CURRENT MISSION

figuring out where i fit

ABOUT ME

I like hikes, bikes, sunshine, making stuff, good music, fire, people and good conversations. I was a timid hermit up to my early 20s and spent the last couple of years branching out and expanding. Plenty of hard falls and big successes. I feel a little less with with it sometimes, but I'm catching up.

far, I have been:
- A graphic designer
- 2nd & 5th grade Elementary School teacher
- Middle and Elementary School English teacher (in Japan)

PHILOSOPHY

I seek to understand and be understood.

I somewhat reluctantly seek new situations that will make me a little uncomfortable… that's where growth happens!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I started hosting a lot my second year in Japan. Hosting has helped me open up to others a ton. I admit that sometimes I am intimidated by the cultural and experiential wealth of some people on CS. I feel like I'm just not that ripe yet, but we all start somewhere. I'd like to be more on the surfing side side of things, starting soon.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Hosting:
Christophe (France) - October 2010
Ellie and Dom (Canada) - November 2010
Laura & Jon (US via Taiwan) - December 2010 (Christmas!!)
Yun-Kuei & Sophie (Taiwan) - January 2011

Surfing:
Sasha in Okinawa - December 2010
Ryan, Mary, Arielle, Brianna, Rihanna in Portland - August 2011

Interests

I like hearing about things other people are passionate about. If they're passionate about something there's probably a good reason for it, and something worthwhile in there for me to know.

My own interests: Japanese, photography, art & design, education, cycling, hiking, climbing, and anything outside, technology & media, storytelling, playgrounds, video games

• arts
• design
• graphic design
• photography
• education
• technology
• video games
• music
• cycling
• hiking
• surfing
• rock climbing
• communications
• teaching
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Some books that were pretty effective on me: Life of Pi (Yann Martel), The Great Divorce (C.S. Lewis), The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoyevsky), Godric (Frederick Buechner), Love (Leo Buscaglia), The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini), Everything is Illuminated (Jonathan Safran Foer)

Music: almost anything, especially if it's LIVE.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Since I was living in northern Japan during the big quake and tsunami, I've had the chance to be pretty regularly involved in volunteering with the recovery effort on the east coast. It has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

Teach, Learn, Share

- How to use technology to communicate with others and make cool things
- Some basic Japanese and Kanji
- Photography essentials
- Graphic design (typography, layout, etc.)

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