Concerning education, Nietzsche asked, “How can the individual be integrated into the counterpoint of private and public culture; how can he both sing the melody and simultaneously make it the accompaniment?” At its core, this is the same question explored in Nonlocal.

Nonlocal is the story of Kohlhaas, Korean by birth, but raised in America—an outsider in both societies. His return to South Korean culture, both in Seoul and that which is preserved and managed at the M School for Overseas Koreans in Qingdao, China, is a jarring experience that leaves him searching for meaning deeper than national identity.