Hello! 안녕하세요! I'm an American who had an amazing opportunity to travel to Japan when I was younger and that experience changed my mindset and showed me how big the world is. That began my interest in languages and introduced me to so many people outside of the small town I'm from, Asheville. I decided to study English in college so that I could teach English abroad. I went back to Japan a second time when I was 18 and worked on a farm in Nagano for two months.
I lived in Busan, South Korea from July 2017 until July 2018 working as an English teacher at a kindergarten. I studied kendo/kumdo while living in Korea and rode my bicycle around Busan. I got to visit many cool places like Gyeongju, Jinju, Suncheon, Tongyeong and Seoul.
I'm looking forward to coming back to Korea to visit.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To meet new friends and share stories with each other. I hope to have many interesting conversations with all of the people I meet.

제 이름은 Joshua 입니다. 만나서 방갑습니다. 저는 한국 부산에서 일년 동안 살았어요. 하지만 제 한국어를 아직 잘 못해요. 지금은 미국에 살고 있지만, 3월 한국에 와서 경남도에 가르치고 있어요.

Interests

• arts
• photography
• dancing
• traveling
• cycling
• hiking
• camping
• sports
• martial arts
• learning languages
• meeting new people
• good conversation

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, The Gorillaz, Deltron 3030, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ratatat

Movies: The Last Samurai, Old Boy, Gladiator, Band of Brothers, Star Wars, Black Panther, Seven Samurai, The Wind Rises, Howl's Moving Castle

Books/Authors: Haruki Murakami, Zen in the Martial Arts, Shogun, The Right Stuff, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Give Me Tomorrow: the Korean War, Seven Years in Tibet, The Sympathizer, Kurt Vonnegut, Animal Farm.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Racing bicycles. I've crashed A LOT hahaha, spent many thousands of hours training, competing, and sometimes I've won bike races, but the best part wasn't winning. The best part was working towards my goal. The journey is the best part of life so I try to appreciate the things that are happening on my journey and I hope to share my journey and be part of others'.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can help teach you English. I'm a good listener and I have been told that people find me easy to understand or talk to. I'm always very patient with English learners and I want you to feel comfortable. Confidence is one of the most important parts of language learning, I think. I also have some hobbies I'm good at like cycling. I could help you with your bike, or I could teach you about bicycles or about bike racing if you are interested.

I would like help learning any cool hobbies that you are good at, but especially if you could help me improve my Korean or my Japanese ability.

Most of all, I just hope that we can share honest and genuine friendship with each other. I'm happy to talk about anything and enjoy talking about life whether it is good or bad, easy or difficult. I hope that we can learn a lot from each other and feel close as friends!

Countries I’ve Visited

Japan, South Korea, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, South Korea, Thailand, United States