Foreign, Or

Olivier | A Gypsy Workaholic in Bangkok

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

 

Shan Shan | A Fantasy Novelist Living the American Dream

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 | An Italian Bengali Toastmaster

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.

MUSIC

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

Renato Carosone - Tu Vuò Fa LAmericano

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

 

Scammed Abroad | Part 2

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.

Scammed Abroad | Part 1

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.

 

Tavey | A Beijing Bar Boss, Repatriated

Say hello to Tavey, our Blues Brother who used to 'sunlight' as an ESL teacher. A Taiwanese-American turned Beijinger, this bar boss always comes correct in business casual... but he might botch his exit and end up sleeping on your couch.

 

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

Dill | Whisky Orientation (NSFW)

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.

 

 

Alcohol Abroad | Sovereign

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. 

Sofia | A Festival, Personified (pt. 3)

If a festival could be personified, Sofia Ballon Hamann would be it. Escaping the gravity of home, Shifei has a hard landing back into the land of academia and finds herself working at a Dutch McDonald's. The struggle is real in this completely inconclusive conversation about a Foreign-Or life in medias res.

Sofia | A Festival, Personified (pt. 2)

If a festival could be personified, Sofia Ballon Hamann would be it. Following the Peruvian globetrotter we go from backpacking in SE Asia to the first Shifeistival in Beijing to a longer-than-expected landing back home.