(Note: This episode was recorded before the outbreak of the Corona Virus.)
On episode 32 of the podcast, my guest is chef and educator, Karen M. Ricks. Karen is the founder and owner of the online cooking school, Our Kitchen Classroom. Karen is a Black American woman, married to a white man and together they have a nine-year-old son. Karen and her family currently live in Tirana, Albania, but Karen considers herself a global citizen.
A Life Lived Abroad
Before moving to Albania, Karen and her family lived in Italy, and before that, Japan. On the show, Karen shares how a plan to spend one year teaching in Japan, turned into 10 years of living in Japan (where she also founded a Montessori school), followed by training as a chef in Italy, and finally to a nomadic lifestyle that involves a lot of good food and exciting adventures.
All the World is a Classroom
During our conversation Karen shares:
-What it was like to be an interracial couple in Japan
-What her husband learned about being a minority for the first time in his life
-How she is raising her multiracial son to embrace his unique identity outside of the United States
-How surviving the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan inspired her to open a school in Japan
-Why cooking is the perfect tool to teach children of all ages
-What world schooling is really about
-How following your passions can be done anywhere in the world
-Why she wants more multiracial families to travel, see the world and share their experiences
Plus a whole lot more. Karen’s life is so full of exciting surprises, I guarantee this interview will leave you inspired to do more, wherever you are in the world.
Resources from the Show
To follow Karen Ricks on Instagram, find her at Karenm.Ricks
To learn more about Our Kitchen Classroom and the resources they provide, please visit the website.
To learn about world schooling, read this article written by Karen Ricks for the Black Expat.com.
To learn more about Karen and her love of cooking, check out this profile I wrote about her last year.
