January 13, 2025 • 33 mins
Ever wondered what it takes to navigate the complexities of identity and culture, as a young immigrant?
In this two-part episode, Taiwanese-Canadian artist and educator Pete (Shouh) Young takes us on a journey through his life, sharing how his experience of moving from Taiwan to Vancouver at the age of nine shaped his art, his studies, and his sense of self. From the challenges of adapting to a new language and culture, to the founding of Young Guns Studio to mentor young artists, Pete's story is one of resilience, creativity, and a deep connection to his roots. Pete shares how his parents, a meaningful Chinese name, and food traditions, continue to influence who he is today.
HELPFUL LINKS
- Get my free Travel Planning Tool
- Daikon soup (Taiwanese soup from pork bones) 排骨蘿蔔湯 - This recipe provided by Pete, is a close representation of his Grandmother’s recipe. Sadly he does not have his Grandmother’s original recipe. A gentle reminder to capture our family recipes.
- Get in touch with Pete on Instagram (@_ygstudio) or visit his website: https://www.ygstudio.ca/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Paula (00:00):
This episode has so many gems in it.
(00:02):
From daikon soup to cultivatinginnovation in our teens.
Pete is a Taiwanese Canadianartist and educator.
And in our chats, he talks abouthis journey from Taiwan to
Vancouver.
What that was like as animmigrant at the age of nine,
navigating the school system,cultural shifts, language
(00:22):
barriers.
I discover.
What amazing parents he had andhow they recognized.
Pete's strengths at a very youngage and made it a mission to
cultivate those strengths,meaning that they were going to
uproot their lives and move to adifferent country.
Get ready for conversationbrimming with energy, curiosity,
(00:43):
and heartwarming stories aboutembracing your roots.
And chasing your dreams.
Hi, I'm Paula Mohamed andwelcome to In My Kitchen with
Paula.
This podcast is a gatheringplace for culinary adventures
who love to travel.
Every week, we'll come togetherwith chefs, cookbook authors,
talented home cooks, andeveryone in between to talk
about their story and theirunique dish.
(01:05):
Using food as the vehicle, we'lltake a ride into the ins and
outs of their culture andcountry.
Come on, let's get this partystarted.
Pete Shouh Young.
Really excited to have thisconversation with you.
Pete (01:18):
Thank you, Paula.
I'm super excited.
Paula (01:21):
Pete Shouh Young is a Taiwanese Canadian artist and
educator who founded Young GunsStudio in 2008 to create the
supportive, inspiringenvironment he wished he'd had
as a young artist.
A graduate of OCAD's industrialdesign program, Pete combines
his own journey of challengingexpectations and embracing
(01:42):
creativity with a mission tonurture young talent with
agency.
Through Young Guns, he hasguided students to secure more
than, get this, this is one, oneperson here and a young, a young
gun himself.
He has secured more than 900acceptance letters and over 8.
5 million in scholarships forhis students, fostering a
(02:05):
community where mentorship,curiosity, and dreams take root
and flourish.
Pete, my first thought when Iread your bio there is, there's
two stories here.
And one is your, the founder'sstory of Young Guns, your Young
Guns studio and your mission fornurturing innovation.
And then the second story isyour story of you immigrating to
(02:26):
Canada from Taiwan and beingraised in Vancouver.
But then I wondered, preppingfor our interview is, perhaps
one caused the other and this isjust one story because I can't
help but compare your drive andpassion for innovation for
exactly what's happening inTaiwan where it feels like, you
know, what I've read is thecountry strategically moving in
(02:48):
a direction of being veryinnovative.
I want to chat a little bitabout that later, but first of
all, How about sharing with ourlisteners a little bit about
your story?
When did you come to Vancouver?
What was that like for you?
Pete (03:01):
Yes, I grew up in Taiwan, and spent a good part of my
formative years of my childhoodthere, till when I was nine.
And it was a very abrupttransition because I feel like,
life the way I had known it allthe way till eight or nine years
of age.
Was, this is home, and I wouldnever move away from this place.
(03:26):
My friends, my family, they'reall there.
My parents told me one day that,Hey son, we're, we're gonna move
to Vancouver, we're gonna moveto Canada.
As a kid, like, we went to, uh,the States.
I forgot, like, they brought usto different places.
We would travel, but I'd neverbeen to Canada.
Actually, I'd been to Toronto,but it was like, I forgot
everything about Toronto.
(03:48):
And so I'm just like, Oh, okay.
Like why?
You know?
And, my parents really didn'texplain that much back then,
but, in, in hindsight, what theywere telling, because I would
ask them questions, like, as Igrew up, it's like, oh, um,
we're now in Vancouver, we'renow in Canada, at first I hated
it here,, cause I was like, Ididn't speak a word of English,
(04:10):
and, when I sat down in my firstclass, I felt so alienated
Paula (04:15):
Oh,
Pete (04:17):
and I was really desperately, I remember that day
so vividly, I was like lookingaround and everyone's Caucasian,
i, I was searching for an Asianface and I tried to speak
Mandarin to this Asian kid buthe doesn't know how to speak any
Mandarin.
So it was very difficult becausethe language part of, you know,
(04:41):
my expression, right?
It's like, I understood how tocommunicate.
I love the language.
I love Mandarin.
I would be able to, I actuallywrote a lot of poetry when I was
a little kid in Mandarin.
It went from, that was my likenatural way of thinking and
expressing myself to all of asudden, my relationship with
(05:01):
English.
It forced me to think aboutlanguage as a very structured
way of like learning, thatthere's all of a sudden, there's
no creativity to it, at leastthe way I understood it.
There has to be rules.
I have to learn vocab, I have tolearn grammar, and it was just
all very, very difficult.
(05:22):
So, I would continuously ask myparents, like, why?
Like, why did we move here?
And my dad was still working inTaiwan, so he would fly back and
forth.
So it was really just my sis, myolder sister, and my mom and I.
In these conversations, youknow, as we grew up, I began to
really understand why, um, andI'm really grateful for this
(05:43):
move.
I think in hindsight, it'sreally literally the best thing
that could have happened for us.
yes, on one hand, I feel likeI'm always in this limbo state
we used to joke that like Asiankids like me, we're bananas
Paula (06:00):
We're what?
Pete (06:00):
Bananas.
We're banana.
Like, we're yellow on theoutside, but really white on the
inside.
And it's, I, I used to thinkabout this as a negative, like
going back to my name, Peter'sSon, right?
Knew myself as Young Jia Shouh,which is my Mandarin name, but
all of a sudden I was given Thisnew English name, and this new
(06:23):
English name, Peterson, Peter'sson, is so foreign to me.
I'm like, don't call me that,like, what, who is that?
I don't even know who that is.
But I think in hindsight, like,this is the best thing that
could have happened to us, likemy sister and I, because we're
very, we probably hear this wordvery, very common nowadays, it's
interdisciplinary.
(06:45):
I saw it as an neg, but now Iactually see it as a strength,
um, as a positive, because I canbe this bridge between the two
cultures.
Paula (06:55):
Right?
Mm-hmm
Pete (06:56):
I was really exposed to this, and it's fascinating to
think even just like from, whenI was baby to nine years old, I
received this type of education,thinking, where the cultural
identity is about, like, yourespect your elderlies, and, you
do your chores, you contribute,you're supposed to be very
(07:17):
studious, and I think thatmindset has helped me, gain a
lot of agency.
address my own life.
