New Yorker for 3 years, before that Boston for 4, and before Singapore for 20 years. Came to the US for college, stayed for work, and I wouldn't want to live anywhere other than the greatest city in the world, NYC!

I graduated in Economics, spent a short 7 month stint in investment banking before running as far as I could away from that. Worked at a tech startup for 2 years doing everything on the business side: Marketing, design, product, operations. Now I'm off to design school, to further my dreams of becoming a kick-ass product designer!

MY COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

This is my first time using CS! I'm looking for friends in Scandinavia to give me the lay of the land. Please don't be deterred by the lack of references on my profile! I'm happy to jump on video chat or email separately so you can see how great a guest I can truly be!!

Here are more places to check out what I'm usually up to:

(1) Instagram: @koh_zy

(2) Twitter: @kohzy

(3) My design portfolio: http://portfolio.kohzy.com

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love cities, big and small.

About 3-4 years ago, I realized something: I really love showing visitors around the places I have lived - Boston, NYC, Singapore. When friends visited, I would insist on blocking off time to help them avoid tourist traps and instead take them to the hidden gems.

Couchsurfing seems to be a place where I can meet people similar to myself: locals, eager to host, determined to ensure visitors have the best experience of a particular city. Especially when I'm traveling alone, I know how important it is to have someone from the area help me discover the local gems, and navigate the local systems.

Interests

I have four general interests: cities, design, technology, business. In general, I like cool things :) I also like comedy.

• books
• architecture
• design
• dancing
• running
• technology
• traveling
• socializing
• drawing
• boxing
• soccer
• world cup
• business
• economics
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSIC:
My friends joke about my Top 40's taste, and it's true. I like whatever is popular.

MOVIES:
(1) I'm a sucker for romantic comedies: You've Got Mail, Love Actually, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, 5 Year Engagement, 500 Days of Summer
(2) Chris Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy
(3) Death At A Funeral (the British version)

BOOKS:
(1) On cities: The Death and Life of American Cities (Jane Jacobs), The Triumph of the City (Glaeser)
(2) Graphic Novels: The Watchmen, anything by Chris Ware, A Tale of Sand (Jim Henson), Hark a Vagrant! (Kate Beaton)
(3) Design: 79 Short Essays on Design (Michael Bierut)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've written, illustrated, and bound my own comic box set as part of my application to design school! I even embedded a sound chip so that readers would hear the background sounds of the setting of the story as they flip through the book. You can see a demo here: http://portfolio.kohzy.com/parsons-mfa

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you:
(1) how to dance multiple styles of ballroom dance
(2) how to draw a face quickly
(3) the basics of boxing

I would love to learn:
(1) more Portuguese! Or any language I have yet to learn.
(2) how to prepare your best dish
(3) about any new technology!

I can share:
(1) my awful, awful puns
(2) funny stories from my time in the Singapore military
(3) my love for the oxford comma and the colon
(4) my experiences traveling the world e.g. to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup, to Budapest for a memorable wedding, and to Portugal on a spring break vacation.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Coming from NYC and Singapore, I can share what it's like to live in each of these places (I love playing tour guide!) I'm also really interested in design, architecture, and cities, so if you are also into that I'd love to hear what you know and share what I like.

I like to think I've a great sense of humor, so be prepared for many jokes and general goofiness. And if you like football (soccer), I'm a Manchester United fan.

Having worked in the tech startup industry in NYC, I also love discussing technology and thoughts on good business strategy. I'm especially interested in the topics of waste management, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and content creation.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Singapore, United States