Behind the Curtain: Recent Episodes
Justin Loy
Aneta has done an impressive amount of living in foreign countries and shares her thoughts on various places, adjustments, and cultures.
Justin takes a look at the differences between American and Czech understanding of authority and the historical reasons for those differences. Using examples from his own experience and from his students' responses, Justin unpacks what constitutes good authority, cultural influences aside.
Terka delivers surprising answers to Justin's questions about life as a foreigner in Norway.
Justin interviews a former Czech student studying abroad in Minnesota. What defines Americans for the outsiders in their midst?
Justin interviews a former student who now studies in Canada. Her stories and deep reflections prove that living overseas is an experience that changes you for life.
Justin interviews a former Czech student who lives and studies in Great Britain. Ben's insightful, funny, and thought-provoking answers will not disappoint.
The holidays are almost upon us, but what does that mean for everybody? Justin takes a look at some different holiday traditions and unpacks the underlying causes and messages beneath some very interesting holiday customs.
Justin concludes this series of episodes outlining the final five tools he's developed to step out of his own cultural posture and relate well to Czechs.
Justin continues this short series of episodes outlining tools he's developed to step out of his own cultural posture and relate well to Czechs.
Justin begins a short series of episodes outlining tools he's developed to step out of his own cultural posture and relate well to Czechs.
Justin unpacks the intricacies of Czech meetings, detailing his own failures and successes in navigating another cultural arena.
Justin describes his humorous and painful experiences in learning what a Czech really means when they extend an invitation to take a walk.
Does a country's geographical location affect its culture? Justin unpacks Czech's position in the European context and how this helps us understand the Czech mindset.
Justin takes us through the culturally and psychologically complex phenomenon of Czech high school graduation tests.
Justin begins Season Three diving into the relationship between a host culture and a foreigner --one of sponges and mirrors.
In this final episode of season two, Justin uses his experience at a Czech ball to highlight a foreigner's inevitable otherness.
Credit and sources:
Engine (2x):
https://www.zapsplat.com/music/car-start-idle-then-engine-off-external-recording-vauxhall-corsa-1-2/
Door open (2x):
https://www.zapsplat.com/music/car-door-open-internal-recording-peugeot-307/
Door shut (2x):
https://www.zapsplat.com/music/car-door-close-internal-recording-peugeot-307/
People (2x):
https://www.zapsplat.com/music/busy-large-bar-or-pub-ambience-lots-of-people-talking-2/
Jazz at the beginning:
https://freesound.org/people/anechoix/sounds/456797/
Melody at the end:
https://freesound.org/people/sofialomba/sounds/467936/
Justin discusses the experience of culture shock and its counterpart--reverse culture shock in one's home country.
Justin explores the art of missing beloved items and people while living overseas and why craving can be a beautiful thing.
Justin compares two versions of cultural questions and what they reveal about the two cultures.
Listen to Justin's guest interview on The Moving Roadmap here:
https://www.avvinue.com/podcast/justin-loy-meeting-love-abroad-returning-to-czech-republic-together
Justin describes the Hunt--a constant search for hard-to-find, home-culture products in stores.
Justin tries to wrap his head around language and his tongue around a few impossible Czech tongue twisters while also sharing some of his top language gaffes.
Justin contrasts cultural norms from his childhood with the Czech experience and manages to find a connection in an unexpected way.
Justin discusses common foreigner coping mechanisms and when, how, and why to abandon them.
Justin unpacks two contrasting ways a foreigner handles cultural differences: assimilation and separation. He details his failed attempts at both, bringing him to a third way.
Justin wraps up Season One with a quick behind-the-scenes from the first ten episodes and a teaser for Season Two, starting in September.
Using announcements and articles from the local community magazine, Justin discusses several cultural peculiarities that he's learned to love and follow...almost.
In the fourth and final relationship series, Justin discusses the differences in cultural responses when chaos breaks down male-female relationships and finds the anecdote hidden within the culture.
In the third part of the Relationship Series, Justin unpacks the tradition of gift giving, especially in neighborly relationships. And makes us hungry for apple pie.
In the second part of the Relationship Series, Justin tells about his first days in Europe and how the influence of one person changed his story.
Relationship Series #1
Some languages create a conundrum for Americans who are unused to defining relationships with complicated uses of pronouns. Justin tells stories of how he has navigated through the cultural rules of language to build stronger relationships.
What do storks and expats have in common? In this episode, Justin takes a look at a stork's life and three ways it's similar to an expat's experience.
Here's a link to a live cam on a stork next in the Czech Republic:
https://www.ipcamlive.com/5ca7589bb4c42?fbclid=IwAR3R7rWfSrbbwfubWlzI4leUuoNn1Il9EWgiHsAlXSBqKGUZuaVeDava-XA
In this episode, Justin finds several advantages to wearing face masks and discusses other benefits we can find in today’s unusual circumstances.
Resources mentioned:
Uses of Adversity by Timothy Garton Ash
https://amzn.to/2xNRZcl
USA Today article:
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/04/04/czech-government-implemented-face-mask-requirement-help-combat-coronavirus-column/2940393001/
In this episode, Justin breaks down the drama of a grocery store check-out line from the perspective of a foreigner. His issues with such a simple task bring him to a helpful conclusion about interacting with others.
In this initial episode to the Behind the Curtain Podcast, host Justin Loy introduces himself and outlines the setup of the podcast.