CURRENT MISSION

To keep learning from the people of the world and the world itself

ABOUT ME

My family are from Hong Kong, but I was born in Scotland and lived there most of my life. During my University years, I was getting edgy and knew I wanted to live and explore other countries and cities. I spent a lot of summers travelling working in the US, but after visiting China, Japan and Taiwan, decided that Asia is where I prefer to be located. I have found my base in Japan, and love living here. From Japan, I travel when I can around Asia: sometimes with friends, sometimes on my own. I also love the snow and snowboarding and there isnt a better place to be in Asia for that!

PHILOSOPHY

life is for living. dont waste it. embrace it.

but be considerate :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Nov 2011: am new to this. having being introduced by a friend, I am interested to learn more and to meet new people. After working for the past 8 years, I have taken the step to take 3 months out to travel around asia so I hope that CS will be a great place to find and meet people who will be living in the places I plan to visit.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

So far, I met one friend who i hadnt seen since high school. He is a CS veteran and has been travelling for years! After hearing his stories of his travels and for vouching that CS is a safe place to find genuinely kind people who are willing to put you up in their home for a night, I thought that this is a great way to really learn about a culture (through meeting people during your travels).

As a beginner, I am starting with my first quick trip to Laos and China

Interests

depends on the season.

When it is winter, all i think about is snowboarding. i spend almost every weekend in the mountains with my backback, avalanche equipment and a few crazy friends as we look for the best places to snowboard in deep snow in japan.

The rest of the time I travel. Short trips here and there. Whenever I have time away from work, I will try and visit countries around the region.

• culture
• traveling
• socializing
• snowboarding
• teaching
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

movies: it has to be a really bad movie for me to not like it. I am easily entertained

music: dont make me choose. it isnt fair!

books: anything from Haruki Murakami, travel biographies, Blindness.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

quit a great job to move to Japan. Never regretted it. Love it here!

not to be too cheesy, but everyday amazing things happen all around. ok, that is cheesy.

one example of something truly amazing is the Japanese level of stoicism post tsunami/quake in march this year. It was a truly, truly, humbling experience.

Teach, Learn, Share

If you visit Tokyo, i can share experiences here and things to look out for.

I wouldnt say I am a great teacher of things, but if you are willing to listen, I am happy to spout whatever comes out at the time. When a student, a long time ago, I taught kindergarten kids in taiwan english. That worked out well, as I think my intelligence level was just about that range at the time. almost 10 years on and I might have a few more things to say, but that would be up to you to be the judge of.

Countries I’ve Visited

China, France, Mexico, Netherlands, Switzerland, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, United Kingdom, United States