CURRENT MISSION

to never stop learning and to always move forward

ABOUT ME

I love travelling, hanging out with friends and meeting new people. I am very outgoing and spontaneous and am always up for a good time.

I'm often very random and spontaneous; I think that often the crazy ideas are the best ones. I like to take the road less travelled, if it means I may get slightly lost along the way. For this some people call me crazy since I often seem to be going against the grain and the normal way of things. I love to experience new and different things and discover new perspectives about the world.

I love music ranging from classic rock to balkan to classical. I absolutely love musicals and the theatre as well.

I drink lots of wine, in fact, you could say that wine is one of my pastimes in more ways than one. Everything from choosing the proper wine, to drinking it is like an adventure. Wine is of course best enjoyed with good company, which I love to do with my awesome friends. I also love a good dry gin & tonic (always with a lime, never a lemon).

Other hobbies include: wine tasting, drinking wine and learning about wine, horse back riding, environmental engineering and environmental issues and much more!

Let's just say I'm not your average mechanical engineer =)

PHILOSOPHY

I believe that your life is what you make of it and that you an only you are in control of your own destiny. Your happiness is in your own hands, so seize the day; take life by the horns and turn your dreams into a reality!!

Some of my favourite quotes:
"The iguana will bite those who do not dream"
-Waking Life

"If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite"
-William Blake

"Bien peu sage qui vit sans folie"

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Over the past few years I've moved around a few times and lived in different places, but have always brought couch surfing along with me =)

While living in Vienna I hosted a number of ppl with my flatmates from all over the place: from England to Brazil to the USA. Each couch surfer we had always brought something new and interesting to our flat: it was great! I also hosted while I lived in Paris during the summer of 2007. Before that I hosted some surfers in Kingston, Ontario where I did my undergrad degree. Now I live in Vancouver where I try to host people as often as a full time job lets me.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've couch surfed in a number of cities including Florence, Naples, Berlin, Prague, Stockholm, Gent and Rotterdam as well as hosted people when I lived in Paris (France), Kingston (Canada) and Vienna (Austria).

All my CS experiences to date have been amazing and tons of fun! The experiences, people and life lessons that you encounter are absolutely priceless. I cannot think of a better way to travel or meet new people.

Interests

travelling, reading, running, wine, music, musicals, theatre, laughing, renewable energy, horses, camping, hiking, film noir

I love reading! I also love getting book suggestions from others, so if you're also an avid reading, you've found the right CSer. Some of my favourite books :
1. The Picture of Dorian Grey - Oscar Wilde
2. L'Étranger - Albert Camus
3. 1984 - George Orwell
4. A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby
5. All the Shah's Men - Stephen Kinzer
6. The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
7. The Century Trilogy - Ken Follet
8. Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
9. The Martian - Andy Weir

I particularly love Albert Camus and am always very excited to learn more about French literature.

• horses
• books
• literature
• singing
• wine
• wine tasting
• running
• drinking
• boating
• reading
• traveling
• music
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• engineering
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:
Aesop Rock, The Beatles, Ben Harper, Bjork, Bob Dylan, Broken Social Scene, The Bravery, Bright Eyes, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, DJ Shadow, The Doors, Eric Clapton, Feist, Final Fantasy, Interpol, Islands, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Mars Volta, Metallica, Muse, Of Montreal, The National, Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Pink Martini, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Simon & Garfunkle, Sigur Ross, Smashing Pumpkins, The Shins, Sufjan Stevens, Tom Petty, U2, ..and much more

Books:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Picture of Dorian Grey, Nineteen Eighty Four, Catch 22, Fahrenheit 451, Slaughterhouse Five, Timequake

MOVIES
I love French cinema, especially "film noir" films and films from the "nouvelle vague" era. Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut are two of my favourite directors. I also love Humphrey Bogart and anything directed by Woody Allan.
Some of my favourite films:
1. À Bout de Souffle - Jean-Luc Godard
2. Annie Hall - Woody Allan
3. I Heart Huckabees
4. The Shawshank Redemption
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. 12 Monkeys
7. Die fetten Jahren sind vorbei
8. The Waking Life
9. Casablanca

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

-River rafting in Thailand
-Long boat to Maya Bay in Thailand
-Learned German and Italian
-Lived in different countries

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: how I like to have fun
Learn: languages, new beliefs and points of view
Share: music, singing, laughter, drinks

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Jamaica, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, Canada, France

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