CURRENT MISSION

Planning my "gap" year to travel around Europe & US.

ABOUT ME

Hello Couch surfers/hosts~

I'm Shirley from Taiwan and have been staying in Perth, Western Australia since 2006. Ive been working full time as an organiser in the union. Fighting for workers' right and conditions!!! (But I'm definitely a peace lover. :P)

Now I'm taking one year off from work to go back home (Taiwan) and travel around Europe & US (hopefully some Asian countries as well) I'd like to couch surf and meet local people more, to experience different volunteer jobs and to see and feel the beauty of the world.

Update: I'm travelling around Europe during March 19th to May 14th. You can find where I am by checking my public trips :)

Overall I'll say I'm pretty easygoing, friendly and open-minded. I may be a bit quiet sometimes but very often talkative.^^" Some friends say I'm curious about EVERYTHING. Well, I kinda am. I love to listen to your stories and ideas.

As a traveller, I'm not a full on traveller wanting to have full schedules all the time. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to go anywhere my host and local friends would like to show me. And I always prefer to spend time with my hosts exploring the places. I just can't do early days and late nights every single day. I don't have the desire to go every corner of the cities I visit but take my pace to walk around and feel the life. I hope you won't feel offended by that. 😁 I like to grab some drinks but not crazy parties anymore. So as much as I'd appreciate some meet up msgs for parties/clubbing, sorry I don't think I'll go.

I love cooking and proudly to say I'm pretty okay with it. I will be more than happy to cook for my hosts to share the taste of Taiwan (maybe with a little bit Aussie twist ;) ). I used to be a babysitter, a teacher, a book editor and a training officer so if there's anything relevant I can offer to the hosts, feel free to ask. :)

Most of all, I'm being part of couchsurfing community because I sincerely want to know and meet people around the world and develop true friendships. If you're a likeminded person, please don't hesitate to msg me. 😄

PHILOSOPHY

Sapias, vina liques et spatio brevi spem longam reseces. dum loquimur, fugerit invida aetas: carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I love this site giving us chance to meet new people, share different culture and develop friendship. So for those who's not being respectful and treating host only as a free accommodation provider, sorry you won't be welcome in my house.

I do appreciate people take your reference more seriously rather than disappear after you get the "free" accommodation. Please do not abuse this beautiful idea of sharing.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've met a lot of great people who I can have great conversations with and have fun with. We went to the wineries, the parks, the bars and restaurants, and wherever fun. we hanged out at home for food and drinks and fascinating conversations. We enjoyed music and movies and shared stories and values. We joined the parties and meet more people. Even when I was not hosting them (or hosted), we still caught up every now and then. We developed friendship and became lifetime friends.

However, I've also met some who seemed to just come for free accommodation and free food without making an effort to develop friendship. Some left a mess and didn't even wash their own dishes and glasses after meals. Some just went out with "their friends" and came home late expecting you'd just be awake and waiting for them no matter how. Some just showed no interests in anything when you showed them around when they said in the request that the purpose for them to couch surf is to learn the local culture. Some asked for wifi password and only focused on their computer without having any good conversations. Some seemed to be keen to know people but girls only and tried any possible way to sleep with them. Some seemed to be nice but didn't bother to leave any reference afterwards. And sorry but NO, I don't appreciate those behaviours at all. :)

Interests

Pretty much all kinds of activities...

• culture
• books
• beauty
• dining
• cooking
• partying
• drinking
• clubbing
• movies
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• surfing
• teaching
• volunteering
• parks

Music, Movies, and Books

Comedy and Animation
I like to read children books somehow. ^_^

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Everything has its amazing part. = )

Teach, Learn, Share

You can copy and paste exactly the same thing for million times but you can't copy the sense of connection for as many. Spend more time to know people you're hosting or surfing before you request or accept. Never take people's kindness for granted!! :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Taiwan

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