CURRENT

Draw out the storyboard and/or write screenplay for an animated film.

ABOUT ME

Hello there! My name is Colleen and I come from the land of a thousand lakes, Minnesota, USA. I lived in and worked across China for four years and am now live in DC working at a study abroad company.

I am a Chinese minority culture enthusiast and a lactose intolerant connoisseur of milk tea and macaroni and cheese. I am patient, easy-going, and outgoing. I prefer spending nights with good conversation, be it making home meals or at a brewery. When traveling, I love to get lost, especially in a new place. If there is a mountain, my instinct is to hike it!

One of my favorite things to do when traversing the world is to find a secluded mountain path, where you can't hear anything except for wind and wildlife. And then after huffing and puffing up the mountain, you find yourself at an alcove with a stunning vista of the surrounding landscape (maybe overlooking a sacred mountain or standing beside a hidden Shinto shrine or on the cusp of a vast nomadic yak pasture, to name a few). This makes me feel alive!

I look forward to meeting future couchsurfers and soon-to-be friends! (By the way, I love to bake breads, cookies, and pies for those who host me!)

PHILOSOPHY

Somehow everything will work out in the end, especially in ways that you would never expect.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have hosted people on my couch before having a couchsurfing account. I have also crashed at other places as well. I often do independent travel, so I also use couchsurfing.org to seek out other adventurous explorers who would like to join on my travels.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

When I lived in Kunming, Yunnan province, I hosted a number of travelers who were dropping by. One that stayed for about two weeks actually repaid the couchsurfing favor by letting me crash on her couch for a month when I moved to Beijing! This is why I love couchsurfing...you're not just sleeping on a couch, you're creating these serendipitous interactions with strangers, whom often turn into long lasting friends.

Interests

I like to draw, hike, play ultimate frisbee and long walks.

• culture
• traveling
• drawing
• hiking
• anthropology
• tourism
• mountains
• trekking

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Wow! Where to begin...Hm. Well, I've trekked around many trails that border Yunnan and Sichuan, including an 8-day adventure into Tibetan Sichuan to a place called Yading. Every day we climbed at least two mountains ranging from 14-16 thousand feet (4000-5000 meters). I'll never forget the moment we ascended the final range and my eyes feasted upon the snowy peak of Xiannaiduoji, one of the three sacred mountains of Yading (check out profile pictures). We finally made it!

I'm a sucker for sunrises. One that will live on in my memories was in southern Yunnan, in a small minority mountain village nestled within the hilly border of China and Myanmar. Our local hosts were kind enough to motorbike my friend and I to the closest village, where we could catch an early morning bus. It was January, so when we rose it was pitch black. I planted myself on the motorbike and held on to the driver tightly for warmth as we zigzagged through hilly tea plantations. I remember the Milky Way was pouring into the horizon and the speedy International Space Station zipped through it. As the moon and Venus set in the west, the sun peaked from the towering mountains in the east. I told the driver how beautiful it all was...and he replied 'oh really? I didn't notice.'

Teach, Learn, Share

I have conducted research for many years on ethnic minority identity and tourism development in China. If anyone is interested in learning about minority culture, issues, and how it relates to tourism, I would love to share. I'm very familiar with Yunnan and Sichuan, as well as most provinces around China. If you don't know where to travel and what to do around China, I would love to share some suggestions!

I also love chatting about Anthropology, Boardgames and various nerdy topics.

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, Canada, China, England, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Laos, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, United States