CURRENT MISSION

To learn Chinese and do my research while enjoying the many pleasures of life!

ABOUT ME

I am a generally content person with infinite curiosity. I research and read about theory, philosophy, history, and modern China. I love to learn (in general) and experience different cultures, places, people. I would love to find a job that would let me do all this AND send me off to travel full-time, all expenses paid. Any idea where I might be able to find this?

My husband Luis and I live in Berlin, Germany. He's a Spanish linguist and professor at University of Potsdam. I just finished a year in Beijing, China doing research and am now working on my dissertation. Ideally, we'll both end up some day in or around Toulouse, France! Or so I can hope...

I am a Third Culture Kid and will never really have a hometown. I have lived in the US, France, Taiwan, China, briefly in Switzerland, and now more-or-less permanently in Germany. Luis has lived in Spain, the UK, the Netherlands, the US, and Germany.

PHILOSOPHY

You should enjoy your life---and that should include what you do for your job!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We have a big air mattress that can be put in our living room.

We live in central city areas with plenty of conveniently located subway and bus stops and within walking distance to historical or other interesting sites, lots of eating options, ETC.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I really liked hanging out with Martin and his friend in Munich. The Biergarten and food followed by bar hopping--they really knew the good places. Then I received an unexpected HUGE German breakfast the next morning. Wow.

In Sweden, Jurgen really took care of me too... But beyond that he really opened up and shared his life experiences with me regarding Sweden, university, work, politics, and personal. Apparently he once got in trouble for walking 500M to a Wal-mart in the U.S. That was a funny story... :-)

Interests

Travel to other countries, the outdoors, triathlon, other sports, history, foreign movies, tasteless comedies, learning languages and practicing the ones I think I know (French, Chinese), reading what I want, people-watching at cafes, long dinners with french food and good red wine.

Luis and I go jogging and walking together no matter where we are, so we'll probably be up for some outdoors activities when we visit you, or having you come along (if you want) when you visit us. We both also like the movies, cooking, and languages.

We're both vegetarians. This means Luis has learned to cook some fantastic dishes!

• culture
• writing
• dining
• cooking
• breakfast
• wine
• red wine
• triathlon
• running
• walking
• boating
• politics
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• sports
• teaching
• history
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

My favorite movies are L'Auberge Espagnole (go figure), Amelie, Bleu, Au Revoir Les Enfants, and a host of so-called tasteless comedies (Monty Python, UHF, Anchorman, you get the picture).

Unfortunately my music tastes are at least a decade out of date... does The Lonely Island count?

My two favorite fiction books are Cat's Cradle (Kurt Vonnegut) and Catcher in the Rye (JD Salinger) and I also like to read/discuss French literature / theory (Foucault, Sartre, Queneau, etc). I've read too many history books and journal articles to list here which ones I like and don't like!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Just one? Impossible. The thing I remember right now, off the top of my head though, that's possible. I once took a boat on the river between North Korea and China, in which we were so close to the North Korean side that I spotted a building with Kim Jong-Il's face on it. And a run-down ferris wheel and some naked people playing in the water waved to us as we passed by.

While on a morning run by myself on a deserted trail in Taroko Gorge (Taiwan) I saw a family of monkeys in the wild. That was pretty cool.

My typical running route in Santa Cruz afforded me views of the Monterey Bay and redwood forests. The sunsets are amazing there, and the sky often changes many colors. If you get a chance to visit Santa Cruz and run the trails... do NOT miss out. There's a reason world-class endurance athletes (e.g., Bevan Docherty, Victor Plata, and Terri Schneider) have made their homes in this town. Contact the people at http://scendurance.com for weekly run info!

And every time I eat Korean stone pot（bibimbap or 石锅 in Taiwan, http://youknowwhereyouare.com/bibimbap%E2%80%94korean-stone-pot-rice/), Okonomiyaki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okonomiyaki), a fresh tarte aux fraises, moeulleux chocolat, cassis sorbet or, well, any French pastry or dessert, are all amazing experiences.

Teach, Learn, Share

I dabble in a little bit of everything and like to learn and try new things all the time. However, I am particularly good at sports and endurance activities, history and history-related stuff (writing/reading/discussing), figuring out directions/how to get somewhere (la navigatrice!) and some computer nerd things (like websites/web development, random unix commands).

I can help you with English, French, or Chinese, but I'm worthless auf Deutsch at the moment.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, France, Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan, United States

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