CURRENT MISSION

Traversing Europe without any language barriers
Getting into graduate school for biology

ABOUT ME

Hi there! I'm a 22-year-old Vietnamese who's currently studying in Abu Dhabi. I was born and brought up in Ho Chi Minh City, but spent my teenage years in an American private school south of Philadelphia, where I had countless good memories. I'm in my last year of a four-year whirlwind called college, which continues to unfold and surprise me in the best way. Even though my home campus is in Abu Dhabi, I have lived in London, Florence, Buenos Aires and New York City, as well as traveled to more than thirty other countries during my college years. A biologist in the making, I also love food (both cooking and eating), photography, movies and languages.

PHILOSOPHY

Sometimes life's gonna hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I now split my time between Abu Dhabi, Ho Chi Minh City, New York and in the air, which unfortunately doesn't give me the grounding needed to host people. I do love to meet up in Abu Dhabi or Ho Chi Minh City whenever I'm around - the two cities are incredible in very different ways and I would love to be able to share my versions of them with you!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I couchsurfed once in Lyon, which was an amazing experience.

Interests

I am a shameless nerd if I become hooked to something, and the line between 'like' and 'obsession' is very thin for me.

I study biology and am specially fascinated by the neural system and the developmental processes in different species (my current research is on fruit flies and how their eye structures allow them to see colors and detect motions - the result is fascinating, the lab work even more intriguing). I love talking about science and trying to dismantle the seemingly 'scary' facade that some scientists tend to put up about their work (except for astronomy and quantum physics - they're straight up scary, there isn't a facade to be dismantled).

Outside of the labs, I'm another 22 year old who is ever sleep-deprived and indecisive about whether or not to trade sleep for a social life. I cook, bake, read books and dance salsa/ballroom for fun. My favorite ballroom dance is swing, even though tango is a close second. When I travel, I usually try to connect with the new places and the people through their food cultures - maybe that's why my semester abroad in Italy went so well.

• writing
• books
• photography
• ballroom dancing
• dining
• cooking
• boating
• movies
• traveling
• biology
• languages
• physics
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: indie, Vance Joy, Ingrid Michaelson, Jason Mraz, Florence and the Machine, Taylor Swift. Currently playing The Mountain Goats' This Year on repeat.

Books: Invisible Cities (Italo Calvino), Kafka on the Shore (Haruki Murakami), The Art of Travel (Alain de Botton). Currently working my way through Naguib Mahfouz's The Cairo Trilogy.

Movies/Musicals: Once, Midnight in Paris, Up in the Air, The Hour, The Theory of Everything, Good Will Hunting. Currently watching Sherlock in the dismal amount of free time I have.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I saw sunrise at the amazing Angkor Wat complex twice. It was breathtaking.
The first time I was in Boston, I got off the T (metro) on the wrong stop only to discover a really nice bakery that I continued to visit every time I go to Boston. Mornings spent in a teahouse near Cambridge, looking out the historic cobblestone street, munching on a freshly baked muffin and writing my papers, are also the best.

Teach, Learn, Share

Vietnamese is my mother tongue, so I can always teach you the language, from simplest phrases to confusing pronouns. If you're in, I'm in!

What I Can Share with Hosts

My past two years of cooking for myself give me an extensive range of edible dishes that I can whip up, from basic spaghetti alla bolognese, Vietnamese everyday dishes with rice, Korean stews to fancy soups and Indian dishes with way too many spices. I will be very happy to cook and share a meal with you when I'm there.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, India, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Laos, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Pakistan, Singapore, Slovakia, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy, United Arab Emirates, United States, Viet Nam