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Why I Left Everything to Build a Life in Cape Town · Babes, how did you get here

• 0:00
  Now more than ever, people are questioning if they should live elsewhere.
• 0:04
  I am April Jackson, traveling the world, finding people who had enough courage to leave everything behind and move abroad.
• 0:12
  Frankie Henry is a cinematographer, YouTuber, traveler and creative mind who treats life less like a straight line and more like a series of experiments.
• 0:22
  Born in Atlanta, raised across the American South, he has chosen to build something different here in Cape Town.
• 0:29
  This conversation is for anyone who has the itch to do something else, even without any guarantees.
• 0:36
  But first, I must ask, babes, how did you get here?
• 0:40
  Um, so, well, first off, that was so elegantly worded.
• 0:45
  I could never describe myself in that way, but thank you.
• 0:48
  Um, well, it started as just a one week trip to Cape Town.
• 0:54
  And it ended up with me after that week, packing up my whole life and moving here to Cape Town, which sounds crazy because it is, but...
• 1:06
  Yeah, I think it was a move that was kind of a long time in the making.
• 1:10
  Okay.
• 1:10
  And I just didn't realize it because I'd always had an itch for traveling and like discovering new cultures and things.
• 1:18
  But I wasn't, I guess I didn't have the opportunity early on to explore that.
• 1:24
  So it was kind of like, it seemed like an impossible thing from a young age.
• 1:27
  I was like, okay, I'm really interested in this, but like, you know, it's not going to happen.
• 1:31
  Like, I'm not going to be able to go to all these places, you know, when you're young.
• 1:33
  Can you tell me what your life is looking like before, just before you move?
• 1:37
  Just before I move?
• 1:38
  Yeah.
• 1:39
  Um...
• 1:40
  bouncing around the different cities in the U.S., kind of looking for like, okay, what am I missing here?
• 1:47
  Because I had kind of established myself, I have a web design agency, I was doing that, had a solid friend group, I was, you know, still content with my life, but I was like, I feel like there's just, you know, I'm doing everything right, but yeah, I feel like there's just more here.
• 2:04
  And are you in Atlanta at that point?
• 2:06
  Atlanta and then Greenville, South Carolina.
• 2:08
  Okay.
• 2:09
  And then Charlotte, North Carolina.
• 2:10
  Okay.
• 2:10
  Yeah, like really around doing road trips, all this stuff.
• 2:14
  And then eventually came to the conclusion that it's like, okay, I think I'm just not exactly a culture fit for America.
• 2:20
  And I should find another place.
• 2:23
  Okay.
• 2:23
  It's not like I hate it here, but...
• 2:25
  I definitely feel like there's more about me to discover, there's more about the world to discover.
• 2:31
  So yeah, I went on one of my first trips was actually three countries in a row.
• 2:38
  Because I was like, okay, I gotta make up for lost time here.
• 2:41
  I can finally travel, so let's do it.
• 2:43
  How old are you when you take your first trip outside of America?
• 2:47
  Uh, like 24.
• 2:49
  Okay.
• 2:49
  Yeah, like 24, which I feel like since I've been wanting to do it from a kid, I feel like it was so late.
• 2:56
  Like that was my first plane ride was 24.
• 2:58
  And where are we flying to?
• 3:00
  That first trip was Mexico.
• 3:02
  Okay.
• 3:02
  Yeah, Mexico, which I enjoyed.
• 3:04
  I really liked it.
• 3:06
  Um, Mexico, Belize, Panama, and then a few other spots.
• 3:12
  And then I started exploring Europe more.
• 3:14
  And then that's when I started looking at other places from a perspective of like, OK, let's not view these as vacation spots.
• 3:23
  Like, let's see if I could live in any of these other places.
• 3:27
  And in terms of your family structure, are you an only child?
• 3:30
  Do you have siblings?
• 3:31
  Yeah, I have two sisters.
• 3:33
  Are they older or younger?
• 3:34
  I've got one older sister, one younger sister.
• 3:36
  So you're the middle child?
• 3:36
  Yeah.
• 3:37
  Do you have middle child syndrome?
• 3:38
  I don't know what that means.
• 3:39
  It means that you often feel like you're not, you don't have a distinct place, right?
• 3:44
  Because you're not the first born, but you're not the last born.
• 3:47
  And there's like less pictures of you.
• 3:49
  I guess I do.
• 3:51
  I'm just realizing that.
• 3:53
  Thank you.
• 3:54
  I got a lot to think about, but yeah.
• 3:57
  Yeah.
• 3:58
  I mean, I think my, well, my household was very, you know, so I'm half Caribbean.
• 4:04
  My dad's from Trinidad.
• 4:05
  Okay.
• 4:06
  Yeah, so, and my mom's American, so it was very mixed culturally.
• 4:10
  Right.
• 4:11
  My dad is from, you know, he's one of 11 kids, and my mom was actually, like, orphaned at a young age.
• 4:17
  Okay.
• 4:18
  So, completely different upbringings, and we had, like, both of those inform us in kind of a way.
• 4:27
  Wow.
• 4:27
  Yeah.
• 4:28
  So it's like, okay, we got the perspective of like, what is it like having really close, strong community around you?
• 4:36
  And then what is it like, you know, learning from someone who had to rely on themselves for most of their life?
• 4:41
  So.
• 4:42
  Yeah, I'm grateful for that.
• 4:44
  I think it kind of equipped us early on for, you know, anything that life could throw at us.
• 4:50
  Right.
• 4:50
  And when you decide that you are looking to set up home base outside of America and you tell your family, what's the response?
• 4:58
  Mm, they were like, okay, sounds cool, but realistically, we know you'll be back.
• 5:05
  Like, that's what most people said, I think.
• 5:07
  Okay.
• 5:08
  I do think a lot of people dream of or at least think about moving somewhere else.
• 5:14
  Like, if you ask a lot of people, like, okay, if you could do anything you want, a lot of people would say, oh, I'll just go to some other place.
• 5:22
  Like, at least explore it.
• 5:24
  So it didn't seem real to them, and it didn't exactly seem real to me until I did it.
• 5:29
  So yeah, some of my trips were just out of curiosity, really.
• 5:35
  I went to those places.
• 5:37
  And I was like, okay, I'm open to whatever this brings me, but also if I go to this place and I don't go back to it, I'm okay with that too.
• 5:46
  And when you said that you were going on this trip for three countries, where were you going?
• 5:51
  The first three were Mexico, Belize, Panama, and then I went to several other countries, but my biggest trip after that, which is kind of the one that I guess you could say changed my life course, was Portugal, Morocco, South Africa.
• 6:09
  Okay.
• 6:09
  And then that's when I made the decision that I'm staying here.
• 6:12
  Can you tell me, before you say why South Africa, I'd like to know why not Portugal, why not Morocco?
• 6:21
  So Portugal is a place I've been interested in for a long time, and that one has been on the map for a lot of people, especially Americans.
• 6:28
  I feel like a lot more people are moving to Portugal now.
• 6:30
  Yeah, yeah.
• 6:32
  And I mean, it's a gorgeous country, and I don't think I would be unhappy if I decided to live there.
• 6:39
  But for me, if I'm looking for a new place that I could be culturally a fit, for me, it wasn't really there.
• 6:47
  I was like, okay, it's beautiful.
• 6:49
  I love the food here.
• 6:51
  And it could be language barrier related, too.
• 6:53
  Okay.
• 6:54
  But I feel like I didn't have that instant like, okay, I feel like at home here.
