borders

01/24/2018

Is Making Friends as an Introverted Immigrant Harder Than Dating?

You move somewhere new and by the time you make friends there, you leave the country. Or your friends leave the country. I gravitate towards people who like to leave.
03/20/2018

How I Came Up With the Name Foreignish

The first names I could think of were embarrassing.
03/28/2018

A Precarious Visa Situation Makes You Vulnerable at Work

I tolerated bullying at my first journalism job.
07/06/2018

Checking My Passport Privilege

My EU passport gives me an enormous privilege—a privilege I didn't work for.
07/16/2018

Dream Big, Unless You Have a Shitty Passport

You’re not entitled to global career dreams and wanderlust if you belong to the underclass of shitty passport holders.
08/27/2018

Stop Asking Where I’m From

The answer won't reveal much anyway. There's a better question. No, it's not "What's your background?"
01/30/2019

Shame and Self-Loathing in Brussels

My biggest humiliation happened in the EU bubble.
02/18/2019

People Mispronounce My Foreign Name But It’s Partly My Fault

When people butcher my name, I don't correct them for fear of making them uncomfortable.
05/04/2019

The Wound That Never Heals

I live an ocean away from my mom. Reunions make our separation harder.
05/13/2019

How I Made the Foreignish Logo

Designing a logo looks easy until you try doing it yourself.
01/14/2020

Foreign, Poor and in the Ivy League

When you simultaneously inhabit the worlds of poverty and privilege.
03/21/2020

Despite the Stigma, I Self-Published My First Book—a Collection of Personal Essays on Immigration

For many diverse writers, self-publishing is the only route to publication.
04/02/2020

Returning to the Breath

The camp is cloaked by darkness. In the distance, somewhere behind the woods, a train honks its horn, the sole reminder of the outside world.  I’m relieved: this is going to be the last meditation of the day.
04/10/2021

Are You a Global Citizen?

Being a citizen of the world isn't about traveling, which is only accessible to a privileged few.
09/23/2023

Becoming Canadian

Studying for the Canadian citizenship test exposed me to a misleading story about how Canada came to be.
02/23/2024

The Shame of Forgetting My Mother Tongue

I've forgotten my mother tongue and I feel like a different person when I switch languages.
06/29/2026
Living room with open suitcases on the floor

Goodbye, Canada

Packing up my life and leaving a place is a skill I’ve perfected.
09/17/2026
Photo of journal

In My Move to Europe, I Lost All My Journals

It took only a few minutes to destroy my entire life's diaries.