I will give you priority if you use alternative platform.

Current Mission?
Slowly building new life in Toronto from scratch, hopefully it will become home, and hopefully it will not be the only home. Actually at this point, being 11,000+ km away from my first ‘home’, I feel like I can live like home anywhere, or I don't feel home anywhere. The most important is perhaps the company of interesting souls in this journey.

My little project (website): www.sanlniyap.com

I like to say I am a realistic idealist. One foot dealing with reality for sustainability, so that the other foot can hang in there, dreaming.
I am pretty balanced. I know how foods grow in the field and how does it feel working in one of the fanciest buildings in the world everyday. I've seen poor people struggling in life and rich people still have their ups and downs. I see the peace of mountains and admire the openness of the sea. I talk to people who hold opposite of views from each other. This kind of diversity in me keeps me critical and see things from different perspectives. You know, sometimes people get crazy with what they didn't have or neglect what they have, these lead to bias. Even though I have to humbly say that I’m still on this journey - the hardest part is knowing that I don’t know…

I was trained as an engineer, ended up working in financial industry as a risk manager. I guess at a certain level I am a born risk manager. No risk no growth! You need to take a little chance in life to get closer to your wildness, but be agile!
I am INTJ overall according to MBTI (here to change the world : P ), but I can be E sometimes (I like to connect with people), also my F is improving (thankfully...).

Where am I from?
I believe that people don't always belong well to the culture/place they grow up. I wasn't well fit in growing up.
I am searching for the home of my heart. Maybe it could be a place I like, a culture that embraces me, or person(s) I fall in love with. But let's be realistic, perfection doesn't exist.

Warum ich bei Couchsurfing bin

I have been knowing it as a teenager back then when it was still a NGO, and started to use it from 2011 when I moved around or travelled. The spirit of it has been a part of me throughout the years and continues.

The best travel to me is not entertaining but educational. A lot of time it comes from the memories created with all kinds of human beings, not museums, not tourist spots.

What if we always treat the place we live as a travel destination, and the places we travel as our local? Everything is going to be different.
Travel like a local, live like a traveller. :)

A maybe more interesting question here would be: Why am I NOT on CS ?
There was once I explained to someone what’s CS. After that, he said to me: is that because they don’t wanna be alone? Well, this is kinda true.
Life is amazing and has so much to offer and with CS we break the limit of boundaries. We are having fun and keep on meeting people and next…Yet, we are never going to satisfy. We become greedy. We want to count flags. We know a lot of people and a little bit of everyone. Everyone is special, no one is special. We are wide, we lose the depth. Loneliness is rooted in the endlessly perusing of dopamine and the lack of endorphins.
We fill ourselves with distraction to get by and are reluctant to commit.
Commitment? I think it explains well in one of my favourite books The Little Prince.

Interessen

Curiosity leads me to everywhere I think of. I have passion to explore myself by trying different things.

I am a "character collector". I keep on hunting good characters from other cultures and throwing away the bad ones I had and I don't want. I am shaping my own collection of world culture. This journey can be painful but definitely worthwhile.

If we are only the person that our parents or society make us to be, we never own the control of our true self.

An example:
Though being a Chinese, whose culture is known for promoting peace and avoiding confrontation, I am not a conflict avoider. In fact, I enjoy learning from (healthy) debating, challenging and questioning.

I like to go hiking, research about certain topics through reading and discussing.
Feminist. I am friendly with LGBTQ.
I started to think what else I can do to make a better difference to things around me.
I teach Mandarin for fun, as it's a perfect way of cultural exchange, and a way of increasing self-awareness.

Reading - a habit that is usually destroyed by technology nowadays but I really wanna do more. I especially like novels.
Reading helps me to slowdown life and be calm.
Cultural exploration - without doubt, I like to pick up positive traits from another culture
Dancing - I can dance Batchata, Kizomba, Merengue, or Latin dances in general. I am an organic dancer, never really learnt through class. Haha I can’t imagine this is me, I even come from a 'shy' culture that dancing literally doesn't exist. I guess it brings me out with a passionate inside hidden in a cold body. Sounds like another character successfully collected!
Generally outdoor activities: hiking, camping...
a lot new hobbies under development..

• culture
• dancing
• drinking
• movies
• socializing
• hiking
• camping
• history
• travel
• cultures

Eine tolle Erfahrung, die ich gemacht habe

That I keep on reaching next level of stages that I had never imagined they would happen to me.
Right things come at right time.
A recent one I can think of is that I quit my job and started a one-way solo trip without plan or knowing where I will be settled, to challenge the insecurity I have accumulated in the years in HK and my flexibility, and find out answers that I have been questioning, my spirit. I revived faster than I expected with a happy ending in Canada, but I decide this will just be the beginning of an even bigger adventure. The story continues...

Lehren, lernen, teilen

Mostly use this to meet people or for events, sometimes host/surf.
In the past I almost only host CS friends I know.

Länder, die ich besucht habe

Canada, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Macao, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United States, Viet Nam

Länder, in denen ich gelebt habe

Canada, China, Hong Kong