And but would be that it's inschool or in my own like
personal studio practice now.
But it also takes me throughthis process of knowing that,
oh, I think that, that educationThe academia in Taiwan of like
(07:41):
how, and same thing with China,Japan, Korea, right?
It's all the same thing.
You have to be very, very, verystudious.
You have to be a very smart,intellectually book smart
student, because in order foryou to have any kind of future,
you have to score very, veryhigh.
And that brings us back to whymy parents brought us abroad at
(08:02):
such an early age, because theyknew that, my sister and I, I
think they saw a lot of creativepotential in me when I was a
very, very young kid.
And so they're like, well, no, akid like Pete will not be able
to thrive and foster this kindof educational framework of this
(08:25):
idea of rote learning.
So that's why we got pulled out.
So, to summarize my experience,I literally felt like my life
was unrooted and I got likethrown into this entirely new
environment and I had to learnto, instead of sinking, I had to
learn to frantically learn howto swim on my own.
(08:47):
And I did that.
And I think that is what was,like, that's the best gift that
my parents had given me.
So, these trials andtribulations, they, I think,
they helped me develop a lot ofmental fortitude.
In high school, it's not easy,right?
In elementary, it's not easy.
In high school, it's also noteasy because, I still felt like
(09:07):
I was this weird, You know,alienated kid who's, who has
friends,
Paula (09:13):
Mm-hmm
Pete (09:14):
but I still have a deep sense of insecurity that, oh,
that's still with me today.
Right?
It's a lot better now, but I hadthis extreme sense of insecurity
that like, Why am I not as goodlooking and attractive, as
popular, as my friends, right?
And it's like, when I thinkabout those things, it's so
(09:36):
interesting because it's rootedin this stigma, like, we would
watch Disney movies when we werelittle.
I actually just re watchedSleeping Beauty and then Little
Mermaid.
Those were like, my favoritemovies when I was a little kid.
And then when I watch thosemovies, I'm like, ah, okay, I
can see where those, like,thoughts of insecurity came
(09:56):
from.
It's because the prince wasalways this very handsome young
white man.
And I'm like, wait, I don't havehair like that.
I don't have facial featureslike that.
Yeah.
So anyway,
Paula (10:11):
First of all, the insight that you have, the reflection
that you have looking back onit, is, um, very thoughtful.
And also I just, I would love tomeet your parents because my
goodness, just without givingaway your age, but let's say
what decade were you, did youmove to Vancouver?
Are we talking the ninenineties, 96.
Okay.
So, your parents, instead ofhaving you, develop, strengths
(10:36):
that you may not be so strongat, they, they put you in a
situation where you couldflourish by having the
opportunity to really let yourstrengths that you are strong
at, develop and grow.
I'm a parent of teenage boysand, I'm not sure if I have that
kind of foresight and, andinsight and, the, the
thoughtfulness of what they didamazes me.
Pete (10:58):
I always think back to that and I'm, you know, when I
was, when I was a kid, I didn'tunderstand, but I think now as
an adult and also as a parent,I, I get very emotional when I
think about what my parents hadto do for me,
Paula (11:12):
Mm hmm.
Pete (11:13):
That it's the, the amount that they're willing to give up,
like just between my dad and,and my mom, like, you know,
separating, living in likecompletely different sides of
the world.
And also my mom coming here andnot being able to see her
family.
She didn't know she wasliterally on her own.
(11:33):
And the amount that they had togive up in order to give us a
chance.
And that they saw a
Paula (11:43):
Ah.
It's beautiful.
It's so lovely to see that yourecognize it and how grateful
you are.
And probably being a young dadyourself now, it probably hits
home even more, right?
Pete (11:56):
hundred percent.
You know, it, it takes so muchcourage for them to, cause you
know, the family values, it'sdefinitely there, right?
Like we would visit ourgrandparents like every weekend.
And so it must've beenincredibly difficult for my
parents to, especially for mymom to move away to a complete
like foreign land that she'sliterally never stepped foot in.
(12:17):
And, and it's like, she must'vefelt so like alone.
Paula (12:21):
Mm hmm.
Pete (12:22):
But it's, it's like the, the mental fortitude that she
must have had is incredible,knowing that she was to leave
all these things behind, but,I'm starting to understand that
now, right?
When, when parents used to say,hey, I would do anything for my
kid, like, I would literallygive my life, that's, now that I
have a baby boy, a toddler,that's literally what I would
do, my meaning of life hasshifted.
(12:45):
it's gone completely in adifferent direction where I feel
like everything I do is actuallyfor my son, you know, um, yeah.
In speaking a little bit tothat, I don't think I've kind of
fully talked about that story ofwhat I was able to receive in
this, um, this Westerneducation.
I think the first couple ofyears.
(13:06):
And to me, it's all fate.
The first couple of years in thearts, I was literally, had no
word of English.
And so my way of communicatingmy thoughts, my ideas, I had to
like, find some measure to doso.
It was not just like trying toobserve people's like body
language, right?
And really trying to comprehendwhat they were saying to me,
(13:26):
what they're gesturing to me.
But I quickly realized drawingbecame my identity because as
the teachers are talking, I'mjust like, okay, I'm going to
listen.
But I'm looking at all thisEnglish gibberish, so I'm just
gonna start drawing on there,right?
So I became, that, in a strangeway, that gave me so much, like,
(13:48):
so much freedom to be able todraw the things that I want to
draw.
And, uh, that became my identityin the way that I am.
others, my peers, my friends,,they started to notice my
talents.
And it's like, oh, Pete can drawlike, oh, Pete can draw like
Goku, from Dragon Ball Z.
And then Pete can draw LeonardoDiCaprio.
(14:11):
I remember doing a portrait ofhim, like in pointillism,
because like we had that, thatwas the chapter, that was a
lesson that was given.
And just people were mesmerized,my friends were mesmerized, This
one girl came up to me and waslike, Hey Pete, can I please
have that drawing?
Would want to put it, up on mywall.
And I went, you like my drawingthat much that you want to have
(14:33):
it on your wall?
That became really fascinatingto me that, you know, art, for
the first time, I was like, oh,it's not just fun for me, but it
has the power to move others.
Paula (14:44):
Right.
Pete (14:45):
That became my, my destiny almost.
Like, it's my destiny.
In a strange way, I was lookingfor who I, what my new identity
is, and I found it through arts.
And that's been, fortified, inall these years in high school,
I became known as the artist.
And actually then, in selectingmajors, career paths, I knew it
(15:09):
had to be related to the artssomehow.
Paula (15:12):
When you talked about, moving here, and you talked
about almost like you lost youridentity of who you were, before
you moved.
Looking back now, who you arenow versus if you had stayed in
Taiwan, very different people,what are your thoughts on that?
Pete (15:27):
The two different Petes would have been very, very
different.
I've, I've always appreciatedthis, perspective where I feel
like we need to be welltraveled.
I feel like we need to be veryworldly, and it's not because
traveling is fun, it is, Iabsolutely love it, but I think
it's more this notion that whenwe travel, we are encountering
(15:47):
people are very different thanour bubble, than what we're used
to, and I think it's engagingwith these people.
Either just quietly observing ordirectly talking to them of
different identities,backgrounds, that we are then
like exposing ourselves to newideas.
But even beyond that, I think isdeveloping that empathy, that
(16:10):
it's not just me and my culture.
