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Hey everyone! Happy New Year! Did anyone see that Larry David episode about how late you can continue to say Happy New Year? Is mid-January too late? Fortunately for me, I have Lunar New Year coming up to reset that Happy New Year anyway. I digress.

If you are tuning in for the first time, this is not a typical episode. I normally have a wonderful guest who is far more interesting than myself sharing about the work they do and the life they lead. So please, continue to tune in if this is your first time listening to the show. I promise it gets better.

If you are a subscriber to this podcast. Thank you. Just thank you so much. This is year five, yes, year five of podcasts. I cringe thinking about those first few episodes where I was but a baby podcaster trying to take my first steps. Thank you to those who have been listening since day one and have continued. Thank you to my patrons who support this podcast, I could not have continued this journey without you.

Shameless plug: This is a passion project. I need support to keep it going. Contributing in any capacity you have – one-time, monthly, and any amount is appreciated. Every little bit does make a difference. You can support at Patreon.com/sifumimichan or at sifumimichan.com. I am going to be offering a lot more behind-the-scenes action and extra blog posts for patrons this year.

With all the housekeeping out of the way, I am kicking off the 2022 season with a solo episode to wrap up 2021 and introduce 2022.

2021 was supposed to be a better year. In many ways, it was.

Vaccines were available to everyone. (well, everyone in the United States) People were back to work, school, traveling, and socializing. Things began to feel…normal?

Then Delta and Omicron made their debut and had many of us taking a giant step backward. The emotional roller coaster we all experienced has been intense. I empathize with all of you. From the start of the pandemic, I really believed in the #weareallinthistogether.

Until I saw that we weren’t. Some of us had decided they were not IN this with US. I believe that we have a responsibility not to spread a deadly disease to one another.

We have a responsibility to keep one another safe, via vaccines, masks, distancing, and just consideration for our fellow human. It has been so polarizing to live in a state where those morals are not shared.

O and I had the privilege of traveling in 2021. After getting boosted, I braved for a flight to NYC. I was thrilled to be in a land where vaccine cards were checked, and people wore masks. I was nervous as hell, but being in a place where people did seem to be ‘in this together’ put me at ease.

I just returned from Iceland. Talk about another planet. First, it really does look like another planet. Granted, I am from Florida where there is no snow or ice, but I have never seen a landscape like Iceland.

The black sand beach, glaciers, and long stretches of mountains and valleys were out of this world. The people also seemed like they were ‘in this together.’ Masking was observed and the country is widely vaccinated.

We had to get our covid tests before going to the airport which were done in about eight minutes. The ease of booking, showing up for the test and getting the results were so smooth compared to the horror stories I was hearing back home. My colleague had to wait six hours in his car for a test. SIX HOURS. That is just outrageous.

I will be honest, the stress of travel was intense, even though we had a great time on the trip. Up until the day we left I wondered if we are doing the ‘right thing’. Balancing my mental health and need for escape and downtime versus the risk of getting covid was a major challenge. Even today I am testing to ensure that I did not get covid while abroad and staying extra distanced and masked at work.

O and I feel so privileged to lead the life we do. We realize that our challenges are totally first-world problems. However, I lead a stressful life. I love my work and am passionate about all the projects I work on, but I get very burnt out. The only way that I truly unwind is by leaving Florida. I’m not sure why, but I need that change of scenery and pace. (and to leave my MacBook at home)

I’d like to share a little about our Iceland trip if you don’t mind. I became an aurora hunter. Typical Mimi, I became a bit obsessed with checking the box: see the northern lights. I researched how to understand space weather and the best locations for tracking the aurora. Due to covid, I was uncomfortable going on a tour bus with others, so we opted to do it alone.

It was quite an adventure! The first night I found the aurora was during 35-40 mph winds along the coast. It was windy, freezing, and dark. The cool part was that I tracked it on my own and we saw it appear before our eyes. The not-so-great part was we almost got frostbite and couldn’t get a good photo because it was so damn windy. We also couldn’t enjoy it because the weather conditions were so uncomfortable.

The winds are so deadly in Iceland that they have warning signs in the car about being careful when opening the door so that it doesn’t fly off. It is no. joke. windy.

Either way, I was excited that we had witnessed the aurora borealis and proud that I had tracked it on my own. A couple of nights later we went to a nice hotel in the country that offers the service of calling you to come out and look if it appears. That was much more relaxing and the intensity of the lights in the middle of nowhere was incredible. It’s there we got the money shot you see posted on my social.

I share a bit about Iceland because that is where my 2021 ended and 2022 began. Sitting in this winter wonderland had me reflecting on the many wonderful conversations I had that year.

In 2021 the podcast also became The Sifu Mimi Chan Show. It’s been interesting embracing my identity as a podcaster. Although it has been five years, I still feel like I’m learning. Which I guess is a good thing.

And so, I thought I would review 2021 podcasts with all of you as we say goodbye to 2021 and hello to 2022.

The 2021 year kicked off with Greg Rucka. I am beyond grateful for Greg. In 2020 what began as a quarantine podcast became a true friendship. Unintentionally, many of our episodes last year centered on writing. I have been putting it out in the universe that I plan to ‘write something’ sometime soon. Looking back, I was clearly taking advantage of having a world-class writer at my disposal. Expect more Greg Rucka in 2022.

