CURRENT MISSION

To become a better translator

ABOUT ME

Check my references, or better yet get in touch!

PHILOSOPHY

Why, for this existence/
There's no man who's smart enough,/
Life's too short for learning/
Every trick and bluff/

- Avram Blok (with apologies to Brecht)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I host and I surf. I've also attended a couple of parties, but for me it's all about the hosting and the surfing.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Put up a whole lot of people passing through from Hokkaido to Tokyo and vice-versa, and others who've swung by for cherry blossoms or parties. Enjoyed hosting (almost) every time.

I surfed a whole lot of couches during uni, and this network is kind of evocative of that, though the distances involved are greater.

As a host, Couchsurfing is good because it destroys any semblance of routine in my life. Colliding with random people from all over the world, each in a different place in life, keeps things interesting and makes it impossible for me to keep regular waking hours.

During our travels we've finally had chances to use CS as surfers rather than hosts and we've really enjoyed the experience. People have been so amazingly hospitable! The process of searching and applying for couches is surprisingly stressful though, especially if your trip is as unplanned and haphazard as ours.

Best country for surfers: Israel. 50% of requests sent got positive answers on the same day!

Worst country for surfers: England. 3 months after requests were sent only 10% replied and they all said no!

Interests

Travel, bouldering! climbing, language learning, motorbike touring, cycling, games of all descriptions, Go, diving, art, hallucinogens, drinking, dancing, reading, snowboarding.

• arts
• dancing
• partying
• drinking
• reading
• traveling
• bouldering
• cycling
• surfing
• scuba diving
• snowboarding
• rock climbing
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

The Big Lebowski, Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, Trainspotting, Donnie Darko, Amelie, Shaun of the Dead, Mononoke Hime, Aliens, The City of Lost Children, Laundry, Children of Men and many more.

Portishead, Belly, Alabama 3, Massive Attack, Leftfield, Gomez, Jurassic 5, Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, Bjork, The Prodigy, The Future Sound of London, Ministry, Hooverphonic, Queens of the Stone Age, The Streets, Seatbelts, M.I.A., Gotan Project, The Fratellis, Baaba Maal, Lily Allen's 1st album, Hifana, A Tribe Called Quest, Bob Marley, Eels, Lamb, Lemon Jelly, Nirvana, Pixies, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Stevie Wonder, Cake, Tori Amos and many more.

Norwegian Wood, Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Pattern Recognition, The Player of Games, Walking on Glass, Never Let Me Go, Hikaru no Go, 20th Century Boys, Mushishi and many more.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I watched dawn break over Angkor Wat from a hilltop vantage while riding an off-duty elephant bareback, now that was pretty special. Of course, the really amazing moments while travelling don't fit well into little sound bytes, so a visually evocative one will have to do...

Teach, Learn, Share

I'd be happy to teach anyone that wants to learn Go (囲碁) Mah Jong (麻雀) or Xiang Qi (象棋).
Anyone who can teach me how to improve my game of Go or Xiang Qi please do so!

I'm always happy to teach languages but I only know two, so if you want to learn English or Japanese I'm your man.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Australia, Austria, Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, United Kingdom

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