CURRENT MISSION

My mission will be making new friends, helping people spend a memorable and time in Paju area of Korea while at the same time building on my abilities to interact and socialize with people from different backgrounds.

ABOUT ME

My full name is Mesfin Hailemariam

I was Born in Jimma, tropical lush green part of Ethiopia (origin or Arabica coffee) and raised in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Fluent in English speaking and writing and Amharic. I can be a friendly, outgoing person once you knew me. I like to meet people from different cultures share values and befriend them.

Strictly vegan, I was one of the very few vegans from Ethiopia and co-founded some grassroots movements there. I did voluntary activism/advocacy works with these organizations for the animals and nature. The irony is that I have a college degree in animal agriculture and now work against it.

I have a tiny one room apartment in Paju area of Gyeonggi do district at around the northern west part of South Korea. I work in Heyri, not far from Gyeonggi English Village. My place is tiny studio however I have a big sofa sitting there idle for anyone to take over.

I love hiking around the hilly trail (살래길) not far from my place and walk along the farms very close to the DMZ area. You can see North Korea, not far from my place.

FOUR things that make my place interesting.
● Great getaway from town. I'm not far from Seoul, an hour at most from Hapjeong on 2200 bus
●Very close to North Korea. You can see the hills and even buildings in North Korea on a clear day from a spot not far from my area and enjoy their loudspeaker music and propaganda noises at night.
●Not far from Heyri Art Valley-the biggest arts and artists collective village in Korea
●I live right next to Paju Premium Outlets-the biggest brand outlets makl in Korea for the material savvy.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

For the moment I can host, hang out/ socialize and make new friends and be a good one to traveling guests

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Hosted surfers from Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Chile and Slovakia. I had no luck so far surfing myself.

Interests

I love nature, all life especially wildlife from spiders to snakes let alone all the rest you assume are cute enough already. I always dream of living close to nature in remote rural places even though I was raised in a city. I might have a good level of general and some specific knowledge about all natural and wildlife related topics. I'm also a sports lover. I love playing football and watching F1 or perhaps playing someday tennis and golf.

• animals
• vegan
• nature
• farming
• personalities

Music, Movies, and Books

There are some musics I like and some that I dont. This pattern doesn't follow any genre.

I adore the sacrifices and the courage showed by Christopher McCandless whose story was told in the movie "Into the Wild" directed by Sean Penn. To say that I love anything that deals with nature, adventure and conservation.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Bale Mountains National Park, Shalla Abijatta lakes national park in Ethiopia. I loved camping in Menagesha suba national forest not far from Addis. Korea has also been nice to me, much more than my home country. I consider my experience visiting Cebu in the Phillipines as exceptional, China mediocre. I am waiting for the right time to see Thailand.

Teach, Learn, Share

Ready to learn almost about anything except for any pseudo scientific / religious mumbo jumbo stuff some people really seem to care about.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Couch, some time, bathroom, washer, kitchen (only for vegan food). Animal parts and secretions are strictly not allowed in my place.

Countries I’ve Visited

China, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Togo, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ethiopia, South Korea