I'm from a small town in Minnesota, U.S. and my current mission is to expand my worldview and cultural awareness. In November 2016 I decided to use my savings to move to Taipei to learn Traditional Chinese at NTU for one year. Before moving to Taiwan I was working as a software engineer in San Francisco and I still enjoy programming in my free time to make apps and websites.

Por qué estoy en Couchsurfing

I am on CS to do cultural, language, and skill exchange. I love to learn new things and it makes me really happy to teach others things that they are interested in. I like to break complex ideas into simple concepts to help people learn things like rock climbing or programming.

Música, películas y libros

I love many types of music.. I grew up listening to Country and then moved on to Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Electronic music (Electroswing especially), and more recently Hip Hop. I like anything I can dance to or escape reality from.

I don't watch too many movies but I like most Tarantino films as well as Star Wars and LOTR. I enjoy watching documentaries about nature, history, and social issues.

I love to read but haven't found much time to read lately. I especially like science fiction and recently read Dune, Hyperion, and Three Body Problem. I like novels too like Shantaram and When Breath becomes Air. More recently I have been reading about philosophy and religion. I plan on reading more about Taoism and Eastern philosophy in the near future.

Algo increíble que he hecho

My first experience traveling by myself was in Bali, Indonesia and it was there that I realized that traveling is much more than seeing the sights and eating food. I learned to surf, explored the monkey forest, and made friends with locals and other travelers. It was an amazing experience that influenced me to want to live abroad and meet more new interesting people.

Enseña, aprende, comparte

My main focus right now is learning to speak, read, and write Chinese. I am happy to exchange English in return for any help with that. I am currently learning to play the guitar so I would love more opportunities for that. I want to learn more about local culture and values to understand and contrast with the culture in which I grew up. I also want to improve my drawing and do more creative things and work with my hands more. In the last few years I have mostly been working with computers so I would be happy to share my knowledge on creating websites and apps or fixing computer problems. I can share what life is like in the small town where I grew up as well as what it's like to live Boston or San Francisco.

Qué puedo ofrecer a los anfitriones

I can share English, programming, and experiences living in the U.S.

Países que he visitado

Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, England, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Macao, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan

Países en los que he vivido

Taiwan, United States