CURRENT MISSION

Further studies, be it in the form of a postgrad or life experience!

ABOUT ME

Back in high school, I used to be called "the quiet girl sitting on a bench reading a book while eating french fries."

I'm still quiet. I still love reading. I had to (and still have to) lay off the french fries if I didn't want my vanity to drive me crazy.

So, hello, I'm Laura. I'm a pretty straightforward kind of person, albeit on the quiet side. I'm a theater person and a teacher (loving both and don't consider any as a side job or hobby). I'd like to think of myself as an artist, but feel I still have to earn the title. I'm still undecided about graduate school: I want to take it, but don't know when. I feel old and young at the same time. I'm passionate about learning and can talk endlessly about how counterintuitive the traditional grading system is.

And I tend to babble when in the mood.

When I feel I fail to represent myself properly, I just tell myself, "There are rivers within me, deep and wide."

And it's true.

PHILOSOPHY

"Hope and optimism are different. Optimism tends to be based on the notion that there's enough evidence out there to believe things are gonna be better, much more rational, deeply secular, whereas hope looks at the evidence and says, "It doesn't look good at all. Doesn't look good at all. Gonna go beyond the evidence to create new possibilities based on visions that become contagious to allow people to engage in heroic actions always against the odds, no guarantee whatsoever." That's hope. I'm a prisoner of hope, though. Gonna die a prisoner of hope."

- Cornell West

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm still learning the ropes and am seeing how I can be more involved. I'm very new to Couchsurfing. If I'm free, I can host visitors around Manila for awhile. Also, I'm planning my very first Couchsurfing trip this June and am hoping things work out.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

None at the moment. I'm determined to change this.

Interests

Theater, Music, Literature, Writing, Education, Academics, Fiction, People, Comics, Animation, Singing, Acting, Writing, World Changing, Japanese culture

• culture
• writing
• books
• literature
• singing
• theater
• acting
• education
• working out
• comics
• anime
• reading
• music
• animation
• teaching
• rivers

Music, Movies, and Books

Off the top of my head, in no particular order.

MOVIES/TV SHOWS/ANIME/MANGA: Dead Poets' Society, Star Wars (EXCEPT the Prequels), Clueless, Modern Family, House M.D., Vision of Escaflowne, Code Geass, Chihayafuru, Honey and Clover, 7 Seeds

MUSIC: John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Regina Spektor, Paramore, Stars, U2, Kanno Yoko, Suga Shikao, Sakamoto Maaya, John Michael LaChiusa, Jason Robert Brown, John Bucchino

AUTHORS: George R.R. Martin, Robin Hobb, Margaret Atwood, Murakami Haruki, E.L. Konigsburg, Yoshimoto Banana

STRAIGHT PLAYS/MUSICALS: Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl, See What I Wanna See by John Michael LaChiusa, The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown, It's Only Life by John Bucchino, The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, Oleanna by David Mamet...I could go on and on and on about plays and musicals, hahah.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I find a lot of things amazing, so I'll just share a slice to be concise: my students. They go an extra mile with their projects and make schooling more than just about tests and grades but truly about education. They inspire me. Every. Single. Time.

Teach, Learn, Share

I consider myself a perpetual student and hardly an expert in anything. I do love sharing what I have learned though.

I'm pretty much a theater person--musical theater, straight plays, etc. If you want to know more about them, specifically the Manila-based theater scene, I can help you out. That said, I would love to know more about theater practices abroad as well. I can also teach the basics of singing if you're interested. I really enjoy bonding with people over music.

I also teach English and Literature to university freshmen, so if you want someone to practice your English with or just rant about fiction to or something else, I'm here.

I'm also quite confident about my very basic Korean. If you want someone to introduce Hangul to you and sympathize with your possible confusion with the language, I'm your girl. If you also want someone to talk to about Japanese anime and manga or introduce you to series you might enjoy, I'm very, very open to that.

Countries I’ve Visited

China, Singapore, Taiwan

Countries I’ve Lived In

Philippines, Singapore