CURRENT MISSION

Entertain you with this joke: What kind of water do you put into a water bed? Spring water!

ABOUT ME

Even though I'm a leetle on the introverted side, I do love to meet new people, make new friends, and learn new things- that's what draws me so much to couchsurfing.
Let's see here, I'm a creative person and very visual- in fact I can spend hours crafting or making something and not realize where the time went. When it comes to organization, I might remind you a bit of Monica from Friends! I'm warm and friendly and try to make people feel comfortable.

PHILOSOPHY

People are inherently good

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I wish wish wish I had a place for couchsurfers to stay in Minneapolis. Minneapolis is a GREAT city, and very under-estimated by travelers. Don't be afraid of the cold! I would say that Minneapolis and St. Paul are hipster capitals of the world, and I would love to show off all its hipster glory to visitors when you are in town. I can't share a couch but let's go meet up, and I'll take to you see art from off the beaten track, darkly lit bars with local bands, farmer's markets filled with Hmong-grown vegetables, and hey, mall of America too if you want!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My couchsurfing experience began in college when I traveled to Japan and stayed with 6 different host families- one in a new city for each of the six weeks I was there. I was blown away by the generosity of my families and it opened my mind the ways we can communicate that transcend language alone. Ever since I have taken the opportunity to host others when I can and continue the couch surfing journey.

Interests

Too many too list but here's a start. I like to DAYNCE! Salsa is my favorite, but I will boogie down to anything with a good beat (sometimes without a good beat!). I also love to craft. I'm no expert but painting, pottery, tile design, card-making, and other things like that are close to my heart and fun to do with friends. I guess I consider cooking as a craft, too- that is also fun (but no promises on skill! Unless you want an omelet, because I guess I can pull off a pretty tasty omelet :)

Finally... health and nutrition. I'm super active and love to do yoga. I also like crossfit and any kind of water sport. I work in the food industry (you know those bottles of whey protein at health food stores? yep!) and I gotta say I've "drunk the kool-aid" on natural health. If you've got a cold I have some recommendations for naturals remedies haha.

• arts
• design
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• yoga
• crossfit
• pottery
• painting
• surfing
• sailing
• sports
• track and field

Music, Movies, and Books

I love fiction and can get swept up in a book like Game of Thrones or my recent favorite, Goldfinch. But I also try to stay informed and read about economics and the history of different countries. Favorite news sources are Wired, Scientific American, Reddit (hah!), and lately I've been reading the airplane magazines a lot since I travel so much for work.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Once I was lost in the Frankfurt Airport.. had taken some back hallways and wound up on an escalator seemingly going into another universe but definitely not in the direction of my flight gate. All the suddden I hear, "DANIELLE?!" and look around to see my friend Saum- and guy from INDIA who happened to be at the airport on his way to the US! What are the odds??

Teach, Learn, Share

Well, if you'd like to learn how to dance salsa, speak Chinese, or cook an omelet, I'm your pal. I can also tell you A LOT about the nutritional food/health industry (but only if you want to know :)

Would also love to learn how to sail, cook something new, and hear a joke!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share my polite, mid-western ways of cleaning up after myself and being extremely conscious of my noise level at all times. A blessing and a curse, to be sure.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, United States