Migration Patterns

Poet Titilope on balancing motherhood and creating art

Meredith Bratland — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 19:49:06 +0000

Titilope Sonuga is a multi-hyphenate artist (poet, writer, actress) originally from Nigeria who now calls Edmonton home. She moved to Edmonton with her family at age 14. Later, she became an engineer but once she started working she decided to shift her focus to poetry. She moved to Lagos, Nigeria to pursue her art and […]

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Ilvy Goossens on belonging, becoming, and growth

Meredith Bratland — Thu, 10 Jan 2019 21:01:02 +0000

Ilvy Goosens is a Belgian international PhD student at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia. She and I go way back. We met when I lived in Belgium in 2012 and we became fast friends. I still remember our conversation, over coffees in our favourite cafe in Leuven, about her exploring potential opportunities in […]

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Piyush Patel on Immigrating as a Teenager and Navigating Dual Cultural Identities

Meredith Bratland — Thu, 22 Mar 2018 13:00:34 +0000

Piyush Patel is a radio personality in Edmonton, Alberta. He moved to Canada from Mumbai, India when he was 15. Since then, Piyush has been navigating having two cultural identities, one as Indian and the other as Canadian. He has interesting insights into living life on a cultural spectrum and how art has helped him discover his identity.

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Podcaster Erica Ensign on Women in Fandom and Creating Inclusivity

Meredith Bratland — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 14:00:55 +0000

Erika is a prolific creator. She is involved in 8! different podcasts ranging in topics from the television show Dr. Who, science-fiction and fantasy, and hockey. Erika says that women have always been a part of the fandom community and her podcasts are a great showcase of smart and savvy perspectives in topics that have traditionally been seen as male-dominated.

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Lawyer Cindy Kieu on Active Learning, Curiosity, and Cultural Intelligence

Meredith Bratland — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 14:00:50 +0000

Cindy Kieu is a lawyer in Edmonton. She is originally from Vietnam and her family moved to Toronto, Canada when she was 10.

Cindy has studied, lived, and worked in various places around the world. Until recently, she lived in Nunavut where she was practicing law, notably during the establishment of Canada's newest territory. In her travels, she has learned the importance of cultural intelligence and how it being curious can connect people.

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Architect Jelle De Roeck on Belgium, Cycling, and Fatherhood

Meredith Bratland — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 14:00:41 +0000

Jelle De Roeck is an Architect from Belgium who moved to Canada in 2015. He and his wife moved to Canada looking for a sense of community that they couldn't find in Belgium. Two years later, their son was born. In this episode, I ask Jelle about the differences in European and Canadian architecture and the insider's scoop on Flandrian cycling culture. Jelle also shares some insights about how immigration has affected his ideas of fatherhood and what his dreams are for his son.

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Chef Israel Alvarez on Mexico, Tacos, and Being Kidnapped

Meredith Bratland — Thu, 11 Jan 2018 14:00:13 +0000

This week on Migration Patterns, I speak with Israel Alvarez, a chef who grew up in Mexico City and now lives in Edmonton. In this episode, he shares some of his experiences working in Enrique Olvera's restaurant Pujol, what happened when he was kidnapped in Mexico City, and his current pop-up project COMAL Taco Therapy.

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Starting Season 2 and I need you!

Meredith Bratland — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 04:45:34 +0000

Season 2 of Migration Patterns is in the works and I'm looking for Canadian immigrants and New Canadians to share their culture and story on the podcast.

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Episode 4: Ulia Bodrug – Ukraine

Meredith Bratland — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 13:00:33 +0000

Ulia came to Canada in her early 20’s and it has been both challenging and fulfilling in ways she couldn’t have predicted. She arrived in Vancouver and moved over to Edmonton after three months; partly looking for a familiar face and a more manageable cost of living. Since moving here, Ulia has learnt a lot […]

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Episode 3: Toonna Obi-Okoye – Nigeria

Meredith Bratland — Tue, 04 Jul 2017 13:00:27 +0000

This episode, I speak with Toonna Obi-Okoye, a Nigerian living in Edmonton. He works in IT but what he really wanted to talk to me about were his passions for film and music. During our interview, Toonna describes his childhood in Nigeria and teaches us a bit about the three main tribes of the nation. We chat about hip-hop and the musical influence of Nigerian afro-beat, Bollywood, and the difficulties that creatives stumble upon in Nigeria. We also touch a bit upon the 419 internet scam and the effects of oil & gas in Nigeria.

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