CURRENT MISSION

Désherbage et récolte à une ferme bio au Québec (WWOOFing!)

ABOUT ME

I am Vietnamese-American, born and raised in Northern California. I love learning about other cultures and languages; I speak Vietnamese and French, and some very sparse and random Cantonese, Spanish, and isiXhosa. I have lived in Paris, Cape Town, and Hong Kong and have been very lucky thus to travel a bit in Europe, South Africa, and Asia.

I have worked in higher education for the past several years, helping students consider socially conscious career paths in business and nonprofits. Although I enjoyed my work, I just quit my job in mid-July to search for new experiences--still something in the social impact space though.

But before finding a job, I wanted to do something cool that I had never given myself the time to do before. Thus for mid-July through mid-August, I am in Québec, volunteering on an organic farm as a WWOOF volunteer.

PHILOSOPHY

Love, laugh, learn (not necessarily in that order)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have not been active in the CouchSurfing community yet because I've been a traveler myself for the past several years. Now that I'm settled back in California, I would like to get more involved as a host.

My first time surfing will be (hopefully!) in August 2014 in Québec.

Interests

languages, social justice, international development, biking, gardening, tea, skiing and snowboarding, bad puns, crocheting and knitting, eating, nature, British humor, winter, social dance, Asian food, seaweed, travel, climbing things, tangerines, farmer's markets

• dancing
• education
• dining
• cooking
• gardening
• traveling
• knitting
• cycling
• surfing
• skiing
• snowboarding
• rock climbing
• business
• teaching
• languages
• volunteering
• wwoof

Music, Movies, and Books

I like listening to music and watching movies, but I am very pop culture illiterate. Education welcome!

Books: Harry Potter, At Swim Two Boys, Lord of the Rings, His Dark Materials series, David Sedaris, Abhorsen series, The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, A Change of Tongue, The Omnivore's Dilemma

Music: Rodrigo y Gabriela, Ratatat, Iron and Wine, Carla Bruni, Oasis, Jay Chou, Wang Leehom, Jason Mraz. Also starting to learn more about Quebecois artists like Jean Le Loup!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The first time that I really saw a full sky of stars: in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was a moonless night and the black sky seemed strewn with diamonds.

Teach, Learn, Share

I love languages, both learning and teaching, and talking about travel experiences. Also would love to philosophize with people about social impact and how we can work to make the world a better place. Anything related to food (buying, cooking, eating) is ok with me! Also, my current experience as an organic farm volunteer has been AMAZING and I would love to talk to other hosts about the farm (Ferme des Pensées Sauvages) or WWOOF.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Germany, India, Netherlands, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, France, South Africa, United States