BONUS: The Wind Down 3 with Willy – The American Blueprint and Costco as Disneyland

In this "Wind Down" bonus session, we step away from the historical timeline to debrief with Willy on the personal "blueprint" that shaped his childhood. From the tactical way his mother navigated American extracurriculars to his surprisingly strong defense of why Costco beats a theme park, this conversation explores the lighter side of the 1.5 generation experience.

In This Episode, We Explore:

• The Reflection: Willy shares why discussing personal culture and childhood feels "fuzzy" compared to the concrete world of science and tech.
• The American Blueprint: How Willy’s mother used his cousins’ childhoods as a map for his own upbringing—from swimming and Boy Scouts to finding his footing in the U.S.
• The Power of After-School Programs: A look at the affordable group lessons that allowed Willy to pick up five different musical instruments.
• The Costco Disneyland: Why Willy considers the value, discovery, and free samples of Costco to be superior to the "happiest place on earth."
• The Lightning Round: Willy’s "on-brand" media picks (Oppenheimer, When Breath Becomes Air) and his definitive last meal—the long-lost Costco combo pizza.

Support Our Season 3 Fundraiser: 

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Watch on YouTube: 

See the video version of this episode- Goes live on YouTube at 12pm EST: https://youtu.be/W3hRao5mA_4

Episode Credits

• Host, Producer, Research & Sound Design: Jess Lin

Advising and Production Support: Ruben Gnanaruban

Transcript

Willy: 0:00

and growing up also it was like, it was basically my Disneyland.' cause you would go, it's actually better than Disneyland because things are actually good value there. Uh, and you get free samples. Hey, you come on in and grab a seat on the couch. This is the wind down an after interview hangout to debrief with guests and maybe do a lightning round of fun questions. Let's jump in.

Jess: 0:32

Willy, how did that feel? How, how did the interview feel for you?

Willy: 0:35

It was fine. I feel like I definitely could have worded things better. I was, 'cause I feel like a lot of these like stories and memories and feelings, it's just not something I think about very often. So a lot of times the, when you ask me these questions, it's like, oh yeah, like, this happened, I think a lot of these things are kind of fuzzy for me. That's why I'm not able to articulate my thoughts that well. if these were topics like science topics and tech topics, I can literally just talk forever. Right. Like

Jess: 1:05

these are like about you.

Willy: 1:07

when it comes to culture things.

Jess: 1:08

And it's like childhood stuff, right?

Willy: 1:11

way

Jess: 1:12

so yeah. So it's been a while. It's not stuff you think about every day. So That's fair. That's totally fair. what do you think you'll remember most from this conversation?

Willy: 1:20

there wasn't maybe like one moment, but more so like the whole experience was like I said, right? Like, I haven't thought about a lot of this stuff before or in a while, and so I think it gave me a chance to kind of think over my life, right? because it's not something I reflect on very often. Right. But it's good to reflect on, I think, 'cause it, I mean, it's about myself and understanding myself in this place called America. it's more of a reflection thing I think that I probably got out from it, realizing where the gaps are also for myself and seeing if, There might be future exploration areas with my parents for probing.

Jess: 1:56

yeah. I'm glad that it's. Kind of bringing out things you don't usually reflect about. I think that's like a, a nice, like externality from the show, because these aren't things we like, think about or talk about every day, especially as adults, And especially if you're not like, yeah, you're working in like stem, right. So it's, it's not,

Willy: 2:13

That's my world, basically. Right? Like it's all, I think about like 80% of the time. Yeah, and work feels like life right now. It's kind of bad, right? Like people say you should have work life balance. Right now it just feels like my work is my life. That's where I'm at.

Jess: 2:28

And it, it feels like It's too much

Willy: 2:30

No.' I like what I'm doing, right? I feel like I'm learning a lot of skills. I think that's the biggest part is I'm learning a lot of skills. I may have not been able to say that maybe a year ago. I think with this coding stuff I'm getting more involved in just like the actual building and tools and I'm having a lot of fun with that.

Jess: 2:46

if you enjoy it, then, then maybe it's not bad that it's not work life balance and that work is life.

Willy: 2:52

I think so, but I, I think it is getting unhealthy, right? Like at a certain point, like. When I'm staying up till

5: 2:58

00 AM it's not for work, right, necessarily. It's like for a project that I think could be applicable to work, like imaging processing pipelines and visualization tools.

Jess: 3:10

But well.