It's that empathy to understand,to develop that compassion, to
understand that there are peopleof all walks of life, all races,
all ethnicities, and Indeveloping that empathy and
hearing their stories, youreally start to open yourself up
(16:30):
to going, Oh, there's more thanone way to do anything and
everything.
And I think that's the biggestchange, like the Pete who would
have probably traveled a littlebit, but it would have been
traveling to You know, placeslike Tokyo, Thailand, that's
like really close to Taiwan,
Paula (16:50):
Mm hmm.
Pete (16:51):
That's what my, my family and very few friends that are in
Taiwan, that's what they do.
That's like in, their normality.
I think in comparing,contrasting to my lifestyle now,
or, my friends that are, havemoved abroad.
I think that like idea of theglobalized citizen.
It's so much better to developlike a young mind to be able to
(17:17):
help every individual andincluding me to kind of go, Oh,
cool.
Maybe down the line today we'lltalk about innovation and
creativity.
I think that's absolutely, like,that's imperative, and to be
able to turn into the person Iam today, I really don't think
that I would have been theperson I am today if it's not
(17:37):
for this exposure.
Paula (17:38):
Do you go back to Taiwan very often?
Pete (17:42):
No not as much as I like, you know, pre COVID, uh, my
sister and my brother in law, myniece, they're there.
So pre COVID we'll go back likeonce every summer, but post
COVID I haven't been back since2019.
So I'm going back, uh, uh, nextFebruary.
That's very exciting.
Paula (17:57):
And you'll take your little boy.
Pete (17:59):
Yes.
Yes.
Paula (18:00):
Say for people who want to explore Taiwan, any advice,
suggestions, must dos, for goingto Taiwan?
I know I've heard that the foodis phenomenal in the, food
markets out of this world.
Pete (18:14):
So Taiwan, you can see it as like, it's split into three
parts.
There's the North Taipei, andthen there's the middle part of
Taiwan.
Then there's a South, that'scalled Kenting.
I've literally, which is so sad.
I've never been to Kenting.
But Kenting is like, maybe it'smore seen as the, it has these
like the Hawaii of Taiwan, Iguess it has these like beaches
and so on and so forth.
(18:35):
But it's like this contrastbetween when I think about this
contrast, it would be thiscontrast between a very
metropolitan like city to then,the countryside.
And there's like quite a starkdifference.
and it's, it's quite lovely tobe able to experience Taiwan
like that.
My usual stops.
This is my recommendation.
I would, stay in Taipei.
And then there is, uh, south, Ithink it's southeast of Taipei.
(18:57):
There's this place that's nottoo far, provided if you're
avoiding rush hour traffic.
About 45 minute drive south ofTaipei.
It's called Yilan, Y I L A N.
And that's the countryside.
Paula (19:10):
Okay.
Pete (19:10):
Uh, and it's beautiful.
I've been there once back in2017 and it's just, it's
beautiful.
It's calm, quaint, and it'snothing like the Taiwan that
I've ever experienced in Taipeibecause I literally, like, just
grew up in Taipei.
I've never really gone to otherplaces.
And then there's, north ofTaipei, there is a, a little
town called Jiufen.
(19:31):
Uh, J I U F E N.
Yeah, Jiufen, the movie SpiritedAway.
It's the art is inspired byJiufen itself.
so it's this little town that'slike hitched into the, uh, not
the countryside but in themountains.
And it's just has such like,culture, like rich in Taiwanese
(19:55):
culture, the buildings and theway that the, these little
streets are like nestled next toeach other, these Shop, and you
got market, you, oh, of courseyou have really great food.
Yeah, so those places I woulddefinitely recommend.
And then the other thing is, uh,hot springs.
Hot springs are awesome.
So you could definitely live,very, very I wouldn't say I,
(20:19):
when I, in my mind, I go like,when I go back to Taiwan and
live like a king, but it's notnecessarily the king in terms of
like opulence, right?
It's more, oh man, like the foodis so good.
And what you ate for, you know,when you're converting like
Canadian, US to like Taiwanesedollars, it's like, oh my God,
like an amazing meal is 2.
Paula (20:41):
Wow.
Okay.
Yeah.
Pete (20:44):
It's just mind boggling and literally you could go to
like the, you know, a cornerstreet vendor and it would be
like the best food ever, right?
It's just, it's amazing.
Like the street food there, themarkets there, it's to die for.
Like those are the things that Ireally like, you know, look
forward to.
And the other thing is their, 7Elevens.
(21:07):
It's not like the 7 Elevens thatwe know.
Like, the 7 Elevens here suck.
But the 7 Elevens, the FamilyMarts in Taiwan, just like
Japan.
Oh my god.
It's, I literally, I kid younot, I have dreams.
I still have dreams about itwhere, I'd wake up in a cold
sweat because I'd be like in themart, the family mart or a 7
(21:33):
Eleven saying to my wife, babe,like, oh my God, like this is my
last moment before I get to hopon the plane.
I need to buy everything I canhere and eat all the food that I
can here.
Paula (21:47):
You've sparked a real interest in me to go, go there.
I love the sound of, I'm goingto pronounce it wrong, Yalin and
Jiufen.
Jiufen?
Pete (21:55):
yes, yes.
Eli and Angel.
Yes.
And just lastly, the people, thepeople there, they're so nice.
They're so friendly.
Um, and they're so helpful.
So it's a lovely place to visit.
Paula (22:08):
So, solo female traveler um, safe?
Yeah,
Pete (22:13):
A hundred percent.
Yes.
Yes.
Paula (22:15):
Food, did it play a big role in your upbringing?
Pete (22:19):
Oh, a hundred percent.
Huge, massive.
Every weekend on Saturdays, itwas visiting my, paternal
grandparents.
Or sorry, maternal, and thenevery Sunday it's the paternal
grandparents.
And it's, it's that was theritual.
weekends we'll go, and what dowe do?
We hang out, we watch TV, we'dalways have food, like, You
(22:39):
know, it's always lunch, and andthen like after lunch, we would
have like snacks, like fruits,and just have such a great time
with family.
But everything evolved aroundfood.
That's what I miss about it themost, which is these big family
gatherings.
I don't have that anymore, it'smy, we have a very small family
(23:01):
compared to, you know, myparents generation.
My parents, uh, both sides, theyhave, three to four siblings.
Especially if we're talkingabout like, Chinese New Year,
like they would do.
So my, my uncle, like literallythe best cook.
So my mom's brother, the bestcook.
(23:22):
he actually owned a restaurant,uh, and, every year, for Chinese
New Year, like he would do thesedishes and it was not like five
dishes.
It was like 25
Paula (23:32):
Oh my gosh.
Pete (23:33):
You know, and I miss that so much because, it's just
that's so deeply rooted in mycore memory
Paula (23:43):
Yeah.
Pete (23:43):
what it is about and to be able to taste these foods.
And in particular, there's onedish, and know, in preparation
for the podcast, I was thinkingback to like all these different
dishes that we had.
There's this one dish, DaikonSoup.
Paula (24:01):
and we'll have, we have the recipe for this one, right?
That's the one that you shared.
So I'll put that in the Shownotes.
Yeah.
Pete (24:08):
I got the recipe for this one.
Daikon Soup.
Daikon is a, I'm pretty surethat's a Japanese word, but if
you were to translate that, theTaiwanese version of Daikon Soup
is Taiwanese Soup from PorkBones.