• 6:58
  So, yeah, it's a place I've been to several times now.
• 7:02
  But after going there, I was like, OK, this is this is cool.
• 7:05
  I'm ready for the next place.
• 7:06
  Like what else does the world have for me?
• 7:08
  And Morocco?
• 7:09
  Morocco is also amazing, but culturally so different than, of course, anything I'd experienced.
• 7:18
  Um, like I always go back to food, but food there was amazing.
• 7:22
  Um, I made some really good friends there too.
• 7:24
  Um, but I think I wanted a, I wanted a place that had a wide, a wider range of experiences, like, you know, as far as accessibility, like I can do this, I can do that.
• 7:34
  Like, you know, I wanted something that had maybe a city aspect to it and also nature aspect to it.
• 7:42
  Okay.
• 7:43
  So you arrive in Cape Town.
• 7:45
  It's the first time you come off that plane.
• 7:48
  Tell me, what are you noticing?
• 7:49
  What are you seeing, hearing, smelling?
• 7:51
  What are your thoughts?
• 7:52
  It was like, I mean, overwhelming is kind of like a bad way to word it, but it was like that in the best way.
• 8:01
  I was like, oh, there's literally everything here.
• 8:03
  Like, this is what I wanted.
• 8:04
  Like, it didn't take but probably four days for me to be like,
• 8:10
  I could probably live here.
• 8:11
  And then by the sixth day, I was like, yeah, we're going to need to... Really?
• 8:15
  ...pack this stuff up.
• 8:16
  Yeah.
• 8:17
  So, I mean, I did it like...
• 8:21
  I did as much as I could in those seven days.
• 8:24
  You know, road trip, hikes, trying out all the restaurants, everything.
• 8:30
  Like, made some good friends.
• 8:32
  But still, like, left knowing, okay, there's way more to explore here.
• 8:37
  And it was, I think the thing that shocked me most was that it was so different than all the things that I'd seen in the news and read about.
• 8:46
  Okay.
• 8:51
  really all of Africa, but South Africa especially, in a way that I think is just so inaccurate.
• 8:59
  And it will take something that maybe in one respect could be partially true and applies that to all of Africa.
• 9:07
  Right.
• 9:08
  So like, especially in school, we learn about Africa and we're like, okay, this is big, you know, one big desert moving on to the next, you know, continent.
• 9:17
  So when I came, I was like, I already knew it wasn't like that.
• 9:20
  But I was like, oh, wow, they have everything and more here.
• 9:24
  Why did you choose those three places?
• 9:28
  Um, I wanted to have a trip where I got a wide range of experiences.
• 9:33
  So I was like, okay, I picked places that were really different on purpose.
• 9:37
  So I could come back home and say, okay, now I know more of what I want out of a place.
• 9:43
  So I was expecting to go to those places, come back home and like kind of recoup and, and go, okay, like where else am I going to go?
• 9:51
  But after that trip, I was like, no, it's, it's South Africa for sure.
• 9:55
  And you say the way America paints South Africa.
• 9:59
  What do you think, for people who haven't been, what do you think is going to be the thing that would surprise them the most?
• 10:07
  I think people will find that...
• 10:12
  the people here are so much more relatable than they would have expected.
• 10:16
  Just being on the opposite side of the planet, you would expect that, you know, maybe you'd have a hard time getting, like, interacting with people, them, like, getting your sense of humor and, like, knowing what you're talking about.
• 10:29
  I mean, they're really tapped into American culture here, especially.
• 10:35
  And I see people from all over come here, and they can set up a home base for themselves and create a great social circle.
• 10:44
  And they can kind of find their group here.
• 10:45
  So I think South Africa has all of that, not even just Cape Town.
• 10:48
  But, yeah, I think that's the thing that would kind of surprise people the most.
• 10:53
  It's like, oh, wow, I'm on the other side of the world, but I instantly feel at home because people are so welcoming.
• 10:59
  Have you been to other parts of South Africa other than Cape Town?
• 11:02
  Yeah, yeah.
• 11:03
  So I love doing road trips.
• 11:04
  I've done like explored like most of the Western Cape.
• 11:07
  Okay.
• 11:08
  But there's still so much more.
• 11:09
  I've been to Joburg as well.
• 11:12
  Did you ever consider living in another city?
• 11:17
  No, because I know that, well, I haven't been to every city, but when I compare Cape Town to Joburg, I knew Joburg wasn't the place for me because I wanted that range of experiences.
• 11:29
  Like Cape Town has like the city and nature.
• 11:32
  Right.
• 11:32
  And Joburg is more, you know, just city, which I've experienced.
• 11:36
  I've lived in Atlanta, you know, spent a lot of time in New York, things like that.
• 11:40
  So I was, I was wanting more from, you know, if I'm going this far, I don't want something that's
• 11:47
  Mimicking.
• 11:48
  Yeah, exactly.
• 11:50
  So you get here after you had that week.
• 11:53
  You go home and how long is it before you come back?
• 11:58
  I want to say it was like two months.
• 12:00
  Oh, it was very quick.
• 12:01
  Yeah.
• 12:02
  Like I literally, I didn't even have time to sell all my stuff.
• 12:07
  Yeah.
• 12:07
  Like I was listing my stuff before I got back to America.
• 12:11
  I was listing it for sale before I got back there, sold some of my stuff, put the rest in storage.
• 12:16
  And I was like, we're just going to have to deal with this another time.
• 12:19
  Um, you know, I was renting an apartment in Charlotte, paid to get out of that lease.
• 12:24
  And then just came straight back here.
• 12:27
  You didn't have any fears or doubts or apprehensions?
• 12:32
  I was thinking that it could be, I could be making a terrible decision, but if I am, then I will know and I can pivot.
• 12:43
  Like it's not the end of the world if you make a bad decision.
• 12:47
  And then when you arrive and now you're going from holiday to home, what is that time span?
• 12:55
  How long does it take for you to get your rhythm and feel like you actually live here rather than you're just on vacation?
• 13:01
  Probably like another two to three months after that.
• 13:05
  Okay.
• 13:05
  So yeah, at that point I was doing different Airbnbs around the city or even further south outside of the city, all the way to the coast.
• 13:17
  So just kind of trying to figure out like, okay, before I settle into a spot, like exactly what kind of lifestyle do I want?
• 13:25
  What kind of lifestyles are available to me?
• 13:28
  So then, yeah, once I finally found my place, I was like, okay, this is it.
• 13:32
  Like, I've got my spot, you know, I've made some good friends.
• 13:36
  I'm running my business from here.
• 13:38
  And this is still web design?
• 13:40
  This is still web design.
• 13:41
  I had my camera...
• 13:43
  only from the beginning of the first trip to Portugal, Morocco, South Africa.
• 13:49
  And I only got it because I was like, you know, if you get decided for a trip, you're like, okay, let me, I want to be able to take good pictures and videos and like show people back home what's going on.
• 13:59
  So it was more from that perspective that I got it.
• 14:04
  But as I was traveling more, I was like, okay, this is something I really like.
• 14:09
  Like going in depth with this.
• 14:11
  And I like color grading and editing and all these things because I feel like people just aren't getting how beautiful this place is.
• 14:17
  Like I want to really show them as well as I can.
• 14:21
  Web design is still majority of your business?
• 14:25
  I do that passively now.
• 14:26
  I run that business passively.
• 14:27
  Okay.
• 14:28
  And I'm a lot more active in video now.
• 14:31
  So YouTube, commercial work, putting on events like the Flavor Games.
