Hi! I'm Monica. For most of my life, I'm a full time veterinarian. It's my dream job! Contrary to most vets, I love talking about other people's pets at parties. My schedule surprisingly allows me great flexibility to take 2-3 trips a year and one is even company sponsored. I've been all over Europe and the UK as well as along the coast of Eastern Asia. Not sure what's next on the list yet! I live with my boyfriend who has limited traveling experience but I am about to open his eyes with travel hacking--my new hobby.

Local cuisine and markets are how I really get to know places and touristy stuff usually take a back seat. I'm trying to learn the romance languages and grew up learning French in school. I can speak Mandarin fluently but cannot read or write it since I moved away from Beijing when I was 6. I happily call myself illiterate to the exquisite chagrin of my father who is a college professor in China.

Por qué estoy en Couchsurfing

I want to meet up with some great travel-minded folks and this site came highly recommended!

Intereses

• cats
• dogs
• chinese new year
• ballroom dancing
• italian food
• chinese food
• indian food
• japanese food
• spanish food
• poker
• hiking
• horse riding
• thai food
• french food

Música, películas y libros

Ludwig Bemelmans is my favorite travel writer. His books are memoirs but with a fictional twist occasionally. Anthony Bourdain calls him the first food writer.

Favorite movie is The Professional. That was Natalie Portman's first movie and she was 12. She looks exactly the same as she does now. Luc Besson is the writer and he also directs most of his movies. I love his older films which recently as seen a lot of remakes by the US market but the originals are much better.

Favorite music is probably bluegrass. If you don't know it, youtube it!

Algo increíble que he hecho

Scuba diving off the cost of Key West in Florida

Enseña, aprende, comparte

I really want to learn about the Camino de Santiago or any long treks that people have done and how it changed them. I am planning to do a camino in the next few years.

The best thing I can teach other than animal care is probably financial acumen. I can find non-painful ways to save money and invest money smartly and not with individual stocks but with index funds--like a sane person.

Qué puedo ofrecer a los anfitriones

I can make a delicious Jewish Apple Cake! A recipe I stole from a famous bakery I used to work for. :)

I also love talking about animals, pets or otherwise and am a great pet sitter.

I will always be considerate and respectful of other people's homes and will leave a place cleaner than when I found it.

I am pretty quiet to have around as I am usually reading travel books or hobby books in my spare time and would rather hang out with a good meal and a drink at a laid back restaurant or at home than going out at night for the night scene.

Países que he visitado

Austria, China, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Vatican City State

Países en los que he vivido

Canada, China, England, United States