A slow traveler from South Korea. I spent most of my life in big cities, but I always feel alive when I am in nature. Since 2017, I have studied Global Change Ecology at the University of Bayreuth, Germany.

BIOGRAPHY (be careful it can be boring!)

I was born in 1991 in Incheon. There are not many memories that I can recall from this first segment of my life, but I remember the pure calmness and simpleness of my world.

In 1996, my family moved to Seoul. Since the city is so densely populated, Seoul is well known for its competitive atmosphere for education. However, my mother was so chilled-out that I did not even know the multiplication tables for a long time. Obviously, I played all day: through the apartment complex, and on the playground. Under my nail was filled with dirt every day. It was the happiest time of my life.

My family moved to Gimpo in 2001. Our new home was surrounded by a vast area of rice paddies. I was astonished at so many birds and frogs. Suddenly, my world had been widened. I started to take pictures of my surroundings. I especially loved the chorus of frogs on rainy days.

Until 2009, I stayed in the same town. However, both the landscape and I have been changed a lot. More people moved to Gimpo like once my family did. The rice paddies were rapidly replaced by apartments. The songs were gone. On the other hand, I started to spend more time at school. My friends and I had to study for almost 12 hours a day to get into prestigious universities. I was almost choked.

Thanks to a book, I decided to study Forestry. In 2010, I went to a school in Chuncheon. In 2013, I was able to visit California as an exchange student. It was so interesting to study with both the loggers and the tree-huggers among the last remaining redwood forests.

After coming back from the US, I started my two-year-long military service since 2014. This time I was doing CBRN missions with the US soldiers. It was so depressing to be both physically and mentally ready for a war, but at least I met some good buddies. Then I came back to school in 2016 and finally finished my studies. After all these steps, I ended up being in Germany since September 2017.

It is both exciting and worrying to expect what is going to happen to me for the next few years. For sure, I know that not only my world but also this world is going to change drastically; and I am just hoping that I can be at least a responsible person at every moment.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Well, this is such a cool platform!

Interests

• wildlife
• photography
• documentaries
• hiking
• sci-fi

Music, Movies, and Books

- Long Gone (2017)
- A Knight's Tale (2001)
- The Man Who Planted Trees (1953)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Studied among the coast redwoods; the world's tallest living organism.

What I Can Share with Hosts

- Make vegetarian dishes
- Chat about the two Koreas

Countries I’ve Visited

Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, Poland, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, South Korea, United States