CURRENT MISSION

Live, love, be happy. And travel as much as I can!

ABOUT ME

I spend my leisure time with friends, food, beaches, music, books, and my favorite movies & TV shows. I've traveled around the US and parts of southern Canada. Iceland, Norway, Sweden. Korea, China, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines.
I am a teacher and photographer. I have shown my art in a couple small shows and hope to continue to network and do more. I have sold a few pieces over the last couple of years, but in the end I just hope to please people with my art.
I exercise here and there, and like to meet active people to climb mountains and things with. When I have a bike, I love to cycle, and I have done a fair bit of rock climbing in Thailand, Korea, and the US.
Oh, and I blog about Korean saunas. They. Are. Amazing.

PHILOSOPHY

No other path, no other way. No day but today.

Treat others as you would be treated.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I love cs. From the moment I learned about it, I knew it was a great idea. It seems like it is a great way to meet like-minded folks, and to improve the quality of travel.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

So far, I have hosted a few amazing travelers & met up with someone as a surfer. I also have a lot of friends who utilize this network, and I'm looking forward to both hosting and surfing more!

Interests

Music, books, coffee, food (both eating & cooking), saunas, small furry animals, bicycling, hiking & rock climbing, swimming, dancing, good beer.

• animals
• arts
• books
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• beer
• coffee
• exercise
• pub crawls
• trivia
• movies
• tv
• traveling
• blogging
• music
• cycling
• hiking
• surfing
• rock climbing
• swimming
• teaching
• science
• beaches
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Books, two words. Haruki Murakami. ALL of it.
Also Three Cups of Tea, Memoirs of a Geisha, Woman: An Intimate Geography, The Davinci Code, Life of Pi, The Beach, Galileo's Daughter, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, The Greatest Generation, The Tale of Genji, and Mama Might Be Better Off Dead are some of my favorites.

Music, oh so much. Too much. Anything considered local or indie, Latin, dance, R&B, awesome girl rock, bluegrass...

Movies, I love Korean films like Nom Nom Nom (The Good, the Bad, and the Weird), Park Chan-wook's movies (Old Boy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengance, Lady Vengance...) and my fave Korean movie is Welcome to Dongmakol. I also love a lot of Wong Kar-wai's films, thanks to a friend. I enjoyed Amelie, What Dreams May Come, French Kiss, Hotel Rwanda, most of Johnny Depp's work, and everything Leonardo DiCaprio's been in. Seriously, those guys pick great scripts. Most loved of DiCaprio's is The Departed (which also leads me to the Chinese movie Internal Affairs). Oh, and all the lovely artwork I've seen during my years attending Pusan International Film Festival.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

5 days at Angkor Wat, over 2 visits. Siem Reap was the single most amazing, difficult, and thought-provoking place I've ever been to. The temples were unbelievably astounding.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'd love to share my experience and knowledge of Minneapolis. I've spent many years of my life here, and am still discovering new places. Plus I love to cook and eat together. I feel sharing a meal is a wonderful, organic experience that bonds people, in a real way that is rare these days.

I like to find out what people think is possible for them in life - I feel most everyone underestimates what they are capable of. Just my coming across the world to teach has shown the people I grew up with what we could possibly accomplish.

I also consider myself a lifelong student - I'll be interested in anything you can share!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am a fun, outgoing, positive person who loves to learn about people. I would be happy to cook or clean for you, or simply to take you out somewhere you love. I can teach you a few dance steps, how to make some cool foods, or some things about science. I used to play several types of pub quizzes, so I would love to help your team win at trivia anytime!

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, Canada, China, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

South Korea, United States