I am from the United States and went to college in Greenville, South Carolina. I traveled to three countries in southern Africa during college. After graduating I lived in Japan for three years, teaching English and studying Japanese at the same time. I enjoy language, getting to learn and communicate with people from various places. I play some instruments and love to go hiking whenever there's a good opportunity. I'm looking forward to learning more about lots of places, in particular the people and culture.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm interested in meeting people from all over, hearing about their personal experiences about their country and where they've been. I'd love to share some fun times eating local food, sharing a beer (or any other kind of alcohol), hiking or just taking a walk through a local area. I'm heading to Medellin in about a week and want to learn a lot about the city from people living there. I am hoping to actually work there for a while as well to get the most out of my time.

Interests

• cooking
• exercise
• drinking
• politics
• movies
• reading
• music
• piano
• hiking
• soccer
• language exchange
• cafe

Music, Movies, and Books

I'm interested in nearly all styles of music, especially stuff that's progressive or has a lot of layers to it. I find myself listening to euro pop and lots of indie pop artists these days like Ladyhawke, Beach House, Imogen Heap, etc.
Love all types of rock music, film scores, video game soundtracks, jazz, classical, and occasionally hip-hop and rap.

Huge film nerd who has watched a variety of films from all over the world, including Japanese, Korean, Mexican, and French cinema (and a few others). Love most of Christopher Nolan's films, especially Inception, the first two Batmans and the Prestige. Loved Birdman and some of the other stuff from Inarritu. I really loved a few Korean films I saw a while back including I Saw the Devil, The Man From Nowhere, and of course Old Boy. A few films that I have seen lately and absolutely loved were: Get Out, Logan, Baby Driver, Lost City of Z, Spiderman, Frank, Okja, and some others that I can't remember.

Enjoy reading books of all kinds but often find myself drifting back to social psychology, politics and the occasional historical read.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I went diving with great white sharks off the coast of Cape Town.
Walked 10 kilometers from Yokohama station to my home in Kawasaki (Japan) at 3 am after a party when the trains were stopped.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'd be grateful to learn any language from the people I stay with in other countries. I'm particularly excited to learn Spanish and all of the interesting differences between local dialects.

I can teach English, Japanese and sometimes cultural or political bits that people may be interested in hearing.

If anybody loves playing music or just discussing different types of music, I'm always willing to participate.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Hopefully I can share my experiences of living in another country, language and my knowledge of things in the U.S. and in other countries. In addition I am easy going so it will be easy to show me a good time. I'm open to a variety of experiences and have no problem going with the flow.

Countries I’ve Visited

Botswana, Japan, Namibia, South Africa

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan