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  • Last login 13 days ago

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Overview

  • 39 references 29 Confirmed & Positive
  • Fluent in Chinese, English; learning French
  • 52, Female
  • Member since 2009
  • Architecture, Art, Design, Writing, Culinary/Pastry, Perm...
  • Graduate School
  • No hometown listed
  • Profile 100% complete

About Me

CURRENT MISSION

I've relocated to North Carolina. I hope to work remotely as much as possible for parts of the year, in order to travel more. It would be great to meet up if you're in the area and I'm around!

ABOUT ME

I love the arts, food culture, adventure and travel, and my interests range from painting to fly fishing, cooking to filmmaking. I really enjoy being getting to know people and spending time with friends. Lived on the East Coast for most of my life but have had the good fortune to travel a bit in Europe, Asia and Africa. And I love the West Coast. I have lived and worked as an architect and professional pastry assistant in NY; gone on art residencies in Wyoming, Michigan and Finland; did film projects in Inner Mongolia and Rwanda.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have had some amazing experiences surfing and hanging with great folks in Europe and with CS locals in SF/East Bay and Boston.

Interests

I had been on art fellowships in Wyoming and Upper Michigan (absolutely beautiful) and Alajärvi, Finland - working on oil and watercolor monotypes, painting, sculpture, and lithography. My last architecture project was a building in San Francisco. http://www.hines.com/property/detail.aspx?id=1942 I am looking to combine my art, architecture, culinary and permaculture endeavors. I love anything to do with being on or in the water (sailing, snorkeling, etc.) - would love to learn to scuba dive and to sail on open water. I keep reverting to a beginner in sailing and hope to change that soon!

  • arts
  • culture
  • architecture
  • film making
  • dining
  • cooking
  • cheese
  • beer
  • partying
  • clubbing
  • flying
  • gardening
  • traveling
  • painting
  • drawing
  • fishing
  • surfing
  • scuba diving
  • snorkeling
  • sailing
  • languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Hemingway short stories, Flannery O'Connor short stories, anything by James Joyce, The Lord of the Rings, The Road, On Writing (Stephen King)

TV and Films: Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, Dexter, Wings of Desire, Blade Runner, La Jettee, The Godfather (I, II only), Delicatessen, Hudsucker Proxy, Love Actually, Three Days in the Condor, Tampopo, Cool Hand Luke, High Noon, Gattica, The Bourne Trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo...

Music: Bjork, Radiohead, Prince, U2, Smashing Pumpkins, Brian Eno, The White Stripes, Broken Social Scene, Air, The Specials, Mazzy Star, Of Montreal, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Sigur Ros, Led Zeppelin, Keith Jarrett (esp. Koln Concert), Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk, Kronos Quartet...

Food: Korean, Northern Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Mexican, Salvadorean, Italian, Nigerian (Hot Pepper Soup!)...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Short one -
Got to feed birds on the steps of Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, one of the highest points in Paris. I'll never forget the beating of the wings all around my hand.

A deeper one -
Filmed at the handover of Hong Kong back to China - At midnight on July 1, 1997, we were in Central in Hong Kong, feeling out the mood as the island was about to be re-patriated to China. Ex-pats were, ironically, partying it up in clubs. A friend drove me to a checkpoint to China and at 3am I stood in the rain, filming Chinese troops as they rolled into Hong Kong, reclaiming the territory. It was getting light out and the downpour continued. We waited and waited, squinting through the incessant wet grayness and into the distance, watching for anything out of the ordinary. I thought the changeover would be about tanks and force. Instead, Chinese soldiers stood at attention, drenched, on flatbed trucks as they finally emerged out of the fog. The soldiers kept arms raised in salute and rifles at rest all through the rain. The scene was unreal, anti-climactic to a degree, and totally unexpected.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach: English or Mandarin Chinese (spoken), to cook, bake, garden, vermi (worm) compost/build soil, draw, draft, paint, monotype, sculpt, weld, the ropes to film (video), architecture...
I want to learn: to get better at sailing, improve my French, learn other languages, to fly, to work with rehabilitating wolves into the wild, falconry, to farm organically, permaculture, more about making cheese; to ferment more foods, brew meads, root beers, ales; to learn how to cook even more.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Macao, Macedonia, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Finland, France, United States

Old School Badges

  • 9 Vouches
  • Pioneer Badge

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