I was born in southern California to an American father and Japanese mother. Every summer until I was a teenager, my family visited my grandparents' country home in Chiba, Japan. I was a shy kid and often struggled socially in the US where I lived, but those two to three weeks in Japan during the summer were always exciting. This led to me thinking that I'd simply be happier if I lived in Japan. I tested the theory by spending my third year of university in Tokyo through an exchange program. It will remain one of the most memorable and meaningful years of my life, but being in Japan didn't magically make me 100% happy. Since then I have visited more places, tried more things, know myself a little better, and understand that a lot of things come from within. I've learned, I suppose, to try not to expect specific outcomes and instead ride the waves that come, but I still end up dreaming too much about the next thing, especially in more stagnant times.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

CS is an interesting platform based on giving and sharing and facilitating real life interaction, different from a lot of other social platforms. I was lucky enough to stay with a few CS hosts around 2012. Once I have my own place I hope to do some hosting myself!

Interests

I get excited about new ideas. I like to move around. Sports are great and nature is wonderful. Cooking and the computer are also nice. Design. Not just visual but all kinds of design. Aesthetics. Anything, really.

• culture
• cooking
• sports

Teach, Learn, Share

basic leather crafting
baseball, surfing (I could teach beginner level)

What I Can Share with Hosts

I like to cook.
Could help with anything.
I've done a lot of different types of jobs and learn quickly.

Countries I’ve Visited

Italy, Japan, Portugal, Spain, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, United States