Lover of the arts in all of its forms from poetry to painting to jazz and the performance arts. I love teaching and being in the classroom. I have a love for emerging myself into international cultures and learning from local people while living in another country. I'm fascinated with linguistics and I enjoy learning new sounds and aspects of different languages. I love food, live music and especially a good game of chess. I carry a board with my everywhere I travel in search of challengers!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm on couchsurfing because I believe that meeting locals is the best way to get a better feel for a city that I'm visiting. Couchsurfing is such a great globe connector of people and I've had many friends who have hosted and had the opportunity to meet couchsurfers and I have always enjoyed sharing time with travelers from around the world.

Interests

In addition to being an ESL teacher I am also a chess instructor and spent a year with elementary school through high school kids teaching chess tactics and encouraging critical/creative thinking. Chess is my favorite sport and such a incredible challenge for the mind and self.

• poetry
• coffee
• chess
• traveling
• painting
• live music
• food
• linguistics

Music, Movies, and Books

I enjoy indie music, straight ahead jazz, trance, hip-hop, classical, and international music.

One of my favorite movies is The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and basically everything Wes Anderson. I am a sucker for near-future dramas. But, hard pass on horror movies and Black Mirror. I know I said I liked near-future but, yikes. Black Mirror gets too real!

Favorite authors are Yann Martel who wrote The Life of Pi and Douglas Adams who wrote the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've lived and taught English in Gwangju, South Korea and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam for one year each. I feel an incredible connection to both Asian cultures and plan to go back to live in the future.

Teach, Learn, Share

I am always wanting to listen to the experiences of others whether they be positive or negative I am here to absorb. I would love to have new experiences with people that I meet and share laughs, coffee, chess and good times.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am a self-sufficient human. I like to clean after myself and do not leave messes in my wake. I want to be able to share meals and drinks with my hosts and will be more than happy to cook for my host/s and clean the dishes.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

South Korea, United States, Viet Nam