TLTR: (haha...)
- Name: An, Vietnamese (Hanoi), studying in Japan (Beppu), currently on exchange semester in Austria (Salzburg)
- ambivert, openminded, active-learner, listener, explorer, animal lover
- ...weirdo, but not a freak?
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Hello there, my full name is Pham Thuy An, but you can just call me An, A-N, the easiest to remember kind of name in the world I bet! And always try to be the person who is the most difficult to forget (in a good way) :D
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I am an enthusiastic Vietnamese girl who is always eager to go, travel and to explore the world around me. I was born in Hanoi, Vietnam, and spend 19 years of my life traveling with my family to places around my country, and I had not gone abroad until when I turned 19 years old and started studying abroad in Japan since 2016
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I am currently an undergraduate student in Culture, Society and Media specialization, College of Asia Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU), Beppu, Oita, Japan.
At the same time, from February 2019 to July 14th, 2019, I will be participating in a one-semester exchange program at Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, Salzburg, Austria. My major here is Graphic Design, MultiMediaArt, but seriously, little experience and little clue about my future path but who cares, my life has already been full of spontaneities anyway haha :D (okay my parents do but well...)
PS: Just meet me and hang out xD I would love to share stories of my perfect spontaneous life haha
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I am also, an ambivert. I can be really energetic and full of passion to make friends and interact with new people and face new challenges, but sometimes I can become extremely quiet and dull, only for the purpose to refresh and recharge my self-energy :D However, once I have decided a clear and transparent goal and target, I would go for it, work my heart out and endeavor to achieve those aims with all my forces xD The same goes to my traveling hobby. I am always passionate and ready to explore when I start my trip and always try to enjoy it until the very end with the people surrounding me.
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Up until now, I have been to two-third parts of Vietnam (from North Pole of Việt Nam - Lũng Cú, Hà Giang, to the Middle - Quy Nhơn, and Phú Quốc Island), small part of Japan (Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Miyazaki, Okayama, Kobe, Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, Yokohama, Tokyo), and now, in Salzburg, Austria.
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IMPORTANT NOTES:
Yes, so far, I have not hosted anyone, not because I am a selfish receiver; _;
but because I am still a student living on a budget and my accommodations in Vietnam, Japan or in Austria, cannot enable me to be a host.
I am still open up to any request to be an accompany or to meet up and show you around the place where I live. That is my ultimate dream to get my own personal accommodation with full facilities that I can be a host some day. I hope that any traveller that come across my profile will understand my problem, and please still feel free to send me a message to meet up or if you find any problem when travelling around my area. We can go have coffee or enjoy a sandwich by the river. Every chance of meeting new people I want to utilize xD
As a saying in Ghibli xD “Once you’ve met someone you never really forget them.” Let's make memories in every step we go!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

"I want to meet new friends in the most spontaneous ways"
Hmm that was what I wrote when I started my Couchsurfing 3 years ago, with the only purpose to have a free shelter during my trip. Surprisingly, there were still kind-hearted angels that accepted my half-ass profile and poorly written introduction and request at that time and open their doors and take really good care of me. I would never be thankful enough for having been taken in by them.
Not so long later, I read an inspiring blog by Bren about the spirit of Couchsurfing (you can find the blog here: https://brenontheroad.com/couchsurfing-101/), which has once again completely changed my attitude and my actions towards this welcoming community. I want to be a part of it and to give away, not only to receive. And I want to help travelers like me as much as possible.

Interests

Innovative technology and scientific things

• arts
• culture
• modern art
• music
• guitar
• cultural studies
• sociology
• culture exchange
• philosophical conversations
• culture sharing