• 14:38
  Tell me about Flavor Games.
• 14:40
  Ah, yeah, okay, so that came from traveling and all these places that I went, I would always ask people.
• 14:46
  It was just like a funny question that I would know the answer to before they answered.
• 14:52
  So I'd ask people, what country do you think makes the best food?
• 14:55
  And people almost always will say, my home country.
• 14:58
  Right.
• 14:58
  Moroccans, okay, Moroccan food, of course, Italians, of course Italian food is the best.
• 15:03
  So I was like, okay.
• 15:04
  what if we put this to the test in the form of a friendly competition?
• 15:09
  And so I started kind of like going like mad scientist with it.
• 15:12
  Like, okay, how can we put a competition together?
• 15:14
  Where am I finding the chefs?
• 15:16
  Like, so Cape Town was a perfect place for that.
• 15:18
  You have people from all over living here.
• 15:21
  And so it was easy to find, you know, chefs who were really good at what they do, who were willing to kind of compete and also tell their story and show people what their food is like.
• 15:31
  So...
• 15:32
  Yeah, it's in a seven-dinner competition format where two chefs at a time have a cook-off in front of a live dinner party, and they create a four-course dinner for people to share and give their opinions on, and people get to vote on what chef, you know, delivered the best experience by the end of the dinner.
• 15:52
  And it's just a really fun, like, social experience.
• 15:55
  So, yeah, I had no idea that it would kind of turn into that.
• 15:59
  It was kind of just like a...
• 16:01
  Again, the thing that kind of was born out of curiosity.
• 16:04
  But yeah, people seem to love it.
• 16:06
  And yeah, it's really interesting being able to show people like these different cuisines and showing people that, yeah, even though this is a competition, it's staged like that.
• 16:18
  Really, we're showing people that we all and our food and everything is much more similar than we would ever think.
• 16:25
  Yeah, I love that about food, the ability to unite people, the fact that you and I may use the same ingredients, but completely in completely different ways.
• 16:35
  I mean, I could eat all day.
• 16:37
  Do you think that you were concerned about how you're going to make money?
• 16:41
  Because when most people are thinking of living abroad, I think that...
• 16:45
  Some of the things that come to their mind is similar to what you've said about relatability.
• 16:49
  Like, are they going to be able to have their creature comforts?
• 16:52
  Whatever that looks like.
• 16:54
  I think a lot of people are worried about income.
• 16:58
  How are they going to manage and survive?
• 17:01
  I guess some people are worried about if they're going to find a community.
• 17:04
  And you've kind of addressed that Cape Town for all of those things.
• 17:09
  tick the boxes.
• 17:09
  I was just wondering in terms of career-wise, obviously web design you can do from anywhere in the world, right?
• 17:15
  And you can run that.
• 17:17
  Is there ways that being here has helped in some of your other pursuits or ways that have been more challenging?
• 17:24
  Definitely.
• 17:25
  So like you said, running the web design agency, I can do from anywhere.
• 17:29
  It still has its challenges because I have to think about time zone differences.
• 17:32
  Like I'm working with mostly U.S. clients.
• 17:34
  So if I were to move to Japan, now I would be, you know, 14 hours off.
• 17:40
  That's difficult.
• 17:41
  Um, but I think, I don't know, it's kind of funny how things work.
• 17:47
  I feel like if you make a step that you know is meant for you, the other things fall in place.
• 17:54
  So I was like, I know I have to make this step and then I'm going to figure everything else out around that.
• 18:01
  So I wasn't too worried about that.
• 18:03
  Sure, things could go wrong and, you know, everything has its season
• 18:11
  But I'm okay with that.
• 18:13
  Have you always been like that?
• 18:14
  As in through childhood, have you always kind of just trusted the process?
• 18:18
  I mean, I can't say that.
• 18:19
  I think childhood probably prepared me for that.
• 18:22
  In what ways?
• 18:23
  Well, I mean, we had, my upbringing was, you know, financially pretty rough.
• 18:27
  Okay.
• 18:27
  Yeah, I mean, we grew up fairly poor.
• 18:31
  And so, yeah, I mean, I think my mom taught us to be resourceful.
• 18:36
  Not even just directly, but just...
• 18:38
  seeing how she operated like in times of need it was like okay she would she wouldn't just freak out she would just she would find a solution like obviously it's a stressful situation that we're in but she's like okay I have to find a solution for for me and for you like we're not gonna starve here we're gonna we're gonna figure something out so that and then also on my dad's side he taught us more
• 19:09
  I guess he taught us more like critical thinking and knowing that, okay, like if this doesn't work, try something else like composure and yeah, being able to socialize well and knowing that everything, everything that you want is here.
• 19:28
  You just have to get it really.
• 19:29
  Right.
• 19:30
  Yeah.
• 19:31
  It's fair to say that Americans don't travel as much as like other countries, right?
• 19:35
  Like other nationalities rather.
• 19:38
  And I'm just wondering, the fact that you have always had this thirst to see the world, did you feel that that made you a little bit of an outsider in your own community?
• 19:48
  Definitely, definitely so.
• 19:50
  And that also came from my dad.
• 19:52
  So him, you know, being an immigrant, he exposed us to the idea early on that like, okay, you can, you can move to a different place, maybe because of opportunity, you can move somewhere just because it feels better.
• 20:09
  There, the world is, you know, in a sense, like open for you, you should, if you can't explore,
• 20:18
  because coming here he had to do so much better than a regular person to be seen as a regular person um you know especially having this like thick trini accent does he have a thick trini accent yeah yeah like that's that's never leaving he's been you know in the u.s probably yeah longer than he lived in trinidad but right yeah that that accent is never leaving and
• 20:41
  Certain words are just yeah people are never gonna understand but yeah, I mean he He he was also in the military in the US.
• 20:50
  So okay.
• 20:51
  Yeah, so we Caribbean dad and in the military It was like on points.
• 20:57
  We would we would come home from school and
• 20:59
  You know, as a kid, you come home from school, you're like, oh, finally, that's done.
• 21:03
  He would have school desks that he bought in his room, and he would homeschool us after school.
• 21:09
  Okay.
• 21:10
  He would have lesson plans.
• 21:11
  Like, while we're at school, he's doing lesson plans.
• 21:13
  So we're in, I don't know, third grade.
• 21:15
  He's doing fifth grade lesson plans, and now we've got to do fifth grade class at home.
• 21:21
  And I hated it.
• 21:24
  Even if we had a friend, you know, coming home with us from school, they had to do it, too.
• 21:29
  They had to join the class.
• 21:31
  So it was like, oh, we're not going to, you know, Frankie's after school.
• 21:34
  His dad's going to make us do calculus.
• 21:36
  So I hated it, but he really prepared us for life that way because it was like not what we would learn in school.
• 21:44
  He's like, OK, I know you went to history class.
• 21:46
  Now we're going to learn real history.
• 21:49
  And what is in his context?
• 21:51
  What does that look like?
• 21:53
  Um, it's more about in school, you usually skim over like, okay, if we learned about South Africa, we'd be like, okay, there was a dude named Nelson Mandela.
• 22:02
  Okay, next place.
• 22:03
  It's like you really don't actually dig deep into socially what's going on in a place and culturally what's really going on in a place.
• 22:13
  Like you're just learning like facts about it.
• 22:16
  And so he would teach us about geography and we'd have to memorize all the capitals and all the presidents and everything.
• 22:23
  Like it was crazy.
• 22:24
  But that that got me interested in travel at a young age.
