Hi, I am an exchange student from France at UIUC, Champaign for a semester. I am Chinese from Canton but I spent the last two and half years in Paris, doing my master's degree. I take this StudyAbroad opportunity to explore the States, it's my first time in the US!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I would like to try another way of traveling. I have traveled alone, with families, friends or lovers but I have never had the courage to try it out with strangers. Fortunately, the time has finally come. I would like to add something meaningful and more adventurous to my trip, maybe not perfectly scheduled, with no attractions on the list but to know about new people, to visit shops only known by locals, to listen to stories, to share experiences and precious time together.

Interests

• photography
• coffee
• movies
• bouldering
• music
• jazz
• piano
• climbing
• drama

Music, Movies, and Books

Movie Representatives: Les Contes des 4 Saisons (Eric Rohmer), Dans La Maison (French), Chungking Express (Cantonese), Red Chill (Japanese), Before Sunset (American)
Musicians: Leonard Cohen, Carla Bruni, Faye Wong, Denise Ho, Eminem, recently I kind of became interested in electronica as well
Books: A BIG fan of Harry Potter if it counts...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Traveling.
The first time I went on travel alone was at the age of 15, after graduation from middle high school, it started.
At the age of 19 and 25, I went on Help Exchange twice, the first time with a friend in Thailand and the second time I met a friend in Norway. And many times self-guided tours since I hate following tour groups.
The big trip I went on was to go to France to study and go on an exchange in the US, the trip hasn't ended yet till today.
During traveling, I've met different people, some passed, some stayed, and I treasure both the memories and friendships I got.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you some French tho I am not a native speaker but I got a good accent. ;)
I can teach you some Chinese and some simple Chinese dishes as well, I would love to cook together since I like cooking and baking.

I'd like to learn about something I don't know, just naturally curious about everything.

I can share you a playlist of classical French songs! Italian and Chinese ones too!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share with you my cross-cultural experiences and my reflections on them since I am generally interested in topics about cultures and human relationships but I can easily be on other topics as well. Let's see how it goes! :D

Countries I’ve Visited

Denmark, France, Japan, Malaysia, Monaco, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, France, United States