Coach Dan John and I have been exploring The Sword in the Stone philosophies for the past couple of years. After each conversation with him, I marvel at his kindness and knowledge. His work ethic and ability to cite historical references for almost anything is remarkable. Dan and I are only on chapter 8 of the book, so we still have a long way to go.

On the health and fitness front my favorite human on earth, Oscar, often shares airtime with me. Our conversations range from martial arts training to general fitness, and always include a lot of laughs.

Per my podcast name change, the show has evolved to featuring a lot of recurring guests and going deeper into those relationships and conversations. I found that one conversation with many of these guests is just not enough!

Among them have been strength coach extraordinaire Brett Jones. Not only is he Oscar’s coach and SFG chief, I am also happy to call him a friend. Brett always has a way of explaining complex ideas succinctly. Plus, we both love movie and tv quotes!

A new friend and podcast guest was Dr. Mark Cheng. I often mention that podcasting is a way for me to catch up with friends and have discussions with interesting people. Podcasting has always been a way for me to make new friends. Mark has quickly become one of my BFFs. I was captivated by our discussions on metabolic health and the issues the AAPI community is facing and will be having him back on the show.

Another new friend who is totally bringing up my friend average is Spencer Ackerman. He’s the author of the acclaimed book REIGN OF TERROR: HOW THE 9/11 ERA DESTABILIZED AMERICA AND PRODUCED TRUMP. Talk about leveling up, he was also part of the Pulitzer Prize-winning team reporting on Edward Snowden’s surveillance revelations. He immediately challenged me to read and we had a special book club episode! We also bonded over Rucka and Lark’s comic Lazarus. I’m certain he will be returning as a guest in the near future.

Speaking of comics…My show wouldn’t be the same without comic creators. Although 2020 was the year of creators, 2021 wasn’t without its headliners. I was thrilled to have finally landed conversations with legends like Ed Brubaker and Gene Luen Yang. It wouldn’t be a proper podcast year without me fan girl-ing out!

If you aren’t into comics, the conversations are still fascinating. I love hearing about comic creator origin stories. I also ended the year with Matt Fraction discussing the incredible Hawkeye series on Disney Plus, which at the time I had not yet seen. Oh wow. Just wow. I loved his and David Aja’s comic book and I absolutely loved the show…which is such a rarity. Talk about hitting it out of the park. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend you do!

A huge part of the 2021 season was my connection with HBOMAX’s Warrior cast and crew. What started as a desire to give props to stunt coordinator Brett Chan led to conversations with the most wonderful cast members. I still have more on my list and have some lined up return guests! Stay tuned…

As many of you know this podcast was born out of frustration in 2016 over the divisiveness of our country and the political landscape. I wanted to have a platform to voice my thoughts and build empathy through sharing the stories of others.

In 2021 I had some intense conversations:I tackled voting issues with the League of Women Voters president Patti Brigham and Representative Anna V. Eskamani. An episode with Regina Lopez Whiteskunk on preserving native land, Juliette Kong on child abuse prevention, and the new Director of National Drug Control Policy, Dr. Rahul Gupta, on vaccines.
The team from NAPAWF shared the challenges the AAPI community faces with reproductive justice, and Stewart Kwoh of the Asian American Education Project discussed the importance of AAPI history.

2021 was a tough year for the AAPI community. The rise of anti-Asian hate crimes was insane. I was sad. I was angry. Then, I took action.

In 2021 I helped write a bill to include AAPI history in our k-12 education curriculum in Florida as a response to the anti-Asian hate crimes. I am currently the state lead for Make Us Visible Florida which is a part of a nationwide coalition.

I am currently in the trenches in trying to get these bills passed, and in Florida, things are = rough. It is difficult to remain positive when politics is involved. I can’t say that this experience has made me more jaded because I was never an idealist to begin with, but I will say that it has worn me down.

I am exhausted and the battle is just beginning. The bill may die in this round, but the work we have done has made a difference. We can still get this bill passed, but it can’t happen without Floridians making calls to their legislators. If you live in Florida or know anyone who does, urge them to take 2 minutes out of their day to call their legislator and ask them to co-sponsor our bill and vote yes on HB 281 and SB 490.

So what can you expect in 2022?

I promise the next episode will feature a guest! As much as I love not having to put on make-up and get out of my fuzzy robe for a show, this was actually a lot more difficult.

In 2022, let’s hope we are finally going to be through the worst of the pandemic. You’ll know from Greg Rucka’s first episode how the state of the world is doing, as we will inevitably discuss current events. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think of an episode and if there are any requests.

In the past five years, I have finally found a comfortable place in podcasting. I am a lot less worried about how many people are listening. I will continue to have conversations that I find stimulating and interesting. I hope that finds an audience who enjoys listening to the show.

I am grateful for the amazing guests that share their time and stories with me.

I am grateful to all of you who are listening and supporting me.

Thank you for going on this journey with me.

Here’s to an amazing 2022.

Mimi