Hello :)

My name is Tomo :)

I am a globetrotter at work and leisure, having travelled to many countries around the world looking for great experiences and meeting new people!

I am Japanese, but for more than half of my life, I lived overseas: 8 years in New Zealand, a year in Australia, four years in the UK, a year in Germany, two years in Russia. For this very reason, other than Japanese and English, I speak shaky German, Russian and now Norwegian. I work as a researcher at a university, reading about indigenous peoples, environment and the world politics. Cross-Country Skiing is a big part of my life and so is research, but I can't tell you what makes me "me".

Well, that's me in a nutshell. My messy past, somehow creating the chemistry that I don't even understand. But that's life!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am on Couchsurfing, because I always believe that travel experience can be enriched by sharing time with people from different walks of life. As a social scientist, people's experiences are important sources of knowledge and it helps me to understand the world better. As a matter of policy, I refuse to be in a bubble whenever I am abroad, and I constantly try to melt in with the people and listen to their lived stories, because everyone has one, and it is a unique one.

Interests

• traveling
• cross-country skiing
• conferences

Music, Movies, and Books

Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Bryan Adams (any music that tells great stories about lived-lives)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Skydiving, Cross Country Skiing, 365 days flat out interrailing, Savannah Trekking and well, there are lot of amazing things I have done, and there needs to be remembered and told through a couple glasses of wine.

Teach, Learn, Share

Well, as a political scientist, I can talk about politics, but not in an opinionated way. I rather offer context to politics.

But not everything is politics, and I am much better at sharing my life stories and sharing what Japanese culture has to offer, most importantly, food!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Food and Lot and Lots of Interesting Stories. Oh, and listener's ears.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Guam, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macao, Macedonia, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Austria, Chile, Germany, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Russian Federation, Switzerland, United States