CURRENT MISSION

I am traveling from August 1st - August 23rd. I cannot host anybody. Sorry!

Settling down in New York City, and learning at least 10 Chinese words a day.

ABOUT ME

I am twenty something, doing a PhD in Sociology.
I love cities, but also enjoy a pastoral life.

About myself:
I am quite inquisitive, approachable and independent.
I am vegetarian.
I am into oral history, and personal history. My three favorite things for me to travel with are a voice recorder, a camera and a notebook. So if you have witnessed a historical moment in your life, I'm more than happy to record your story.

PHILOSOPHY

Asking stupid questions, and not being afraid to be taken as a fool. My favorite quote from Shakespeare is "Better be a witty fool, than a foolish wit." And it is currently my life philosophy.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Got inspired by Amanda Palmer's TED talk: "The art of asking." She said that asking for a couch is to trust strangers. Everybody is afraid of asking a favor, but Couchsurfing enables people to ask for more. The talk literally changed my perspective on how I should go about with asking for help, and giving out help. Since my attitude toward strangers changed, I found my whole person changed. I have become more respectful of any stranger; I do not give any prejudgment, and I dont assume that a stranger has nothing to offer. Since then I found my life more beautiful, and that I radiate more energy to people around :D. It is a good effect.

You can watch her talk here: http://www.ted.com/talks/amanda_palmer_the_art_of_asking.html

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Meeting up with CS friends, and getting help from them in foreign cities

Interests

Books, lots of books. I read indiscriminately. I got my reading philosophy from Nikola Tesla. He said: "I dont read books, I read libraries."

At this moment I am into Polish science fictions, and German pop literature . My reading list now includes Stanisław Lem, and Rainald Goetz.

I like photography, especially portraiture. My favorite photographers are Dorothea Lange, and Ansel Adams.

My weakness is that I get bored with one thing pretty quickly so I have to keep learning new skills constantly. I would have been prescribed ADHD, had I grown up in the USA. However, I embrace this particular characteristics. It helps me stay excited all the time. Therefore, I love to meet new people and learn new skills, new stories and new culture.

• arts
• culture
• books
• literature
• photography
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• vegetarian
• fitness
• reading
• traveling
• swimming
• history
• science
• sociology

Music, Movies, and Books

Movie: Forrest Gump, the Imitation Game
Music: Jason Mraz
Book: Autobiography/Biography and anthropology

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The best traveling experience was crossing Germany on a train. The landscape along the Rhine River is breathtaking. I have never experienced anything like that before in my life. So yes, I vote number 1 for German landscape.

The second most amazing experience was doing fitness at seashore in Aberdeen, Scotland (Summer 2015). The landscape is breathtaking, and the North Sea water is so crystal clear that one would want to swim in that ice-cold water.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: English to Chinese teenagers (Summer 2013).
Learn: I want to be able to read Three Kingdoms in Chinese before May 2016.
Share: My positive energy

What I Can Share with Hosts

Cooking. I love cooking, learning new names of food, learning new recipes, and acquiring during my couchsurfing experience.

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, United States, Viet Nam