided to come to Mexico, his honest opinion about the food in Queretaro, and what he plans to do after his contract ends. So, grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and join us for an engaging discussion.
“One of the beautiful things about identity is that you’ll never ‘finish’ [developing] it until you die and you’re always in a process of discovering what you can and can’t do, what you can change, what you can’t change; what’s there because people told you that’s what you are and what’s there because you actually are that. It’s a never-ending adventure.”
𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏
Intro to Tim 00:00 - 00:54
Why Qro? 0:54 - 2:12
First impressions 2:12 - 4:48
Settling In 4:48 - 7:15
𝑴𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 & 𝑻𝒊𝒎 𝒐𝒏 𝑵𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚
Learning Spanish, missing English speakers 7:15 - 11:48
The day we met and the Asian pass 11:48 - 15:25
Strangers asking about ethnicity 15:25 - 22:20
Mishell's undue pressure? 22:20 - 28:40
𝑺𝒑𝒐𝒕𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝑻𝒊𝒎
Tim's cultural background 28:40 - 30:12
Tim on Chinese language 30:12 - 35:45
Tim's trip to Yangshuo 35:45 - 41:00
Pining our way back to our roots 41:00 - 45:40
𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏
When people tell you who you are 45:40 - 49:18
Choosing your identity 49:18 - 50:50
Spanglish segment 50:50 - 1:01:00
Thank yous 1:01:00 - 1:01:40
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