• 22:27
  So, I mean, that that turned me into a nerd, really.
• 22:32
  But I'm grateful for that.
• 22:33
  But, yeah, it did make me a bit of an outcast of wanting to see and do all these places that other people thought were just not worth going to.
• 22:43
  When you observe culture here in South Africa, what is your take?
• 22:48
  What do you think that living here has shown you that a visitor wouldn't see?
• 22:54
  I mean, I think it's just the most interesting thing ever.
• 22:58
  It's like they have all the understanding of American culture and everything that's going on there, plus they have their own different distinct cultures.
• 23:08
  So, you know, there's so many different types of people who live in South Africa, who are from South Africa, and it's just like there's so much to learn here.
• 23:17
  It's wild.
• 23:18
  You never know who you're going to.
• 23:19
  bump into, a lot of them can have upbringings that may be like strikingly similar to yours, but just on a different continent.
• 23:29
  So I think people may not expect that.
• 23:34
  Do you have an American privilege living in South Africa?
• 23:38
  For sure.
• 23:39
  Yeah?
• 23:39
  Yeah.
• 23:39
  What does that look like on a day-to-day?
• 23:42
  I think it's being given the benefit of the doubt in certain rooms, especially...
• 23:48
  I've just noticed that, yeah.
• 23:51
  I may be... You know, people may be a little bit more...
• 23:57
  socially wary until they hear me talk and then they're like oh wait where are you from okay oh come with us i'm like you know it's i don't really like that feeling knowing that like okay if i was if i had a different passport if i was african then i'd be looked at differently but that that doesn't happen so much here as it does in like at the airport really okay yeah
• 24:23
  I see how people are treated different ways when it comes to anything immigration related.
• 24:29
  Yeah.
• 24:30
  Or I hear, you know, people hear a lot always talk about, oh, I want to go to this country, I want to go to that country, but like, the visa process and that, and it's just like, it really is all politics.
• 24:41
  Why is another person from a different African country only able to come here for 30 days?
• 24:49
  But I can come here for 90 days.
• 24:50
  Right.
• 24:51
  And I can get a visa so much easier.
• 24:52
  But they're a next door neighbor.
• 24:54
  Really, I have no business being here.
• 24:57
  They're African.
• 24:58
  They should be able to travel Africa easier.
• 25:01
  That is crazy.
• 25:02
  Yeah.
• 25:03
  How are you treated different if you compare yourself in America?
• 25:09
  Um...
• 25:11
  I don't think I was treated terribly in America, but I see it very often with other people.
• 25:23
  I think maybe I've had okay luck.
• 25:25
  I've also had some bad encounters in America, but race relation-wise, and I know a lot of people look at it way differently, race relation-wise, I think South Africa is far ahead of America.
• 25:38
  Okay.
• 25:38
  Can you explain that?
• 25:39
  Yeah.
• 25:40
  To me?
• 25:41
  I think they've made much bigger strides in such a short period of time.
• 25:46
  Right.
• 25:46
  Compared to America.
• 25:47
  And some people would argue America is moving a little bit backwards these days in terms of race relations.
• 25:54
  So, I...
• 25:57
  Pretend I've never been to America.
• 25:58
  Pretend I've never heard of America.
• 26:00
  I don't know anything about any news, anything.
• 26:04
  What do you mean by that?
• 26:05
  Because I think it's really easy to forget that apartheid was obviously relatively recent.
• 26:12
  And I'm not sure people understand how going about your day-to-day life would look in that context.
• 26:20
  And I would love to understand why you think that South Africa is ahead in terms of the work that they've done to get to a better place.
• 26:28
  Yeah.
• 26:29
  OK, so America, like infrastructure wise, is very well off.
• 26:35
  Like everything works not to say things don't work here, but everything works in America from an infrastructure level.
• 26:43
  socially things don't work there I think people are quite divided okay socially politically you know all those ways and it's okay you know obviously people are gonna be culturally different but I don't think that's as accepted and celebrated in America but as it is in other places
• 27:03
  I mean, I'll tell you this.
• 27:06
  The first time I ever, the first time I came here to South Africa, I was walking down the street.
• 27:13
  This police officer, I just passed this police officer.
• 27:15
  He was just, you know, he was standing on the street and he goes, hey.
• 27:18
  I turn around, I'm like, oh my gosh, what's going on?
• 27:20
  He was like, I'm just saying hi.
• 27:21
  I'm like, what?
• 27:23
  It's the first time a police officer stopped me to say hi.
• 27:26
  That's crazy.
• 27:27
  Yeah, that is not the way.
• 27:29
  So in the States, they don't stop to say hi?
• 27:31
  No.
• 27:32
  It's funny because I have a friend who, he's actually from Barbados, but was living in Jamaica.
• 27:37
  And we were discussing the fact that in Jamaica, if a police officer stops me in my car driving, the immediate thing is to get out and just be like,
• 27:45
  What did I do, boss?
• 27:46
  Like, blah, blah, blah.
• 27:47
  And start speaking like normally.
• 27:49
  And he was like, if he gets stopped in Miami, for example, in a rental car drive-in and the police stop him, the first thing he does is put his hands out the window.
• 27:57
  Yeah.
• 27:57
  To show that he doesn't have anything.
• 27:59
  Yeah.
• 27:59
  I was just like, really?
• 28:00
  He said, I am not speaking until spoken to.
• 28:03
  Yeah.
• 28:03
  And my hands are just out the window the entire time.
• 28:06
  Yeah.
• 28:07
  And I think it's funny because you can take certain things for granted when that's your norm, right?
• 28:12
  So like a police officer saying hi, if that's your norm, then I imagine the reverse.
• 28:18
  If you go to the States and you come with that say hi energy and it's clearly a different circumstance, that could be really wild.
• 28:28
  Yeah.
• 28:28
  I mean, from a young age, we had like parents trained us like early on.
• 28:33
  Like, yeah, if you get stopped by the police, just be literally as respectful as you can.
• 28:39
  You know, yes, sir.
• 28:39
  No, sir.
• 28:41
  Like, it's not about being right.
• 28:44
  Just comply.
• 28:45
  Right.
• 28:45
  Like we want you to get home.
• 28:47
  For people that like we see on social media all the time where you have people being stopped by police and someone may not be yes sir, no sir.
• 28:57
  And they may be defending their self or defending their position.
• 29:02
  And a lot of people at times are like, well, you know, why are you behaving that way?
• 29:07
  Why don't you just be respectful?
• 29:08
  Why don't you just do this in terms of to justify aggression?
• 29:12
  Yeah.
• 29:13
  Do you think that
• 29:15
  it's perhaps because they weren't taught to be compliant?
• 29:20
  It could be, but also, I mean, that can be a really frustrating situation to be pulled over for basically nothing or a situation to escalate when it shouldn't.
• 29:31
  Right.
• 29:32
  Not everybody, you know, I can't even say how I would react in every situation if I haven't been in it yet.
• 29:40
  And then also knowing that everyone, everyone wouldn't have the same result if they react in a certain way.
• 29:47
  That's a frustrating thing as well.
• 29:48
  So, I mean, I can't really blame someone for being upset at, you know, their day being altered for no reason.
• 29:59
  Right.
• 30:00
  Yeah.
• 30:01
  Was that
• 30:05
  difference in the way you experienced life in the sense that you feel that America is going in the opposite direction.
• 30:13
  Was that also a contributing factor to your desire to leave?
• 30:16
  Or was it more just the curiosity of what's going on?
