0:21

It's the Germany

0:21

experience the podcast about

0:24

life in Germany, as seen through

0:24

the eyes of outsiders. And I'm

0:28

your host, Shaun, visit the

0:28

Germany experience dot d to

0:31

access all my episodes and Get

0:31

in Touch at

0:33

thegermanyexperience.de/contact

0:33

or leave me a voicemail on my

0:37

site. And while you're there,

0:37

sign up for my newsletter just

0:41

get some information straight in

0:41

your email inbox. Now this year

0:45

at Advent time in Germany, there

0:45

are a lot of things that we

0:48

don't have. We don't have large

0:48

family gatherings. We don't have

0:52

Christmas markets. And we

0:52

probably won't even have

0:55

overcrowded stores as people

0:55

rush to buy gifts. But what we

0:59

will have is a tradition that

0:59

started last year, if you were

1:02

listening to the show back then

1:02

over the 2019 Advent period,

1:06

Nicole of the xpac cost and I

1:06

faced off against each other to

1:10

see who could raise the most

1:10

money for charity. Now, it

1:13

wasn't important who won or not,

1:13

but I won. And we call that the

1:17

first ever German expert

1:17

podcasters face off, or

1:20

FEGEPADFO. for short. I don't

1:20

know if you could hear the

1:23

quotation marks marks there. And

1:23

this year, guess what? It's

1:27

SEGEPADFO. The second ever

1:27

German expert podcasters face

1:30

off, it's no more easier to

1:30

pronounce this year or to

1:34

remember, but it's back. And

1:34

there's a short bonus episode

1:37

that I released yesterday

1:37

explaining it, Nicole and I

1:40

chatted about what we're doing

1:40

this year. So go and listen to

1:44

that. This time, there's only

1:44

one charity and that's a charity

1:48

called Uber den killer. And now

1:48

what they do, they're a Germany

1:52

wide organization that brings

1:52

Germans and foreigners together

1:55

over a plate of food to connect,

1:55

practice language skills and

1:59

promote intercultural

1:59

competency. The Freiburg branch,

2:02

which is local to Nicole is

2:02

raising money to create a

2:06

portable kitchen that would

2:06

enable them to expand and

2:09

improve their events. And we'll

2:09

get more into it with Intel and

2:13

as the week's progress over the

2:13

over the Advent time. But that's

2:17

what you need to know. Now

2:17

that's the the cause that we're

2:20

donating to because it's a

2:20

really great way of integrating

2:24

different cultures and, and

2:24

making sure that we keep we

2:27

don't end up with dysfunctional

2:27

situations when people don't

2:31

integrate. So even though

2:31

there's one charity donor will

2:34

still be competing. So if you

2:34

donate, be sure to write the

2:37

podcast that you're donating on

2:37

behalf of in the comment field.

2:41

It's a little box that says your

2:41

your public comment. And it's

2:45

optional. But it would really be

2:45

go a long way to telling us that

2:49

you donated on behalf of one of

2:49

our punch cards. So just write

2:53

in either the German experience

2:53

or the export costs. For all the

2:57

details go to the Germany

2:57

experienced T Ford slash charity

3:00

2020. And this, just like it was

3:00

last year, it's something that

3:04

is very dear to my heart. One

3:04

thing that Nicole and I do agree

3:08

on is that Germany has given us

3:08

both so much. And we really want

3:12

to give back in some way over

3:12

this Advent time. So get

3:15

donating the Germany experience

3:15

dot d Ford slash charity 2020.

3:19

And it might seem like we're

3:19

working together by the way, but

3:22

don't get me wrong, I still want

3:22

to take Nicole down. She's my

3:26

rival, I want to take her that

3:26

was the way this works. And by

3:30

the way, the speaking of there

3:30

will be challenges along the

3:33

way. And Nicole has already

3:33

issued me her first one, I must

3:37

write a jingle for segi pedco.

3:37

By next Sunday, no problem, I'll

3:41

just bang a tune up. It's very

3:41

easy to write songs after all.

3:45

So there'll be a jingle

3:45

hopefully coming up before next

3:48

Sunday. So a little bit of

3:48

pressure on me. Another thing

3:51

that I want to talk about is in

3:51

a few weeks, I am planning a

3:55

sort of the last episode of the

3:55

year, I'm going to take a break

3:59

for the second half of December.

3:59

And I want to do an episode

4:02

called Postcards from 2020. And

4:02

I need your input I need you to

4:06

give me your thoughts and

4:06

feelings about 2020. And

4:09

essentially, I want to know what

4:09

was 2020 like for you? What did

4:13

you learn this year? And more

4:13

importantly, what message do you

4:17

have for other people going into

4:17

2021? What is what do you think

4:21

2020 has given you that you have

4:21

a message to give forward. I

4:24

would love to hear your

4:24

thoughts. So as I said at the

4:28

top of the show, you can contact

4:28

me at the Germany experience dot

4:32

d Ford slash contact or you can

4:32

write me an email at info at the

4:35

German experience dot d and

4:35

across my social media channels.

4:39

I'll also be putting out that

4:39

request to get your Postcards

4:43

from 2024 for an episode that's

4:43

going to happen in a few weeks

4:46

time. Now, we're on to my guest.

4:46

She is Alicia and she's a soul

4:50

and blues singer from Texas,

4:50

United States of America and

4:54

she's releasing her debut EP

4:54

next year that she is recording

4:57

in Germany. Actually. She's only

4:57

been here for a year and what a

5:01

year to move to another country.

5:01

I mean, being far from home is

5:05

hard enough at the best of times

5:05

with everything that happened,

5:09

especially as an American this

5:09

year, it was particularly tough.

5:13

And I first noticed Alicia, way

5:13

back in May, June, after the

5:16

death of George Floyd when she

5:16

was very vocal on her Instagram

5:20

account. And I thought it would

5:20

be great to get her on and just

5:24

hear more from her about how she

5:24

is part of something that is

5:28

happening very far away from

5:28

her. So it says, you know, what

5:31

is it like to feel the need to

5:31

contribute to this cause that's

5:35

happening in our home country of

5:35

America, but being here in

5:39

Germany, so she talks a bit

5:39

about that. We also talk about

5:42

music, we talk about why she is

5:42

in Germany, and also how her

5:46

time has been in general here in

5:46

Germany. Here is Alicia to

5:49

explain it all. and you're a soul blues and pop

5:57

singer living in Germany. Yes,

6:03

I am. What a strange

6:03

combination.

