CURRENT MISSION

the gods will offer you chances. know them. take them

ABOUT ME

My name is Stephen Ma. I was born to a family of immigrants who immigrated to the United States where they raised me in hopes of a better future. *this is me as a child! look at that sweet boy*My hometown is a small town in Southern California called Monterey Park where 70 percent of the residents are of Chinese descent. It is safe to say that I grew up in a bubble. Even though I am American, I grew up with a strong identity of being Chinese. I have no siblings so I was very sheltered because I was the only child. And because of this my curiosity for the world came about. *no, no, no. That is not China. It is Monterey Park.* I love doing things that scare me. However, I don't look too much into the future. *yes, that's right. enough said. I am a man.* Rather, I have always done things of what I wanted to do in life. If I feel compelled to do something, then I'll do it. I don't make too much of a plan or think too much on what I want out of it. I just do it. For better or for worse, I trust my gut. In this world, I feel that you can't be too sure about how someone else is feeling but you can be sure about yourself so I trust my gut. Failure is an option, fear is not.

PHILOSOPHY

At the end of my life, I just want to be able to say that I have lived a life that I could completely call my own. Laughing Heart
your life is your lifedon’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.be on the watch.there are ways out.there is a light somewhere.it may not be much light butit beats the darkness.be on the watch.the gods will offer you chances.know them.take them.you can’t beat death butyou can beat death in life, sometimes.and the more often you learn to do it,the more light there will be.your life is your life.know it while you have it.you are marvelousthe gods wait to delightin you.
-- by Charles Bukowski

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Nothing in my life has impacted morethan my passion for acting. The most important skill that I have as an actor is empathy. For me to fully become another person with different values and skills, I need to be able to see another perspective. The beauty of characters, whether they are considered the “good guy” or “bad guy”, is theyare flawed. A villain should always have qualities that are likeable while the protagonist should always have qualities that are unlikable because that is what makes them relatable and more importantly relatable to the audience.It is my desire to understand life by being empathetic towards another perspective other than mine that has driven not only my passion of acting but my way of life.

Interests

art. dancing. drinking. theater. acting. movies. watching basketball. riding bikes. Climbing.

• arts
• writing
• theater
• acting
• beauty
• dancing
• drinking
• movies
• traveling
• backpacking
• basketball
• rock climbing
• economics

Music, Movies, and Books

Blink 182, Bruno Mars, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Dark Knight, Gattaca, Charles Bukowski, many more

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

This might not sound like too much for the CouchSurfing community but the most amazing thing that I have done was deciding to travel abroad alone.After college, I knew I needed to do something other than finding a job and earning money. Don't tell my mom. A friend and I planned a trip together that would involve teaching english to the rural communities around Vietnam. On the side, we would also be documenting footage on the cultural perspectives about the different communities living together. The trip's plan allowed for flexibility but yet it had structure so we knew what we would be doing anytime during our six month journey. This plan provided the sense that we wouldn't die over our six month journey. A week before the trip the plan fell apart. Our point person found out that one of the placement of the trip fell through and couldn't house us anymore.The point person reassured us explaining that we still had our first month planned and that would be more than enough time to do restructure the plan we had for Vietnam. Because of that my friend did not feel compelled to go on this trip anymore due to the lack of organization for the trip and trust for our point person, which is completely understandable. I was scared too but there was something very liberating and exciting about having a plan that would be restructuring itself throughout the trip. I would just have to do it alone, which is one of my biggest fears in life: being alone. But, I knew that this trip was meant to test me. So, I grabbed my balls and I left for Vietnam alone. My parents never knew about this part of the trip. They still think I am traveling with my friend. So, I decided to go despite knowing that pieces of the trip were still left to be planned. Once there, I taught english in the rural communities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City while developing a cultural perspective art project involving small film cameras and kodak disposable cameras. Teaching was extremely rewarding. Working with children who was able to just be happy with kicking a ball and tickling me was one of the best experiences I ever had in my life. I along with the point person back at the states finally redeveloped a plan that would allow me to teach/do my project at the communities that we had originally planned to do them at. However after a few months, I got burnt out. I was alone in rural communities away from anyone who could speak english. I had no means of transportation to go to the city. I gained the trust of the village, which I am extremely proud of but because of their trust they were extremely protective of me. I felt trapped. Also, teaching while doing an art project really took a toll on me emotionally. I didn't know what to do. I could suck it up and just stick with the plan. I wanted to go home. However, something amazing happened... my visa got revoked. I was told to leave the country. So, I had a chance to leave and go back to America. But I had something amazing in front of me: I had no plan. During the initial planning stages of the trip with my friend, I would remember not paying too much attention to much of the plan. I did not want to know any of the dates or where we were going to be at. I just knew that my friend needed some sort of structure for the trip; and I thought I needed him because I did not want to travel alone. But here I am: I had no plan. So with the little money that I saved up for emergencies, I decided to follow what I really wanted to do: travel and see the world. I just never thought I was going to be doing it alone. So the plan is (in this order): Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China.Other than that, I have no plan in terms of what I will be doing in each of those countries, how I am going to those countries, what cities to visit...But, I do follow one guiding principle: If I start to feel that I should leave a place/city then I will leave that place/city to another place/city. I am just taking it a day by day and listening to the advice from locals/other backpackers. I am doing much more by this method than I would have done with a plan with a detailed list of what to do for each day. I just finished Laos. So far so good. I am safe and having the time of my life. It is a shame that very few Americans go out and backpack the world because the perspective that I have gained has been truly priceless. Many of my friends have told me that they would love to travel the world. They just get caught up with life of getting a job and settling down. I don't think what I am preaching is a sense of laziness but rather a sense of absolutely fighting to do what makes you happy. I am living. Are you?

Teach, Learn, Share

I am an artist who works deeply within the realm of exploring personal identity and perspectives of other cultures. I love art. I am a writer/actor who would love to work with projects with people of all parts of the country. Other than that, I am an Economics major so I guess we can talk about Economics. Especially Milton Friedman! (not that I agree on all of his viewpoints... but for a long time... I must admit that I was a big fanboy of his)

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, Ecuador, Laos, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States, Viet Nam