Taiwanese American, 50/50

FYI - couchsurfing is wrong...Taiwan is not a province of China

Jittering through my thirties, hoping to come out unscathed...

I love to travel, then when I'm not, make up for the time not traveling. I like changes of scenery, I try to absorb as much as possible from my surroundings and people that I come in contact with. I like people, they touch me too much... I think people are the most interesting part of traveling. They're what I remember about each trip.

I'm easy to be around, engaging, and respectful. I possess that child-like sense of wonder about me. It's easy for me to revel in ordinary things and get swept up in anger in the face of injustice.

http://maserati-girl.tumblr.com/

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

The experiences have been no short of amazing! The rise of the shared economy is the only way to relegate capitalism. More important, it's a way of discovering new places by immersing oneself in different walks of life.

Interests

I love to consume art - I've been to some contemporary theatre and sketch comedy when I lived in Berkeley, OC, and Taipei. I love public art installations like the Heidelberg Project in Detroit and strange little places like Marfa. I'm a sucker for art walks, farmers markets and craft fairs. Also, living room concerts, unexpected underground jazz bars, really incredible street artists.

I've dabble in a few things over the years. My childhood dream was to be a writer, then I wanted to be a composer and studied music theory for a bit. I love to improvise on the piano (despite of my limitations on the instrument) There was a point in time that I wanted to be a geologist. And of course I love to learn about people all over the world. I like to think about high level ideas, details disorient me. I'm a bit of a generalist, and I don't stay at something very long, which then makes me feel like a novice at everything.

In 2011, my grandfather's old home in Chiayi, Taiwan has become the "Taiwan Library 台灣圖書室" featuring and archiving Taiwanese literature, poetry, art, music, and hosting talks by artists, writers, and poets. The library is run by volunteers. Blog: http://taiwanlib.blogspot.tw/. Address: 嘉義市中山路255號 (No. 225 Zhongshan Rd, West District, Chiayi City, Taiwan) Visiting hours: Tues-Sat. 2pm-9pm. Please visit if you're ever in Taiwan, and donations are welcome to support this very important cultural work.

Music, Movies, and Books

I favor watching foreign, indie, and art films over mainstream ones, but I only dabble. Some of my favorites are The Science of Sleep, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Before Sunrise/Before Sunset/Before Midnight, Central Station, The Wedding Banquet, Silence of the Lamb, 12 Angry Men, Runaway Jury, Parking, Vive l'Amour, Rebels of the Neon God, Mr. Nobody, Tsotsi, Jagten, anything with Mads Mikkelson, Tsai Ming Liang (蔡明亮), Hou Hsiao-Hsien (侯孝賢).

For music, right now I really like Vijay Iyer, Keith Jarrett, Emile Sande, Tanya Stephens, Samingad, One Republic, Tori Amos, Mahalia Jackson, Phildel, South African/Namibian kwaito.

Sadly, I don't read as much as I should. My favorites are Wuthering Heights, Crime and Punishment, 1984, the Heart of Darkness, On the Road, Into the Wild, The Boy in the Moon. I also like The Corrections by Frazen and Atlas Shrugged & The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. Right now I'm reading Godel Escher Bach, the Pedagogy of Freedom, and East of Eden.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I saw Keith Jarrett live with 5 encores. goosebumps all over.

A friend who is 4 decades older than me told me that my travels and experiences have led him to become a better person, and thus has started his own travels.

Teach, Learn, Share

I know a little about music theory (like the difference between an Italian 6th, French 6th, and German 6th augmented chord), the central dogma of biology, neuroscience, Generation 1.5, hyphenated Americanism.

I care deeply about the potentiality of resource-based economy replacing a monetary-based economy, technological singularity, energy sustainability, the psychology of conservation, impact and democratic entrepreneurship, and race and gender relations. I also like to talk and learn about geology, philosophy, economics, computer science, artificial intelligence, data science, politics, . Also, I can talk for hours about Taiwanese identity, politics, and the independence movement... it's a pretty important influence in my life and my family has been directly impacted by it.

What I Can Share with Hosts

An unapologetically uncertain, complex view of biculturalism, feminism, and sense of cultural, national, and personal identity

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Taiwan, United States