- I'm Karen, what's your name?
- Debbie
People ask me, it's like,
how do you pronounce your name in your country?
And I will say-
- [Both] Debbie? (laugh)
(curious music)
- [Interviewer] Who are you?
- My name is Nozomi.
- I'm Matthew.
- I am Karen, but not that kind.
- [Interviewer] What are you doing here today?
- I am here to guess what country people are from.
- [Interviewer] Is there anything specific
that makes you qualified or special for a game like this?
- If it's more like Asian countries,
then I should be able to guess those,
but I don't wanna get too confident.
- So I used to teach a class
about modern international music
from every country in the world.
- I know I don't look Japanese, but that's where I'm born.
That's my first language.
I'm hoping maybe I'll be okay at this,
because people never guess correctly where I'm from.
- I'm nervous, but I got this.
- [Interviewer] Why are you nervous?
- I'mma make stupid guesses.
I think that's the part I'm most nervous about,
is making myself look like an idiot. (laughs)
- Hello?
- Hi.
You're very hip.
(both laugh)
What's the fashion culture like in your country?
- Intense
- Intense?
Like, can you describe a little bit more?
- Incredibly diverse.
The fashion scene's never boring.
- Okay.
- In your country, what is the go-to comfort food?
- Rice is definitely one of the go-tos for our country.
- So rice is a go-to in a lot of countries though.
That's not, okay.
- How do Americans tend to react
when you say what country you're from?
- The worst case scenario, fetishization.
I definitely do get a lot of, "Oh my gosh!"
- Feel like you might be Blasian?
- [Interviewer] What's Blasian?
- So you're mixed race between Black and Asian.
- Mm hmm.
- Okay, your nails, it's like the art on it,
is that like Christian stuff?
- It's definitely Christian art,
but don't let it lead you astray.
- Ooh!
- Is your country known for music?
- Not the biggest cultural export, I would say.
- Okay, that's not gonna be Korea.
So my next thought would be Japan?
- We got it.
- Either South Korea or Japan, are you from Japan?
- Yeah, we did it!
- Yeah, all right!
(girl laughing) Japan.
So how long have you been in the United States?
- Six years now.
It was definitely a huge culture shock
coming in. - Right.
- Looking American but not being American
was a lot of trouble.
- Yeah, yeah, I can only imagine.
- Yeah.
- Which part of Japan are you from?
- Tokyo.
- I'm from Tokyo too.
- Nice. - Yeah.
What do you miss most about being in Japan?
- I think I miss the safety.
- No!
- I worry about so much more in America, for sure.
- Oh my God, yeah.
- I actually visit home in three weeks.
Like by myself. (speaking Japanese)
(speaking Japanese)
(both laughing)
She said (speaks Japanese) which means I'm jealous,
'cause I'm going back home.
And I was like, oh, you're fluent.
I never meet Japanese people here anymore.
- I have quite a few Japanese friends here.
So you should join our our little.
- I will! Oh my God.
Thank you, it was so fun!
(both laughing)
- Hi.
- Hello.
- What's your name?
- Ivanna.
- Ivanna, your name has a W sound in it.
That's not something that appears in a ton of languages.
- What's a comfort food from your country
that you would still eat?
- Potato pancakes.
- [Interviewer] What would you call those?
(speaking foreign language)
- It sounds like a Latin language,
which doesn't really help me all that much.
- Why did you come to the United States?
- Better opportunity.
The classic.
- Okay. - Immigrant things.
- Not because of war or anything?
- No.
- Okay, okay, I'm just going to go off on a limb
and say that you are from Slovakia.
- No.
- No, okay, I think you're from the Czech Republic.
- No.
(Matthew sighs)
- Now, I'm gonna say Spain.
- I'm from Romania.
- Romania. (girl laughs)
- Dang, I feel bad, I used to live with a Romanian
so I should really know that. (laughs)
- Oh, okay. (laughs)
It is a Latin language though, yeah.
- Okay, well now I've learned something today.
- Hi.
- Do you speak the language of where you're from?
(speaking foreign language)
- Oh, okay, maybe Arabic?
- Tell me what you like about your country.
- People from my country are very resilient.
- Does that reference that you've had
colonization or war or something happening recently?
- Yes.
- Is your country safe to visit now?
- It would depend on like where you have citizenship
to currently, what kind of passport you have,
and where you're from, if you were visiting there.
- What is a stereotype that Americans have
of people from your country?
- Honestly, the biggest stereotype is that we're terrorists.
- I'm so sorry.
That's awful.
- Yeah. - I'm so sorry.
- I've been called a terrorist before,
'cause I'm half Iranian.
- Oh, okay. - So I was like,
oh, you know, yeah.
Iraq?
- No.
I'll add that my country has the same sort of
US influence in its conflict.
And the US is responsible for the conflict in my country.
- Afghanistan?
- No.
- No, my God.
- Are you from Israel?
(girl sighs) Am I getting,
oh no, you're Palestine.
- Yeah. - Oh God!
I'm so sorry!
- It's okay.
- Are you from Palestine?
- Yeah. - Okay, all right.