And if I were to use Mandarin,it's called Pai Gu.
Pai Gu is Pork Bones.
is daikon.
(24:28):
is soup.
So it's Or in short, we just saySo like pork bone soup.
But it's not the Korean versionof pork bone soup.
This is the Taiwanese version ofit.
And it's very, very simple.
I don't really cook myself, uh,because my mom and my wife,
they're both amazing cooks.
(24:49):
So.
Paula (24:49):
Very lucky.
Pete (24:50):
I'm very, very lucky in that sense, absolutely.
A very simple dish, but Iremember the way that my grandma
would make it.
Literally, only she can make itin that way.
I have yet to taste from anyoneelse the same flavor and the
same richness to flavor, I wouldsay.
(25:13):
I can still, like, remember thetaste of it, like, so vividly.
It's like, that again is a partof that core memory of my
childhood.
When I think back to, like,what's the most magical,
whatever the best moments, it'sa lot of it, it comes back to
food.
It's the perfect likecombination and blend of all of
(25:35):
your senses.
It's not just the visual, ofcourse visual is a part of it,
it's not really just a taste,it's the smell, it's even the
sound, when I think back tothese memories of me as a little
six, seven year old, likesitting on the dinner table with
surrounded by the big family andtasting the soup, it's just
like, oh, okay, that's grandma.
You know, so, uh, yeah.
(25:57):
So that dish is very special.
Um, my mom still makes it, butagain, with her flavor and then
my wife makes it, it's with herflavor, actually my in law, my,
in law mom, like she also makesit in her way, she does their
Cantonese.
So they have like their way ofmaking it.
But it's just really interestingto me.
I think about my, maybe,genealogy a lot, like my
(26:20):
ancestors, right?
I always try to think about oh,it would be so wonderful to hear
about their stories.
I'm not just talking about my,let's say, great grandparent,
but it would be like great greatgreat great, like thinking that
and just thinking about howthese dishes, they must have
been passed down through thegenerations, that I'm
essentially tasting legacy,
Paula (26:41):
I just love that you have, you've recognized that you
have that.
Perspective.
What a great way to say it.
Yeah.
It's like a common thread,Through the generations.
And I think each generationshould feel that they're allowed
the creativity to put their ownthumbprint on it.
It doesn't have to be the exactsame.
And I think that's the story ofour heritage and how it evolves.
Pete (27:04):
100%.
Paula (27:04):
It's almost like if we all had a piece of art that gets
passed down through thegenerations that everyone gets
to put a paint stroke on
Pete (27:11):
I don't think that's a stretch at all, because in a
way, it's like every painting,it's an embodiment of who you
are.
And, it's these, every paintingis, it requires you to make all
these choices, every stroke is adecision.
And I feel like, why is art soimportant to, to me, and that's
(27:31):
why I want to continuouslygiving, be giving this gift to
others, is we're increasinglyliving in this world that's
Becoming more and more inhuman,with the advent of artificial
intelligence.
Think about how we perceive theworld nowadays.
So much of that, let's say 80years ago, our primary sensors,
our primary sources.
(27:53):
That's, that makes up for maybewhat, 70, 80 percent of how we
understand the world.
We hear stories, we talk topeople, we write things down, we
draw things.
If we want to see architecture,go see the Pantheon.
Yeah, maybe we can see itthrough a picture book, a
history book, but we most likelywill want to travel to the
(28:14):
Pantheon to see it in person.
But nowadays, becauseinformation is so prevalent,
it's so easy to attain thatEverything becomes about this
secondary source.
Paula (28:24):
hmm,
Pete (28:25):
90%, 95 percent becomes about secondary source.
if I were to like paintsomething, I want to paint,
let's say, the Great Pyramid.
It's probably not because I'vebeen there.
So it's probably then through animage that I found on the
internet.
Maybe it's even generated by AI.
Right?
That's why I think when it comesto, like, sketching on paper,
(28:47):
you don't have to be a greatartist, right?
Quote unquote.
Sketching something on paper,jotting down some idea on paper,
um, moving a brush, it doesn'thave to look like anything.
It, it's just this process ofyou really trying to connect
back with your own humanity.
And that humanity, I think,again, like the humanity of me,
(29:09):
of every individual is passeddown through the generations of
your heritage.
So in a way, like everythingthat I do, everything that I
draw, everything that I make,it's through my heritage.
Paula (29:22):
Pete, were your parents, either of your parents, had the
creative background or anartistic streak in them?
Pete (29:29):
Definitely my mom, not my dad.
My dad, he always, I try toteach my dad how to draw and
he's like, son, don't even try.
Uh, he's like, I can't, that'swhat people say, right?
He's like, I can't draw a stickfigure if you have forced me to.
But my mom, and my grandma, bothvery, very creative.
Paula (29:48):
Mm.
Pete (29:49):
And, my grandma, she used to, she used to make clothes,
like handmade clothes and would,uh, sell these clothes.
And then she would also makethese little, flowers, like
artifacts and again, to like, tosell.
And, my mom, I know she's alwaysbeen, you know, I got that side
of the genes from my mom and mygrandma's side.
(30:09):
So there's this really,Interesting part of my story
growing up, when I was nine, somy dad used to work for this
company called A Gun, they're aninsurance company, global
insurance company, and they heldthis Christmas card drawing
contest.
I believe it was open to allages.
(30:29):
And then my dad was like, Hey,why don't you try to enter, into
this Christmas card drawingcontest?
And I was like, okay, sure, whynot?
So I did up this drawing, and itwas, like, very abstract.
Think of, like, a bit of, aPicasso, right?
It was very abstract.
It was of this, I don't know,man, I was so creative back
then.
It's wonderful.
I remember vividly what I drew.
(30:51):
But it was like a Picasso esque,but this idea of like these two
beings, identities, and they'relike melted into one.
They're amalgamated into one.
I don't even know what I wasthinking back then.
But it's so interesting becausenow, in our conversation today,
that's, it aligns exactly whatwe're talking about, you know,
(31:13):
different identities.
I'm trying to resolve that.
Back to how my mom came in.
So I didn't even know this.
I was done.
I used my markers, colorized it,and I was like, okay, this is
great.
I signed off on the project.
I thought it was just like,okay, I'm not going to win
anything.
There are probably like so manycontestants.
I didn't think much of it.
and then my mom Shouhwed me inthe mail.
(31:34):
She was hey, son, come here andcheck this out.
And she opened up the mail andit was, uh, this certificate.
And it was like that I won firstplace.
And they actually sent us abunch of the cards and I looked
at the cards.
I'm like, Mom, I didn't reallyadd that background.
I don't remember adding thatbackground.
Paula (31:55):
They embellish it?
Pete (31:57):
And it was not them, it was actually my mom because so
what she did was she just wrotelike Merry Christmas, in as a
pattern, like diagonally acrossin the background.
And what she told me was like,son, it's a Christmas card
drawing, you know, and yourtheme was not that obvious in
terms of the relation toChristmas, festivities of it.
(32:18):
It's like things like that,when, I, when I think about like
my mom, and, her creativity, andhow she uses her creativity or
how she uses that to nurture mycreativity, is really
interesting.
Yeah.
Paula (32:32):
Wow.
I love this episode.
Part one, off to a great start.
It was so interesting sittingdown with Pete and hearing him
talk and recognizing thesacrifices of this parents made
and seeing this, the resiliencythat he showed at the age of
nine.
