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Overview
About Me
LGBT. I'm a huge nerd who has social anxiety but once you get me going, I will talk about everything. Currently thinking about trans rights, what school would look like without power structures, societal body ideals, why online groups organized around common interests split and what keeps them together.
Why I’m on Couchsurfing
I joined to host people from all over the world and hear about their experiences. I want to use the site more to travel and learn about the places I visit and what it's like for my hosts to live there.
Interests
I have always enjoyed science fiction/fantasy/horror, currently watching Star Trek: Discovery. I like that it's a different format than the old shows, and I like a lot of the new things they're trying, but I also miss the old format, dealing with fundamental questions of humanity and universal rights, and hope this won't be the last Star Trek. I'm reading A People's Future of the United States, which envisions possible futures that the US might head down, and how it would affect the most vulnerable members of society.
I'm learning Mandarin, and am at the point where I can read light novels, enjoy them, and laugh at them. Currently reading a fantasy MMO isekai called ½王子 (½ Prince).
One of my favorite Netflix shows right now is GLOW. Every character is likeable, even the bad ones, and it makes wrestling, something I've never had any interest in look interesting. I've also enjoyed Dear White People, Juana Inés, Longmire, Merlí, Mob Psycho 100, One Day at a Time, Rita, and She-Ra.
- lgbt rights
- vegan
- fitness
- history
- languages
- social justice
- science fiction
- media
- fantasy
- horror
- strength training
Music, Movies, and Books
I have music I enjoy, but it doesn't form a big part of my life like it does some people's. I'd be more likely to want to listen to what you're into, talk about it, respond to it, and maybe connect it to something I like, than talk at length about my own musical interests. That said, I tend to occasionally listen to progressive rock, folk, ska, punk, rap, blues, some Mandarin pop.
I watch a lot of depressing movies, like Silence, Oldboy, Matewan, Thelma and Louise, This is England.
I also like science fiction and cheesy 80s/90s movies like Demolition Man, Hackers, Alien, Pandorum, Event Horizon, Anon, The Matrix, and Cloud Atlas.
Then there's classic teen flicks like Freaky Friday, Mean Girls, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Heathers, She's the Man.
One Amazing Thing I’ve Done
Stereotypical but, leaving the country for a few weeks, going to Beijing, and then coming back reframed my view of the US. The way people are taught to view other countries is nothing like how they view themselves, and my view of the US was very incomplete with only an insider's perspective. It still is incomplete, but I am trying to learn more.
Teach, Learn, Share
I'm a math teacher, but I'm less interested in the specifics of teaching math and more in the concept of schools themselves, and how they could be different in a different society.
If anyone wants to know more about anything mentioned on my profile, I will do my best to teach them something about it.
Teaching and learning come in all sorts: there's the technical areas, like what's called the "explicit curriculum" in school, and there's learning about people, about experiences, about rules and expectations and how they can be broken. I'm interested in learning all of them, and that's part of what makes CouchSurfing such an amazing opportunity.
What I Can Share with Hosts
Humans are made to come together and form communities, bonds, relationships; to help each other. I am just one person, but maybe I can connect with you for a few days and share my knowledge, interests, experiences, hopes, struggles, and desires with you. And coffee, hopefully!
Countries I’ve Visited
China
Countries I’ve Lived In
United States