I'm a recent music conservatory grad, working as a professional violinist. I'm a newlywed, although currently doing long-distance (my upstate NY to his NYC) with my husband while I'm in school.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Trying to save money while traveling, as well as meeting new and interesting people.

Interests

When I'm not spending my time practicing violin, taking lessons, in rehearsal or at a performance, I love to cook. I especially love Korean, Indian and Turkish cuisine, and enjoy learning new recipes from around the world. One of my favorite games is trying to recreate an especially tasty dish I've eaten at a restaurant. I also love going to gourmet or specialty grocery stores in New York City and just wandering around window-shopping, checking out all the interesting ingredients for sale and dreaming about what I could make with them.

One of my favorite places to explore (and actually shop, too, since it's cheap!) is in Flushing, Queens. There is an enormous grocery store there- more like a warehouse- that I make a monthly trek to in order to stock up on Asian specialty ingredients that are hard to find elsewhere in the city, like Szechuan hot pot (soup) mix, frozen rice cake and fish cake, dried Chinese mushrooms, good quality Thai curry paste, bonito flakes and kombu for making udon broth, etc.

Another thing I am crazy about is skiing. I just started skiing last year, but I have become completely addicted to it. So has my husband! We are both speed demons, and love to challenge ourselves to improve every time we go skiing. We can now ski black diamonds and are working on getting better at double diamonds, especially trying to improve our mogul skiing and some small jumps. If anyone has tips about how to save money on ski trips, I would love to hear! Skiing is too expensive!!!!!! Oh well. I will eat rice and beans for a month if it means I can save up for a ski trip. My local mountain is Hunter.

Other things I enjoy: learning languages, travel, hiking, skiing, snorkeling, fashion, art, sewing, people watching, libraries, stand up comedy, all kinds of music but especially classical, jazz and African kora music. That instrument has such a beautiful sound, like an orchestral harp but earthier and grittier.

• cats
• fish
• arts
• performing arts
• fashion
• concerts
• cooking
• recipes
• shopping
• traveling
• music
• jazz
• violin
• fishing
• hiking
• snorkeling
• skiing
• teaching
• freelancing
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: E.S.T. (Esbjorn Svensson Trio), Janine Jansen (violinist), Sergei Prokofiev, Gustav Mahler, Fiona Apple, Cibbo Matto, Ned Rorem, John Adams, Corelli, Tartini, Biber, Arvo Pärt

Movie: Wolf of Wallstreet, Babel, The Help, Wizard of Oz, Nosferatu, 2001 A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Book: Middlesex, Chronicles of Narnia, The Subtle Knife, Swerve, Complications

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Chased down a pack of coyotes in the dark through the woods with my father to save our family cat from being eaten.

Maybe not amazing, but interesting!

Also, performing in Carnegie Hall several times and getting to tour in various countries around the world : )

Teach, Learn, Share

I love teaching people how to cook. I can also teach violin, and have been doing it professionally for three years. I love learning new languages.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My love of music. I am happy to perform a private concert for my hosts, or cook an awesome meal : )

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Switzerland, Taiwan

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Switzerland