I mean, talk about turninglemons into lemonade and
creating his identity around hisart.
(32:54):
This continues.
in part two, we get more intoinnovation and creativity.
If you have a young person inyour world, That is into art and
maybe interested in industrialdesign part two.
Pete shares more about how tonavigate that system as well.
So, what are the interesting wayto explore culture through art
(33:15):
and seeing these differentinfluences on Pete from a young
boy to where he is today.
So thanks for listening andcatch you in part two.
This episode has so many gems in it.
(00:02):
From daikon soup to cultivatinginnovation in our teens.
Pete is a Taiwanese Canadianartist and educator.
And in our chats, he talks abouthis journey from Taiwan to
Vancouver.
What that was like as animmigrant at the age of nine,
navigating the school system,cultural shifts, language
(00:22):
barriers.
I discover.
What amazing parents he had andhow they recognized.
Pete's strengths at a very youngage and made it a mission to
cultivate those strengths,meaning that they were going to
uproot their lives and move to adifferent country.
Get ready for conversationbrimming with energy, curiosity,
(00:43):
and heartwarming stories aboutembracing your roots.
And chasing your dreams.
Hi, I'm Paula Mohamed andwelcome to In My Kitchen with
Paula.
This podcast is a gatheringplace for culinary adventures
who love to travel.
Every week, we'll come togetherwith chefs, cookbook authors,
talented home cooks, andeveryone in between to talk
about their story and theirunique dish.
(01:05):
Using food as the vehicle, we'lltake a ride into the ins and
outs of their culture andcountry.
Come on, let's get this partystarted.
Pete Shouh Young.
Really excited to have thisconversation with you.
Pete (01:18):
Thank you, Paula.
I'm super excited.
Paula (01:21):
Pete Shouh Young is a Taiwanese Canadian artist and
educator who founded Young GunsStudio in 2008 to create the
supportive, inspiringenvironment he wished he'd had
as a young artist.
A graduate of OCAD's industrialdesign program, Pete combines
his own journey of challengingexpectations and embracing
(01:42):
creativity with a mission tonurture young talent with
agency.
Through Young Guns, he hasguided students to secure more
than, get this, this is one, oneperson here and a young, a young
gun himself.
He has secured more than 900acceptance letters and over 8.
5 million in scholarships forhis students, fostering a
(02:05):
community where mentorship,curiosity, and dreams take root
and flourish.
Pete, my first thought when Iread your bio there is, there's
two stories here.
And one is your, the founder'sstory of Young Guns, your Young
Guns studio and your mission fornurturing innovation.
And then the second story isyour story of you immigrating to
(02:26):
Canada from Taiwan and beingraised in Vancouver.
But then I wondered, preppingfor our interview is, perhaps
one caused the other and this isjust one story because I can't
help but compare your drive andpassion for innovation for
exactly what's happening inTaiwan where it feels like, you
know, what I've read is thecountry strategically moving in
(02:48):
a direction of being veryinnovative.
I want to chat a little bitabout that later, but first of
all, How about sharing with ourlisteners a little bit about
your story?
When did you come to Vancouver?
What was that like for you?
Pete (03:01):
Yes, I grew up in Taiwan, and spent a good part of my
formative years of my childhoodthere, till when I was nine.
And it was a very abrupttransition because I feel like,
life the way I had known it allthe way till eight or nine years
of age.
Was, this is home, and I wouldnever move away from this place.
(03:26):
My friends, my family, they'reall there.
My parents told me one day that,Hey son, we're, we're gonna move
to Vancouver, we're gonna moveto Canada.
As a kid, like, we went to, uh,the States.
I forgot, like, they brought usto different places.
We would travel, but I'd neverbeen to Canada.
Actually, I'd been to Toronto,but it was like, I forgot
everything about Toronto.
(03:48):
And so I'm just like, Oh, okay.
Like why?
You know?
And, my parents really didn'texplain that much back then,
but, in, in hindsight, what theywere telling, because I would
ask them questions, like, as Igrew up, it's like, oh, um,
we're now in Vancouver, we'renow in Canada, at first I hated
it here,, cause I was like, Ididn't speak a word of English,
(04:10):
and, when I sat down in my firstclass, I felt so alienated
Paula (04:15):
Oh,
Pete (04:17):
and I was really desperately, I remember that day
so vividly, I was like lookingaround and everyone's Caucasian,
i, I was searching for an Asianface and I tried to speak
Mandarin to this Asian kid buthe doesn't know how to speak any
Mandarin.
So it was very difficult becausethe language part of, you know,
(04:41):
my expression, right?
It's like, I understood how tocommunicate.
I love the language.
I love Mandarin.
I would be able to, I actuallywrote a lot of poetry when I was
a little kid in Mandarin.
It went from, that was my likenatural way of thinking and
expressing myself to all of asudden, my relationship with
(05:01):
English.
It forced me to think aboutlanguage as a very structured
way of like learning, thatthere's all of a sudden, there's
no creativity to it, at leastthe way I understood it.
There has to be rules.
I have to learn vocab, I have tolearn grammar, and it was just
all very, very difficult.
(05:22):
So, I would continuously ask myparents, like, why?
Like, why did we move here?
And my dad was still working inTaiwan, so he would fly back and
forth.
So it was really just my sis, myolder sister, and my mom and I.
In these conversations, youknow, as we grew up, I began to
really understand why, um, andI'm really grateful for this
(05:43):
move.
I think in hindsight, it'sreally literally the best thing
that could have happened for us.
yes, on one hand, I feel likeI'm always in this limbo state
we used to joke that like Asiankids like me, we're bananas
Paula (06:00):
We're what?
Pete (06:00):
Bananas.
We're banana.
Like, we're yellow on theoutside, but really white on the
inside.
And it's, I, I used to thinkabout this as a negative, like
going back to my name, Peter'sSon, right?
Knew myself as Young Jia Shouh,which is my Mandarin name, but
all of a sudden I was given Thisnew English name, and this new
(06:23):
English name, Peterson, Peter'sson, is so foreign to me.
I'm like, don't call me that,like, what, who is that?
I don't even know who that is.
But I think in hindsight, like,this is the best thing that
could have happened to us, likemy sister and I, because we're
very, we probably hear this wordvery, very common nowadays, it's
interdisciplinary.
(06:45):
I saw it as an neg, but now Iactually see it as a strength,
um, as a positive, because I canbe this bridge between the two
cultures.
Paula (06:55):
Right?
Mm-hmm
Pete (06:56):
I was really exposed to this, and it's fascinating to
think even just like from, whenI was baby to nine years old, I
received this type of education,thinking, where the cultural
identity is about, like, yourespect your elderlies, and, you
do your chores, you contribute,you're supposed to be very
(07:17):
studious, and I think thatmindset has helped me, gain a
lot of agency.
address my own life.
And but would be that it's inschool or in my own like
personal studio practice now.
But it also takes me throughthis process of knowing that,
oh, I think that, that educationThe academia in Taiwan of like
(07:41):
how, and same thing with China,Japan, Korea, right?
It's all the same thing.
You have to be very, very, verystudious.
You have to be a very smart,intellectually book smart
student, because in order foryou to have any kind of future,
you have to score very, veryhigh.
