“I want to drive into the sunrise.” Years ago, when I was living in Seattle, commuting every day to a comfortable desk job in the eastside, I used to mutter this half-jokingly to my carpool companion. This must have seemed to her not just wistful and slightly pathetic but incredibly dramatic, as we were usually…Read more Home in the Ether
multicultural
Decent People to the End
Despite how problematic this story can be in our fraught media landscape seething with outrage and boiling with identity politics, it is the most urgent story. I am compelled repeatedly tell it—fresher, bolder, louder, its scope ambitiously greater than my tiny individual life.
Decent People
Despite how problematic this story can be in our fraught media landscape seething with outrage and boiling with identity politics, it is the most urgent story. I am compelled repeatedly tell it—fresher, bolder, louder, its scope ambitiously greater than my tiny individual life.
Civilization and Its Ironies
Racism. Xenophobia. Prejudice. Discrimination. It seems every word written against these forms of hatred will be ignored nonetheless. People feel targeted, shamed, belittled when hate is addressed. After all, hate is an emotion we all feel. Whenever these topics are brought up, whether privately or publicly, reality tends to shift a bit towards the severe,…Read more Civilization and Its Ironies
Wahlberliner
I must admit, I’ve been (more) distracted lately. I am still working on my Origins book project which is coming together slowly but surely. But for the most part, I’ve been living my best life outdoors! Summer has come to Berlin in full force this year! April and May felt more like July. I don’t know…Read more Wahlberliner
The Unimaginable
As the year draws to a close, it seems only natural to review the most memorable events of the past 365 days. Politically, culturally, ideologically, it has been quite a roller coaster. Many of us have continuously found ourselves in surreal places this year—places we never could have imagined, back when the future was just…Read more The Unimaginable
Grey Territories
Immigration, integration, identity, culture, multicultural(ism): most people tend to approach these words with wariness, perhaps even anger and hostility. This may come as a surprise, but I can relate to these feelings completely. I totally understand that these topics in particular have been (over-)saturating our media landscape and the rhetoric of politicians in recent years.…Read more Grey Territories
The City in the Clouds
In 2008, at age twenty-eight, I quit a reliable desk job, sold my car and most of my possessions, and set out to backpack across Europe alone. Having read so many stories about life-changing walkabouts (Eat, Pray, Love and On the Road, to name a few), I know this is hardly rare, so at the risk of…Read more The City in the Clouds
Inspiration for a Permanent Tourist: Pico Iyer
Growing up in the US, I often found myself caught between two worlds: my somewhat traditional Filipino upbringing and the dominant American culture of my teachers and peers. Later, after traveling the world and relocating to Germany as an adult, I felt even more conflicted in terms of cultural and national identity. What am I? An American?…Read more Inspiration for a Permanent Tourist: Pico Iyer
A Light Circle 