I grew up in China and spent the majority of my adult years in Chicago. Now I live in Paris for work after spending the past 2 years on the road.

When I'm not coding, you can most likely find me reading a good book, struggling on a bouldering wall, or practicing tongue twisters in different languages. Recently I've been trying to teach myself how to juggle, although that hasn't been going too well. I will show you what I mean if we have some oranges handy :P

I LOVE travelling and have backpacked solo in more than 30 countries. Some longer "exotic" experiences of mine include two winter breaks of intensive Spanish courses in Guatemala (Antigua and Xela), one study-abroad semester in Cergy, France, and a summer internship in Medellín, Colombia. I don't get to travel as much as I'd like to now due to work, but I am able to host on here instead so the world could come to me!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

During spring 2015 when I was studying abroad in France, I was able to travel intensively for the first time and I got to explore many European countries through Couchsurfing. I met so many interesting people and made long-lasting connections along my journey. As soon as I got my own little place in Chicago, I started hosting to give back to this amazing community. I would like to continue doing this for as long as I am able to. Being on Couchsurfing is one of my best decisions in life so far!

Interests

Language learning, travelling, bouldering, cubing, reading, a cappella, food!

• traveling
• bouldering
• origami
• a cappella
• skateboarding
• climbing
• lgbtq

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Is indie/alt pop/rock an actual genre?

Movies: very hard to pick

Books: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/72691200-sijia (Always open for book recs!!)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Worked at Fermilab for a year, made a device-control GUI for scientists, and somehow contributed to the CMS experiment at CERN...?

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to make origami roses if you find those Youtube tutorials confusing.

I'm happy to talk about anything, in any language I can handle :P

I hope to learn about your city/country and your culture, and I'd love to exchange travel stories!

=== For surfers:

I'm down to hang out regardless of whether you are staying with me! I can throw you a little tour of Le Marais (my turf!) and we can get bubble tea ;)

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Colombia, France, United States