6:07

What a strange combination, but we're gonna get to that. We're gonna get to your

6:08

your why you're in Germany.

6:12

We'll get to that shortly. But

6:12

you're originally from Texas,

6:15

aren't you?

6:16

Yes. So actually, I grew

6:16

up in Louisiana. But I was

6:20

living in Texas before I moved

6:20

here for the last five years.

6:24

And I actually was born in

6:24

Texas, but not Yeah, I was I

6:28

went to school and everything in

6:28

Louisiana. I was raised in

6:30

Louisiana.

6:32

Okay. I mean, first of

6:32

all, I must ask you, are you a

6:34

professional musician? Or is

6:34

this a hobby? Mr. I assume it's

6:37

professional, right?

6:38

I mean, I consider

6:38

myself a professional. But I

6:43

guess you got to ask the

6:43

audience members. Yeah. Okay.

6:46

But But you're doing it full time. This is your livelihood.

6:49

I'm not doing it full

6:49

time. I'm doing it part time.

6:53

But I would like to do it full

6:53

time. Okay, I'm also a student.

6:57

So for me, though, the focus and

6:57

what I would love to do, you

7:02

know, every day of my life is

7:02

music. But that's also that's

7:05

not always sustainable. You know?

7:07

Yeah, it's always the

7:07

problem with the arts, isn't it?

7:09

It's you never know where the

7:09

next job is coming from or where

7:12

the next thing is going to be.

7:12

But I can say, for the listeners

7:16

that maybe haven't known, I'm

7:16

going to put all the links, or

7:19

I'm going to put some links to

7:19

YouTube videos in the show notes

7:22

that you've got an incredible

7:22

voice insanely talented.

7:25

No, thank you. Thank you

7:25

so much. I appreciate that.

7:30

So how did you get into

7:30

music?

7:34

So I've been singing

7:34

since I was really small. I was

7:38

always in like school plays and

7:38

musical productions. And at one

7:43

point, I was into acting and

7:43

stuff when I was small. But for

7:47

me, it was always about the

7:47

music. I loved being in choirs.

7:52

We had choirs and my schools.

7:52

That's one of the things that I

7:55

really appreciate about the

7:55

American school system is like

7:58

the heavy, heavy focus on the

7:58

arts, especially at a young age,

8:03

you know, for students. And so

8:03

for me, it was about singing at

8:06

school, I was singing in church,

8:06

you know, every week I was

8:10

saying in church, and that, for

8:10

me definitely had a huge impact

8:13

on my love of music.

8:17

So, so how did you end

8:17

up in Germany now?

8:25

So I ended up in

8:25

Germany, because I actually was

8:28

dating somebody who's from here,

8:28

okay. And at one point, I knew I

8:34

wanted to leave the US. And but

8:34

I was kind of looking at all my

8:38

options and thinking, Okay,

8:38

where can I go? I know, I want

8:41

to be in Europe. But what is the

8:41

best place for me to be,

8:45

especially because of school as

8:45

well, I knew I wanted to pursue

8:48

a master's degree. And it had to

8:48

be in a place that was

8:51

affordable, and, you know,

8:51

offering something that I would

8:54

want. And so for me, Germany was

8:54

the next step after a long list

8:59

of, you know, considerations of

8:59

other countries, but I ended up

9:03

with choosing Germany, and I'm

9:03

really glad that I did.

9:09

Okay, so it sounds like you're having a good time in Germany, then.

9:12

Yeah, now.

9:15

Okay, well, we'll get

9:15

to your trials and tribulations.

9:18

In short, because it sounds like

9:18

there are some, but why not the

9:21

USA though? What was the what

9:21

was the attraction about going

9:24

to Europe?

9:26

So for me, I've been to

9:26

Europe a bunch of times before

9:29

actually moving here. So I

9:29

already knew that I just found

9:33

like, the lifestyle here more

9:33

attractive. Um, for me, it also

9:37

was about cost. Like I knew that

9:37

getting a master's degree in the

9:40

States was going to cost me a

9:40

lot of money. Just because

9:44

higher education is just

9:44

expensive. And I knew that

9:49

healthcare was going to be

9:49

expensive. I knew. I mean,

9:52

there's so many like expensive

9:52

things about the lifestyle in

9:55

America, and that I wanted to

9:55

kind of get away from and part

9:59

of that was the stress of money,

9:59

even though I was working full

10:03

time, as a social media manager

10:03

and web manager, that still did

10:09

not alleviate the stress of, you

10:09

know, having to pay for

10:12

everything. And I knew that

10:12

coming to Europe, especially

10:17

Germany would be pretty cost

10:17

effective for me. And that would

10:21

get rid of that, that, you know,

10:21

that level of stress that I had.

10:26

And it absolutely, I was totally

10:26

right about that. Because now I

10:29

don't have you know, those kinds

10:29

of stresses.

10:33

Yeah, I'm always amazed

10:33

when I meet Americans that

10:35

almost every single one of them

10:35

are being followed around by

10:37

student debt, at least. Oh,

10:37

yeah, it's incredible, the

10:41

amount of student pensive,

10:42

I went to a very, I went

10:42

to the University of Louisiana

10:45

at Lafayette. And it's not an A

10:45

crazy, expensive school, like,

10:50

it was just like an average, you

10:50

know, and my bachelor's degree

10:54

cost me $40,000. And that's a

10:54

cheap school, you know, like, I

11:00

have friends who went to private

11:00

institutions and Ivy League

11:03

schools, and their debt is three

11:03

or four times mine. So insane.

11:07

It's insane. And when I tell

11:07

people here how much it is,

11:10

especially other students, they

11:10

can't believe it, you know,

11:14

because here, it's like, I think

11:14

I pay like 500 euros or

11:18

something a semester, which is

11:18

the cost of like, my books for

11:21

one semester in the States. So a

11:21

I like, for me,

11:27

it's a very attractive

11:27

thing that this study here, and

11:31

you can study in English? And

11:31

are you studying in English? Or

11:33

are you studying in German?