• 30:20
  I think that was a factor.
• 30:22
  It wasn't, I don't like to take the approach of running away from something, but I do think it was a factor.
• 30:30
  Curiosity was another factor.
• 30:31
  That's probably the biggest one.
• 30:33
  But, I mean, it definitely kind of spoiled my experience in America a bit.
• 30:38
  Just knowing like okay like I mean I got pulled over a lot A lot Yeah, no no actual crimes anything like that, but yeah, it was just like okay.
• 30:51
  It's not a coincidence so
• 30:54
  I remember when I had just moved to England and a police car followed me and I was near my home and I thought it was really odd.
• 31:03
  And I stopped before arriving and I was like, can I help?
• 31:06
  Because again, coming from the Jamaican perspective, we were just talking to police.
• 31:09
  I was just like, I don't get it.
• 31:11
  What's happening?
• 31:12
  And he was just like, well, is there a problem?
• 31:14
  I said, I don't know.
• 31:16
  I'm checking.
• 31:16
  Yeah.
• 31:17
  Like, is...
• 31:18
  Is there?
• 31:18
  I have no idea.
• 31:20
  And people explained to me that, well, if you drive a particular car, then it's quite common for you to get stopped or followed.
• 31:28
  And I think it was just strange because growing up in Jamaica, that just wasn't the norm.
• 31:32
  I've never been followed by police in my life.
• 31:35
  Yeah.
• 31:35
  So it was really odd.
• 31:36
  And I can imagine if that's like your constant experience, it starts to chip away.
• 31:43
  I think what's different is that I,
• 31:46
  in England always felt like, well, this isn't my place anyway.
• 31:51
  This isn't my home anyway, because I'm Jamaican.
• 31:55
  So you can behave whichever way you want to here, because I'm trying to get out anyway.
• 32:00
  Whereas I wonder for yourself, presumably you feel American.
• 32:06
  I guess so.
• 32:07
  Oh, you said I guess so.
• 32:08
  Yeah, not completely.
• 32:09
  I mean, I grew up in, I would call it a Caribbean household.
• 32:13
  Okay.
• 32:14
  Yeah.
• 32:14
  So, I mean, we're raised that way.
• 32:18
  When we go outside, it's like, okay, everything is, you know, they have us do like the Star Spangled Banner in school and things like that.
• 32:25
  But I don't know, coming home every day and and and learning about things in a different way and hearing more about the Caribbean perspective, I felt like, OK, I'm not exactly like these other people.
• 32:41
  Oh, that's really interesting.
• 32:42
  Yeah.
• 32:43
  Do you think the fact that you had this other culture that was really important to you, that helps you out in the big wide world?
• 32:51
  Definitely.
• 32:52
  Definitely.
• 32:52
  Okay.
• 32:53
  Yeah.
• 32:54
  Because I know a lot of people weren't exposed to, people I went to school with, they weren't exposed to anything else.
• 33:03
  Like anything else that they learned was from a distance.
• 33:06
  Yeah.
• 33:07
  And so, yeah, having that perspective early on really helped me.
• 33:11
  Like they really, they genuinely, to this day, a lot of people genuinely think South Africa in its entirety is a desert.
• 33:21
  Okay.
• 33:21
  With no power.
• 33:24
  When you said no electricity.
• 33:26
  Yeah.
• 33:26
  I mean, I had like when I was leaving, I was, you know, telling, you know, friends to like a goodbye party.
• 33:31
  And then some other people that like, you know, weren't necessarily my friends, but like acquaintances were there.
• 33:37
  And they were like, man, you know, we're going to miss you.
• 33:39
  Like, let us know when you come back.
• 33:41
  Like message us when you get back, because we know you won't have Internet over there in South Africa.
• 33:45
  And I was like, guys.
• 33:50
  What other misconceptions did people have?
• 33:54
  I think a lot of people would assume that South Africa is all black.
• 34:01
  Okay.
• 34:01
  Yeah, I think a lot of people would assume that.
• 34:05
  And just in general, they're thinking that there's no level of infrastructure, that anything that they see on the American news is actually what's going on.
• 34:15
  Were they confused by your desire to want to live here?
• 34:19
  Yeah, definitely.
• 34:20
  They were like, oh, they're of all places.
• 34:23
  I was like, yeah, yeah, you're of all places, yeah.
• 34:26
  Have people come to visit you?
• 34:28
  Yeah, I've had a few friends come and visit and they all respond the same way.
• 34:30
  They're like, okay, I can see why you did this.
• 34:33
  Okay.
• 34:34
  Smart move.
• 34:34
  And where are they coming from?
• 34:35
  As in what part of America are they coming from?
• 34:38
  Atlanta, some friends from Texas, New York, yeah.
• 34:42
  And so they get it when they get here?
• 34:43
  They get it once they actually get here, but not so many have taken that step.
• 34:48
  I mean, it's a long flight.
• 34:50
  How long is it?
• 34:51
  If you go direct, it's 17 hours.
• 34:53
  17?
• 34:54
  Yeah, 17 hours.
• 34:54
  Okay.
• 34:55
  That's if you go direct.
• 34:56
  So most people, it's gonna be like 24 hours.
• 34:57
  Wow.
• 34:58
  Yeah.
• 35:00
  Do you ever wish that you fell in love with somewhere a little bit closer to home?
• 35:05
  um maybe not so much i think i like kind of being thrown out in a completely different place okay and then so um like for example if you go to a different country you're you're kind of forced to discover more about yourself you're you're forced to make new friends you can't just reach out to the same people that that you grew up with so i think if i'd gone to like
• 35:32
  somewhere around the corner, I wouldn't have changed that much.
• 35:36
  But I like the parts of myself that I'm discovering now and where I've taken life.
• 35:42
  Like I was doing only web design.
• 35:46
  Now I'm doing cinematography, which is, you know, it's still it still fulfills that like tech need that I have, but also it's that social aspect.
• 35:55
  And it's it's just so fulfilling for me to be able to tell other people's stories through a camera.
• 36:00
  Tell me more about the changes in yourself that you've seen since you've had to move so far away from home.
• 36:07
  Well, I've always been, I would say, a pretty impatient person.
• 36:10
  Okay.
• 36:11
  Really?
• 36:11
  You feel very like docile.
• 36:14
  That's what I'm saying.
• 36:14
  I've changed a lot.
• 36:16
  So this is the new you.
• 36:17
  Yeah.
• 36:18
  Okay.
• 36:19
  This is like the Cape Tone version.
• 36:20
  Yeah.
• 36:20
  This is the more chilled, like, melodile version.
• 36:23
  Okay.
• 36:25
  But yeah, like, that is a change that was forced in me because you can't be impatient if you are solo in another country for a long time.
• 36:35
  something doesn't go your way you have to figure out some other you know some other solution and you have to know that some things take time if I'm looking for an apartment in some other country and like the systems are completely different I have to just be like okay that's the way it is I gotta figure it out what else has changed what's that what else has changed in you
• 36:56
  Patience probably the biggest thing.
• 36:58
  I'm shocked that you were impatient.
• 37:00
  Yeah, no, I'm, yeah.
• 37:02
  I still think I'm impatient.
• 37:03
  Yeah?
• 37:04
  Yeah, I mean in certain ways.
• 37:05
  I think not with other people, but I'm pretty hard on myself.
• 37:10
  Okay.
• 37:11
  Yeah, so like if I have a vision for something and I like to write my goals down, if I haven't hit that goal by a certain time, I'm like, what are we doing?
