Forgive all
Above all else kindness
Life is a play

Curiosity is intelligence having fun - Einstein
And the point is, to live everything - Rilke

ABOUT ME

Love and have done an extensive amount of traveling around the world, as well as living/working/studying in various countries. Originally from Korea, studied in the US for BA. Then worked/studied in Cape Town as a development economist, in Korea as an accidental entrepreneur, in France Singapore as a MBA student, then in Johannesburg, SA, as a management consultant. Then some as independent, most recently in Ethiopia for a year advising government on agri economic development. More recently on LAX project. Maybe one day a globe trotting wifey philanthropist wine maker photographer writer professor do gooder film maker animal chaser tree planter and climber philosopher meditator.

Just went past a year after an amicable divorce and turned 40 few days ago. Been a ride and a deeply self-reflected time period. And somehow really made me want to strut out and go on an open-ended road trip to keep driving, see the world, meet the people, and make stories. Looking forward to meeting you all lovely souls.

PHILOSOPHY

Be kind.
Be true to yourself.
Follow curiosity.
Find joy.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Serendipity with great people and stories.

Interests

Life. People. Meditation. Philosophy.

Cooking, photography, hiking, movies, books, wine, food, restaurants, travel, scuba diving, hosting dinners, brunches, wine tasting evenings, road trips...

• books
• photography
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• wine tasting
• walking
• partying
• drinking
• movies
• traveling
• cars
• fishing
• hiking
• hunting
• surfing
• scuba diving
• economics
• teaching
• entrepreneurship
• road trips

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Last change to see by Douglas Adams. Alain de Botton essays, Malcome Gladwell books, Tale of Two Cities. Tao of Pooh, Tao De Ching. The wise heart by Jack Kornfield. Five invitations.

Movies: ShawsankChef. Hundred Foot Journey. Mostly Martha. Sideways. Bottle Shock. Little Miss Sunshine. Farewell My Concubine (Chinese), Indochine (French), Totsi (South African), Taekukgi (Korean), Dark Knight, Love Actually, The Professional, Man from No Where, Shakespeare in Love, Pride and Prejudice.

Music: a wide range from classical, jazz, selected pop to folk, and some of my favorites are U2, Coldplay, One Republic, Bach, and Pink Martini

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Being born and living and breathing.

Traveling for a few weeks with BBC film crew as part of a cast for a cooking and traveling show, to remote parts of South Africa, and was shocked to hear a co-worker from Korea a year later that he saw me red-haired in a Brit cooking and traveling show broadcast in Korea.

Hitting a cow on a national highway in South Africa on a diving trip to Mozambique and getting escorted by SA police to nearby hospital to get a minor surgery done on my face, in the middle of nowhere town (I was NOT the driver, though the driver really couldn't have avoided such accident given the driving condition at the time).

Walking up in Namib desert, one of the oldest sand dunes in the world, in Namibia at the crack of dawn.

Watching 5 lionesses feeding on a fresh kill, a zebra, 5 feet away from the vehicle I was in.

Getting chased by a pissed off elephant, who obviously was annoyed at too close a distance I was at photographing him in a car, and driving the hell away, while other cars drove in closer to see an accident happen. (People will be people)...

Getting a live rooster as a Valentine's prank of a present from a friend (ordered online from the US, delivered to my work in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) and keeping it alike while entertaining it and entertaining myself w the whole situation

Teach, Learn, Share

What I've seen read and experienced. Food drinks coffee time meditation yoga.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Stories and time.

Exploring the localities, exchanging travel and life stories, cooking together, surfing, hiking, driving, day trips, wine and dining... In my extensive CS based NZ trip, I got to do a lot of new things w awesome CS hosts, inc fishing for the first time ever (3 times and even caught a sharky that was later released), helping the host heard and feed cows on 4 by 4 in cowgirl overall, got offered to try my hand in hunting/shooting for the first time ever (didn't quite happen), philosophy discussion w a future philosophy professor (he was applying for PhD program in the US and is now currently pursuing his degree). I think it really depends on the hosts and their respective schedule at the time. I'm pretty open and flexible and happy to share what I can in time and energy.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Indonesia, Japan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ethiopia, France, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, United States