And that brings us back to whymy parents brought us abroad at
(08:02):
such an early age, because theyknew that, my sister and I, I
think they saw a lot of creativepotential in me when I was a
very, very young kid.
And so they're like, well, no, akid like Pete will not be able
to thrive and foster this kindof educational framework of this
(08:25):
idea of rote learning.
So that's why we got pulled out.
So, to summarize my experience,I literally felt like my life
was unrooted and I got likethrown into this entirely new
environment and I had to learnto, instead of sinking, I had to
learn to frantically learn howto swim on my own.
(08:47):
And I did that.
And I think that is what was,like, that's the best gift that
my parents had given me.
So, these trials andtribulations, they, I think,
they helped me develop a lot ofmental fortitude.
In high school, it's not easy,right?
In elementary, it's not easy.
In high school, it's also noteasy because, I still felt like
(09:07):
I was this weird, You know,alienated kid who's, who has
friends,
Paula (09:13):
Mm-hmm
Pete (09:14):
but I still have a deep sense of insecurity that, oh,
that's still with me today.
Right?
It's a lot better now, but I hadthis extreme sense of insecurity
that like, Why am I not as goodlooking and attractive, as
popular, as my friends, right?
And it's like, when I thinkabout those things, it's so
(09:36):
interesting because it's rootedin this stigma, like, we would
watch Disney movies when we werelittle.
I actually just re watchedSleeping Beauty and then Little
Mermaid.
Those were like, my favoritemovies when I was a little kid.
And then when I watch thosemovies, I'm like, ah, okay, I
can see where those, like,thoughts of insecurity came
(09:56):
from.
It's because the prince wasalways this very handsome young
white man.
And I'm like, wait, I don't havehair like that.
I don't have facial featureslike that.
Yeah.
So anyway,
Paula (10:11):
First of all, the insight that you have, the reflection
that you have looking back onit, is, um, very thoughtful.
And also I just, I would love tomeet your parents because my
goodness, just without givingaway your age, but let's say
what decade were you, did youmove to Vancouver?
Are we talking the ninenineties, 96.
Okay.
So, your parents, instead ofhaving you, develop, strengths
(10:36):
that you may not be so strongat, they, they put you in a
situation where you couldflourish by having the
opportunity to really let yourstrengths that you are strong
at, develop and grow.
I'm a parent of teenage boysand, I'm not sure if I have that
kind of foresight and, andinsight and, the, the
thoughtfulness of what they didamazes me.
Pete (10:58):
I always think back to that and I'm, you know, when I
was, when I was a kid, I didn'tunderstand, but I think now as
an adult and also as a parent,I, I get very emotional when I
think about what my parents hadto do for me,
Paula (11:12):
Mm hmm.
Pete (11:13):
That it's the, the amount that they're willing to give up,
like just between my dad and,and my mom, like, you know,
separating, living in likecompletely different sides of
the world.
And also my mom coming here andnot being able to see her
family.
She didn't know she wasliterally on her own.
(11:33):
And the amount that they had togive up in order to give us a
chance.
And that they saw a
Paula (11:43):
Ah.
It's beautiful.
It's so lovely to see that yourecognize it and how grateful
you are.
And probably being a young dadyourself now, it probably hits
home even more, right?
Pete (11:56):
hundred percent.
You know, it, it takes so muchcourage for them to, cause you
know, the family values, it'sdefinitely there, right?
Like we would visit ourgrandparents like every weekend.
And so it must've beenincredibly difficult for my
parents to, especially for mymom to move away to a complete
like foreign land that she'sliterally never stepped foot in.
(12:17):
And, and it's like, she must'vefelt so like alone.
Paula (12:21):
Mm hmm.
Pete (12:22):
But it's, it's like the, the mental fortitude that she
must have had is incredible,knowing that she was to leave
all these things behind, but,I'm starting to understand that
now, right?
When, when parents used to say,hey, I would do anything for my
kid, like, I would literallygive my life, that's, now that I
have a baby boy, a toddler,that's literally what I would
do, my meaning of life hasshifted.
(12:45):
it's gone completely in adifferent direction where I feel
like everything I do is actuallyfor my son, you know, um, yeah.
In speaking a little bit tothat, I don't think I've kind of
fully talked about that story ofwhat I was able to receive in
this, um, this Westerneducation.
I think the first couple ofyears.
(13:06):
And to me, it's all fate.
The first couple of years in thearts, I was literally, had no
word of English.
And so my way of communicatingmy thoughts, my ideas, I had to
like, find some measure to doso.
It was not just like trying toobserve people's like body
language, right?
And really trying to comprehendwhat they were saying to me,
(13:26):
what they're gesturing to me.
But I quickly realized drawingbecame my identity because as
the teachers are talking, I'mjust like, okay, I'm going to
listen.
But I'm looking at all thisEnglish gibberish, so I'm just
gonna start drawing on there,right?
So I became, that, in a strangeway, that gave me so much, like,
(13:48):
so much freedom to be able todraw the things that I want to
draw.
And, uh, that became my identityin the way that I am.
others, my peers, my friends,,they started to notice my
talents.
And it's like, oh, Pete can drawlike, oh, Pete can draw like
Goku, from Dragon Ball Z.
And then Pete can draw LeonardoDiCaprio.
(14:11):
I remember doing a portrait ofhim, like in pointillism,
because like we had that, thatwas the chapter, that was a
lesson that was given.
And just people were mesmerized,my friends were mesmerized, This
one girl came up to me and waslike, Hey Pete, can I please
have that drawing?
Would want to put it, up on mywall.
And I went, you like my drawingthat much that you want to have
(14:33):
it on your wall?
That became really fascinatingto me that, you know, art, for
the first time, I was like, oh,it's not just fun for me, but it
has the power to move others.
Paula (14:44):
Right.
Pete (14:45):
That became my, my destiny almost.
Like, it's my destiny.
In a strange way, I was lookingfor who I, what my new identity
is, and I found it through arts.
And that's been, fortified, inall these years in high school,
I became known as the artist.
And actually then, in selectingmajors, career paths, I knew it
(15:09):
had to be related to the artssomehow.
Paula (15:12):
When you talked about, moving here, and you talked
about almost like you lost youridentity of who you were, before
you moved.
Looking back now, who you arenow versus if you had stayed in
Taiwan, very different people,what are your thoughts on that?
Pete (15:27):
The two different Petes would have been very, very
different.
I've, I've always appreciatedthis, perspective where I feel
like we need to be welltraveled.
I feel like we need to be veryworldly, and it's not because
traveling is fun, it is, Iabsolutely love it, but I think
it's more this notion that whenwe travel, we are encountering
(15:47):
people are very different thanour bubble, than what we're used
to, and I think it's engagingwith these people.
Either just quietly observing ordirectly talking to them of
different identities,backgrounds, that we are then
like exposing ourselves to newideas.
But even beyond that, I think isdeveloping that empathy, that
(16:10):
it's not just me and my culture.
It's that empathy to understand,to develop that compassion, to
understand that there are peopleof all walks of life, all races,
all ethnicities, and Indeveloping that empathy and
hearing their stories, youreally start to open yourself up
(16:30):
to going, Oh, there's more thanone way to do anything and
everything.
And I think that's the biggestchange, like the Pete who would
have probably traveled a littlebit, but it would have been
traveling to You know, placeslike Tokyo, Thailand, that's
like really close to Taiwan,
Paula (16:50):
Mm hmm.
