CURRENT MISSION

To become a philosopher (of some sort).

ABOUT ME

I'm a nerd and an eternal student: I love learning, books, and stimulating conversation. I want to travel and meet people ... and that's why I'm here. I graduated from the University of Michigan, spent some time teaching English outside of Lille, worked at a food cart in Ann Arbor, spent a few months in Sevilla, and now work as a software engineer in Seattle.

I enjoy cooking and eating food. I'm vegan. I love beer so much that I started to brew it myself. I run a lot. I want to learn how to play soccer (football) well. I'm an introvert (INTJ, to be specific) who prefers small groups and quiet evenings with a book to raucous parties. I spend a lot of time at my computer reading or coding.

That's all well and good, but who am I? Well, I grew up in my parents' small businesses (restaurants, to be exact*). I know and appreciate the value of hard work, and what I've done in "real" jobs since graduating college doesn't count. Related to that experience, I'm clean, neat, quiet, and respectful. I also hold doors for everyone, which sometimes makes me an inadvertent doorman. I'm particular about how things work in my own living space, so I extend that courtesy to others when they welcome me into their home. As an American Midwesterner, I value conciseness, while my sense of humor leans towards irony and understatement. While I love working with technology, my true dream (aside from becoming a travel writer) is to open a sandwich stall. Everyone loves a good, cheap sandwich.

PHILOSOPHY

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
--Cicero

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've surfed a lot and hosted a few times.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have had tremendous experiences with CouchSurfing. As I was making my way around Europe for the first time last year, my CS hosts truly saved me. I'm a good, smart, independent traveler, but having a warm and friendly host makes all the difference in exploring a new place.

Interests

life, beer, food, coffee, running, urbanism, technology, philosophy, literature, politics, organization, Michigan sports

• writing
• books
• literature
• dining
• cooking
• beer
• coffee
• vegetarian
• vegan
• running
• partying
• gardening
• politics
• technology
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• coding
• sports
• soccer
• business
• languages
• philosophy

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Pixies, Modest Mouse, The Mountain Goats, Fleet Foxes, Matt and Kim

Movies: Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Bullets over Broadway, Les quatre cents coups, Tirez sur le pianiste, Howl's Moving Castle, The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Books: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Tender is the Night, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Double, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, War and Peace, anything by Douglas Coupland, Infinite Jest

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I truly made my trip to Japan my own, by venturing up to Hokkaido and taking the train out to Niseko for some late-season snowboarding.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach English, everything Michigan (euchre!), analytic philosophy, how to cook vegan food, and my ad hoc pseudo-scientific explanations for everyday phenomena. I hope to learn languages (currently French again, with German/Dutch/Swedish as my next project) and about your experiences in countries I want to visit (the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe). I want to share anything intriguing that I can offer.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, United States

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