I'm a PhD student at UC Berkeley (michaelchang.me) where I work on distributed systems and data privacy. I believe that users should have some control over how corporations use their personal data!

Outside of work, I am a strong strong believer in engagement with the community. I live in an area (Berkeley/Oakland) with rampant homelessness and for years, I walked away from them and tried to desensitize myself to their existence. I have turned on this mindset and I spend several hours a week working with the homeless populations in the bay area, serving food and teaching literacy.

I also am a big fan of Asian American literature. I can connect to it in a way that other forms of media can never seem to do for me. Eddie Huang, Chang Rae Lee, Jhumpa Lahiri are just a few names that really speak to me from the pages. In general, I am fascinated by the immigrant experience.

I also love (in no particular order) baseball, powerlifting, and playing the guitar.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I miss meeting new people with different backgrounds and interests.

In my college years, I spent a semester in Switzerland and a summer in Paris. I went into those countries not knowing a single person, and came out with many close friends who I was lucky enough to share stories and experiences with. These were some of the most fulfilling periods of my life, and I loved wandering around new cities and embedding myself in a different culture and community. Ever since I entered graduate school, I've done some traveling across the states but it's always been from the perspective of a tourist.

Interests

• running
• reading
• hiking
• baseball
• frisbee

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Fresh off the boat, The Namesake, Interpreter of Maladies, Native Speaker The Lonely City (Olivia Laing), Eyes Wide Open (Isaac Lidsky), BFG (Roald Dahl)

Music: Mitsky, Kanye West, Tame Impala, Taku, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole

Movie: Spirited Away, Mulan, Begin Again (yes, the one with Adam Levine..), Three Billboards outside Ebbing

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Convinced Meg Whitman to get coffee with me. She said yes, but then cancelled on me 10 minutes before the meeting. Ha.

Also, I volunteer at a local soup kitchen in Oakland. It's not amazing that I did it, but the continued experience is pretty amazing and changed many of my opinions about the homeless community.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: Mandarin, some level of Chinese cooking, frisbee throwing, billiards, random stuff about computer science

Learn: I really really appreciate deep human connection, especially with people with differences in perspectives (both large and small). I am happy to talk about any topic that relates to life, internal strife, and vulnerabilities (including my own). Also I am happy to just shoot the *** and talk about sports :)

What I Can Share with Hosts

I really like to listen to people talk about anything personal or cultural, and I am comfortable talking endlessly about this.

I also know a lot about almost every facet of computer science, and have strong opinions on any of those topics, including the oh-so-scary "reality" of machine learning, IoT, or whatever you are curious about, for the matter.

I am told that I am fun to do karaoke with but honestly I have no idea why. I'm credibly self-conscious when it comes to performing

By the way, I only respond to personalized messages.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, England, France, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Taiwan, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Switzerland, United States