CURRENT MISSION

Staying and living at the present moment!

ABOUT ME

Annyonghaseyo(Hello!). My name is Min Jung Cecilia Hong and I live in Korea. I love traveling and being exposed to different cultures and people. I am a quite slow traveller and prefer to stay and spend enough time in one place and mingle with local people. I am a nature-lover and love camping and hiking... I am more a mountain person than a beach person. Maybe that's why my friends tell me that I have green vibes.

I am a school teacher working for a middle school in Korea. I love working for and being around with children and teenagers. I am an open and curious person and a life-long learner. My interests are broad and I like to absorb new things. I believe that all the people I meet, all the experience I go through, all the scenery I see, all the books I read, all the music I listen to, and all the moments of my life build up who I am and nourish my students. I am very lucky to have met so many beautiful people, through Couch surfing and traveling, who heal, teach, grow, and inspire me a lot. Traveling and meeting genuine people have been the best school and the best teacher to me. They made me have a faith and depend on the goodness of humanity.

PHILOSOPHY

Open heart, open mind

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I cherish and support the Idea of Couchsurfing!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My couchsurfing in Sri lanka was the best and most memorable couchsufing experience for me. I stayed in 4 houses of couchsurfers in a row for 2 months. They welcomed me and treated me like their own family. I learned true friendship and uncounditional sharing thanks to them.

Interests

people, Nature, life

• books
• traveling
• music
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• teaching
• volunteering
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies : The mission, Kun dun, Cinema Paradise, Life of Pi, Avatar, 7 years in Tibet, Love letter, Black, Forest Gump, Into the wild, Once, Notting Hill, Truman Show, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, City of Joy, the way home, eight below. Dead Poet’s Society, Life is beautiful, Where is the firend’s home, Buetterfly toungue ...too many!

Music: I love music, listening to a wide variety of genres from different cultures and countries. My favorite artists are Ennio Morricone, Kings of Convenience, X-japan.
Books: I also love reading books but mostly written by Korean authors. Some of my favorite foreign authors are Kalil Jibran,Paulo Coelho, Saint Exupery, Helen nearing, Leo Buscaglia..

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Staying and studying in buddhist monasteries for 5 months in India and Nepal.
Trekking to Annapurna Basecamp and half Annapurna Circuit in Nepal.
Attending Dharma talk of Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India.
Staying in Sadhana Forest and planting trees and hopes in a barren area in India.
Building houses for Tsunami victims in Sri lanka and Katrina victims in New Orleans.
Working with Nevada conservation corps and making trails in Lake Tahoe in the US.
Taking a cross-country camping trip for 4 months in the US.
Taking vipassana course and staying in complete silence for a month.
Volunteering for Sri lankan NGO Sarvodaya and working for orphanage and peace workshops for teenagers.
Teaching at one beautiful kindergarten in India.
Volunteering for a Tibetan Monastery and making Tibetan Buddhist scripts and books.
Working for organic farms in India and in the US.
Meeting the King of Brunei and his royal family.
Taking a road trip with Filipino artists and staying with an indigenous artistic tribe in a remote forest of Mindanao island.
Skydiving in Sydney.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Estonia, Finland, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

India, South Korea, United States