CURRENT MISSION

Master Mandarin Chinese, learn Cantonese and Sichuanese, learn piano

ABOUT ME

Former vagabond unwittingly thrown into the corporate world. Not a huge fan of it, waiting for the next big thing to come along.

PHILOSOPHY

My most core philosphy is that freedom only exists within one's self, that it isn't granted by a government, and that the truest path to freedom is education. As a result, the thing I seek most is knowledge, and I think education should be free to everyone, so I am willing to teach anything I know to whomever is willing to learn, and vice versa.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Couchsurfing is a great way to see a lot of places on a budget, but it isn't just exchanging free stays, it is also a way to see a side of culture/life that you can't see when you travel staying in hotels and hostels. I like hosting people because it allows me to give back for all the times people have helped me when I needed it most.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Usually I only host when I am working, but I surf a lot when I travel. I traveled for three weeks during the spring festival period and only stayed two nights in a hostel, the rest of the time was surfing. Great experience!

Interests

Cooking, music, martial arts (wing chun), opera, linguistics/dialectology

• arts
• culture
• festivals
• education
• cooking
• recipes
• baking
• running
• traveling
• music
• piano
• opera
• surfing
• martial arts
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

I love Hong Kong cinema, especially Wong Kar Wai's films. I don't read many books, just academic journals, but I listen to all kinds of music. Mostly blues, but a lot of prog rock, jazz, classic rock, bizarre 80s pop, italo disco, and whatever else catches my ear. My only musical prejudice is that I generally don't care for manufactured sounds, IE whatever the big record labels are pushing at a given time.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've ridden trains all across China to see the countryside, and I plan to keep exploring China this way.

Teach, Learn, Share

I have two years of wing chun (咏春拳) teaching experience and am a very patient teacher. I also have some experience in accent training and running pronunciation workshops for English, I use phonological charts and IPA to help drive the lessons home. I also know a handful of traditional Italian recipes, as well as a lot of baking recipes, and would be more than happy to exchange cooking techniques. I also understand a decent amount about mobile app development, and I'm down to exchange ideas about that side of things.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I know how taxing hosting can be, so I try to be as easy to host as possible, and if a host needs anything from me I'm glad to help out in whatever way I am able.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, China, Mexico, Philippines, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, United States