CURRENT MISSION

Find a balance between home and travel.

ABOUT ME

I like to learn new skills and see new places. Right now I'm living in Pennsylvania, working as a winemaking assistant at a small winery and also as a writing tutor at a local college. Before that I was an ESL teacher in Korea. I love meeting people who are passionate about what they do and want to discuss it with me; enthusiasm is contagious and it's a great way to learn about new things.

PHILOSOPHY

"There are only two mantras, yum and yuck, mine is yum."

-Tom Robbins

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

For me, couchsurfing is a way to connect with open-minded individuals. I love couchsurfing while traveling because it allows me to experience the place from a completely new perspective., and likewise hosting or meeting up with couchsurfers in my area allows me the opportunity to see my home as a whole new exciting place.

Interests

Right now I'm studying enology (winemaking) and viticulture (vine-keeping). I'm also reading up on how to brew beer. I like to find work in jobs that teach me new skills; I've worked as a papermaker, ESL and creative writing teacher, special effects makeup artist, bartender, and casino cocktail waitress. I make clothing and quilts, am starting a garden for the first time this spring, and don't have an ETSY account.

I want to work in the wine industry in New Zealand after I've completed my third harvest at my current winery.

I'm interested in travel

I used to bike a lot. I want to get into it again and become more knowledgable about bike-repair

• writing
• books
• cooking
• wine
• beer
• cocktails
• gardening
• clothing
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• cycling
• teaching
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

I enjoy streaming NPR and other radio programs on the internet, but haven't figured out (or embraced devices that would allow me to figure out) podcasts. I'm a pretty analog person.

I used to have a giant block of bands I liked here, but I hadn't updated it in a while so it seemed old. Right now I'm listening to a lot of David Bowie, of Montreal, Man Man, Talking Heads, Shilpa Ray, Van Halen, and Fats Waller. I'm open-minded.

Recent reads: Vines to Wines by Jeff Cox, The Joy of Homebrewing by Charlie Papazian, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas by Tom Robbins, Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski, Unbearable Lightness of being by Milan Kundera, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, and Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.

Movies: Buffalo '66, Santa Sangre, Pet Sematary, The Exorcist are a few I dig.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

This one time in Delhi, we were in a Hanuman temple (a 4-story monkey building) and were about to explore the maze of diety statues in the basement when the electricity went out. A temple guide took us down there with just a candle to light the way and it was spooky as hell-- a few inches of water on the ground, Kali looking all vicious in the shadows right behind me, headless statues gushing blood. And then the candle went out and we felt our way out. I lit the way with my camera flash and the guide used his tiny cell phone.

Teach, Learn, Share

I love nerding out with people about common interests! Wine, travel, horror movies, and special effects makeup are among the many topics we can talk about over beers!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can teach you how to bind a book or perhaps how to do some amateur seamstressing.

I can cook really good Pad Thai.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Cambodia, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, Thailand, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

New Zealand, South Korea, United States

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