Hey there, I'm Kimberly/Kim/Kimbo or some other variation of Kim! I was born and raised in the sunny state of California in the United States but I identify as a Taiwanese-American since I've visited Taipei, Taiwan every other year since I was 3 weeks old and am quite close to my family abroad.

From Jan to May 2019, I'm studying abroad in Lyon, France for their business and law program, which is a pleasant break from my engineering classes back home at UC Berkeley, where I'm getting my Bachelor's in Computer Science. For the next couple months, I'm hoping to have fun travelling around Europe while doing a bit of self-discovery!!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

My best friend recommended Couchsurfing to me as a way to get to know local people in the areas of my travel. During NYE 2019, my girlfriends and I got together to make our 2019 resolutions together, and mine was to experience new cultures and perspectives. I'm a bit reserved - the type of person who prefers to potato on my couch with Netflix rather than go out to a bar and chat up people. So, to push myself out of my comfort zone, I made it my goal to meet someone from a new country who I have absolutely no tangible connections with (e.g. not classmates or coworker) and have a good time getting to know each other.

Interests

• dogs
• design
• photography
• coffee
• baking
• yoga
• running
• meditation
• board games
• reading
• podcasts
• hiking
• travel
• tea
• museums
• foodie
• programming
• postcards
• musicals
• coffee shops
• yoga and meditation
• stationery

Music, Movies, and Books

-I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan.
-Love me any Ed Sheeran song.
-Enjoy musicals such as Wicked and Les Mis.
-Cried multiple times while reading Michelle Obama's Becoming.
-Andy Samberg and Terry Crews are making my solo dorm meals so entertaining with their characters in Brooklyn 99.

Other notable stuff:
- Music: Mac Ayres, Jeff Bernat, Daniel Caesar, HONNE, Khalid, lots of movie soundtracks
- Books: hmm don't get to read much these days but currently read Beneath a Scarlet Sky and Bad Blood
- Movies/TV Shows: Brooklyn 99, Dunkirk, The Good Place, How I met Your Mother, Black Mirror, Avengers, Kim's Convenience, many Pixar movies, Sound of Music

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Last year, in my 3rd year of college, I found specific things I wanted to work on in the Computer Science and decided to try 2 new things. The first was joining a research group developing projects on the intersection of education and natural language processing (think chatbots, that cool autofill Gmail feature). Up to that point, I never imagined that at the age of 20, I could be working projects alongside PhD students and professors with years of knowledge and experience to work on something as meaningful and important as education.

The second was working with the political ads integrity team at Facebook for a summer to develop a new feature for identity verification. I can't talk about what exactly I did, but working on such a controversial issue as data integrity stimulated insightful questions about my role in this increasingly technology-driven world.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you about photography, programming, design, what it's like being a student/engineer in California's Silicon Valley. I want to learn about your culture, what you love to do, anything! I want to share good memories over a nice meal (and maybe some wine)!

I'm always eager to listen to people talk (I'm a bit of an introvert) but when topics I am passionate about arise such as gender equality, I can talk a lot!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Talk to me about photography, programming, Michelle Obama, Black Mirror! I can also tell you about life in Silicon Valley and as a US college student. I can also tell you about living in Taiwan and everything I love about the Taiwanese culture!

I can also bring lots of yummy desserts from France and send postcards from my travels 😊

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Taiwan, United States