The Places We Call Home podcast

#71. The Hidden Rulebook of Your New Country — What Every Migrant Woman Should Know

Five practical tools every migrant woman can use to stop feeling lost Ever felt overwhelmed after moving abroad? This episode gives you the missing manual. Host Yolanda Reshemah breaks down two essential skills every immigrant, expat, and migrant woman needs: * Learning the hidden rulebook of your new culture and; * Using curiosity and optimism as practical survival tools. You’ll walk away with five clear, actionable strategies to help you feel more grounded, more capable, and more at home in the place you’re rebuilding your life. As the woman who has relocated six times, host Yolanda shares her tools learned the hard way ... through life, not from books and theories. She first moved at age 10, then as a teen, a young professional, a wife and most recently as a mother. On Wednesdays guest conversations bring you lived experiences from a community of women who know where you are and how you feel. If this episode gives you something real, follow the show and share it with one woman who needs this today.

#70. Bubblegum, Barbie and Becoming American. Pt.2 Yuliya Patsay

My expectation was that we were going to buy me a Barbie ... jeans, and bubble gum! This conversation with writer and storyteller Yuliya Patasy is an unusual exploration of what it means to arrive somewhere new — physically, emotionally, culturally, and generationally. Yuliya immigrated to San Francisco as a child, landing in a converted garage apartment packed with grandparents, great‑grandparents, aunts, uncles, and the weight of her parents’ hopes. Her early memories of life in a country that no longer exists are vivid: “I’ll never forget what it was like to live with 12 people in an apartment [ in the Soviet] sharing a bathroom.” She shares the pressure her parents felt to “turn things around quickly,” the loss of professional identity, and the disorientation of entering a system where the rules — social, cultural, bureaucratic — were entirely different. She also speaks candidly about the humor and heartbreak of childhood expectations, like the moment she realized Barbie was not life‑size: “I was like, this? No. I hate this.” We talk about belonging, language loss, and the tension between honoring the culture you came from and raising children who are fully rooted in the place you now call home. Yuliya reflects on her memoir, which began as a simple recipe collection and became a deeper excavation of family, memory, and identity. And she offers grounded wisdom for families stepping off a plane today, carrying their hopes in a suitcase: “There are good people everywhere… building relationships is really the path to feeling at home.” If you want more tools, stories, and honest conversations about building a life abroad, follow the show. Each episode gives you something real you can use and someone real you can relate to.

#69. Feeling Lonely After Moving Abroad? Here's How to Lighten the Emotional Load

Moving abroad can look exciting from the outside — but inside, many immigrant and expat women carry a silent truth: loneliness, identity loss, homesickness, and the pressure to hold everything together. In this solo episode, I talk honestly about the emotional work women do when they uproot their lives, often without a title, paycheck, or community to hold them.  I share the tools that helped me feel lighter - dealing with one big emotion at a time, rebuilding identity in small steps, and giving yourself permission to "faff around" and be un-serious in a life that often feels heavy.  If you've ever felt invisible, overwhelmed, or permanently on duty after moving abroad, this episode officially reminds you that you're not the only one living through the immigrant experience: the opportunities, challenges and being heard.  You're allowed to feel good and have some levity. Often. Leave a comment. Share your rituals for adding lightness in your life https://www.instagram.com/placeswecallhomepod [https://www.instagram.com/placeswecallhomepod]

#68. Bubblegum, Barbie and Becoming American. Pt.1 Yuliya Patsay

I’ll never forget what it was like to live with 12 people in a Soviet apartment sharing a bathroom. Writer and storyteller Yuliya Patsay joins us to explore the emotional work of immigration, belonging, and identity — from her childhood arrival in San Francisco as a refugee from what was then the USSR, to the life she’s built today. She shares the reality of childhood immigration — the disorienting impact of an abundance of resources, diversity, culture shock, and the courage it takes to rebuild your identity when you don't understand the language, rituals and experience. We talk about the pressure her parents felt to “turn things around quickly,” the loss of professional identity, and of entering a system where the rules — social, cultural, bureaucratic — were entirely different. She also speaks candidly about the humor and heartbreak of childhood expectations, like the moment she realized Barbie was not life‑size: “I was like, this? No. I hate this.” Her story resonates with immigrant women, expat families, and anyone who has ever called another country home. Follow the show for more stories about migration, identity, and belonging — and the quiet, powerful work of creating a life in a new country. Yulia (rhymes with Goo-lia) Patsay is a writer and comedian navigating American life with Soviet programming. She is the author of the memoir Until the Last Pickle and creator of the Substack Buckle Up Bubelah.

#68. 3 Lessons Every Migrant Woman Needs to Hear When Starting Over Feels Impossible

Practical guidance for migrant women rebuilding life in the USA. This episode shares three practical lessons for migrant women who are working hard to build a new life in the United States. These lessons come from my conversation with Janet Xu in episode #67, who moved from China with $300 in her pocket and rebuilt her life through persistence, community, and a clear sense of identity. You’ll get three takeaways that help you stay grounded during the hardest parts of relocation: * Stay rooted in who you are. Keep your heritage, your goals, and your ambition close. They help you stay steady while you adjust to a new country. 1. Don't mute your voice, you accent and your culture. Your background is a strength. It supports you as you find your place and build confidence. 2. Expect hard work — inside and out. The external work matters, but so does the internal work: managing loneliness, homesickness, and pressure. Hear what’s possible when you stay committed to your path and trust your judgment. Share your takeaway with guests and host: email: guest@theplaceswecallhome.com [guest@theplaceswecallhome.com].