11:35

Yes, so my program is in

11:35

English. And that was one of the

11:39

main things for me was to be

11:39

able to find a program that I

11:43

could study in English. And

11:43

that's what I found. And so for

11:47

me, it was mostly about finding

11:47

something affordable, and

11:52

something that was gonna benefit

11:52

me, you know, and the US, I

11:56

mean, it's, it's expensive in a

11:56

lot of ways. But there are some

12:00

benefits, you know, like, there

12:00

are major differences within the

12:04

schooling systems here. And back

12:04

home, it's like you kind of you

12:09

pay a lot, but you, you can kind

12:09

of expect a lot from the

12:12

university, because you're

12:12

paying so much. So there, there

12:15

are small differences, like just

12:15

like offices being open every

12:18

day, from nine to five, always

12:18

having access to the people you

12:21

need, um, entire staff dedicated

12:21

to helping international

12:26

students and housing and all of

12:26

that stuff. Here. It's a little

12:29

bit more bear. I think in terms

12:29

of like staffing, and it's more

12:34

you have to be more independent,

12:34

you have to be able to get a lot

12:37

of this stuff done by yourself.

12:39

Okay, I guess I guess

12:39

that does make sense, because I

12:42

can say you're paying a lot less

12:42

here in Germany for that

12:46

tuition.

12:47

Yeah.

12:49

So your here to study

12:49

you've been here? How long did

12:52

you say?

12:53

I've been here for one

12:53

year, just one year, So I'm

13:00

still a baby here.

13:02

And what and how long

13:02

is the plan for what is how long

13:05

are you planning to stay for?

13:07

So I don't want to

13:07

leave? I am convinced now that I

13:09

want to stay.

13:10

I feel like it can go

13:10

either way. After a year. Some

13:17

people might be after a year

13:17

hitting that stage where they're

13:19

thinking this is not as great as

13:19

I thought it was in the first

13:21

few months. And now maybe

13:21

they're thinking of heading

13:24

home, but good for you. It's the opposite.

13:26

No, yeah, I absolutely

13:26

love it here and considering the

13:31

state of what's going on in

13:31

America. I am not exactly I'm

13:35

rushing to get back. I can

13:35

always visit and I have visited

13:40

once since I've moved here. But

13:40

I don't have any plans of moving

13:45

back anytime soon.

13:47

Okay, so you can see

13:47

yourself been here for a while?

13:49

Yes, absolutely. I could

13:49

see myself living here forever.

13:52

Probably. Really?

13:54

How long as the degree?

13:56

It's two years.

13:57

Okay. Yeah. So yeah,

13:57

it's very interesting that, that

14:03

you're seeing it that way. So

14:03

how, in this year that you have

14:06

been here? How has it been for

14:06

you, with regards to integrate

14:10

into Germany? Sounds like it's

14:10

been great. From what you're

14:12

saying?

14:13

Well, it's great now,

14:13

but in the beginning, it was not

14:17

easy. And I think for me, the

14:17

biggest thing was the language

14:20

barrier. I'm a pretty resilient

14:20

person. I'm pretty tough. You

14:24

know, I, I'm very independent.

14:24

But for me, being here, the

14:29

language I think was the

14:29

hardest, it has been the hardest

14:32

barrier for me to cross. And

14:32

because it kind of makes you

14:36

feel helpless, like when you

14:36

don't, when you don't speak and

14:38

like I can understand some, but

14:38

I'm still learning. And I speak

14:42

like three other languages. So

14:42

adding this one to the docket

14:47

was not easy. And like I said,

14:47

I'm still learning and so aside

14:53

from the language, I think there

14:53

were some cultural things too,

14:55

that I definitely experienced

14:55

that made it a little bit

14:59

harder. But the beginning was

14:59

not easy. And I think I think no

15:03

matter where you move, you're

15:03

going to have some some trials

15:07

and tribulations, you're going

15:07

to have some hurdles to jump

15:10

over. And I was expecting that I

15:10

didn't think I was going to come

15:13

here. And it was just going to

15:13

be a breeze. But I also didn't

15:16

expect it to be as hard as it

15:16

was the beginning. And let's,

15:21

let's say like the first six

15:21

months were really difficult.

15:24

And and you mentioned

15:24

the language barrier. What else

15:28

was it about that time that makes it difficult?

15:31

I think being so far

15:31

away from home and being away

15:34

from everyone, and very family

15:34

oriented, and I'm very, like,

15:40

you know, social, and I love my

15:40

friends and my family back home.

15:43

And for me, that was one of the

15:43

hardest parts is being away. I'd

15:47

never been homesick before. And

15:47

I've traveled all over the

15:51

world. I've been out of the

15:51

country for extended periods of

15:54

time. But I'd never been like

15:54

living outside of the US, you

15:59

know, for this long. And so for

15:59

me, I was actually homesick. And

16:04

that's never happened to me

16:04

before, but never. So being away

16:09

from everyone and thinking, wow,

16:09

I don't really know anyone in

16:12

this country. I know, like two

16:12

people here. And I that for me

16:16

was a bit daunting. And also

16:16

just, there were some cultural

16:20

things like I feel like

16:20

Americans are much more Oh,

16:25

gosh, I don't want I don't want

16:25

to offend anyone when I say

16:27

this, but Americans are just

16:27

more friendly in general to

16:30

strangers.

16:30

I think this I think

16:30

that is something that has been

16:33

covered quite a bit on this

16:33

podcast is not the first so it

16:36

is fine.

16:38

Americans are super

16:38

friendly. And just more talk it

16:43

is and more open. I think in the

16:43

beginning, even if they don't

16:47

know you. And that's one thing

16:47

that was hard for me was kind of

16:51

feeling like an outsider and you

16:51

know, people not really

16:54

interacting with me. Or if they

16:54

did, it maybe wasn't so

16:57

positive. And so that was hard

16:57

because you feel like an

17:00

outsider, you know? Yeah.

17:02

Yeah. It's it's a

17:02

common theme for people coming

17:05

to Germany. But you said that

17:05

you move past that after the

17:08

first few months. What was what

17:08

do you think it was that God was

17:12

something that got better in you? Did you understand the Germans better? What started

17:14

making things get a little

17:16

better?

