Guy in his 20s just doing his thing. Seriously, were you expecting a Nobel prize, a Pulitzer, and/or a Grammy by now?

My less illustrious attributes I can currently boast of:
-chronic sharer of articles aka that guy who starts debates on Facebook (nobody's perfect)
-50 year old stuck in the body of an 18 year old (think along the lines of budgeting for retirement, complaining about mortgage rates, overusing the phrase "young people these days", and being totally behind on technology while being mistaken for a lanky teenager in looks and occasionally in behaviour)
-always caught in the dilemma of wanting to get away vs. lying in bed all day
-updates my CS profile when I'm bored (this section used to be just two sentences, can you believe that? And they say brevity is the soul of wit. Hmmmmmmm what's that say about me)

Just have a couch in my room, nothing fancy.

Oh, and last thing, I'm Chinese Canadian, born in Hong Kong and lived in Vancouver for most of my life and now I'm in Vienna. Glad to clear it up to avoid the awkward "so where are your ancestors really from" question (the answer to that question would be Africa, though one might also argue bottom of the ocean or stardust from a distant supernova explosion).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I think that the greatest gift of travelling is meeting new people from around the world. I've been blessed in my travels to get to talk to some locals and got to experience the places I visited through their eyes. I want to do the same for other travellers who come to my city and share all the things I love about it!

While I'm at home in Vancouver I'm happy to drive people around to sightsee or eat out together, and while I'm abroad I like to be shown around and sample local delicacies.

Interests

• reading
• eating out
• classical music
• jazz
• hiking
• backpacking
• snowshoeing
• philosophy
• psychology
• wandering
• deep conversations
• road trip
• pedagogy
• musicals
• old movies
• indie films
• jane austen
• musical theatre
• window shopping
• strolling
• collecting postcards

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:

Classical (Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Mahler)

Musicals (cast album of Book of Mormon, Sound of Music, Cabaret, Chicago, Dear Evan Hansen, Company, A Chorus Line, Hairspray etc.)

Jazz (Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Buble, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Louie Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Diana Krall)

Pop (Adele, Sam Smith, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Sufjan Stevens, Simon and Garfunkle, The Carpenters, The Beach Boys, Peter Paul and Mary, Jason Mraz, Charlie Puth)

Authors (Jane Austen, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Bill Bryson, Truman Capote, Dan Brown)
Individual Books: Pride and Prejudice, The Great Gatsby, Da Vinci Code, 1984, Brave New World, Call Me by Your Name, Le Petit Prince, Man's Search for Meaning

Directors: Alfred Hitchcock, Woody Allen, movies with Audrey Hepburn or James Dean
Favourite Films: Tree of Life, When Harry Met Sally, Mean Girls, Toy Story, The Sound of Music, Arrival, The Philadelphia Story, The Apartment, Good Will Hunting, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Inside Llewyn Davis

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I met Justin Trudeau, the current Canadian prime minister, and have a selfie to prove it.

Teach, Learn, Share

Piano and theory teacher by trade and did my undergrad in music, so you can ask me almost any music theory related question and particularly classical music. Other genres not so much

Having studied English Literature as the second part of my double major in university, I've got you covered on any areas of English learning, whether it's conversation, pronunciation, grammar, reading, or writing (academic, essays, resume, cover letter, blogs, CS profile).

Can teach you to use chopsticks like a Chinese person.

Love to brush up on my university 6 week intro courses in Italian and German. As for French, basically I can understand what you're saying if you wish to be understood (so not most French speakers), and can respond in French up to the point when you can no longer tolerate and disguise your disgust at the heavy English accent.

Would like to do more pop and jazz improv to prepare myself for an alternate dream career as cruise ship pianist

Reading up on counselling, psychology, origin of life, philosophy, politics, economics

What I Can Share with Hosts

Share stories from my travels, teach them to play the piano (if keyboard available) or music in general; help them with learning and practicing English; deep conversations on life and its meaning, perspectives on living in Vancouver; lame jokes and a healthy dose of sarcasm; and the greatest thing a person can give to another, the assurance that we are not alone in our suffering against a seemingly cold and indifferent world (ok that got dark real quick. In other words, plain good ol' fashion company!)

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Hong Kong