Pete (16:51):
That's what my, my family and very few friends that are in
Taiwan, that's what they do.
That's like in, their normality.
I think in comparing,contrasting to my lifestyle now,
or, my friends that are, havemoved abroad.
I think that like idea of theglobalized citizen.
It's so much better to developlike a young mind to be able to
(17:17):
help every individual andincluding me to kind of go, Oh,
cool.
Maybe down the line today we'lltalk about innovation and
creativity.
I think that's absolutely, like,that's imperative, and to be
able to turn into the person Iam today, I really don't think
that I would have been theperson I am today if it's not
(17:37):
for this exposure.
Paula (17:38):
Do you go back to Taiwan very often?
Pete (17:42):
No not as much as I like, you know, pre COVID, uh, my
sister and my brother in law, myniece, they're there.
So pre COVID we'll go back likeonce every summer, but post
COVID I haven't been back since2019.
So I'm going back, uh, uh, nextFebruary.
That's very exciting.
Paula (17:57):
And you'll take your little boy.
Pete (17:59):
Yes.
Yes.
Paula (18:00):
Say for people who want to explore Taiwan, any advice,
suggestions, must dos, for goingto Taiwan?
I know I've heard that the foodis phenomenal in the, food
markets out of this world.
Pete (18:14):
So Taiwan, you can see it as like, it's split into three
parts.
There's the North Taipei, andthen there's the middle part of
Taiwan.
Then there's a South, that'scalled Kenting.
I've literally, which is so sad.
I've never been to Kenting.
But Kenting is like, maybe it'smore seen as the, it has these
like the Hawaii of Taiwan, Iguess it has these like beaches
and so on and so forth.
(18:35):
But it's like this contrastbetween when I think about this
contrast, it would be thiscontrast between a very
metropolitan like city to then,the countryside.
And there's like quite a starkdifference.
and it's, it's quite lovely tobe able to experience Taiwan
like that.
My usual stops.
This is my recommendation.
I would, stay in Taipei.
And then there is, uh, south, Ithink it's southeast of Taipei.
(18:57):
There's this place that's nottoo far, provided if you're
avoiding rush hour traffic.
About 45 minute drive south ofTaipei.
It's called Yilan, Y I L A N.
And that's the countryside.
Paula (19:10):
Okay.
Pete (19:10):
Uh, and it's beautiful.
I've been there once back in2017 and it's just, it's
beautiful.
It's calm, quaint, and it'snothing like the Taiwan that
I've ever experienced in Taipeibecause I literally, like, just
grew up in Taipei.
I've never really gone to otherplaces.
And then there's, north ofTaipei, there is a, a little
town called Jiufen.
(19:31):
Uh, J I U F E N.
Yeah, Jiufen, the movie SpiritedAway.
It's the art is inspired byJiufen itself.
so it's this little town that'slike hitched into the, uh, not
the countryside but in themountains.
And it's just has such like,culture, like rich in Taiwanese
(19:55):
culture, the buildings and theway that the, these little
streets are like nestled next toeach other, these Shop, and you
got market, you, oh, of courseyou have really great food.
Yeah, so those places I woulddefinitely recommend.
And then the other thing is, uh,hot springs.
Hot springs are awesome.
So you could definitely live,very, very I wouldn't say I,
(20:19):
when I, in my mind, I go like,when I go back to Taiwan and
live like a king, but it's notnecessarily the king in terms of
like opulence, right?
It's more, oh man, like the foodis so good.
And what you ate for, you know,when you're converting like
Canadian, US to like Taiwanesedollars, it's like, oh my God,
like an amazing meal is 2.
Paula (20:41):
Wow.
Okay.
Yeah.
Pete (20:44):
It's just mind boggling and literally you could go to
like the, you know, a cornerstreet vendor and it would be
like the best food ever, right?
It's just, it's amazing.
Like the street food there, themarkets there, it's to die for.
Like those are the things that Ireally like, you know, look
forward to.
And the other thing is their, 7Elevens.
(21:07):
It's not like the 7 Elevens thatwe know.
Like, the 7 Elevens here suck.
But the 7 Elevens, the FamilyMarts in Taiwan, just like
Japan.
Oh my god.
It's, I literally, I kid younot, I have dreams.
I still have dreams about itwhere, I'd wake up in a cold
sweat because I'd be like in themart, the family mart or a 7
(21:33):
Eleven saying to my wife, babe,like, oh my God, like this is my
last moment before I get to hopon the plane.
I need to buy everything I canhere and eat all the food that I
can here.
Paula (21:47):
You've sparked a real interest in me to go, go there.
I love the sound of, I'm goingto pronounce it wrong, Yalin and
Jiufen.
Jiufen?
Pete (21:55):
yes, yes.
Eli and Angel.
Yes.
And just lastly, the people, thepeople there, they're so nice.
They're so friendly.
Um, and they're so helpful.
So it's a lovely place to visit.
Paula (22:08):
So, solo female traveler um, safe?
Yeah,
Pete (22:13):
A hundred percent.
Yes.
Yes.
Paula (22:15):
Food, did it play a big role in your upbringing?
Pete (22:19):
Oh, a hundred percent.
Huge, massive.
Every weekend on Saturdays, itwas visiting my, paternal
grandparents.
Or sorry, maternal, and thenevery Sunday it's the paternal
grandparents.
And it's, it's that was theritual.
weekends we'll go, and what dowe do?
We hang out, we watch TV, we'dalways have food, like, You
(22:39):
know, it's always lunch, and andthen like after lunch, we would
have like snacks, like fruits,and just have such a great time
with family.
But everything evolved aroundfood.
That's what I miss about it themost, which is these big family
gatherings.
I don't have that anymore, it'smy, we have a very small family
(23:01):
compared to, you know, myparents generation.
My parents, uh, both sides, theyhave, three to four siblings.
Especially if we're talkingabout like, Chinese New Year,
like they would do.
So my, my uncle, like literallythe best cook.
So my mom's brother, the bestcook.
(23:22):
he actually owned a restaurant,uh, and, every year, for Chinese
New Year, like he would do thesedishes and it was not like five
dishes.
It was like 25
Paula (23:32):
Oh my gosh.
Pete (23:33):
You know, and I miss that so much because, it's just
that's so deeply rooted in mycore memory
Paula (23:43):
Yeah.
Pete (23:43):
what it is about and to be able to taste these foods.
And in particular, there's onedish, and know, in preparation
for the podcast, I was thinkingback to like all these different
dishes that we had.
There's this one dish, DaikonSoup.
Paula (24:01):
and we'll have, we have the recipe for this one, right?
That's the one that you shared.
So I'll put that in the Shownotes.
Yeah.
Pete (24:08):
I got the recipe for this one.
Daikon Soup.
Daikon is a, I'm pretty surethat's a Japanese word, but if
you were to translate that, theTaiwanese version of Daikon Soup
is Taiwanese Soup from PorkBones.
And if I were to use Mandarin,it's called Pai Gu.
Pai Gu is Pork Bones.
is daikon.
(24:28):
is soup.
So it's Or in short, we just saySo like pork bone soup.
But it's not the Korean versionof pork bone soup.
This is the Taiwanese version ofit.
And it's very, very simple.
I don't really cook myself, uh,because my mom and my wife,
they're both amazing cooks.
(24:49):
So.
Paula (24:49):
Very lucky.
Pete (24:50):
I'm very, very lucky in that sense, absolutely.
