Hello!

My name is Daniel from Toronto, Canada, currently living in Taipei, Taiwan. I have been in Taipei teaching English since the end of March 2016 and plan on staying here for the next three years. During this time, I have been and will be very busy in my free time practising my Mandarin language skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening), working on my personal character/development, practising Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, and whatever practical and exciting skill that I will come across during my time here!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am an avid traveller, and have been to a fair amount of countries all over the world. In 2015 I backpacked around Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, then East Asia - Hong Kong and Taiwan) for three months and for someone who was looking to build up his confidence and self-esteem, this trip was a cornerstone of my awakening; I'm a much livelier and open person because of the many opportunities I've had to travel the world :).

Interests

• live music
• learning languages
• personal development
• heavy metal
• brazilian jiujitsu
• local food
• healthy food
• mental health
• american sign language
• mixed martial arts

Music, Movies, and Books

Favorite Music: Heavy Metal (like most people, I have had experience dealing with toxic friendships/relationships but heavy metal has been a way for me to express my feelings so I can vent regularly and stay grounded in my emotions. My favorite metal bands are Slipknot and Lamb of God xD.) I am a big fan of live music, especially hip-hop (Nas, Dilated Peoples, De La Soul), and jazz.

Favorite Movies: Pretty much anything Scorsese (Casino, Goodfellas, Taxi Driver), Hitchcock (Vertigo, Rear Window, Birds, Psycho), Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds, Jackie Brown), Spike Lee (Do The Right Thing, Clockers, Mo' Better Blues).

Favorite Books: When I Say No, I Feel Guilty (Manuel J. Smith), Guerrilla Marketing (Jay Conrad Levinson), The Power of Now (Eckhart E. Tolle), The Definitive Book of Body Language (Barbara & Allan Pease), The Dark Side of the Light Chasers (Debbie Ford), I Need Your Love -- Is That True? (Byron Katie), and many more...:D

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One amazing thing that I did was stand up for one of my students who was being bullied by another student. It was a small gesture, but I am very proud of myself because of what I overcame and how I have grown:

As someone who experienced psychological abuse from a close family member for over 23 years, I was so psychologically numb that I never felt like I had a voice or the power to stop others from being abused...so I didn't out of fear of a violent retaliation from my abuser , and it always killed me inside to remain passive. However, after I put in a loooooottt of time and effort to get myself out of that toxic environment and clear out a lot of the mental fog to reclaim my identity (seeing a therapist, reading many, many, many books on personal development/psychology/self-help), I re-discovered my assertive voice that had been buried under the decades of soul-shattering clutter from my abuser that I didn't know how to defend against.

Thus, as soon as the bully was giving the other student a hard time to derive pleasure out of someone else's discomfort/suffering, I made it verrrrrry clear that I would not tolerate that crap in my classroom, and that I would stand strong against his weak attempts at excuses, no matter how many times or how hard he would try to deny it. The bully no longer tries that crap around me, as he knows that I am not afraid to call him out on his crap. Other students are now more confident in calling him out too, and I'm very proud that I have been able to help these students find their assertive voices as well. :)

Teach, Learn, Share

My teaching and learning philosophy is this: Never stop learning; even if you come across a situation that may be familiar or seem to simple, often times I find myself surprised at how I can make small adjustments to refine my techniques or approaches to make my experience not only better for myself, but for those around me as well.

This is in line with my current work-in-progress of eliminating my ego to be more in line with the reality of whatever situation I am facing. A great catalyst for this and form of physical activity packed in one is Brazilian Jiujitsu, which has definitely made me appreciate the age-old saying, "Never judge a book by its cover." (for four months straight, another practitioner who is almost 20 years older than me keeps putting me in what could be life-or-death situations, if he was the wrong person, and it helps me appreciate the reality of my situation and shed a small part of my ego each time.)

Of course, I still make a lot of emotional and judgemental errors and recognize that my learning is life-long, but the most important thing above all is to stay on track, and always go back to my centre whenever I lose presence.

What I Can Share with Hosts

More of what I mentioned above. I can also share what I am interested in about others: what I have learned about different cultures growing up in a multicultural country, their life perspectives and philosophies, food, languages, daily habits, and whatever else they embody as representatives of their true selves.

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Taiwan