• 37:20
  Like we gotta get it together.
• 37:23
  Um, but, so I mean, I think it's good to have like some pressure on yourself though.
• 37:28
  If you want to, if you want to do certain things.
• 37:30
  Yeah.
• 37:31
  Um, but yeah, I mean, another thing that's changed is my creativity is spiked.
• 37:38
  I wouldn't consider myself a creative person like five years ago.
• 37:41
  Okay.
• 37:42
  Yeah.
• 37:43
  Um, and I think it's given me like a whole new set of skills with cinematography.
• 37:49
  Like it's something I was...
• 37:51
  kind of like infatuated with like film like who doesn't like watching a good show or a good movie or something but to actually be able to go okay like this is my idea now I'm gonna film it now I'm gonna color grade it now I'm gonna edit it and put it out and then people like it like that's like such a good feeling and they're actually getting something from it not just like enjoying it they're like okay um now I want to go to South Africa now I want to go to Morocco or something like that
• 38:20
  What has been the most challenging thing about the move?
• 38:26
  I mean, being away from friends and family would probably be the most challenging thing.
• 38:31
  Okay.
• 38:32
  Yeah.
• 38:33
  Would you describe that you're quite close to your family?
• 38:35
  Yeah.
• 38:36
  Okay.
• 38:36
  Yeah.
• 38:37
  You know, more, of course, more my immediate family.
• 38:40
  But also they were already kind of, you know, friends and family.
• 38:47
  They move away from their home city too.
• 38:49
  So like my dad, he moved back to Trinidad a few years ago.
• 38:52
  Have you been to Trinidad?
• 38:53
  I've only been once.
• 38:54
  Okay.
• 38:55
  Yeah.
• 38:56
  So he's back in Trinidad.
• 38:57
  Yeah.
• 38:57
  Living the best life.
• 38:59
  Yeah.
• 38:59
  He's out on his like little farm.
• 39:01
  He's doing his thing.
• 39:02
  Yeah.
• 39:03
  That's even further from here.
• 39:05
  Yeah, so I don't know what that would probably be 28 hours to get there.
• 39:10
  So, yeah, I've got to make that trip, though.
• 39:12
  I've got to make that trip.
• 39:13
  Wow.
• 39:13
  But, yeah, he's living great.
• 39:16
  And that's another thing that kind of inspired me to make me feel okay with moving.
• 39:21
  I'm like, okay, well, he did his time in America and then decided for himself, I liked it better in Trinidad.
• 39:27
  I have a better quality of life in Trinidad.
• 39:30
  And I think quality of life, a lot of people think is like kind of more related to all the do I have all the creature comforts.
• 39:39
  But I think once you're like basic needs are met, quality of life is like related more to community.
• 39:45
  Where it makes you feel good.
• 39:46
  Yeah, exactly.
• 39:48
  And so he likes the weather there.
• 39:49
  He likes the food there.
• 39:50
  He's around his family.
• 39:52
  He feels comfortable.
• 39:54
  So he has a much better quality of life than, you know, even somebody who makes a ton of money living in L.A. or something.
• 40:05
  Was there any point that you thought about going back to the States?
• 40:08
  Yes.
• 40:09
  No.
• 40:10
  Really?
• 40:10
  No, not at all.
• 40:12
  I mean, I've, you know, of course I always wanna visit, you know, go back, see friends and family, but there was not a single moment where I was like, hmm, should I move back?
• 40:24
  No.
• 40:25
  I mean, I always tell people,
• 40:26
  Like, I don't like to say for forever, you know, for no reason.
• 40:31
  But if I were to move to another place, it would, yeah, it would just be elsewhere other than the U.S.
• 40:37
  Okay.
• 40:37
  Because I feel like I've experienced it.
• 40:39
  I've spent most of my life there.
• 40:43
  There's so many other things to experience.
• 40:45
  I feel like I'd be moving backwards just a little bit by doing that.
• 40:49
  Okay.
• 40:50
  And when you say backwards, are we saying professionally, romantically, personally?
• 40:56
  What does backwards mean?
• 40:58
  I mean, I don't think it would be in, definitely not in a professional sense.
• 41:03
  I think with what I do, I can, what design and cinematography, I could do it anywhere, but I feel so much more inspired in places like this, in South Africa and other places, Asia too.
• 41:17
  Um, so yeah, I think maybe I would, I would suffer professionally if I'm not as creative.
• 41:23
  Creative, yeah.
• 41:24
  Um, but I feel like I'd be like kind of killing my opportunity to learn about all these other places, like see all these things that I always...
• 41:33
  It's funny because I feel like the average person would think the opposite, right?
• 41:37
  They would think that in America it's constant advancement.
• 41:41
  Like most people want to go to America...
• 41:44
  they're inspired by the American dream.
• 41:46
  So it's quite interesting when you're like, yeah, no, I don't want to go back.
• 41:50
  Yeah.
• 41:51
  Well, okay, I think the American dream, I think years ago, it was a lot more real.
• 42:01
  Okay.
• 42:02
  And now, not that it's not real now, but the world has opened up.
• 42:05
  There's a lot more places that can offer you a, or at least people are realizing there's a lot more places that can offer you a great quality of life.
• 42:15
  So, yeah, I think it's, you know, back in the day it was like, okay, you have to make it to America and then we'll figure it out.
• 42:23
  Like, we just got to get to America and then we'll figure it out.
• 42:26
  But, I mean, you see people doing incredible things from this continent, from Asia, everywhere else.
• 42:32
  A lot of the countries that people were like kind of counted out were like underdog countries are doing great things now.
• 42:38
  Yeah.
• 42:39
  Do you see South Africa as home or do you see it as somewhere that you want to spend time now, but you'll probably move later?
• 42:47
  No, I definitely see it as home.
• 42:48
  Really?
• 42:49
  Yeah.
• 42:50
  I mean, I'll always travel.
• 42:51
  I'll always want to go on trips and see new places.
• 42:54
  But yeah, really for the foreseeable future, I see myself here.
• 42:59
  Like, do you want a family?
• 43:01
  Yeah.
• 43:02
  And like, this is this is the place.
• 43:04
  Yeah.
• 43:05
  And you knew from that one week trip.
• 43:08
  Yeah, I mean, I'd known it before, but that trip was like, okay, yeah, it's real.
• 43:15
  Like, this is just more confirmation, yeah.
• 43:17
  That's really interesting to me.
• 43:20
  I'm just trying to figure out, like, what is it about...
• 43:22
  I get the nature.
• 43:23
  I get the city.
• 43:24
  Mm-hmm.
• 43:26
  The good food and that you feel inspired.
• 43:29
  Yeah, it was like, it was a dream of mine to be, I think I would have always gravitated towards a place like this.
• 43:38
  Okay.
• 43:39
  Because I'd been like fascinated with National Geographic and like Anthony Bourdain and like,
• 43:49
  I don't know, these things just like, I don't know, it made places like this also like New Zealand, Australia, just seemed like the coolest thing ever.
• 43:59
  Basically as far away as you can get.
• 44:01
  Pretty much.
• 44:03
  And in terms of for people who are interested in visiting Cape Town, not necessarily living, what do you think are some of the things that you have to do or see in order to get a sense of the vibe?
• 44:16
  Mm, okay.
• 44:17
  So, South Africa has everything, so it depends what you're into, but experiencing the wine lens for sure.
• 44:26
  A garden route trip, you know, down the southern coast, much needed.
