I crave adventure, creativity and the unusual. I love exploring new places, things, culture, meeting new kinds of people and hearing their stories. It's my biggest passion. I love beauty--sublime beauty like hearing the right song at the right time with the right person. I'm a traveler, a writer, a reader, a teacher, an artist (some might say), and a musician. My name means "traveling writer" in Chinese. I'm a nerd.

Right now I've come back from some time teaching in mainland China and I'm enjoying my last year at Iowa State University, earning a degree in English Literature. After that I plan to travel abroad; see the world, as they say; and make a living teaching and writing.

being open and honest. producing music. bridging cultural gaps. adapting to unfamiliar places, cultures, and situations. writing.

People tell me I'm thoughtful, and they tend to ask me for help or advice a lot. I think people notice that I'm easygoing when it comes to everyone I meet, that I can be friends with pretty much anyone in any situation.

That and my naturally kick-ass hair.

My favorite books are anything by Kurt Vonnegut or Mark Twain. They were two amazing people with amazing minds. Aside from that, I'm constantly looking for new perspective and I really like anything that spurs thought and is written beautifully or experimentally. Activist literature is also great.

I love Wes Anderson and Coen Brothers films. The Life Aquatic, Moonrise Kingdom, Rushmore, The Big Lebowski. Some Quentin Tarantino is nice as well--Kill Bill in particular. I like artsy films. Lots of Japanese arthouse movies. They tend to be my favorite just because they're so aesthetically striking and a nice divergence from Hollywood norms, audience cues and cliches. I like good animation. Pixar's Up, Cowboy Bebop, Tatami Galaxy, Evangelion, Lain.

I'm a musician, composer, producer, and so I listen to and draw from a wide range of music. Jazz, ambient, post-rock, EDM, IDM, instrumental hip hop, and indie rock are all great. I like to spin Do Make Say Think, Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Boards of Canada, The Flaming Lips, Pink Floyd, Explosions in the Sky, Nujabes, Bjork, Mogwai, Cake, Daft Punk, Arcade Fire, Yes, The Beatles, M83, Justice, Beck.

And I fucking love Chinese food. Real Chinese food and westernized Chinese food. Especially anything spicy. Shao kao. Asian food in general, to be honest. Noodles and sushi.

-Love, in all its forms.
-New experiences.
-Music.
-Books.
-Laughter.
-Sleep.

I guess I find myself thinking a lot about people I know and care about. Art. The universe. Human relationships and human psychology. The meaning we ascribe to our condition of being living things--an ongoing, ever-changing stream of thought.

Adventuring. Drinking. Chilling. Watching Movies. Playing Video Games.

This is a dumb question. The moment you answer it, the answer is no longer private and thus fails to fulfill the criteria of the question.

I ate a completely sterilized, dead earthworm on a $20 bet when I was a kid.

you think we can genuinely connect and be friends or, you know, whatever.