Hi there, thanks for visiting my profile. I'm passionate about study abroad, and I love encouraging other people, especially other students, to make time to live/work/study abroad. The longer periods I've spent abroad in South Africa (2 months backpacking) and Japan (1 year working holiday visa, 1 year as an exchange student) were some of the most memorable and compassion fostering periods of my life. I'm very close to graduating, and in my career, I want to use my background in marketing management to make studying abroad more sexy. Studying Abroad is more than just an awesome chance to travel. Although students in other countries are very familiar with and likely to go on gap years to live/work/study abroad, I want to see more Canadians value and take on that type of experience themselves.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Being invited into other people's homes is such a treat. I realized several years ago how much I enjoy experiencing that, and some of my fondest memories away from home are the times when I got to stay with friends in their home. I did a homestay in 2010 with a Japanese family and still keep in touch with them to this day. They are coming to Canada to visit me and my family in August, and I can't wait to see them again. Being a student, both extended vacations and funds to travel can be hard to come by. I think Couchsurfing is great way to make travel more accessible, affordable, personal, and eye-opening than most stays in a hotel.

Interests

• dogs
• writing
• photography
• concerts
• cooking
• baking
• japanese food
• meditation
• video games
• reading
• cycling
• snowboarding
• study abroad
• marketing
• craft beer
• japanese
• japanese culture
• japanese language
• public speaking
• digital marketing
• international education

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Gorillaz, Young the Giant, Yeasayer, Chance the Rapper, Big Sean, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear, Janelle Monae, The Beatles, Pogo, Ikimono Gakari, Childish Gambino, Lupe Fiasco, Queen, Pink Floyd, Frank Ocean, St. Vincent and

Movies: Children of Men, Labyrinth, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Thumbsucker , Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Wall-E, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Books: Island by Aldous Huxley, Daring Greatly by Brené Brown, Reality Is Broken by Jane McGonigal, The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss, Revolution by Russell Brand, Far from the Tree by Andrew Solomon, David Mitchell: Back Story by David Mitchell, and The Course of Love: A Novel by Alain de Botton

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Realizing a childhood dream to travel to Simonstown, South Africa, to see the colony of Jackass Penguins that live there. Seeing a clip about them walking around town on the Discovery channel many years ago, I was instantly smitten and dreamed of one day getting to see those penguins for real. At 18, I finally got to visit Simonstown with a few new friends I met at my Cape Town hostel, Long Street Backpackers, during my first week of backpacking around South Africa, and it was everything I had hoped it would be. The penguins were even more charming in person.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: Basic Japanese, Public Speaking and Speech-craft

What I Can Share with Hosts

Travel tips and cultural/language insights related to Japan and Japanese, which could come in handy if you're thinking of traveling there someday. I love to cook, so if the timing is right and the occasion fits, I'm happy to help out in the kitchen. If you need a bit of basic IT support (nothing advanced) in the way of troubleshooting, I can give it a shot. I am happy to pitch in with a few household chores. Need help with your presentation slides, practicing/fine-tuning your upcoming speech or feedback on your digital marketing strategy/tactics? I'm happy to help with those, too!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, China, Costa Rica, Japan, Lesotho, Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Swaziland, Taiwan, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Japan