CURRENT MISSION

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ABOUT ME

My life alternates between intervals of travel, long intervals of idleness in Australia, and brief intervals of employment. It's all part of a grand scheme to discover what I want to do with life.

PHILOSOPHY

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Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I used to be a guest and host a lot, but now I can only join in social activities.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Each person is different in their own way.

Interests

Cooking. Obscure words. Sun. Water. Martial arts. English literature. Philosophy. Etymology. Ethnic music. Second-hand shops. Libraries. Photography. Non-modernist painting. Piano and guitar. Documentaries. Watching debates. Early Islamic and Jewish history.

• dogs
• arts
• literature
• photography
• documentaries
• cooking
• recipes
• running
• sauna
• reading
• traveling
• painting
• music
• guitar
• piano
• skydiving
• muslim
• martial arts
• swimming
• etymology
• history
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: My good reads profile: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7277625-tiemu

Movies: The Egyptian. The Wizard of Oz. Dead Man Walking. Schindler's List. The Last Emperor. Seven Samurai. A Nightmare on Elm Street. Movies so unprofessional they're hilarious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwSTDzaZ234

Music: To dance to, RnB. Otherwise klezmer, gypsy, Balkan, the Caucasus, Red Army, Vietnamese (Phi Nhung), classical and opera, west African.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

- Got lost in the Chinese countryside. Wound up in a monastery for a week with smoking, tattooed monks.
- Sleeping alone as a vagrant on Sri Lanka's beaches with stray dogs for company.
- Skydiving with a view of the great barrier reef & world's oldest rainforest.
- New Year's Eve at Buddha's spot of enlightenment with monks and nuns from around the world; happily asleep before midnight.
- Running an Arab hostel in Jerusalem's old city.
- Swimming in an ice lake after a sauna.
- Being robbed in Sydney for having blonde hair, yet living in a dangerous Nairobi slum without incident.

Teach, Learn, Share

I like learning obscure English words. Discussing literature opens new worlds; I only started reading novels after some couch surfers introduced me to the realm of fiction. I like cooking new recipes almost daily, especially Italian and Chinese.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, China, Singapore

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