CURRENT MISSION

I'm a perpetual student, a world wanderer. I like to bring my friends, my violin, my camera, my sketchbook, a smile and an open mind with me on my perpetual journey. To wander does not mean to be lost. In regards to CouchSurfing, well, some of my best life and learning experiences have been due to the kindness and generosity of host families I've stayed with and new friends I've met along the course of my travels opening their hearts and minds and homes to me. Now that I finally have my own home and am in a comfortable position to return the favour, I feel it would be my pleasure to do so : )

ABOUT ME

Hello! Hola! Konnichiwa! Bonjour! Salaam! Ni hao! Namaste! Tashi delek! In case you couldn’t tell by my multilingual greetings, I am fascinated with foreign languages. And not only languages but more so the people that speak them and the culture they carry. This interest isn't anything new: my 6 year-old self’s proclamation that “I want to be an anthropologist when I grow up” was met with no shortage of raised eyebrows from skeptical adults. Since then, I have continued with a life of passionate fascination with world cultures. After graduating from a public high school in rural Chesterton, Indiana, I went where no CHS student had gone before: I took a gap year (a what? This phenomenon, while virtually unheard of in the Midwest, is popular in other parts of the world: basically, taking a year off between high school and college, most often for work and/or travel) to go beyond the Land of Cornfields and spend 6 months studying and traveling in India. Now, as a student at Indiana University, I’ve charted my own course of study- Inter-Cultural Arts Programming & Performance- through IU's Individualized Major Program. And I'm charting new territory again: as part of working towards my goals, I'll be spending the next year studying abroad in China, India, & Bhutan.

PHILOSOPHY

My travels have taught me that life is a journey in which, as long as you are open to them, doors to the most amazing opportunities will open before you. I have a hunch that this happens because, no matter how much humankind likes to separate ourselves and define ourselves in contrast to others, ultimately we all share a deep connection that transcends these petty differences. Travel has taught me that, too. The world is the best classroom.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

My travel experiences have been enriched by the people I've met along the path, and CS is a great way to facilitate those connections. Now that I'm back from abroad and have my own couch (for the time being), I'm determined to repay all the kindness I've been shown!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Made a few friends via CS in China, always a positive experience. I've also stayed with a number of host families across Asia (Japan, China, India) and became convinced that living with a local is by far the best way to learn and to travel.

Interests

Learning about the world and its cultures / languages / peoples. Travel, Study Abroad, India!, China! too. Art (visual, performing and otherwise). Drawing. Painting. People. Chicago. NPR. Nature (Camping, Hiking, Cross-Country Skiing). Swimming. Photography (I'm an old-fashioned girl who still prefers darkroom work over digital). Sunsets over Lake Michigan and elsewhere. Playing (violin, music, games, with people's minds...). Reading. Foreign Films. Foreign Languages. Foreign Foods (Indian cuisine is tied with Thai for my ultimate favorite). Cricket (the sport). Masks. Randomness. Life in General.

Music, Movies, and Books

Favorite Movies:
Amelie, Gandhi, Whale Rider, Life is Beautiful, Goodbye, Lenin!, l'Auberge Espagnole, Water, Earth, Turtles Can Fly, Cinema Paradiso, Hotel Rwanda, Shakespeare in Love, Lagaan, Shall We Dance? (original Japanese version), Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Yellow Submarine, Motorcycle Diaries, Lord of the Rings, True Romance, Mulan, Hero, Raise the Red Lantern, King of Masks, Salaam Bombay, Kandahar, Bandit Queen

Favorite Music:
World Music (Middle Eastern, Indian, Latino, Chinese, Gypsy style, Greek traditional, and Irish Celtic!), Lunasa (Irish), Yann Tiersen, (best contemporary composer~ this guy did the soundtrack for Amelie), Classical, especially Baroque (gotta love Bach, Vivaldi, and Corelli) and Elizabethan Renaissance style, Twelve Girls Band, Souad Massi, Amplifico, Radiohead, Coldplay, Franz Ferdinand, soundtrack to Amelie, Simon and Garfunkle, and of course the Beatles!

Favorite Books:
Siddhartha, Anything by Salman Rushdie (Siddhartha and Satanic Verses are my favourite books of all time!), Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, A Prayer for Owen Meany, Life of Pi, MacBeth, Hamlet, Midsummer Night's Dream, Death Comes for the Archbishop, God of Small Things, Salman Rushdie's East, West, The Inheritance of Loss

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Before the break of dawn, and after spending about an hour or so of making chapati in the communal kitchens at Amritsar's Golden Temple in India, I made my way up to the roof of a surrounding building to watch the most spectacular sunrise I've seen. As the sun glinted golden off the exquisite temple, the Guru Granth Sahib (the Sikh's holy book) was ceremoniously waken up for a day of praise. It was at some moment in the midst of that that I realized a feeling of overwhelming love for the first time. That sunrise- that whole experience- was like a seed that sowed great love in my heart, along with the light and nourishment and inspiration to keep it growing.

Teach, Learn, Share

Spending time with Indians and Tibetans has taught me that time is a relative concept and that things will get done when they need to get done. True wealth resides in the soul and not in your wallet or bank account. A lesson I've gleaned from my Hindu friends is that there is a little piece of the divine, call it God if you will, in each of us, and as soon as we recognize that, the world becomes a much more beautiful place. Music can be a perfect path to coming to such realizations.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Some of the most valuable and poignant lessons I have learned in life have come from complete strangers, unexpected encounters, and traveling in a way that you are open to such encounters. Now that I have my very own home (hurray!), and am not living in a tiny apartment with a couch or futon and floor to crash on, I feel much more comfortable providing comfortable accommodations (providing that my host(s) like cats : ). My fiancée and I love to cook all sorts of International cuisines as well as good ol' American home cooking, and have a nice backyard for grilling and chilling and bonfires. We both are well-traveled and have a good- if unique and quirky- sense of humour, and between the two of us speak bits and pieces of several languages, so good, light-hearted, interesting, intellectual conversations are guaranteed. Also, we just got a car, and conveniently live about a block away from a bus stop as well. Additionally, both he and I have very flexible work schedules, so if we have friends visiting from out of town or fellow Couch Surfers coming to town, we are more than happy to drop everything to show them a good time. I am quite familiar with downtown Bloomington as well as the cultural sites to see in town, and my fiancée knows the best places to go hiking / camping / sailing etc. He actually, he has quite a nice sailboat as well, and is always looking to go out sailing. My hometown of Chicago isn't too far, and I can be a good tour guide when it comes to the museums and cultural sites there, and my parents have a nice house right next to the Indiana Dunes, three blocks from the beach of Lake Michigan, where they could either host guests for a night or two or there's also great camping nearby. There is plenty more- please get in touch if you are interested and planning on passing through! I would love to meet you : )

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, England, France, Germany, India, Lithuania, Mexico, Switzerland, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, India, United States