CURRENT MISSION

To poke life with a big stick and watch it jiggle.

ABOUT ME

I'm a freelancer writer, Chinese-English translator, and editor. As you might have guessed I like to write! And also play violin, and if I can figure out a way to do that at the same time (and in Chinese, because why not) then my life is set.

PHILOSOPHY

It's a small world, after all. (Just kidding, but if I got that song stuck in your head let's still be friends, okay?)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've been hosted, and look forward to hosting sometime in the future. I love to make new friends and to share stories, and this is the perfect venue for it. I heard about it from a friend I met in the middle of nowhere, Inner Mongolia, and with whom I ended up hitchhiking over 2000 km to Hohhot.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have been hosted a couple times. We all left with smiles and stories, so they were good experiences.

Interests

I love to write, read, travel, play violin, dance, and learn Chinese when I can. When I was a kid, my dream job was to be an ice-cream taste-tester, though when my mom told me that I'd have to eat gross flavors as well, I decided to think more realistically. Who knows? Someday I might get a big break in the ice cream world...

• literature
• dancing
• boating
• traveling
• violin
• cycling
• hitchhiking

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Anything with the Muppets, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the Princess Bride, MST3K, Stranger than Fiction

Books: Lincoln in the Bardo, Freshwater, The Stormlight Archive, The Hundred-Year Old Man Who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Princess Bride (this list usually changes, as it should!)

TV: Succession, Bojack Horseman, Fargo, Westworld, Dr. Who, Scrubs, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Cowboy Bebop, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I once successfully rode my bike to work in a pencil skirt without shaming myself.

But, in all seriousness, I have a lot of fun travel stories, mostly from China. If you meet up with me, I'll be happy to share them!

Teach, Learn, Share

My one useless life fact: If you squeeze an egg, it won't break. Trust me. I have proven countless people of this fact.

But if you'd rather not try, here are some good tongue twisters instead:

Say "red leather yellow leather" 10 times fast.
Say "rubber baby buggy bumper" 10 times fast.
Say "Unique New York" 20 times fast.
Say "Toy boat" 20 times fast. (If you have trouble with this one, you may be mistaken for being a Minnesotan like me).

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share stories, pictures from places I've been, and also some Chinese tea from Hangzhou (龙井茶) if you're interested.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bahamas, Cambodia, England, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, North Korea, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, United States