Hi there! It's Francine, ( a boss once nicknamed me as "Sunshine girl":p ) from the Philippines. Been working and living in China as an English teacher for two years now and it has been great! I have a regular 8:00 - 5:00 pm teaching job ( I teach in a public primary school) which I love most of the time; and I get to travel on Chinese holidays, long winter and summer breaks. Life is good! :)

Coming from a developing country which is largely conservative, moving to China has opened my mind to so many things, places, and people that changed the way I look at life. I have experienced a lot of firsts here, met a lot of crazy but wonderful people, went through a really tough time with having no one but myself, made tons of amazing memories with awesome people and learned a lot about life in general.

Just like most people on CS, I love travel too! I enjoy the outdoors. Mountains and beaches make my heart sing! I'm definitely in my element when I am just outside going on an adventure. I have an unquenched thirst on the subject of trying new things as long as it doesn't have to do with eating roaches nor rats!

I recently got into photography, and basically still learning the ropes around it. I love taking pictures of people, moments and beautiful views. I think it's the best way to immortalize how you felt when you were in that moment. Always a nice feeling to look on a photo and feel that exact same thing when you were there at that exact same moment. :)

"The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun." - Into the wild

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Because life is about meeting people and the things you create with them :)

Interests

pole dancing, the beach, mountains, snorkeling, movies, music, photography, animals, art, hitch-hiking, couchsurfing, people, good talks, good food, good friends, good times, and good vibes

• animals
• culture
• books
• photography
• movies
• music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• backpacking
• scuba diving
• hitchhiking
• beaches
• mountains
• poledance

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSIC: Die Antwoord, Russ, Foo Fighters, Sade, Carpenters, Queen, Frank Sinatra, The Smashing Pumpkins, Marvin Gaye, Oasis, Beatles, Adele, The Police, Bruno Mars, Phoenix, John Mayer, Michael Jackson, Norah Jones, Jason Mraz, John Legend, Radiohead, 311, Bob Marley, Coldplay, Daft Punk, Deathcab for Cutie, Jack Johnson, Eric Clapton, Prince, Incubus, MGMT... oh the list goes on... I'm in to everything!

Movies: The Beach, Into the Wild, Back to the Future trilogy, Harry Potter, Blue is the Warmest Color, The Help, Trainspotting, Three Idiots, Miracle in Cell No. 7, Her, Eternal Sushine of the Spotless mind, Raging Bull, The Bucket List, Whiplash, Theory of Everything, Birdman, The Royal Tenenbaums, Lost in Translation

Books: Siddharta (Herman Hesse, The Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle), On the Road (Jack Kerouac), Essays in Love (Alain de Botton), First They Killed My Father (Loung Ung)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

learned how to pole dance in China;
gained a PADI Open Water Diver ID in Thailand;
rapelled a 300 meter bridge;
survived a night of storm on a 1,600+ MASL mountain;
conquered the third highest mountain in the Philippines while it was raining cats & dogs;
swam with the Whalesharks in Cebu;
swam with seaturtles in Dumaguete;
topload in Sagada & Pulag;
traveled alone in China with bad Mandarin;
hitchhiked in the middle of nowhere in Southern China during the Spring Festival

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach - I enjoy baking and cooking so I guess we could teach that if you have time to spare!
Learn - Basically anything, from the most trivial to some life changing stuff.
Share - Experiences about basically anything or everything under the sun!

What I Can Share with Hosts

help around the house, beers, hugs, and laughter

Countries I’ve Visited

China, Hong Kong, Macao, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Philippines