Yes. (girl laughs)
- [Interviewer] What do you know about Palestine?
- I feel like-
- You can say all the negative things.
I feel like that's what most people know about.
- I feel like I don't know enough
to even like comment on it.
- I wish people looked to hear more from Palestinian people
about what's going on there and less from, you know,
US media, because there's a lot of misinformation.
- Hello.
- Hi, how are you?
- I'm good, how are you?
- What's your name?
- I'm Karen, what's your name?
- Debbie.
Does people usually ask you what's your real name?
- I've had that before.
- Uh huh, people ask me, it's like,
how do you pronounce your name in your country?
And I will say-
- [Both] Debbie? (laugh)
- And what's your country known for?
- Always being on top for Miss Universe.
- Oh, wow, okay (both laughing)
- [Interviewer] Is that in your knowledge space, Matthew?
- No. (laughs)
- Do you know like a cultural dance, maybe?
- There's one called tinikling,
where you dance in the bamboo.
Bamboo is right there, and then you just move back and forth
to the bamboo and just like dance around it.
- Vietnam?
No, oh, Thailand?
No?
- What is your favorite dish from your country?
- Adobo.
- Oh, she's from the Philippines.
- I gave it away, but that's my favorite. (laughs)
- Were you born in the Philippines?
- Yes, I moved here in 1997.
Half of my life is here.
- Half of your life has been here?
- Yeah, now I gave up my age. (laughs)
- As in like, you don't look your age at all,
I'm like trying to calculate.
You look really young.
- Hi.
- I'm Matthew, what's your name?
- I'm Anna.
- So many Annas all over the world, that, okay.
- (laughs) Yeah, there are.
- Is your name also pronounced Anna in your country?
- It's not, Anna.
- Anna.
- How many languages do you speak?
- Two, well, one sorta.
- And is that common where you're from?
Like, is a lot of languages spoken, or?
- No, absolutely not.
- Oh really? - Mm hmm.
- Is it very similar culturally to other countries
that are nearby?
- I would say so, yeah.
It blends in with its neighbors fairly well.
- Okay, all right, 'cause like,
the instant that I saw you,
my brain was just like Greek,
but the fact that you said that
makes me think probably not,
because Greece is pretty distinct
from like all of it's northern neighbors.
- Everywhere else.
- Can you just say a couple phrases in your language?
(speaking foreign language)
- That sounds like Portuguese.
- Not Portuguese.
- No Portuguese, oh Lord.
- It is a Romance language.
- It is a Romance language though.
- It just sounds like Portuguese to me,
I don't know why.
Is it Spanish?
I feel like I should know Spanish.
- I think that you're from Italy.
- You got it.
- Oh good!
- Are you from Italy?
- Yeah.
- Aha, yeah!
Hearing you talk, it sounds like a song almost.
And I was like, can I do this when she's talking?
If I can like, that.
- I've had to hide my hands.
I feel like that would give it away.
- Yeah, Italians talk with their hands, right?
- A hundred percent. - A lot, so.
- Hello. - Hi.
- Can I see the tattoo on your arm?
Is that a name?
- My grandfather's name.
(speaking foreign language)
- Do you speak the language from your country fluently?
- I do, I can sing you happy birthday.
(singing in foreign language)
What did that sound like to you?
- Dude, I've been guessing Portuguese for everything.
- Do you look like people from your country generally?
- Kind of, yeah, but also no
- Kind of but also no. - Yes.
- So is there a lot of ethnic diversity in your country?
- Yes, there is.
- Okay, when you tell people that you're from that country,
are they often surprised?
- Yes, a lot of people, especially in the States,
think I'm lying.
- Okay, either like South America or South Africa.
- Is there a pocket
of Japanese people in your country?
- We do have that, yes.
- So that's gonna be Brazil, right?
- Yes, you are correct.
- [Interviewer] What is this pocket?
- Brazil was one of the first countries, I guess,
to allow mass immigration from Japan.
And so there's kind of like
a large population of Japanese people in Brazil.
It's the biggest population of Japanese people
outside of Japan.
- When was the last time you were back?
- Five years ago,
and it was for a wedding, which was really fun.
Brazilians really love having a good party.
The wedding was so good in fact
that two people ended up in the hospital.
(Nozomi laughs)
I wasn't one of those people.
I did wake up the next morning in a hammock.
In a place I did not recognize.
- [Interviewer] That's a very Brazil story.
- Yeah. - Yeah, yeah.
- Thank you, nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you too.
(exciting music)
- [Interviewer] How was that?
- It was really nerve-racking,
but it was also very educational.
I think that I learned something from everyone today.
- It was nice to meet people
from a bunch of different places.
I don't get to do that very often.
- [Interviewer] How do you feel like you did?
- I mean, I guess I eventually got there,
but I had to ask a lot of questions.
- [Interviewer] How many of y'all did she guess right?
If Matthew got you right, raise your hand.
- Aha, I said I would at least get one right, so.
(all applauding)
- Line up the game, available now.
- This is dead ass one of the most fun games
I've played in a while.
- All you gotta do, check the link down below.
You can get your own copy.
- Go pick it up and have fun. (giggles)