Native Angeleno who has been living in Shanghai for the past eight years. I love all that I can learn living in another part of the world and having friends flung across the globe.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

There's no better way to see a city than to stay with someone who knows it well. And then I can put that money towards other more fun parts of the travel budget.

Interests

I'm obsessed with food (cooking and eating) from all over the world. I like to run long distance and do destination races (half marathon is my current limit though). I'm an avid reader and enjoy talking about books over wine and dinner.

• books
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• wine
• marathon
• running
• traveling
• teaching
• language exchange

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: soul, 70s/80s punk, 90s alternative, new wave, ska, old-school hip hop, classic rock, doo-wop, old country, R&B...

Movies: It Happened One Night, Blade Runner, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Breathless, Bicycle Thief, Dune, John Hughes Movies, High Fidelity, Swingers, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Little Miss Sunshine, Taxi Driver, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Stop Making Sense, Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest...

Books: I majored in English Lit and still love reading everything from Beowulf to Murakami with soft spots for detective fiction, Jane Austen, Dorothy Parker, Albert Camus, Kurt Vonnegut, John Irving, Ernest Hemingway, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Charles Bukowski. I'm currently trying to work my way through "The Sound and the Fury."

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Half Marathon on the Great Wall of China

Teach, Learn, Share

I've been both an ESL and primary school teacher so willing to do language exchange or tutoring.

Would love to learn a bit of a language (for foreign travel) or hosts favorite recipes.

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, United States