CURRENT MISSION

Discover myself by exploring the world.

ABOUT ME

I use a VPN and might be signed in from anywhere in the world, but I'm located in Beijing.

I'm an explorer who wants to experience all that life has to offer and often set off on adventures by myself.

If you want to know more about me, you can check out my activity on Quora (http://www.quora.com/Shannon-Larson), where I'm an admin and prolific contributor. A few answers I had the most fun writing are http://www.quora.com/Which-Disney-Princess-best-embodies-feminist-principles-and-why and http://www.quora.com/Song-Lyrics/What-is-the-Don-McLean-song-American-Pie-about.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Teaching, listening, learning, encouraging, inspiring.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I surfed for about two months this summer, in Beijing and then across Europe, and had an amazing time.

When I stayed at a hostel after having surfed, I was even more interested in talking to the people who work at the hostel than fellow travelers. And also frustrated that there's no good way to properly thank the people who clean your hotel room.

I'm copying one of my previous references here, too. He deleted his profile, so it's not showing up, but this was the best visit I had. An Australian girl and I were both staying with this guy, who had no work the entire time we were there, and he showed us the most amazing places in Prague and took us to CS events. So here's what he wrote about me:

SPLAYZER has updated the following reference about you on your profile:

Super. Cool. Girl.

Shannon was the 2nd of my two surfers on that weekend in July/2012.

Very communicative, funny, full of good stories from her living in China
and the most important: she's a beer lover! Extra points for that! ;)

We did some good walk through the city center, went to beergardens, made a
sunny Monday picnic and a Karaoke party in another CSr's flat, in which she
brilliant sang "Clint Eastwood" from Gorillaz for everybody's delight! :D

Thank you for being such nice guest, don't hesitate to contact me again, in
case you return to this party of the planet! :) 待会儿见

To see this person's profile, go to
http://www.couchsurfing.org?utm_campaign=reference&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cs/people/splayzer/

Couchsurfed in 11 states (4.88%)Create your own visited map of The World or Free iphone travel guide

Interests

Losing myself in a book. Meeting awesome strangers (which is part of why I love Burning Man). Learning (which is why I'm highly active on Quora.com). Dancing. Connecting with children (which is why I'm currently teaching English in China).

• arts
• writing
• books
• dancing
• beer
• picnic
• partying
• traveling
• karaoke
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

Hayao Miyazaki films, Quentin Tarantino films, Bill and Ted, science fiction, Infinite Jest, Jared Diamond books, Leo Tolstoy, dubstep, deep house, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, the New Pornographers, Aphex Twin, Outkast, Johnny Cash, Paul Simon, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Gorillaz, Flogging Molly, David Bowie

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In the past couple years, I learned to weld so that I could take part in community art projects for Burning Man and then moved to China to teach because I realized my calling is to work with children.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach salsa, Chinese, and welding.

I want to learn just about anything.

I've lived in urban and rural America, in urban and rural China, and rich and poor, so I can share the perspective I've gained from all this.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bermuda, China, France, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Taiwan, United States