17:17

Yeah, that the I had to

17:17

do some learning, you know,

17:20

about what the things that are

17:20

just culturally acceptable here

17:26

and how things are run here. You

17:26

know, I think for me, it started

17:31

when I kind of started getting

17:31

more involved in school and with

17:34

other expats and kind of like

17:34

talking to them about their

17:37

experiences, and then also

17:37

becoming friends with more

17:41

German people, because then I

17:41

could kind of see and figure out

17:45

like, the social stuff, you

17:45

know, that maybe wouldn't have

17:49

known otherwise. So and I also

17:49

started getting involved in my

17:53

own hobbies, like music and

17:53

things that make me happy, I had

17:57

to realize, you know, that those

17:57

things would kind of get me

18:01

through. And I knew that some of

18:01

this would just take time, I

18:04

think it just takes time to

18:04

settle, like, let the dust

18:07

settle. When you first move

18:07

here, you're you're doing so

18:10

much to get settled. You have to

18:10

get a phone, you have to get a

18:13

bank account, you have to

18:13

there's like so many there's a

18:15

million things you have to do,

18:15

right? school stuff, paperwork,

18:18

immigration, it's like, you

18:18

don't ever your wheels are just

18:21

constantly turning. And it takes

18:21

a while for you to finally be

18:25

able to just exhale, when I

18:25

finally got my, my, um, my

18:31

residence permit, like, all with

18:31

all the visa stuff, that's when

18:34

I could finally like, take a

18:34

break. Because before it was

18:37

like, you know, I'm freaking

18:37

out, I'm freaking out about

18:40

getting my mail and making sure

18:40

I'm not missing appointments

18:43

and, you know, finding a place

18:43

to live. I mean, it's, it's a

18:47

lot. Yeah. And once you finally

18:47

get the dust once the dust

18:51

finally settles, then you can

18:51

say, Okay, let me kind of absorb

18:56

this moment. And, and, and

18:56

figure out my new environment

18:59

here. But it definitely took me

18:59

some time and also making

19:02

friends here. That was really

19:02

important. Yeah.

19:07

And how did you make friends? Because you mentioned that you started making friends

19:08

with some Germans, you had some

19:11

expat friends. How did you make

19:11

friends? Was it all university?

19:14

Or have you made friends in

19:14

other avenues? And I think

19:17

people would be interested to know how.

19:20

So in the beginning, it

19:20

was mostly university students,

19:23

because we're all kind of going

19:23

through this, you know,

19:25

experience together, we have

19:25

classes together. And that was

19:30

the easiest way to make friends.

19:30

And then I started kind of

19:36

branching out a little bit and

19:36

going off on my own. I would go

19:40

to protests, like whenever all

19:40

of the Black Lives Matter stuff

19:43

started happening, I, I would

19:43

just go to things on my own

19:47

really, but that's just I'm the

19:47

type of person who can do that.

19:51

Like, not everybody is

19:51

comfortable going places alone

19:55

and doing things alone. I know

19:55

that can be hard for some

19:58

people, but for me, it's not

19:58

like I don't Watching movies by

20:00

myself, I will go to a

20:00

restaurant by myself, I do not

20:03

mind.

20:05

It's a great experience is one of the things that I love. I used to go to the cinema

20:07

all the time on my own. Because

20:09

if you just go and see whatever

20:09

movie you want, you don't have

20:12

to talk about what you're gonna

20:12

eat beforehand, what are you

20:15

gonna watch, you just walk in

20:15

and watch whatever you do, and

20:17

it's a great experience. So I'm

20:17

a big advocate for doing things

20:20

on my on on your own as well, I

20:20

think is a good point.

20:23

Yes, and so that's what

20:23

I did. And I, most of my, like,

20:28

musician friends that I have now

20:28

I've met in the last, let's say,

20:32

four months. And, um, and that

20:32

was because I went to an event

20:38

and I met a musician there. And

20:38

then and I did a show with her I

20:42

think background, and then I

20:42

ended up meeting all of these

20:45

people, um, musicians. And I

20:45

think that's been definitely

20:50

that's, that's given me a huge

20:50

inspiration, I think to be happy

20:55

here and to be working on like

20:55

music and everything. I think

20:59

it's really important to connect

20:59

with people who do the things

21:03

that you love to do as well as

21:03

an expat. If you're no matter

21:08

what you're into, there's always

21:08

going to be a group or somebody

21:11

else that's into that same

21:11

thing. And that you can really

21:14

make good genuine friends like

21:14

that by just, you know,

21:17

participating in activities that

21:17

that you love, because you're

21:20

going to meet like minded people.

21:21

I love that. I love

21:21

that I had a guest who said

21:24

something similar in an early

21:24

episode of the podcast, he his

21:28

quote was very similar. He said,

21:28

just seek out the things that

21:31

you love. And the people there

21:31

will be the people you want to

21:34

hang out with, because the

21:34

interests and the passions are

21:37

common. So it's a great act of

21:37

advice.

21:40

And that makes a huge

21:40

difference, I think. Because

21:43

you're doing what you love. And

21:43

then you're meeting people who

21:46

genuinely love those things,

21:46

too. And then, yeah, it's like

21:50

genuine friendship, as opposed

21:50

to it being kind of like,

21:52

forced, you know, I think the

21:52

university setting was good to

21:55

start. But it didn't necessarily

21:55

mean that that that all of these

21:59

people were people that I would

21:59

call up for brunch or something

22:02

on a Saturday.

22:04

Yeah. While while you

22:04

were talking, I also realize

22:07

because you said, You've been

22:07

here for a year. And then you

22:10

also mentioned, you know, some

22:10

of the things that happened with

22:12

Black Lives Matters. A lot has

22:12

happened in a year, you chose a

22:17

really eventful year, to move to

22:17

another country.

22:20

I know. And, and you

22:20

know, what, I didn't know

22:24

sometimes I like, I asked

22:24

myself, like, How did this

22:26

happen? How did all How is all

22:26

of this happening? While I'm not

22:30

home, you know, it's, it's just

22:30

crazy. And I moved here in

22:34

September at the end of

22:34

September 2019. And so this year

22:38

has just been incredible. Like

22:38

I, I am just shocked at the

22:44

amount of history happening. And

22:44

I'm not home to see it. And so

22:48

sometimes it's it's like a

22:48

double edged sword like on one

22:51

hand, I'm, I'm grateful to not

22:51

have to deal with a lot of the

22:55

issues that I had to face in

22:55

America. And on the other hand,

22:58

I feel kind of guilty that I'm

22:58

not there, you know, being able

23:02

to participate and, and make

23:02

change. And so yeah, that that

23:07

was that's, that hasn't been

23:07

easy. And then to be also in a

23:10

country where you don't

23:10

necessarily have like the

23:13

community and the support around

23:13

you that you would have back

23:16

home. That's also hard, because

23:16

you see people going through

23:19

this. And I mean, I was on the

23:19

phone with my friends almost

23:22

every day, you know, when all of

23:22

these protests started just

23:26

asking questions, and you know,

23:26

how are you feeling? What's

23:30

going on there? What's

23:30

happening? Because I'm seeing

23:32

this from the different lens now

23:32

that I'm outside of the states?

