Mattia: From Cultural Displacement to Belonging in Vietnam, China, and Italy

This week, I’m joined by Janine: born in Germany, raised in the US, while being half Ghanaian. With a German last name and a rich heritage, Janine’s life is a journey through cultures, languages, and labels. We talk about growing up in a multicultural New York neighborhood, navigating identity in spaces that don’t always reflect your full story, and what it means to carry a name that doesn’t match the languages you speak. It’s a thoughtful, honest conversation about feeling seen, unseen, and everything in between!

In this episode of Culturally, I’m joined by my longtime friend, Ina—a true citizen of the world. With German and Spanish roots, Ina grew up between Germany and Taiwan before moving to the Middle East and spending the last four years of high school in Lebanon. Her journey has been shaped by radically different cultures, languages, and education systems, each offering unique perspectives on identity and belonging.We dive into what it’s like to grow up between fundamentally different worldviews, the challenges of constantly adapting to new environments, and how moving around at a young age shapes a person’s sense of self. How does shifting between such distinct cultural landscapes affect identity? What does “home” mean when you’ve never stayed in one place for long? And how do friendships anchor us across continents?

Welcome to Culturally – the podcast that dives into the lives of people with incredible cultural backgrounds and explores what it’s like growing up between them.This week, I’m joined by Mattia, whose story takes us from the streets of Wuxi, China, where he grew up speaking only Chinese and Wuxi dialect, to a life-changing move to Vietnam—where he didn’t speak a word of the language.We’ll talk about the challenges of cultural displacement, the struggle of adapting to a new world, and how his Italian-Chinese identity shaped his sense of belonging. What happens when your whole world shifts overnight? And how do you redefine home when everything around you changes?

Born to Togolese and German roots, Louisa’s journey has taken her across Germany, the UK, and France—each place shaping her sense of self in unique ways. In this episode ofCulturally, we sit down with Louisa to explore the complexities ofidentity, belonging, and racial identity when growing up between multiple culturesHow do you embrace multiple identities without feeling like an outsider? What challenges and joys come with straddling different worlds? And how does racial identity influence the way we experience belonging?Thanks for joining Lulu!Royalty Free Music from Tunetank.comTrack: I Been Waiting by Crystal Squadhttps://tunetank.com/track/3488-i-been-waiting/

Joining me today is Pedro. Pedro is half-Japanese, half-Brazilian, but lived in the United States and Germany for most of his post-university life. The experience of coming from such a culturally rich background, and learning to integrate in entirely new countries provides Pedro with tremendously fascinating stories to tell! This is Finding Home, a podcast that provides a room for individuals with truly remarkable and multicultural backgrounds to speak about how their past experiences growing up exposed to different cultures has shaped who they are today. We talk about their struggles, things they learned along the way, and the beautiful ways in which being a third culture child can be such an asset in the modern day world, but can make it so difficult to truly define the word home. Thank you for listening 🎧!

Joining me today is Jenny- with roots in China, growing up in Luxemburg, and finding a new home in New York City- Jenny's background  allowed her to grow up speaking an incredible amount of five languages. Her personal stories provide some wonderful insights into what it’s like and what it means to be Asian European- how it influences an identity as well as the path to finding home. This is Finding Home, a podcast that provides a room for individuals with truly remarkable and multicultural backgrounds to speak about how their past experiences growing up exposed to different cultures has shaped who they are today. We talk about their struggles, things they learned along the way, and the beautiful ways in which being a third culture child can be such an asset in the modern day world, but can make it so difficult to truly define the word home. Thank you for listening 🎧!

Joining me today is Sagar. The title says it all: His background is absolutely unique. He is of Indian descent, but was born and raised in Madagascar before moving to France to pursue his studies. Sagar's experiences provide us with incredible insights and stories into the cultures of these very different cultures- and the things he learned along the way. Welcome to the pod, Sagar! This is Finding Home, a podcast that provides a room for individuals with truly remarkable and multicultural backgrounds to speak about how their past experiences growing up exposed to different cultures has shaped who they are today. We talk about their struggles, things they learned along the way, and the beautiful ways in which being a third culture child can be such an asset in the modern day world, but can make it so difficult to truly define the word home. Thank you for listening 🎧!

Joining me today is Janine. Janine is half Indian and half German, but has truly seen so much of the world while growing up. Spending her childhood in countries including Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and to my very delight: China, we talk about how moving around and growing up multicultural can influence our personalities and identities along the way- and the various culture shocks that we encountered along the way. Thank you so much Janine, and welcome to the pod! This is Finding Home, a podcast that provides a room for individuals with truly remarkable and multicultural backgrounds to speak about how their past experiences growing up exposed to different cultures has shaped who they are today. We talk about their struggles, things they learned along the way, and the beautiful ways in which being a third culture child can be such an asset in the modern day world, but can make it so difficult to truly define the word home. Thank you for listening 🎧!

Joining me today is Ryoko. Ryoko was born in Japan,  raised in the United States, and later returned to Japan to complete high school and her undergrad. Her stories are beautifully insightful and speak volumes about what it's like growing up between cultures that are truly different. Thank you for joining the pod, Ryoko! This is Finding Home, a podcast that provides a room for individuals with truly remarkable and multicultural backgrounds to speak about how their past experiences growing up exposed to different cultures has shaped who they are today. We talk about their struggles, things they learned along the way, and the beautiful ways in which being a third culture child can be such an asset in the modern day world, but can make it so difficult to truly define the word home. Thank you for listening 🎧!

Joining me today is Daniel. Daniel was born in Ukraine, grew up in Germany- and now found a new home in Dubai. In this episode, Daniel walks me through the essentials of Ukrainian culture and explains that it's like growing up between the two countries. His story is so informative and I'm so grateful that he joined me to share it. This is Finding Home, a podcast that provides a room for individuals with truly remarkable and multicultural backgrounds to speak about how their past experiences growing up exposed to different cultures has shaped who they are today. We talk about their struggles, things they learned along the way, and the beautiful ways in which being a third culture child can be such an asset in the modern day world, but can make it so difficult to truly define the word home. Thank you for listening 🎧!