October 16, 2020
Do you have a lot on your mind lately? I have a lot on my mind lately. There’s a dizzying number of things going on in the world. Many of my news sources come from New York and DC, so I absorb a lot of their election stress and fatigue as well. But if the US election was the most stressful thing in 2020, that would have been a much better year than what we did get, wouldn’t it?
Anyway, I decided to check in with Erik, a fellow Vancouverite who now lives across the border in Seattle.
Meet Erik
“I’m Erik. I’m from Canada, but I’m living here in the United States of America. My Tinder profile would be: a Canadian flag, a US flag, and I used to have a bottle of booze there but that part’s gone, jogging, and a computer, because that’s what I do as my day job. I’m usually a better listener than a speaker, but I don’t mind talking if it’s not just for the sake of being heard.”
A solid intro, if you ask me!
Pandemic, Work-life balance, Inequality, and Racial justice
Again, in 2020, no conversation begins without asking about how the other person’s coping. “I feel obligated to ask how you’re doing,” I say.
“Honestly, not great,” says Erik. “Work-life balance has been a struggle. I think it’s a cultural difference, where compared to in Canada, people here [in the US] are a lot more gung ho about getting something done for the sake of getting it done. And I think that’s kind of been rubbing off on me in a bad way. It’s hard to keep yourself away from work, when work is two feet away from the rest of your life.”
Work-life balance sure is a tricky one when the lines between the two blur. Work is home, and home is life, then is life work?
“Other than that, I’ve always been a homebody, so that part doesn’t bother me that much,” says Erik. “I can’t see people as often anymore, but I live in a different country, and most of my friends aren’t here, so I’m used to it. Dating life has been okay. You just have to make an effort.
But yeah, you kind of get bogged down by all the shittiness of everything. And sometimes you don’t know where to begin.
You know, there’s a constant barrage of crazy news, and you don’t have control over it. And it’s kind of uncanny, because I’m here living on a very comfortable wage, salary, benefits and stuff, and with Covid, obviously it disproportionately affects people who are not in my position, being a relatively high income earner, healthy and young.
The other thing is that I’m still coming to terms with what happened with George Floyd. It’s been on my mind since it happened. The imagery was so vivid, right? You have a man, with his neck being pressed on. And I think that says a lot, even if it’s allegorical. And you start learning about experiences of other people in this country who share the same tragic and violent ends, and it’s like, shit.”
Seattle is a bubble
Since the murder of George Floyd, there’s been protests, activism, and a shift in dialogue around systemic racism in the US and globally. I ask Erik what he’s observed through this moment in history, in Seattle, at his workplace and among his friends.
“Seattle’s a bubble. Especially where I live, everybody’s in tech, has a pretty nice job, and wants more money. I find myself thinking about that, too, even though I don’t think I should. At work, things have been strictly professional. And aside from one or two, most of my friends here are all Canadians. So naturally, the way we talk about things here is slanted, because we come from supposedly a bit more progressive country.
One thing I realize living here is that I’m a lot more Canadian than I thought.”
Health care in the US
“When I first started working here, I was talking to a coworker, and he was trying to explain to me how health insurance works here. It’s super complicated. And the cashier lady at the cafeteria said, because she’s not a full-time employee at the company, she pays something like $400 a month in premiums. I was just like, that’s crazy.
I’ve known about the US healthcare for the longest time, because we talk about it in Canada as well, but when you live here, it’s crazy. My company supposedly has a [really good] healthcare plan, and I still have to pay out of pocket to see outpatient doctors. I think that’s a deterrent for a lot of people to see a doctor,” Erik says.
Every time I am reminded that universal healthcare is a controversial, hotly-debated topic in the US, I am shocked and confused and have a lot to say. But, I digress. Coincidentally, though, as I’m writing this, I happen to just have listened to a Planet Money podcast episode called Frame Canada. And I say, give it a listen.
Canada is no wonderland
“It makes you appreciate what we have in Canada more. I think it speaks to different priorities as a country. Canada doesn’t have the dynamism that the US has, but I think that’s a feature, not a bug.
