Software developer and language enthusiast ("polyglot") based in New York City, soon returning to school to get a masters in Data Journalism.

I grew up in the United States and China (in that order) and have always been fascinated with learning about other cultures (languages especially, but also history, politics, and popular culture).

I did linguistics in college and specialized in Russian, and have since gone and tried to pick up a bunch of other languages, to varying degrees of success. I like to practice these languages by traveling when I can, and when I can't, I help organize a language exchange meetup in NYC called Polyglot Bar.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I like how couchsurfing lets travellers get to know a place better, by establishing personal connections between hosts and guests which are harder to come by in other accomodation situations.

I've previously surfed in Split, Budapest, Krakow, Lviv, and Vienna.

Interests

Languages, technology, history, politics, pop culture, travel.

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Inglourious Basterds, Rane (Wounds), Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others), Okuribito (Departures), etc...
Music: Foreign-language music and electronic music. Dubioza Kolektiv, Stromae, Mayra Andrade, SBTRKT, AlunaGeorge...
Books: Crime and Punishment (read it in Russian), The Kite Runner, A Song of Ice and Fire series...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Lived in a Bashkir village in the Ural Mountains for a week.

Had a Serbian-language conversation about WWII history with a former Yugoslav navy officer outside the Military History Museum in Belgrade.

Commuted to work by auto-rickshaw in Mumbai.

Visited the mountain village in rural inland China where my dad had been exiled for re-education for 11 years during the Cultural Revolution.

Teach, Learn, Share

As a language enthusiast, I'm always ready to teach and learn about languages and linguistics, and I enjoy sharing travel stories with fellow travelers.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Photos and stories.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, China, Croatia, Egypt, France, Hungary, India, Japan, Poland, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Sweden, Ukraine

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, United States