If any of these offend you, please skip me: I am pro-Palestine 🇵🇸, LGBTQ+ 🌈, and proudly Taiwanese 🇹🇼.

Based in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. I'm a language teacher that cooks, a bartender that translates books, and a writer that sings in a choir.

Just call me Salim. Yuhe is my Chinese name, and so few people excelled in the pronunciation that I rarely realized if someone was calling me. Couchsurfing didn't allow me to change it so it's still my display name. You can try calling me Yuhe, but when my force of habit finally hits, it'll end up with an hour-long lecture on Mandarin phonetics.

I read every profile carefully when I receive or send requests, so I expect the same from you. :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I don't really travel that much anymore, so it'd be nice to hear about crazy stories and weird encounters that other fellow travelers have.

Don't take it personally when I don't reply to your message(s). I tend to ignore requests that don't fit the criteria I mentioned on my profile, or it simply means that I'm unavailable during the days you request. Not being an a-hole, saying no is hard, and I've got stood up by Couchsurfers twice since I moved here already, so...

Interests

Food, languages, and (right) music (for me)... I can talk about these topics for hours to the point you might tell me to shut up.

I don't mind talking about politics at all, but I have very strong and stubborn stances on Israel-Palestine and China-Taiwan conflicts, and I really don't mind kicking someone out just because I disagree with them on those topics — I mean it, don’t even try. Some little hints: I'm Taiwanese, and I majored in Arabic. Now you know what to avoid.

• cooking
• baking
• drinking
• gardening
• music
• languages
• social movements
• lgbtq+

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: My main genres are world/ethnic/folk music, indie pop, indie rock, and Mandarin pop. But open to anything!

Movies: I don't really watch movies, but my favorite ones so far are: "Stutz", "Oslo, August 31st" and the French musical version of "Le Petit Prince"

Books: I'm collecting Le Petit Prince's editions in different languages. :D

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Submitted an academic paper to a conference and got accepted while working as a bartender full-time. I presented the paper in front of the well-known and highly respected professor who wrote the most popular Arabic textbook in the world, which I also used in college; afterward, he came to me and encouraged me to proceed in academia. I almost threw up because of nervousness. I don't even know how I multitasked.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'd love to teach you how to cook your favorite Asian stuff and learn how to make your best ones :)

For those interested in staying at my place, you're always welcome. But please check the page “My Home” first for more information. To confirm that you have read it, greet me at the end of the message with one of these words: pho, donkatsu, or kimchi.

What I Can Share with Hosts

A song, a piece of poem, or an experience in my life.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Kuwait, Norway, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Taiwan