CURRENT MISSION

explore the planet on foot and public transportation

ABOUT ME

I picked up the travel bug in 2003 when I took a solo road trip from Kansas City to San Franscisco, and since then have taken 1-2 big multi-city excursions per year. Basically, I'm just fascinated with this here planet we live on, and want to see as much as I can before I get old. A Midwesterner at heart, I feel most at home in a cosmopolitan, heterogeneous, urban metropolis, so Chicago has been my home since 2007.

By day, I'm an Urban Sociology PhD student who also doubles as a professional Chinese medical interpreter, working in mostly hospitals, sometimes courts, and more recently an immigration detention center for minors. I spent 3.5 years living in China, and many of my personal and research interests are on the current changes happening as China modernizes including urbanization, industrialization, and family dynamics. If you've ever wanted to go to an authentic Chinese restaurant with somebody who can order all the good stuff not on the menu, then I'm your guy.

I like to cook, eat, travel, learn languages, explore city neighborhoods, watch/play sports, pass hours on Wikipedia, play mandolin, and discuss issues pertaining to sociology, anthropology, urban development, 80's pop music, the Simpsons, or the latest goofy clips on Youtube. If I could have dinner with any living celebrity it would be Jon Stewart. If I could have dinner with any deceased celebrity, it would be George Carlin. I love to nerd out about cities and neighborhoods, and will probably ask you a lot of random questions about the city you live in.

I'm a big proponent of public transportation, and usually try to do most of my travel via trains, subways, buses, on foot, and the occasional bicycle trip. I've always viewed the journey is half the fun. For 8 years now, I have been a proud car disowner, and have no intention of going back.

When surfing, I'm generally a very low maintenance guest. I wake up and hit the road early and come home late. It's always nice to have people show me around a bit, but I'm completely self-sufficient on my own as long as I have a place to crash. I like to have a good time, but rarely get so intoxicated I can't wake up the next morning and be on the go before 9 am.

**I believe in punctuality. If you tell me to meet you behind the fried chicken shack at 7:30, I will be waiting behind the fried chicken shack at 7:30, not leaving my house at 7:30 assuming you're running late too. In return, I would request the same courtesy (barring extenuating circumstances of course).**

英文中文都会说. 欢迎欢迎跟此位老外讲中文。

Je parle un peu français.

PHILOSOPHY

"It is safe to say that when anything shocks us, we do not understand it."

-Robert E. Park, 1925

Por qué estoy en Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Due to work and school, my participation in CS has been a limited of late. If I have time, I'd be glad to meet up for a drink, show you around Chicago a bit, or dispense travel advice. Need to get somewhere on the CTA? (that's Chicago's public transit system) I'd be glad to help you plan your route and figure out logistics in Chicago. I'm also very familiar with the city neighborhoods (which is the best part about Chicago!) so I'd be glad to give you some ideas for your trip.

I spend a lot of time studying in coffee houses around the city, so if you can catch me while I'm out, I'd be glad to meet up chat. Unfortunately, at the current time, my schedule is a little unpredictable, so I can't host.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Since I don't host a whole lot, I usually don't surf either. But I do like to use CouchSurfing for meeting interesting people when I travel, as well as connecting with interesting folks traveling through Chicago. I'm also a huge fan of COUCH CRASHES!

Intereses

I'm a total sucker for local history, and generally try to soak in as much as I can get when I travel. I've also spent several years of my life in China, so this is an interest as well. I'm a big sports fan, and like to catch random sporting events in far off places whenever I travel. I also enjoy street food, long train excursions, visiting weird places which see no tourists, coffee, tea, and interacting with people from cultures I'm unfamiliar with.

• dining
• cooking
• coffee
• running
• drinking
• traveling
• music
• surfing
• sports
• anthropology
• history
• languages
• sociology

Música, películas y libros

books: I read a lot of social science: urban sociology, anthropology, local history and the like.

music: Arcade Fire, Sigur Ros, Animal Collective, Royksopp, Cut Copy, LCD Soundsystem, Grateful Dead, Talking Heads, David Grisman Quintet, 80's Pop, Rocksteady, Elvis

Algo increíble que he hecho

I spent a month working 11-hour days as a hairwasher Fuzhou, China.

http://benross.net/wordpress/barbershop-project/

Enseña, aprende, comparte

Couchsurfing is not about meeting up with random strangers and getting a free night to sleep. It's about *connecting* with other people who share common interests, or some other aspect of their personality or experience which you share (or would like to share) as well. It's about finding a way to connect with real people who you wouldn't have the opportunity to meet otherwise.

Take some time to fill out your profile. Let me who you are and why you want to meet me, and I will do the same. I don't reply to people with blank profiles.

Países que he visitado

Canada, China, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Mongolia

Países en los que he vivido

China, United States

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