E27 She Stopped Speaking Her Language Because It Felt Safer. Now She Is Finding Her Way Back. | Part 1

Send us Fan Mail Part 1 of 2 She arrived in Memphis at 9 years old speaking two languages and spent years quietly setting them both down. Not because she forgot them. Because it felt safer. Sheyla grew up in Blitar, East Java, speaking Javanese at home and Bahasa Indonesia at school. She navigated an American childhood without a roadmap, picked up English, French, a bit of Japanese, and taught herself Korean through K-pop and sheer curiosity. She thought she might become a linguist. Life took her into tech instead. Today she lives in Birmingham, Alabama, works in banking technology by day, and runs Breadcrumb, a micro bakery where she channels that same hunger for connection into flavor fusions inspired by cultures from all over the world. The through line of her story is not the languages she gained. It is the one she is still trying to find her way back to. In this episode Sheyla opens up about what it felt like to land in Memphis as a scared nine year old with two languages and no roadmap, the Indonesian word Maaf and why you never say it just once, what most people get wrong about Indonesian culture, how she taught herself Korean through K-pop out of pure curiosity, and the listener question about not feeling Indonesian enough but not fully American either that stopped her in her tracks. This is a conversation about language loss, bilingual identity, and what it means to reclaim yourself on your own terms. If this one resonated, send it to someone who knows what it is like to be from more than one place and fully at home in neither. *** Heads up: this one gets deep. If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day by call or text. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and everywhere you stream, or watch the full episode right here on YouTube. #fromwheretohere #languageandidentity #indonesianimmigrant ---------- 🏆 You can help From Where to Here win a Signal Award Voting is open until October 15th and takes 30 seconds. If this show has ever made you feel a little less alone, cast your vote at https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/ (Can't find the show? Search "From Where to Here" in the search bar) 📩 Let’s stay connected. Join my email list list for thoughtful reflections, resources, and behind-the-scenes moments I only share there. ✨ Get My Latest Free Resource Do you live between cultures, languages, or versions of yourself? Take the free In-Between Index quiz and find out exactly where you land. → quiz.fromwheretoherepod.com 🎧 Subscribe & Follow Follow From Where to Here on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen so you don’t miss a conversation. 📱 More language & culture, daily. Find me on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook @fromwheretoherepod 🤎 If this episode meant something to you… Leave a review or share it with someone who’d love it too.