Hey now! I'm Andrew and I have spent my last 5 years of life in Consumer Banking for Wells Fargo. My background is Massage (OSM Graduate), Yoga (YogaFit Certified Trainer) and Reiki (1st Degree Initiate). But I also completed Evergreen's Pre-Med Molecular Biology and Pre-Psych programs, so my Eastern and Western knowledge is fairly well balanced. I graduated from SPSCC's (in Lacey, WA) Medical Assistant Program as well.

My passion is Self-sufficiency. To this end I have been saving my pennies for the last five years at my corporate job and I am taking those pennies on a tour of Asia to assist Rice Farmers by re-introducing their traditional practice of growing straw mushrooms on their rice straw waste for edible protein as well as a much-needed source of income.

Currently the practice is to burn the rice straw in the fields twice a year. The smoke from this burning is large enough to be felt on a Global scale as one of the major contributors to the entire planet's air pollution. So imagine that global scale of smoke when you are on the ground there. The Smoke is a nuisance several countries over, it is truly difficult to describe the scale of it.

When you are a newborn baby, or an old person, you are stuck indoors; that's how life is. So this population does not have the ability to leave the house to get fresh air. There is an extremely clear-cut direct correlation of that nasty smoke as a baby giving them asthma and a ton of other problems as they grow up into children.

The other most vulnerable population is old people. The obvious: they, like the babies, don't have immune systems that are 100%, plus they have been breathing this thick smoke two seasons a year, every year of their lives. This causes mortality, but also can severely reduce quality of life for those that survive it. Mobility issues as well as obligations within the home prevent them from seeking fresh air.

So the simple idea is to reintroduce the traditional, local practice of not wastefully burning the straw; but converting it to Straw Mushrooms like their grandparents did. These are the mushrooms commonly seen on your plate at the Chinese restaurant and they command a good price worldwide.

Since Mushrooms and chemical farming are not compatible, this has the pleasant side effect of encouraging organic practices. This will also help the farmers to maximize their profit while spending as little cash as possible on their crop.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am looking to make some new friends while I am here in Bangkok! I will be in Thailand for a month. Next month I will spend in Palawan, Philippines. And then it's off to Manila (unless something more interesting happens).

Interests

• permaculture
• biodynamics
• companion planting

Music, Movies, and Books

Band: Beatles, Die Antwoord
Movie: They Live,
Book: Electromagnetism and the Foundations of Life (The Body Electric)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Got the Wells Fargo Corporate Office to put in an Earthworm Bin in the Loading Dock at work to eat the mountains of Pizza Boxes we go through there, instead of Landfilling the boxes. So if you want free EarthWorm Castings, I have pounds an pounds of it for free. (PS. I am in Bangkok now and brought no EW castings with me 8).

I got an environmental award for that, and now the company gets Federal money for the "Innovative Way of Dealing with Waste". Which is part of our mandate for LEED certification. But I built the whole thing myself. (puffs out chest)

Teach, Learn, Share

I love to teach permaculture as well as yoga and massage. I am licensed and/or certified in all of those.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Yoga classes
Massage sessions and classes on how to give to others
English classes
Accent Reduction classes

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Denmark, England, France, Philippines, Spain, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Denmark, France, Spain