Music, Movies, and Books

OMG I am always excited to talk about my music life and my musical inspiration. Seriously, I think I, personally, cannot live without music. And to me, the music I listen to, always show some parts about me, my life, or my current state.
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I believe that either that I have a very wide range of music, or that I have a mainstream taste in music that I can pick up some favourite song and favourite artist of mine in each genre :D
My first jamming tunes are those of MIKA, The Beatles (thanks to my dad), James Blunt, Coldplay, One Republic, Westlife. I played a little guitar when small so I also listen to guitar performers like GONTITI.
Then, I started to listen more to various artists with various genres, from those like Maroon 5, Adele, Lily Allen, Kodaline,...; bands like Arctic Monkeys and The Strypes; to artists in EDM world like Madeon, Avicii, Disclosure, Flume...; also artists like Ta-ku, FKJ, Honne, Lauv and Johnny Balik.
I love listening to jazz and blues tracks, although I do not have a specific favourite artist or performers, I really enjoy listening to them and my favourite habit is enjoying a lovely rainy evening in a jazz coffee shop.
Since the day I came to Japan, (or even before that), I started listening to Japanese songs as well. Wagakki Band is the main reason that encourages me deeply to go to Japan. Some of my other favourite Japanese artists include Kenshi Yonezu, Yorushika, Minami, Aimiyon, KANABOON,
Recently, I am mostly listening to lo-fi music, sometimes trap (it activates my mood :D) and also still jazz mix (because it helps me focus). Some of my recommendations would be:
> https://soundcloud.com/teaknot/sets/take-this-dance-with-me
> https://soundcloud.com/teaknot/sets/take-a-rest
> https://soundcloud.com/teaknot/sets/dont-you-want-to-crash
> https://soundcloud.com/teaknot/sets/here-stands-me
> https://soundcloud.com/teaknot/sets/chill-out
Haha :D or simply just ask me randomly for a recommendation (even if we do not know each other). It is my pleasure xD and I would love to listen to your recommendation as well :D
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I love movies! But I have never thought through about a specific genre I like.
I enjoy watching
- Nolan's films,
- horror movies (recent ones like A quiet place or Get out are absolutely good ones!)
- series (Brooklyn 99 is my current replayed :D, I plan to watch the classic Friends too) (I know... I know it is unacceptable not to have watched those two but... I know once I start watching I will not be able to do anything so haiz I need a long vacation to watch them only, yet whenever I am on break you see me travelling so :D can't help haha)
- Dorky hilarious relaxing ones like You Again, When in Rome, We are the Millers, White Chicks (classic!)
- Ghibli movies! (Again, I have not watched lots of them, only classic ones like Spirited Away or Princess Momonoke... but I will! ; -;)
- Pixar movies!
- Movies like Forrest Gump.
Ahhhh too many things to watch... Any recommendation? Please feel free to tell me :D
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I do not read much... at least not when I grew up. I still read but do not find it attractive as when I was small anymore.
When I was small, I love reading fairy tales and adventurous fictions and novels like Harry Porter (not really a Potterhead, but I am Gryffindor every time I took the test haha); 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Treasures Islands, and Tobie Lonness (MY FAVORITE OF ALL TIME!)
Now all I read was research papers, academic books, and journals that might be related to my bachelor thesis topic haha... Yet! I believe that I still enjoy reading adventurous novels if I got recommended anything!!! It is only the same case as with movie... I really need a long vacation for reading only... Still! Let's talk about our stories instead!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Travel alone from Fukuoka to Tokyo with Seishun 18 Ticket.
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TLTR: (still, this will be long) (My background story is below in case you want to read the full stories, or else you can just read this part :D and I will tell you the whole story by myself if we ever meet each other)
Full story:
It was one of the first spontaneous trips of my life. My friends broke our promises one day before the trip and canceled our plan while they were responsible for all the accommodations during our trip. I was shocked, frustrated, and nervous. My life, at that time, had been depending on others' decisions and affairs too many times. Except for the time I decided to go to Japan, I sat the entrance exam to all my schools according to my parents' wills, I joined a club because my friends did, and many other things.
That night, I went to the station, bought the Seishun 18 ticket (you can search for more information on the Internet, or ask for my advice when you use that during your travel in Japan), packed my luggage for 10 days, and called out my penpals across Japan (Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and my host family in Kyoto).
A very exhausting trip if we talk about the pressure of changing and transferring trains and staying in my friends' house (most of them are working people cramming in small apartment so I felt really guilty to disturb them in the New Year Eve, but in the end, they are all warmly welcoming and kind-hearted people so they took good care of me). And the playful part, since I was not able to go to many attractions or explore a lot.
BUUUUT! It was really enjoying to me overall, got to meet all the people I have long not talked to, shared my stories with them, had them show me unseen parts and features of Japan, and lots of hugs and love shared that I would never forget.
To me, that trip was the most memorable trip so far.

Teach, Learn, Share

Hmmm I am never confident with my limited knowledge so I usually only an active and passionate learner :D
I prefer the word "Share", I would love to share with you my philosophical thinking and discuss with you about sociology topics. I can share with you my knowledge and experience of living in Vietnam and Japan, and, actually, I can teach you some Vietnamese and Japanese if you want to learn xD and, also, if you are my host and there happens to be an Asian market with enough ingredients, I would love to make you guys some Vietnamese dishes (the Northern version haha, like Pho, Banh Mi, Bun Cha, or Bun Thang). If you come to Vietnam or Japan one day, I would love to cook for you then too xD (Unfortunately, my accommodation in Austria now does not enable me to become a host :'( and my limited package also does not allow me to bring any ingredients from my country here...)
I would love to learn anything :D Philosophy, history, new language, local accent, cooking method, how to play a new instrument, a new cultural tradition or custom. “Учиться, учиться и еще раз учиться” (Literally: to learn, to learn, and to learn again.) (I do not know Russian but that saying is really famous in my country xD)

What I Can Share with Hosts

As I have mentioned above, I can share with you my stories and experiences of living in Japan and Vietnam, my thoughts and my perspective in our discussion in most of the topics that we might randomly come across (except for politics...). It is not like I am not interested in it, I really do love listening to debates over world's current issues, but due to my lack of knowledge in this field, I feel intimidated when being asked for opinions. Yet, if you want I can still listen to your talk and speak out my thoughts though it will sound quite childish and shallow haha. However, still, I go to learn and I hope one day I might be more confident about these talks xD
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I can also cook you some traditional dishes from Vietnam, Japan, or even China (as long as I have access to a local Asian market at your place since I was not unable to bring any with me). I am not that confident with my cooking, but I am practicing every day. And I can still pull out several dishes without any the specific ingredients from my countries (they are not too popular, but they are more like local dishes from my area I suppose, like Vietnamese Sweet and Sour Shortribs, or Japanese Bentou).
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Anddd, a special bonus haha. I am a secret songwriter as well xD I only have one or two completed songs, most of what I wrote are short melodies with lyrics (in Vietnamese or English) and all of them are about my lives and people around me. If you want, I would love to sing it to you, tell you the stories about it. It is my pleasure, and I hope you might enjoy and understands the feelings they bring too xD.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, Japan, Viet Nam