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

Why I’m on 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.

Interests

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

Music, Movies, and Books

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.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

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

Teach, Learn, Share

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.

Countries I’ve Visited

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

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands, South Korea, United Kingdom, United States