Willy: 3:11

So I don't know. It's like staying up till five is not like healthy. That is the other thing.

Jess: 3:16

I remember like, I think you mentioned that you have a white uncle and that he probably would come up in our conversation and he didn't really, so is there anything you wanna add about him?

Willy: 3:26

Yeah. And, and actually, I, I should clarify, I have two white uncles, but specifically my white uncle on, um, on, on the east coast. he has a pretty big family, right? lot of kids, and I think my mom saw that as, as they were growing up. And so a lot of the. Extracurriculars and things that they would do things like, like swimming, right? Like a lot of their kids went through swimming and the boys went through Boy Scouts, right. And, they like played musical instruments, right. And so I think my mom saw that and basically copied their blueprint.

Jess: 3:58

you.

Willy: 3:58

Right. Because I, I also did, uh, swimming growing up. I also did Boy Scouts growing up. music, right? And so I, so I did a lot of those things growing up similarly. interesting story. My, I initially started with piano. then I learned the violin and actually all like these instruments, I, I learned them all with one teacher. he used to be a, actually a physician who was like, I'm going to music. It's the cool, this is such a cool story. But anyways, so basically he would do these group lessons at this private school. And, um, the only way I was able to get in is 'cause my mom had a friend whose kid was in this private school. And so I would just go after school and join in on these really cheap group lessons. like, because their group lessons, it was, it was a lot more affordable. Right. And I think the vibe is a lot more, more welcoming, I think, because it's not like one-on-one. It's a lot of pressure type of thing. And so that was a great, so I learned violin. Um, he played a bunch of other instruments too. So I basically learned some other things like guitar, cello.

Jess: 4:56

Wow.

Willy: 4:57

Saxophone.

Jess: 4:58

Whoa.

Willy: 4:59

I think that's it. yeah, and, and I just kind of picked them up one after the other and just like, it's cool. and he had like this orchestra so I could, we got to play an orchestra. it was really fun,

Jess: 5:09

so the influence of your uncle was kind of what led to

Willy: 5:14

It definitely seeped into a lot of the things that I did. Right? And so, so my parents, you know, my mom had a very good like, template, right? Like e even though like you know, the things I mentioned previously, like maybe like knowing what different professions are out there or, the right, you know, majors to choose. Like they may not know like the college experience, right? they still had people that they could see, who, kind of knew the American system a little better and things that you can do in America. yeah, I mean, he's definitely a cool guy. That cool guy is definitely underselling it. I think he, he's definitely a, he's a really good role model. I think he, he tries to do the right thing. he has a big family and I know it's pretty tough for him going through med school, having a lot of kids at the same time too. So he's a primary care doctor. He got his med school through the Air Force, so he, he was also serving. someone that I can look up to. And I think he has a life that seems really nice,

Jess: 6:07

Willy, thanks for being on to talk about stuff that you don't usually think about, because I wasn't like, oh, let me interview you about stem. So, you know, it takes, it takes courage to be like, oh, let me kind of do this thing that's outta my comfort zone. So I really appreciate it. okay, let's wrap up with the lightning round of favorites slash recommendations. But really, if favorites feels like too much pressure sometimes guests, like just whatever first pops into your mind. Okay.

Willy: 6:34

Okay, I'll try. I'm, I'm usually Really bad at this. Okay. I'll

Jess: 6:38

be bad? It's just whatever pops into your mind. It's like no judgment.

Willy: 6:42

I'm gonna get judged. It's okay. Let's go, let's go, let's go. I probably

Jess: 6:46

Okay. Do you have a favorite song or first song that pops into your mind? Don't overthink it. You're overthinking.

Willy: 6:56

it.

Jess: 6:59

Okay. What is the, what is the last, okay. On Spotify, what's, what is top on your liked songs right now? What's your top liked song? Yes.

Willy: 7:07

no, it's an. Oh gosh. it's like an anime, OST, like an original soundtrack.

Jess: 7:15

Okay. What's, what song is it?

Willy: 7:18

I don't know. I think it's for nato, it's like season two NATO opening.

Jess: 7:22

Favorite.

Willy: 7:23

I'm definitely getting judged for that one.

Jess: 7:25

Okay. Favorite show.

Willy: 7:28

Ooh.

Jess: 7:29

Currently or in the past.

Willy: 7:33

breaking

Jess: 7:33

Good one. Science.

Willy: 7:34

Chemistry. Yes.

Jess: 7:36

Why do you like it?

