I am an Australian of Asian descent. My family fled Vietnam during the war by boat. We were processed in a refugee camp in Malaysia and sent to Melbourne where we were looked after by nuns till we got on our feet. The youngest of 5 kids my childhood was poor but loud and lively as you can imagine. I've worked in IT as a web designer, developer and elearning consultant in Australia and the UK, where I then travelled extensively for a few years. I also taught English in Korea for 2 years before going back home to become a high school teacher.

I love travelling and experiencing life through the eyes of the culture I visit. I love food - prefer savoury to sweet. I like my coffee black - no milk no sugar. I'm lactose intolerant but that won't stop me eating cheese - especially if there's good wine or beer involved. I love being adventurous in travel but can't swim and am terrible at sports. I'm more a movie buff. I also like carpentry and woodwork and would like to learn furniture building and restoration though my skills are still developing.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I heard from other friends who are couch surfers that its a great way to travel, meet locals and experience and understand the world from their point of view. You get to see and do more than what most tourists don't which sounds great.

Interests

Books: "My side of the mountain" by Jean Craighead George - a childhood favourite that fed my appetite for adventure.
"The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
"Vampire Chronicles" by Anne Rice
"Jack West Jr" series by Matthew Reilly
Dan Brown books
"Lord of the Rings" by J. R. R. Tolkien
"Garfield" comic books
Aldi and Ikea catalogues for when I am in a nesting mood

Movies: In no particular order:
Lost in Translation
Amelie
Any Marvel movies
Dark Knight trilogy
Star wars (except ep 1)
Spaceballs
Goonies
Princess Bride
Neverending Story
Labyrinth
Matrix
Fight club
Interview with the vampire
Groundhog Day
Ghost busters
Avatar
Big hero 5
Mulan
Breakfast Club
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Moulin Rouge
Zoolander
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Hero
Pulp Fiction
Jackie Chan movies (it's a love hate relationship)
Sound of Music
Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure/Bogus Journey
Harry Potter movies
Anne of Green Gables (blame my sister for that)
Harold and Kumar movies
Monkey Magic
Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Hustle
Big bang theory
Friends
Seinfeld
How I met your mother

Music:
My music tastes are all over the place,  ranging from Rap (Notorious B.I.G) to K-Pop (Sistar, 2ne1)

A fan of childhood 90s alternative grunge bands: Greenday, Smashing Pumpkins, Offspring, Sound Garden, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Foo Fighters

Random musicals - used to perform in them too.

Top 40 from 80s onwards. Take me to an 80s bar and you'll see (rather tragically too).

Food: I love to eat everything and try all sorts of local specialty foods from wherever I visit.. except insects, eyeballs, brains and other organs. And bitter melon for some reason.

Drink: Yes please. :)

Travel: Been to over 70 countries (around 500 cities). I plan to visit south america and antartica in the near future to complete my goal of seeing (most of) the whole world.
UPDATE: achieved as of Dec 2016 :)

Making stuff: I like building and restoring furniture out of reclaimed or recycled wood. I'm currently experimenting with robotics using arduinos. I also like graphic, game and web design and development. I find cooking fun as well.  Note there's a difference between liking and being good at stuff ;)

Pets: I have a 5yo Pomeranian/Poodle dog named Maekju (=beer in Korean) and a 6yo domestic shorthair cat named Soju (= korean liquor). Why the names? Usually you mix them together to make a more crazy drink. ;)

• animals
• culture
• design
• dining
• wine
• cheese
• beer
• coffee
• drinking
• boating
• movies
• traveling
• restoration
• woodworking
• music
• camping
• sports
• swimming
• communications
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

Im a bit of a geek who grew up from the 80s and 90s. So apologies if in conversation I make obscure references to movies and songs you might have never heard ;)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Lived in a remote Syrian monastery and helped a monk build a hermit cave. Being nursed to health and living with desert nomads in Jordan. Camel Caravan in the Sahara Desert. Paragliding off the Turkish coast. Swimming in the Dead Sea. Doing the Transmongolian Railway. Horseriding in the Mongolian Steppes.

Teach, Learn, Share

Well I'm am an IT and Media high school teacher by trade. So maybe I can help fix your computer or help your kids with their homework (or play computer games against them ;) ). I like to learn about other cultures and note how similar and different we all are. My experiences with humanity from travelling havd taught me that most people all over are fundamentally the same and inherently good and happy to help others out of kindness - unless of course there's a conflict of interest or values.

What I Can Share with Hosts

A clean tidy person appreciative and respectful of opportunities to stay with, interact and learn from locals in their own country.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Antarctica, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Korea, Northern Ireland, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City State, Viet Nam, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, England, South Korea