A very simple dish, but Iremember the way that my grandma
would make it.
Literally, only she can make itin that way.
I have yet to taste from anyoneelse the same flavor and the
same richness to flavor, I wouldsay.
(25:13):
I can still, like, remember thetaste of it, like, so vividly.
It's like, that again is a partof that core memory of my
childhood.
When I think back to, like,what's the most magical,
whatever the best moments, it'sa lot of it, it comes back to
food.
It's the perfect likecombination and blend of all of
(25:35):
your senses.
It's not just the visual, ofcourse visual is a part of it,
it's not really just a taste,it's the smell, it's even the
sound, when I think back tothese memories of me as a little
six, seven year old, likesitting on the dinner table with
surrounded by the big family andtasting the soup, it's just
like, oh, okay, that's grandma.
You know, so, uh, yeah.
(25:57):
So that dish is very special.
Um, my mom still makes it, butagain, with her flavor and then
my wife makes it, it's with herflavor, actually my in law, my,
in law mom, like she also makesit in her way, she does their
Cantonese.
So they have like their way ofmaking it.
But it's just really interestingto me.
I think about my, maybe,genealogy a lot, like my
(26:20):
ancestors, right?
I always try to think about oh,it would be so wonderful to hear
about their stories.
I'm not just talking about my,let's say, great grandparent,
but it would be like great greatgreat great, like thinking that
and just thinking about howthese dishes, they must have
been passed down through thegenerations, that I'm
essentially tasting legacy,
Paula (26:41):
I just love that you have, you've recognized that you
have that.
Perspective.
What a great way to say it.
Yeah.
It's like a common thread,Through the generations.
And I think each generationshould feel that they're allowed
the creativity to put their ownthumbprint on it.
It doesn't have to be the exactsame.
And I think that's the story ofour heritage and how it evolves.
Pete (27:04):
100%.
Paula (27:04):
It's almost like if we all had a piece of art that gets
passed down through thegenerations that everyone gets
to put a paint stroke on
Pete (27:11):
I don't think that's a stretch at all, because in a
way, it's like every painting,it's an embodiment of who you
are.
And, it's these, every paintingis, it requires you to make all
these choices, every stroke is adecision.
And I feel like, why is art soimportant to, to me, and that's
(27:31):
why I want to continuouslygiving, be giving this gift to
others, is we're increasinglyliving in this world that's
Becoming more and more inhuman,with the advent of artificial
intelligence.
Think about how we perceive theworld nowadays.
So much of that, let's say 80years ago, our primary sensors,
our primary sources.
(27:53):
That's, that makes up for maybewhat, 70, 80 percent of how we
understand the world.
We hear stories, we talk topeople, we write things down, we
draw things.
If we want to see architecture,go see the Pantheon.
Yeah, maybe we can see itthrough a picture book, a
history book, but we most likelywill want to travel to the
(28:14):
Pantheon to see it in person.
But nowadays, becauseinformation is so prevalent,
it's so easy to attain thatEverything becomes about this
secondary source.
Paula (28:24):
hmm,
Pete (28:25):
90%, 95 percent becomes about secondary source.
if I were to like paintsomething, I want to paint,
let's say, the Great Pyramid.
It's probably not because I'vebeen there.
So it's probably then through animage that I found on the
internet.
Maybe it's even generated by AI.
Right?
That's why I think when it comesto, like, sketching on paper,
(28:47):
you don't have to be a greatartist, right?
Quote unquote.
Sketching something on paper,jotting down some idea on paper,
um, moving a brush, it doesn'thave to look like anything.
It, it's just this process ofyou really trying to connect
back with your own humanity.
And that humanity, I think,again, like the humanity of me,
(29:09):
of every individual is passeddown through the generations of
your heritage.
So in a way, like everythingthat I do, everything that I
draw, everything that I make,it's through my heritage.
Paula (29:22):
Pete, were your parents, either of your parents, had the
creative background or anartistic streak in them?
Pete (29:29):
Definitely my mom, not my dad.
My dad, he always, I try toteach my dad how to draw and
he's like, son, don't even try.
Uh, he's like, I can't, that'swhat people say, right?
He's like, I can't draw a stickfigure if you have forced me to.
But my mom, and my grandma, bothvery, very creative.
Paula (29:48):
Mm.
Pete (29:49):
And, my grandma, she used to, she used to make clothes,
like handmade clothes and would,uh, sell these clothes.
And then she would also makethese little, flowers, like
artifacts and again, to like, tosell.
And, my mom, I know she's alwaysbeen, you know, I got that side
of the genes from my mom and mygrandma's side.
(30:09):
So there's this really,Interesting part of my story
growing up, when I was nine, somy dad used to work for this
company called A Gun, they're aninsurance company, global
insurance company, and they heldthis Christmas card drawing
contest.
I believe it was open to allages.
(30:29):
And then my dad was like, Hey,why don't you try to enter, into
this Christmas card drawingcontest?
And I was like, okay, sure, whynot?
So I did up this drawing, and itwas, like, very abstract.
Think of, like, a bit of, aPicasso, right?
It was very abstract.
It was of this, I don't know,man, I was so creative back
then.
It's wonderful.
I remember vividly what I drew.
(30:51):
But it was like a Picasso esque,but this idea of like these two
beings, identities, and they'relike melted into one.
They're amalgamated into one.
I don't even know what I wasthinking back then.
But it's so interesting becausenow, in our conversation today,
that's, it aligns exactly whatwe're talking about, you know,
(31:13):
different identities.
I'm trying to resolve that.
Back to how my mom came in.
So I didn't even know this.
I was done.
I used my markers, colorized it,and I was like, okay, this is
great.
I signed off on the project.
I thought it was just like,okay, I'm not going to win
anything.
There are probably like so manycontestants.
I didn't think much of it.
and then my mom Shouhwed me inthe mail.
(31:34):
She was hey, son, come here andcheck this out.
And she opened up the mail andit was, uh, this certificate.
And it was like that I won firstplace.
And they actually sent us abunch of the cards and I looked
at the cards.
I'm like, Mom, I didn't reallyadd that background.
I don't remember adding thatbackground.
Paula (31:55):
They embellish it?
Pete (31:57):
And it was not them, it was actually my mom because so
what she did was she just wrotelike Merry Christmas, in as a
pattern, like diagonally acrossin the background.
And what she told me was like,son, it's a Christmas card
drawing, you know, and yourtheme was not that obvious in
terms of the relation toChristmas, festivities of it.
(32:18):
It's like things like that,when, I, when I think about like
my mom, and, her creativity, andhow she uses her creativity or
how she uses that to nurture mycreativity, is really
interesting.
Yeah.
Paula (32:32):
Wow.
I love this episode.
Part one, off to a great start.
It was so interesting sittingdown with Pete and hearing him
talk and recognizing thesacrifices of this parents made
and seeing this, the resiliencythat he showed at the age of
nine.
I mean, talk about turninglemons into lemonade and
creating his identity around hisart.
(32:54):
This continues.
in part two, we get more intoinnovation and creativity.
If you have a young person inyour world, That is into art and
maybe interested in industrialdesign part two.
Pete shares more about how tonavigate that system as well.
So, what are the interesting wayto explore culture through art
(33:15):
and seeing these differentinfluences on Pete from a young
boy to where he is today.
So thanks for listening andcatch you in part two.
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