I've always been a nutter for languages. Having formerly lived in Amsterdam, London, Berkeley and Oxford, I am now based in Seoul, where I spend my days translating all sorts of stuff (but mostly Korean fiction). My interest in travel was born when I joined the European Youth Parliament as a teenager and has since developed into something of an obsession. I do have a fair few anecdotes up my sleeve about the places I've been!

My work: www.matthomandersloot.com

Что привело меня на Couchsurfing

I discovered Couchsurfing through the European Youth Parliament: it was common practice for everyone to stay at someone else's house and suddenly travelling within Europe became as easy as that. Some of the people I met along the way are amongst my closest friends now. The whole concept is just simply genius.

Интересы

I've been practicing taekwondo from age 7 and went to Korea to train full-time at 17. I was on the Dutch National Team for 3 years and took part in the Universiade twice (Gwangju '15; Taipei '17). After a BA in Classics, I decided I preferred living languages to dead ones and did an MA in Translation and an MSt in Korean Studies. I'm a part-time yogi and foodie, but who isn't nowadays? I also like board games, karaoke and everything else that involves laughing.

• literature
• taekwondo

Музыка, кино и книги

Movies: Karate Kid (the classic, 1984) got me started with taekwondo (ironically), Rocky kept me going. There's a number of decent French films, such as Entre Les Murs, Intouchables, De Rouille Et d'Os. Of course, I can't forget about Korean cinema: The Handmaiden, Snowpiercer, New World - the list is endless. And actually, I quite liked Kim Ki-Duk before he went #MeToo.

Music: indie electronic, jazz, downtempo, and basically everything that's groovy / danceable.

Book that I'm currently reading: Mythos by Stephen Fry.

Классная вещь, которую я сделал(-а)

Break through a stack 7 roof tiles in one go. With my bare fist. Am I cool now?

Учу, учусь, делюсь опытом и информацией

As an avid cyclist, I know a bit of the area and am happy to help you find your way. I speak Korean, which is not unhandy either. And I love to cook. So if you can live with the disclaimer "If all goes to shit, we'll order pizza", then let's have a meal.

Где я побывал(-а)

Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Ukraine

Где я жил(-а)

Netherlands, South Korea, United Kingdom, United States