• 44:31
  I wouldn't, the city is awesome, but I guess it's not for everybody.
• 44:39
  I really like Stellenbosch too.
• 44:41
  I like that area.
• 44:44
  Again, not everybody wants to do a safari, but I would recommend it.
• 44:47
  I would definitely recommend a safari.
• 44:49
  But if it's not for you, I get that.
• 44:52
  But yeah, there's a ton to do here.
• 44:54
  But above all, actually talking to people and getting to know people.
• 45:00
  Are most of your friends expats or immigrants as well, or are most of your friends local?
• 45:06
  It's a good mix, but yeah, a lot of my friends are South African or from all over, like Congolese.
• 45:14
  Was it easy to create friendship groups?
• 45:17
  Yeah, I would say so.
• 45:19
  A lot of people do say that other places in South Africa are more open than Cape Town.
• 45:25
  And people say that Cape Town is a little bit clicky, which I do see.
• 45:30
  I do see, but I still think you can find your people here.
• 45:37
  What are the negatives about living here?
• 45:42
  I think there are some like cultural misunderstandings sometimes.
• 45:49
  If I, you know, for some people, once they learn that I'm American, they're like, okay, are you like, are you like big into like guns?
• 45:57
  Are you like...
• 45:58
  Okay, there's a perception.
• 46:00
  Yeah, I'm like, not everybody there is a cowboy.
• 46:04
  It's not like that.
• 46:06
  But so, yeah, or they'll, like, really watch how they talk about things.
• 46:11
  Like, they're, like, walking on pins and needles, like, I don't know if I can...
• 46:14
  say politically incorrect things because you know this guy's gonna cancel me and I'm like no you just talk how you normally talk I'm not gonna be offended by you know your opinions just like people in America have opinions about you know everywhere else it's if they haven't experienced those places it's like you've got to take it with a grain of salt when you think about what your younger self would look at you now what what would be the impression of
• 46:45
  Mmm, I think, I hope he would be proud.
• 46:49
  I don't think he'd be surprised at all.
• 46:50
  I think he'd be like, yep, yep, this is what we always wanted.
• 46:52
  Like we were watching the Crocodile Hunter on TV and like now we're, now we're here.
• 46:58
  Yeah.
• 46:59
  Do you have any regrets so far?
• 47:02
  Regrets with moving here?
• 47:05
  Yeah.
• 47:06
  No, no.
• 47:08
  I mean, sure, I could have done things a little bit differently.
• 47:10
  I'm sure I could have saved a lot more money if I planned the move.
• 47:16
  Okay.
• 47:17
  Is it expensive to move?
• 47:19
  Um, not if you don't want it to be.
• 47:22
  Okay.
• 47:23
  You can make it expensive, but, um, you know, everything's a process.
• 47:28
  It's, it's how you, if, if you come into it saying, okay, I want to keep the exact same things that I was doing in America and have things the same way.
• 47:36
  It's probably going to be expensive.
• 47:37
  Okay.
• 47:38
  But if you're okay with, with adapting and shifting a little, um, then you can live like anybody else here lives.
• 47:45
  How have you had to adapt, not necessarily from a financial creature comfort perspective, but how have you as an individual had to adapt other than the patients?
• 47:54
  Because I appreciate that's been learned.
• 47:56
  But have there been any other circumstances?
• 47:58
  So for example, when I travel around Southeast Asia,
• 48:02
  I feel like I don't get to practice humor as much, because obviously there's a language barrier.
• 48:09
  And it's one of the reasons why I don't think I could live in Southeast Asia.
• 48:13
  Like I love the energy.
• 48:15
  I love being in Bali.
• 48:16
  I, but long term, so much of my personality is like teasing people.
• 48:21
  Yeah.
• 48:22
  And I, I'm never going to be, even if I learn, you know, certain words, I learned my vocabulary to have that essence of,
• 48:29
  enough charm that you can tease people so it's not offensive.
• 48:32
  I'm never going to get that.
• 48:34
  And so I feel like when I think of the ways that I've adapted, it is more my personality.
• 48:41
  So it's not even like getting used to the roads or things that people think of.
• 48:46
  I think it's more about
• 48:48
  kind of just letting go parts of me that i thought were really important or i think are really important and i'm just wondering have you had to adapt in any way since you've lived here in ways that aren't the obvious right i i'm sure i have but everywhere i feel like i've needed to adapt i was like open to i was like
• 49:09
  okay we don't have that thing anymore that's fine like maybe i don't know maybe certain products or something that you're used to in the u.s i'm like that's fine there's plenty of other good stuff here so i don't feel like i needed to adapt in any way that was like ah man i don't know if i can do this right um but yeah i get what you mean about um you know about parts of asia i do hear that often um my favorite place there is korea
• 49:33
  I haven't been to Korea.
• 49:34
  Tell me about Korea.
• 49:35
  I love it.
• 49:36
  Really?
• 49:36
  That is the best food I've ever had in my life.
• 49:38
  Really?
• 49:39
  By a long shot.
• 49:40
  And I love, I love Cape Town.
• 49:44
  Tell me about Korea.
• 49:46
  Okay.
• 49:46
  It is like the most, everything is so put together.
• 49:51
  You're like,
• 49:53
  was this all designed by literally one person?
• 49:55
  Like everything is so efficient.
• 49:59
  And I know there's a stereotype of it being, you know, kind of cold and introverted culture and not social, but that's not how I experienced it.
• 50:08
  I think if you go there with an open mind and knowing that like, okay,
• 50:12
  It is more it's seen as more respectful to not be like in people's face.
• 50:18
  So other people may not just approach you straight off the bat.
• 50:21
  But if you put yourself out there a little bit, you're going to have a completely different experience.
• 50:25
  OK, people are truly kind.
• 50:27
  They're like truly kind.
• 50:30
  um but yeah besides that you um i'm sure you love shopping i don't you don't like shopping oh my gosh um for those who do that the malls are open until like 3 a.m southeast asia and mall culture is is next level yeah like everything happens at the mall everyone goes to a mall at first i was just like why are people having dinner at the mall right because in my mind it's like
• 50:55
  But then they'll have like really good restaurants.
• 50:57
  Really?
• 50:57
  Yeah.
• 50:58
  Yeah.
• 50:58
  I mean, I was I probably spent all day in a department store just eating.
• 51:04
  Would you live in Korea?
• 51:06
  I would live in Korea.
• 51:07
  Yeah.
• 51:07
  Yeah.
• 51:08
  What's making you not live in Korea?
• 51:11
  That I'm already here.
• 51:12
  OK, no, I mean, I would I would spend.
• 51:16
  I would want to spend a lot of time there, but I feel like it's for a permanent home.
• 51:22
  like South Africa is more of a culture fit for me.
• 51:24
  Okay.
• 51:25
  Like you said, of course, yeah, it's culturally so different in Asia that a lot of people aren't going to be willing or able to make such a shift, especially with the language barrier.
• 51:38
  A lot of these are not easy languages to learn.
• 51:40
  So, but yeah, Korea, I would go back any day.
• 51:45
  Is there anywhere that you've been that just hasn't aligned with you?
• 51:51
  Hungary?
• 51:53
  Okay, what part of Hungary were you in?
• 51:56
  I was mainly in Budapest.
• 51:58
  Okay, so I went to Budapest with my sister, random trip, had zero expectations, I knew nothing about Hungary, and I was really surprised by Budapest in a positive way.
• 52:10
  Like we were going to these restaurants and it was delicious food, I thought, what is going on?