Willy: 7:37

it's definitely one of those thrillers that I just like. is it really a thriller? I don't know. But I think at the time also, everyone else around me was watching it, it has a very good hook right from the start, like chemistry teacher turned. Rogue, right. Right. And, there's some chemistry involved, which I think, I think that was also like, the touches of chemistry was definitely what kept me into it too.

Jess: 7:59

Favorite movie or first movie that pops into your mind?

Willy: 8:02

this one's pretty basic, but Christopher Nolan movies, any of them, but I think most recently the Oppenheimer movie was was really good.

Jess: 8:11

it's like a science biopic.

Willy: 8:12

Mm-hmm.

Jess: 8:13

Very, very on brand Willy. Um, okay. Favorite book?

Willy: 8:20

Oh, I do have something that comes to mind actually. and I, it's 'cause I don't read a lot of books. So this one is easy. when Breath Becomes Air, I dunno if you've read that one. It's by, um, it's by a, a surgeon. His name is Atul Gawande. I believe he's a brain surgeon. but he ends up with brain cancer. And so he talks about his experience, as not only, being the physician, but also being the patient, right. And just that, that experience, from both sides and. This was one of those books that was so good that I basically had to finish like that night,

Jess: 8:55

Favorite place You can pick two, One in the us, one in South Korea, and if you wanna add one more, you can anywhere else

Willy: 9:05

Favorite place? Like? Like city, or more specific? Favorite place. Oh, that's easy actually. Costco. I love Costco. I. I was thinking about it and I was like, and growing up also it was like, it was basically my Disneyland.' cause you would go, it's actually better than Disneyland because things are actually good value there. Uh, and you get free samples. You never get that at

Jess: 9:37

I love Costco. I used to not get it, but now I love it. It's kind of like a modern day Medina where it's just like, it's great people watching you get a snack on things, and like, there's like all these things to discover, Yes.

Willy: 9:48

which is awesome, right? Because you see, and, and that's how, yeah, that's how they get you obviously, right?' cause they're all, you, you, you end up getting a lot more things than you'd be like, went for. But it is a fun experience, I think seeing new things and trying new things.

Jess: 10:02

Favorite place in South Korea?

Willy: 10:06

oh, also easy. Any of the Xi jangs, like the, the markets, so there's like Jiang, I think that's, you know, there's a couple of these, right? Um, throughout, and they're really big markets. It's basically street market style. So, you know, people just out there, making food in front of you. you know, people just selling fresh produce, you know, meats, fish, you know, prepared foods. It, it's, it's all time of the day. Yeah. And actually they usually close, some close at night, so it's more of like a day. It's actually like an all day thing So just like, you know, like, like straight food, right? Like od you know, it's all the, yeah. you can go basically anywhere and you'll find food. So if you're hungry, there's no problem. And it's cheap. That's also the grape part

Jess: 10:48

Favorite nostalgic food. Or since I know you like food, Maybe this will make it easier.

Willy: 10:54

Mm-hmm.

Jess: 10:55

If you had to have like a last dinner, last supper, whatever, last meal, what would you, what would be in your last meal if that's easier? You can choose a whole bunch.

Willy: 11:06

Mm-hmm.

Jess: 11:07

Gut

Willy: 11:07

Yeah. Um,

Jess: 11:09

reaction, friend. Gut reactions.

Willy: 11:12

you know, I'd love pizza undeniably,

Jess: 11:14

be there. What kind of pizza

Willy: 11:16

I like a good combo. You know, they gotta bring the Costco combo pizza back. I'm, I'm honestly, I'm so bummed that they don't have that back yet. Um, so maybe a Costco pizza and, um, like a good smoothie. I, and, um, I love potatoes. So maybe, maybe the best potatoes I've ever had. Some kind of mashed potato or, roasted potatoes.

Jess: 11:38

This is fascinating cause you talk a lot about how like you really love Korean food, but all these things you're mentioning are not sounding like Korean food. it sounds like American food, like an American junk food specifically. Except potatoes. Okay. Okay., like food options ever, no judgment.

Willy: 11:59

but I'm dying. Right. It's, it's, this is, this is the live, this is my last meal. Right. So, so it won't matter. Yeah, exactly.

Jess: 12:07

alright. Well Willy, Thanks again. And that's the wind down. Thanks for hanging out with us in this casual space. I'll be doing more of these after certain interviews, so keep an ear out and let me know what you think of these bonus episodes. This is Jess signing off.