23:39

How has it changed your

23:39

viewpoint?

23:42

Well, on which topic

23:42

black lives matter? Yeah. Um, I

23:47

think for me, it made me kind of

23:47

realize how big of an impact the

23:52

US has on the world. I didn't

23:52

necessarily see that or

23:58

understand that when I was

23:58

living there. That people kind

24:02

of look to America for you know,

24:02

as a as an example for a lot of

24:07

things. And it's not a perfect

24:07

country. No country is perfect,

24:12

but we have a lot of work to do.

24:12

And some of the things that I

24:17

experienced in America I thought

24:17

were like normal. I realized

24:21

when I moved out of the states

24:21

like no this is not normal like

24:23

police brutality is not normal.

24:23

Like that's not something that

24:27

we should be accepting at all.

24:27

Um, even my interactions with

24:32

police here I my friends that

24:32

have all like lived here and

24:36

grown up here are very laid back

24:36

and have no you know, qualms

24:40

about the police. About for me,

24:40

you know, my experience has been

24:45

different. You know, if I see a

24:45

police officer or something I

24:48

might get I might tense up or I

24:48

might say, Hey, you guys, like

24:51

you know, there's a police

24:51

officer or whatever, even if

24:54

they're just coming to say we're

24:54

being too loud. You know,

24:56

musicians, musicians are always

24:56

making noise. They're coming to

25:00

say, oh, you're being too loud,

25:00

or whatever I am, you know, I'm

25:03

very, um, that makes me nervous

25:03

and it. But then I realize like

25:09

police aren't in the police here

25:09

are nice. Like, some of them are

25:12

really nice. And they show up

25:12

with a smile, and they're like,

25:14

Can you just turn it down? Or,

25:14

you know, they're so kind here

25:18

and I'm like, What is going on?

25:18

And it's not to say that all the

25:25

police back home are bad. It's

25:25

not that at all, like I have

25:28

friends that are police

25:28

officers, and work in law

25:30

enforcement, and they're good

25:30

people, but just the interaction

25:34

and the the stress of deal of

25:34

police interaction in America.

25:39

That's something that has

25:39

affected me. And even here, I

25:42

realized, like, okay, you don't

25:42

have to be scared, you don't

25:45

have to be worried. I've been

25:45

pulled over in my car before in

25:48

the states and, and had like,

25:48

really a really bad reaction to

25:53

that, because I was scared even though I didn't do anything wrong. Yeah, it's still scared

25:55

me because I thought, what if

25:59

I'm the next person, you know,

25:59

that's gonna be on the news

26:01

tomorrow, or, you know, or

26:01

whatever. So it's just, I had to

26:06

realize that, like, there's some

26:06

stuff that happens in the

26:08

States, that's just not okay.

26:08

And also, when I saw the effect

26:12

that the movement had on the

26:12

rest of the world, and how

26:15

people all over the world are

26:15

marching. That was that gave me

26:19

some sense of hope. You know,

26:22

yeah, it was amazing to

26:22

see the reaction here in Germany

26:24

as well, with all the the people

26:24

protest going out on the protest

26:27

marches. And all of that. And

26:27

you went to like you said, you

26:32

went to a few protests, but I

26:32

saw on your Facebook, I remember

26:35

seeing this actually, back in

26:35

June, I think it was, you're

26:39

based in Hanover, and I think it

26:39

was in Hanover, that you went to

26:42

this protest, and you gave a

26:42

speech in front of what I think

26:45

was 15,000 people, right? And it

26:45

was, it was a fiery speech, I'll

26:49

tell you, it gave me goosebumps

26:49

when I was watching. I was like,

26:52

oh, wow, that was really, really

26:52

inspirational was really moving

26:56

speech that you gave and also

26:56

put a link to that in the show

26:58

notes.

26:59

I had to say something,

26:59

I think, for me, being away from

27:03

home at that time was really

27:03

difficult. And it's such a

27:08

historical time is such a

27:08

historical moment. And I felt

27:11

like I have to do something, I

27:11

have to say something. I can't

27:15

like let this go by without

27:15

speaking. And I just contacted

27:19

the organizers of the protest.

27:19

And I said, Hey, would you guys

27:22

mind if I, if I came and said a

27:22

few words? Yeah. And you know, I

27:28

wrote this speech the day

27:28

before. And I got up there. And

27:32

I saw how many people there

27:32

were. And it, it scared me.

27:38

15,000 is a lot.

27:39

Yeah, that's a lot of

27:39

people. But I try to speak from

27:42

my heart and just speak on, you

27:42

know, things that so many of us

27:47

are feeling in this community.

27:47

And actually, a guy ended up

27:51

jumping on stage during my

27:51

speech.

27:56

What what that was, was

27:56

he a German, or?

27:59

I think he was, I don't

27:59

know, he was speaking in German.

28:02

And I didn't understand anything

28:02

he was saying, but I think there

28:04

was something wrong with him

28:04

because, um, he was kind of

28:08

like, slurring his speech and

28:08

stuff. Like he could have, we

28:10

don't know what was wrong with

28:10

him. But in that moment, I felt

28:13

really unsafe, I thought, wow,

28:13

like, they don't even have

28:16

anyone, you know, keeping people

28:16

from jumping on the stage. And

28:19

like he could have, he could

28:19

have had a weapon like it could

28:21

have been a jump on the stage.

28:21

And then like a mob of people

28:25

hold like, took him off the

28:25

stage.

28:28

Oh, my God, that's terrifying.

28:30

Oh, it was absolutely

28:30

terrifying. And, but I continued

28:34

my speech. And when I got off of

28:34

this stage, I actually had to go

28:38

give a statement to the police.

28:38

Like, they pulled me aside and I

28:41

had to like, you know, write

28:41

stuff down and talk to them

28:44

about what happened. And the guy

28:44

they had him like, detained and

28:47

like in the back by the police

28:47

van and everything, and he

28:50

wouldn't even look at me. He was like, I guess he was embarrassed. I don't know. But

28:52

um, yeah, that was a really

28:55

weird moment.