• 52:14
  And then people said to me that Budapest is referred to as the Paris of the East, as in Eastern Europe.
• 52:20
  I was like, oh really?
• 52:22
  And they had like a really strong culinary scene.
• 52:25
  It was also, you know, as black people traveling, you're like, is it gonna be okay?
• 52:29
  It was okay.
• 52:30
  And so I was really surprised.
• 52:32
  I could never live there.
• 52:33
  But in terms of it exceeding my expectations from like a food restaurant perspective, I really enjoyed it.
• 52:40
  What were you not feeling?
• 52:41
  So I first I the city is gorgeous.
• 52:44
  I love the river and everything like especially like the city lights up at night.
• 52:49
  Right.
• 52:49
  It's amazing.
• 52:50
  And I did have some good food there.
• 52:52
  But I love to look at things from a social perspective.
• 52:55
  I didn't really like connect with people out there like that.
• 52:58
  Yeah.
• 52:59
  Maybe if I'd been there for longer.
• 53:01
  I mean, I went twice.
• 53:02
  But yeah, maybe if I spent more time out there, it could be different.
• 53:05
  But.
• 53:05
  Yeah, everybody's mileage will vary.
• 53:08
  Some people will come out to Cape Town and be like, yeah, not for me.
• 53:11
  And they'll go to a different place and love it.
• 53:13
  Where is on your bucket list to visit?
• 53:17
  Brazil.
• 53:18
  OK. Yeah, Brazil is on the bucket list.
• 53:20
  Japan as well.
• 53:23
  And China.
• 53:24
  Yeah.
• 53:25
  Good choices.
• 53:26
  Good choices.
• 53:28
  Is there anything that we haven't covered that you want to talk about?
• 53:35
  I don't know.
• 53:35
  I mean, is it interesting that I was the first black student in my school?
• 53:41
  You were the first black student in the South?
• 53:44
  Yeah.
• 53:44
  And like, so I went to, basically we were, we were so poor, we got sponsored to go to a private school.
• 53:51
  Okay.
• 53:52
  And this was like a school that goes from kindergarten to 12th grade.
• 53:57
  And you started there at kindergarten?
• 54:00
  No, I started there in sixth grade.
• 54:02
  Okay, you had to do a scholarship application?
• 54:05
  How does this work?
• 54:06
  I really didn't want to go there because I really didn't want to go.
• 54:11
  I was set on, we'd already done orientation at the public school I was going to go to.
• 54:14
  I was like, I can stay with my friends that I was in fifth grade with.
• 54:17
  We're about to go here, boom, like middle school, let's do it.
• 54:20
  And then so, you know, now all of a sudden I'm at this private school where it's like, you know, like not a vibe at all.
• 54:30
  Which state are we in at this point?
• 54:32
  This is in Georgia.
• 54:33
  So you're in Georgia.
• 54:34
  Yeah, this is in Conyers, Georgia.
• 54:35
  And who encourages?
• 54:37
  Dad encourages to...
• 54:38
  This was my, so my mom, she had a daycare for a long time.
• 54:44
  She had a daycare for like 15 years.
• 54:46
  Yeah, and then she moved into elderly care and then she moved into massage therapy.
• 54:50
  And one of her clients was, you know, very well off family.
• 54:56
  And they, you know, they found out about our situation and they were like, okay, let's, we're going to sponsor Frankie and his sister to go to this private school, which was so kind of them.
• 55:05
  I didn't appreciate it at the time, but now I do.
• 55:09
  But yeah, we go there, we had to do this entrance exam, and I failed it on purpose.
• 55:14
  Out of 100, I got a 20 on purpose.
• 55:17
  Oh wow, I'm not going.
• 55:18
  Yeah, now I'm not going.
• 55:20
  The principal talks to my mom and he's like, you know what, we just really see a lot of potential in Frankie, so we're gonna let him in anyway.
• 55:28
  I was like, come on.
• 55:30
  So I go there.
• 55:31
  It's like this class.
• 55:33
  It's like a class of 40.
• 55:34
  I'm the only person that looks like me.
• 55:37
  Everyone's like, oh, can I cut your hair?
• 55:39
  Like, I'm like, this is going to be a long six years.
• 55:44
  Is your sister at the same school?
• 55:46
  Yeah, she's at the same school.
• 55:47
  Is her attitude like yours?
• 55:48
  I think she came a year later.
• 55:50
  It was even worse because she's really introverted.
• 55:52
  Okay.
• 55:53
  Like, yeah, she really didn't do it.
• 55:57
  She really didn't like doing it.
• 55:59
  Did she come around?
• 56:00
  Um, she probably ended up somewhere around neutral by the time she graduated.
• 56:06
  Were you beyond neutral by the time you graduated?
• 56:09
  I mean, I, you know, I, I made it work.
• 56:11
  Okay.
• 56:12
  Yeah.
• 56:12
  I made it work.
• 56:13
  Aside from hair touching, explain to me how different of an experience it was coming from your old school to this one.
• 56:23
  In reality, it wasn't so different, but I visualized it as something that would be terrible.
• 56:29
  But in reality, kids are kids, and it's, I think, more of the same.
• 56:34
  Right.
• 56:35
  Like, I was still going to be, like, the class clown wherever I went, so...
• 56:40
  How did changing up from public school to private school help or hinder the adult version of you?
• 56:47
  I think it made me want to get out more because that was...
• 56:53
  I went from this kind of open environment to an environment where more people were really sheltered.
• 57:02
  And I was like, I don't want to be like that.
• 57:04
  Sheltered in what way?
• 57:07
  I mean, and it comes from a good place.
• 57:09
  Like, of course, their parents want the best for them.
• 57:11
  But, yeah, they were just not exposed to any of the real world at all.
• 57:17
  Okay.
• 57:18
  I'm surprised your class was 40.
• 57:20
  When I think private school, I think 20.
• 57:21
  Yeah.
• 57:23
  It was two classes of about 20, basically.
• 57:26
  So two classes for the year.
• 57:27
  Yeah, like my graduating class was like 40 people.
• 57:30
  Okay.
• 57:30
  Yeah.
• 57:31
  And with your other friends that were at the public school that you wanted to go to, were you still as connected with them when you went off to private school?
• 57:40
  Yeah, I would still hang out with them.
• 57:42
  Sometimes I would, if there wasn't too much going on and I could sneak off in like sixth period, I would just go hang out with them.
• 57:49
  Okay.
• 57:51
  So you now had two separate sets of friends?
• 57:54
  Yeah.
• 57:54
  You had your public school and your private school friends.
• 57:56
  Do you feel that you are the type of person who can kind of maneuver any type of background, community, you kind of just are fluid?
• 58:06
  Yeah, I think I always gravitated towards that kind of living.
• 58:10
  So, like, even in my private school, like, I would hang out with...
• 58:14
  I love playing football, so I'd hang out with my football friends.
• 58:17
  And then I would go to, like, a chess club, hang out with my nerd friends.
• 58:20
  And you just, you know, just kind of bounce around.
• 58:22
  Very cool.
• 58:24
  If your life was a postcard, what would the picture look like?
• 58:27
  Oh.
• 58:28
  Oh, wow.
• 58:31
  It'd probably be a mix of a ton of stuff, but...
• 58:36
  I don't know.
• 58:37
  I imagine myself as this mad scientist doing experiments with my life and just seeing how things go.
• 58:46
  Amazing.
• 58:47
  Thank you very much for sharing.
• 58:48
  Appreciate that.
• 58:49
  Cool.