But I think it’s also critical not to delude yourself into thinking that Canada is this wonderland. When I first joined, it was right after Trudeau’s blackface scandal. A few of my teammates from India came up to me, and said: Erik, I’m so surprised. I thought Canada was a post-racial wonderland.
Clearly, Canada’s PR department has done a good job. Speaking as a Chinese Canadian, I’ve faced a level of casual discrimination [in Canada]. I haven’t felt the full weight of systemic discrimination, but you hear certain words here and there. It’s very subtle, but it’s there. And there’s always those who remind me that they don’t think I’m an actual Canadian.”
Ways to stay sane
Asked how he’s staying sane through this challenging time, Erik says two of the things he enjoys doing are cooking and reading.
“Right now, not as much as I should, but ideally I cook a lot. I try different things, from home-style Chinese cooking to pasta. I can kind of make the staple Korean and Mexican dishes, too.”
Erik’s also an avid reader, and for selfish reasons, I ask for some of his favourites. I can always use some book recommendations.
“My favourite book is called A Fine Balance by an Indian-Canadian author called Rohinton Mistry. It’s about India in the ‘80s during the Emergency, and all the craziness that was happening. It’s kind of analogous to times we’re living through right now, in a way. The story is told through three [points of view]: One is a very well-to-do Indian bachelor, the other is a very old single lady who lives by herself, and the last is from a pair of beggars, uncle and nephew. Their lives intersect with one another’s. It’s a very character-driven fiction. It’s awesome.
Another one is Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, which came out a few years ago. It’s about the Appalachian, about a guy who ends up in Yale Law School who grew up dirt poor. Also a character-driven book.
A Song of Ice and Fire the series. I’m a huge, huge fan.”
History, Education, Podcasts
Another interest of Erik’s is history. “I love history, and I took a whole year’s worth of history courses in university. I get bored of actual history books, but there are a few that are more catered towards mainstream audiences, like Why Nations Fail [by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson] and Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond.”
Seeing how passionate he gets as he talks about history books, I ask if he might have liked to be a historian.
“Not a historian – I don’t think I can be that monastic and be so focused on academics,” says Erik. “But I want to work in that space where you can present nuanced historical, philosophical, or political ideas to a mass audience. I do gravitate towards those Youtube channels and podcasts. I’m a huge podcast listener.”
Some of Erik’s favourite podcasts are Throughline and Radiolab, which are rich in discussion about nancued subjects. Planet Money, Freakonomics, Dissect, and Hardcord History are also up there on his list.
If you were to start a podcast, what would that look like, I ask. I mean, for me, with each week’s This American Life episode, I picture myself coming up with themes and pitching stories for future episodes. So it can’t just be me.
“I’d love to do something where you pick one thing and deep dive into it, but present it in a very approachable way. I would do a podcast about history, or why things are the way they are. I think it’s a good learning experience, too. What I like is that these podcast hosts, when they present things, they come into it not knowing much about it.”
Final thoughts
As we wrap up, we talk about things that are on our minds. Things that we wish that people, and ourselves, would hear, and remember.
“Treat each other as adults, and don’t assume the worst in people,” says Erik, and I agree, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. More often than not, it goes back to the simple things, doesn’t it?
“And pick one thing and learn about it. Right now, for me, it’s linguistics. I started watching these linguistics Youtube channels. There’s this one guy who tries to decipher this ancient Chinese text based off context. You’re playing detective essentially, and it’s very interesting learning about structures of language, and history of where they come from. An interesting thing I learned is that nobody knows where the hell the Korean language came from! There’s some debate that it is related to Japanese or some Turkic language, but there’s not enough evidence to support that.
So much learning.”
So much learning. I also hope to be learning in this moment, about interesting topics and about things that matter to me. I hope that we’re learning to be resilient and better aware as a generation, and as humanity.
Thanks for the chat, Erik. And I look forward to a time when Seattle no longer feels so far away.