28:59

You and You barely, I

28:59

think you said straight off

29:01

there. When when obviously when

29:01

it was all over and he went

29:03

away, you said, are we gonna let

29:03

that stop us? You just you

29:07

didn't skip a beat. You just

29:07

went straight back into it.

29:10

Oh, yeah. My mom raised

29:10

a fighter. That's me.

29:14

That is obvious. That

29:14

is very clear. You sit you said,

29:18

I think on the next day on

29:18

Facebook, you had another post

29:21

that said that it had that day

29:21

had changed you in so many ways.

29:25

I think it was that day you were

29:25

referring to how what what would

29:28

the changes that that they brought for you?

29:31

Um, I think I would say

29:31

that it made me realize like,

29:38

how many people are in support

29:38

of this movement and how many

29:42

people are in support of peace

29:42

and equality. And I think

29:47

sometimes we can be in a bubble.

29:47

And also, this was the first

29:50

time in that I'd been in Germany

29:50

that I'd seen so many black and

29:55

brown people. I'd never seen

29:55

that and since I moved here,

29:59

I've always felt Little bit

29:59

like, out of place and a little

30:03

bit like there's no like

30:03

community here. And because in

30:08

the States, especially like in

30:08

Houston, and in Louisiana, you

30:10

have really like large

30:10

communities of people of color,

30:14

and you never feel alone. You

30:14

know, it's it's kind of like,

30:19

there's always someone there,

30:19

and there's always communities.

30:23

And here, I never saw that I

30:23

literally never saw it, I would

30:27

see, like black and brown

30:27

people, one or two every now and

30:32

then, but there and see this

30:32

huge crowd of people, and not

30:35

just black and brown people, but

30:35

also white people all together.

30:40

I mean, that made me It gave me

30:40

a lot of hope. And it gave me a

30:44

sense of, of strength. And that

30:44

I wasn't by myself, I didn't

30:48

know anyone at that protest. And

30:48

I left that protest with three

30:52

or four people as friends that I

30:52

met, you know, and that I've

30:55

seen since then. And that was a

30:55

very important day. I mean, we

31:00

laughed at the protests, we

31:00

cried at the protest. It was a

31:03

very emotional day, where people

31:03

were just like, just pouring out

31:07

their emotions. And there were

31:07

so many speeches, and so many

31:10

people talking and, you know, I

31:10

got to hear about the black

31:15

experience in Germany. And

31:15

that's something that I never

31:19

heard. And I thought, wow, like,

31:19

this experience sounds very

31:22

similar to my experience in

31:22

America.

31:24

That's interesting, because that's something that I was wondering at that time, as

31:26

well, when when all of this was

31:28

going on. I it got me to

31:28

thinking What is the situation

31:31

in Germany? I mean, like you

31:31

were saying, maybe police

31:34

brutality isn't that much of a

31:34

problem, but maybe there's still

31:36

prejudices? What, what would you

31:36

think in Germany, the problems

31:40

are?

31:42

I think police brutality

31:42

is is an issue here. Um, I've

31:47

seen a lot of stuff online and

31:47

have heard experiences from

31:52

people that I know who've been

31:52

beaten by police here. And

31:56

that's, I mean, it might not be

31:56

as much on the forefront like it

32:00

isn't America. In America right

32:00

now. This is like very

32:03

sensationalized, you know, so,

32:03

you know, any little bit of that

32:07

gets a lot of attention on in

32:07

the media and everything. And

32:10

here, I mean, Germany's a much

32:10

smaller country. So I feel like,

32:15

the issues are not amplified as

32:15

highly, there's definitely

32:19

systemic racism here. There's

32:19

definitely prejudices. Um, and I

32:24

think that people kind of looked

32:24

to what was going on in the

32:28

States, when all of this, the

32:28

movement started really, like

32:31

catching steam. I think that

32:31

people were inspired by that to

32:37

finally speak up and talk about

32:37

some of the things that they're

32:40

dealing with, because people

32:40

don't always speak up. They

32:43

don't. So I think that I think

32:43

that police brutality is an

32:47

issue. I think this systemic

32:47

racism is an issue. I think that

32:51

prejudice is an issue. I think

32:51

that um, there are issues here

32:56

with with, especially with

32:56

foreigners, I've heard a lot of

33:00

expat and refugees. I mean, an X

33:00

pattern refugee, I guess it's

33:04

the same thing. I don't know, we

33:04

could get into that too. Because

33:06

I've gotten I've people have

33:06

asked me, what's the difference?

33:09

And I'm like, I act To be honest, I don't really know. But, um, I think that there are

33:11

issues here too, with like

33:15

refugees, and people like having

33:15

to kind of assimilate into this

33:18

culture and be being treated

33:18

poorly because they're not doing

33:22

a good enough job. You know,

33:22

that's also an issue in America

33:26

as well. We, we we don't embrace

33:26

immigrants as much as we should.

33:31

Yeah.

33:33

Speaking of 2020 There

33:33

was also a small other matter

33:37

that happened this year in terms

33:37

of the Coronavirus How did that

33:40

affect your whole psychological

33:40

well being?

33:43

Oh, my goodness, for a

33:43

year,

33:45

I mean, it's a lot.

33:47

It's a lot this year has

33:47

been crazy. Um, I spent a lot of

33:54

time alone. And at first I

33:54

really enjoyed it. And because I

34:02

like being alone, but then after

34:02

a certain point in time, I

34:07

started to get really worried

34:07

about my family in America, I

34:11

knew that I was safe here. I

34:11

knew that Germany was taking

34:15

things very seriously. And that

34:15

my safety would not be

34:20

compromised. But I was very

34:20

worried about what was happening

34:24

in America because it just

34:24

seemed like nobody was taking it

34:28

seriously. And it starts with

34:28

leadership leadership was not

34:32

taking it seriously. Therefore

34:32

everyone else wasn't taking it

34:36

seriously. I just could not

34:36

believe what I was seeing. I'm

34:38

like, Do people really think

34:38

that this is a hoax or that this

34:41

is a joke? No. And and we were

34:41

in lockdown. I still had friends

34:46

going to parties and like

34:46

throwing parties and going out

34:50

and going to bars and clubs and

34:50

and I'm thinking to myself, do

34:53

you guys know what's going on in

34:53

the world? Yeah, you guys

34:58

understand that the world is in

34:58

lockdown right now. And you guys

35:01

are still partying it up like

35:01

the Fourth of July like there's

35:04

no problem.

35:05

Yeah, spring break.

