Born and raised in Reno, NV USA, I was educated at the University of Nevada, Reno, and spent my semester abroad at the Universidad del País Vasco, San Sebastián, Spain. After graduation I spent two years in Seattle, WA, followed by five years in South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea (the good Korea). I'm currently travelling with my partner, Inna, on a mini-retirement between jobs.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm looking to meet interesting, intelligent, and mature fellow travellers, autodidacts, and students of the world--especially anyone with experience as a writer/editor, digital nomad, or location-independent entrepreneur. If this sounds like you, if you prefer free thinkers to free spirits and the open-minded to the empty-headed (and laugh when you recall the difference) then we'll get along swimmingly.

Interests

Because my interests range far and wide, it's easier to list the topics in which I have no interest at all (or towards which I'm actively hostile). They are:
team sports (viewing or playing),
dogmatic, ego-driven debates on sports nutrition and weight-training programs,
country-western music,
celebrity gossip,
comic book or manga series,
the healing properties of crystals,
your personal relationship with the Lord.

• writing
• books
• cooking
• recipes
• team sports
• traveling
• music
• sports
• entrepreneurship
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Classical music: Beethoven's 9th, 6th, 5th, and 3rd. Wagner. Brahms's Akademische Festouvertüre, and the Singspiel operas of Mozart. For popular music, I like classical rock (The Beatles, The Doors, The Rolling Stones) the Grunge era (Nirvana, Mudhoney The Fastbacks, Flop), and certain nostalgic-eclectic hits of the eighties, nineties, and noughts (The Pogues, Elton John, Billy Joel, Green Day, Bastille, of Monsters and Men). This is not a comprehensive list.

Favorite Books:
House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski (the only book to genuinely terrify me);
A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway;
Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond;
The Red Queen, by Matt Ridley;
Letters to a Young Contrarian, by Christopher Hitchens;
The Moral Landscape, by Sam Harris

Favorite Movies:
Amadeus;
Dr. Strangelove;
The Big Lebowski;
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas;
Casablanca

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I recently crawled through the tunnels of Cu Chi, a network of tunnels just north of Saigon where the Viet Cong lived and fought from underground during the Second Indochina War.

Teach, Learn, Share

English speaking and writing, cooking methods and recipes (see below).

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'm happy to share home-cooked mediterranean dishes (my favorite dishes come from French, Italian, and Levantine traditions), as well as conversation in any of the languages I know or am studying, and English language instruction, especially in creative or academic writing, in which I am a specialist.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Laos, Myanmar, Netherlands, North Korea, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

South Korea, Spain, Thailand, United States