35:08

Oh, yeah. And Florida

35:08

everyone has on the beach. Oh my

35:11

gosh, it was insane. It was

35:11

insane to watch. And I thought

35:16

this is how people see us. I

35:16

really could not believe that

35:20

people had no clue what was

35:20

going on. And even the lack of

35:24

correct information, not

35:24

believing in the science, not

35:28

believing in what all of these

35:28

leaders are telling you. I mean,

35:32

I could not believe that the

35:32

President, the President of the

35:37

United States of America refused

35:37

to acknowledge the impact and

35:42

the severity of this pandemic.

35:42

Yeah, I just, I couldn't believe

35:47

it. I still can't I still

35:52

think that is some of

35:52

what you described as a lot of

35:54

what a lot of Americans that

35:54

I've spoken to feel as well that

35:56

they feel a combination of

35:56

feeling safe here in Germany, or

36:00

safer here in Germany, but also

36:00

worrying about families and just

36:05

a sense of horror of what's

36:05

happening in general.

36:09

Yeah, it's crazy.

36:10

It's been, it's been

36:10

quite a year. And let's hope

36:12

2021 is nice and boring. That's

36:12

all yeah. Oh,

36:15

yeah. I've had, I've had

36:15

enough action for the next 10

36:18

years.

36:21

So I want to move on to

36:21

your music now. Okay. And talk

36:26

about the music that you're

36:26

making in Germany. So you are

36:30

you did you must have done a lot

36:30

of performing performances and

36:33

so on in in the United States

36:33

before you left, right.

36:35

Yeah. So before I before

36:35

I moved here, I was working on

36:39

music as well. But I did have

36:39

about probably like a two, two

36:45

and a half year period where I

36:45

wasn't so much focused on music,

36:48

I was just working. And I

36:48

couldn't really focus on music

36:52

because I was working nine to

36:52

five daily. And so that kind of

36:56

makes it hard to pursue the

36:56

music stuff. And I didn't

37:00

release a single back home.

37:00

Yeah, but then after that, I

37:03

took a bit of a hiatus, you

37:03

know, but since I moved here and

37:07

started getting involved, it

37:07

just inspired me to get

37:11

everything. Get the ball rolling

37:11

again, basically, yeah.

37:15

So you do as we said at

37:15

the beginning, you do soul and

37:18

blues? And do you do originals?

37:18

Is that you write your own

37:23

songs.

37:24

Yes. So I write my own

37:24

songs. But I also do covers. So

37:28

whenever we have a set, you

37:28

know, at a venue on stage, we

37:32

usually play like an hour to an

37:32

hour and a half. And it's a

37:35

mixture of covers and originals.

37:35

But I do write my own music as

37:40

well.

37:41

Have you been writing this year?

37:43

Yes, I have been writing this year.

37:45

I'm looking forward to

37:45

hearing those songs. Because

37:48

there's gonna be a lot of

37:48

interesting experiences and

37:52

insights coming into those songs.

37:54

Oh, absolutely.

37:54

Absolutely. Because how could

37:57

you not write about this year,

37:57

it's like, this is the year to

38:00

write and I you know, what,

38:00

actually, a lot of people, a lot

38:03

of musicians, I know, I have

38:03

been so creative this year,

38:07

writing and getting in the

38:07

studio and doing all of that

38:10

because there's there was

38:10

literally nothing else to do,

38:13

you know, um, especially that

38:13

part of the year with, we're

38:18

Corona kind of like took hold. I

38:18

think a lot of people because

38:21

everything was canceled, like

38:21

I've had shows get canceled or

38:25

postponed. And so people are

38:25

really kind of feeling the burn

38:30

from that. And I think the best

38:30

way to stay busy is to stay

38:34

creative.

38:35

I think we're going to

38:35

hear a lot of amazing art, and

38:38

not just music, but all kinds of

38:38

art, visual movies, books, I

38:43

think there's a lot of stories that are going to come out of this this period, which is at

38:45

least one really positive thing.

38:48

Like that's, that's where the

38:48

best art comes from. Right? The

38:51

darkness.

38:52

Yes. I always say that I

38:52

can't write songs unless I'm

38:55

sad. Like, even my happy songs I

38:55

wrote when I was sad. So like I

39:03

have to be in that state of mind

39:03

in order to in order to write

39:07

because, you know, the best

39:07

stuff comes from when you're

39:10

actually inspired by what's

39:10

going on in your life.

39:13

Yeah, and I see that I

39:13

saw some videos of you

39:15

performing and you've got a band

39:15

that you were performing with.

39:19

Those are all people that you

39:19

met here in Germany and formed a

39:23

band. That's amazing.

39:24

Yes, all of them are

39:24

musicians here. The music scene

39:28

in Hanover is really good. Read

39:28

are some Yes, yes, there are

39:34

some great musicians and and I'm

39:34

like, What are you guys doing?

39:37

Like Where have you been hiding?

39:37

Where have you been hiding?

39:42

Because my and my experience

39:42

here playing with musicians, has

39:46

been unlike anything I've ever

39:46

experienced. Even back home. I

39:50

didn't really Yes, I didn't get

39:50

really the support. Back home. I

39:55

didn't get like the loyalty that

39:55

I have here. And there's just

39:59

something about I don't know if

39:59

it's just like, in Germany,

40:03

people are just really super

40:03

loyal and helpful and, you know,

40:09

supportive back home, it's

40:09

people are a bit more

40:13

competitive in the music

40:13

business. And a lot of people

40:18

and it's not to say I haven't

40:18

had good experiences back home I

40:20

have I've had good experiences.

40:20

But I just find that here,

40:25

people are more supportive,

40:25

other musicians are more

40:28

supportive with you. Even if

40:28

they've got their own projects,

40:31

some of the people that I work

40:31

with have their own projects,

40:34

you know, their artists

40:34

themselves, or their three other

40:36

bands. You know, when people

40:36

really believe in you here, they

40:40

stick with you, they support

40:40

you, and I really appreciate

40:43

that.

40:44

Okay, how do you communicate? Are they communicating with you in

40:46

English? Or are you switching to

40:49

German to communicate with your

40:49

band? What, what does that

40:51

communication look like?

40:52

I speak with them in

40:52

English. But they all have them

40:58

95% of the time are speaking in

40:58

English. But sometimes when

41:02

they're talking to each other,

41:02

they're speaking in German. And

41:05

I'm totally fine with that. And

41:05

I encourage that actually,

41:08

because it helps me to listen.

41:08

And it helps me to learn. And

41:11

also I'm learning like music

41:11

terminology, I'm hearing them,

41:15

you know, use vocabulary and

41:15

stuff that I wouldn't hear in

41:17

any other setting. So I do

41:17

appreciate that. But when they

41:21

talk with me, most of the time,

41:21

it's in English. And then

41:23

sometimes they do talk to me in

41:23

German, and I understand enough

41:27

to be able to say, Okay, I can't

41:27

always communicate back with

41:32

them. But, um, yeah, I

41:32

understand. I think more than I

41:36

can speak, which is one of my,

41:36

one of the things that I have to

41:40

work on. Yeah, but they, yeah,

41:40

they mostly speak English with

41:43

me, everyone is pretty, you

41:43

know, flexible with that. And

41:47

they like speaking English,

41:47

that's one thing that I don't

41:50

get often is that sometimes

41:50

people find out that you're from

41:54

the States, and they want to

41:54

talk to you in English, like,

41:56

they don't want to talk German

41:56

with you. They want to hear your

41:58

accent they want they want to

41:58

talk with you in English. And,

42:01

and that's that can be good and

42:01

bad. But I think that also is

42:04

kind of like enabling, enabling

42:04

My, my, my bad habit of not, you

42:11

know, focusing on learning and

42:11

speaking German. And one of my

42:14

band members speaks French too.

42:14

So I speak French fluently. And

42:18

sometimes we talk in French. So

42:18

at any given time, you might

42:22

hear three languages.

42:26

You said you speak

42:26

three other languages. I think

42:29

it was three other languages. So

42:29

French is one of them.

42:32

Yeah. So my total I

42:32

speak a total of three. So

42:35

English, French and lingala,

42:35

which is a language from the

42:39

Democratic Republic of Congo.

42:39

Oh, yeah. So I'm a first

42:43

generation American. I was born

42:43

in the States. But my parents

42:47

are Congolese. Okay. Yeah, I

42:47

grew up speaking French and

42:51

lingala with them. And English

42:51

because we were in America. But

42:56

yeah, that's why I speak those

42:56

other languages.

42:58

So your parents

42:58

understood as well, the life of

43:02

an immigrant, I guess, then.

43:04

Exactly. Exactly. And

43:04

now I have a different kind of

43:08

appreciation. Because I, you

43:08

know, I think to myself,

43:12

sometimes when people ask me,

43:12

why did you leave? Like, why did

43:16

you come from America? Why did

43:16

you go to Germany? I think, man,

43:20

how did my parents feel like How

43:20

did my my mom feel and like to

43:24

move across the ocean, you know,

43:24

to America, where she didn't

43:28

really speak English. And now

43:28

she's more American than all of

43:31

us.

43:33

And that's integrating people.

43:35

Yeah. So yeah, it

43:35

definitely has given me a

43:38

different perspective on what it

43:38

takes to be able to move and,

43:43

you know, go to a new place and

43:43

start over essentially, it's not

43:49

easy.

43:50

But very exciting. Like

43:50

you've got a an EP coming out.

43:53

Yes. So yes, we start

43:53

recording, we record everything

43:57

next week. Basically, it's five

43:57

songs. And they're all arranged

44:02

and ready to go. And so I start

44:02

with the band next week, and

44:05

then I come in and do vocals

44:05

later. I'm really excited about

44:10

that. And these are songs that I

44:10

wrote probably three or four

44:13

years ago, so they're, you know,

44:13

ready to be recorded. Yeah,

44:18

yeah. I'm, I'm really excited.

44:18

And they're kind of from a

44:23

different time in my life, like

44:23

when I wasn't even living here.

44:27

But it just feels right to

44:27

record the songs here and with

44:30

this band, because they've just

44:30

we've performed some of them

44:34

live actually some of the songs

44:34

but um, yeah, I just felt like

44:39

now is a good time to get in the

44:39

studio and record and and get it

44:43

done. So the hope is that I can

44:43

get it out in January, but it

44:49

will probably be February.

44:53

Okay, Alicia to wrap

44:53

up. What What is the one bit of

44:56

advice you would give to to new

44:56

foreigners coming to Japan? Many

45:00

too, to help them get through the difficult times in the beginning,

45:03

I would tell them to be

45:03

patient, and find ways to stay

45:10

connected to home. Because

45:10

oftentimes, that's what gives us

45:17

the strength to keep going. So

45:17

if that means you know, talking

45:20

with a friend from home once a

45:20

week, then do that, if that

45:24

means, you know, watching, like

45:24

your favorite show from home or

45:28

cooking meals from home, I know

45:28

for me that was important to

45:32

eat, like, home cooked meals of,

45:32

you know, very American food.

45:39

That is not easy to do here.

45:40

It's not I'm like

45:40

thinking about Thanksgiving and

45:43

Christmas and how I'm gonna put

45:43

together you know, my green bean

45:46

casserole. I'm literally I think

45:46

my mom is gonna send me a box

45:53

with some, you know, some

45:53

cooking supplies, because some

45:57

things are missing. But yeah,

45:57

find ways to stay connected to

46:00

home and just be patient. Like

46:00

embrace your your new life, your

46:03

new space, but you have to find

46:03

ways to stay happy and stay

46:09

inspired. And that way you won't

46:09

feel so alone. You don't have to

46:15

just because you move to a new

46:15

country doesn't mean you have to

46:17

completely strip yourself of

46:17

your identity. You know, you can

46:20

still be you you can still, you

46:20

can still be involved with home

46:25

to a certain degree. So that's

46:25

what I would say.

46:28

Yeah. Great advice.

46:28

Great advice. Alicia, thank you

46:31

so much for coming on the

46:31

podcast and taking your time.

46:33

It's been so much fun to talk to

46:33

you and you're insanely talented

46:37

and very, you got a lot of very

46:37

interesting points of view. So I

46:40

appreciate you coming on and sharing them.

46:42

Thank you so much. Thank

46:42

you for having me. It was really

46:44

awesome to be here.

46:46

All right. That's it for this week. Music In this episode by my band 10 Cent Janes

46:48

and additional music by Ryan

46:51

Anderson, "until the end". Thank

46:51

you for listening. Don't forget

46:55

SEGEPADFO, so get donating. I'll

46:55

speak to you next week. I'll be

46:58

done.