CURRENT MISSION

I suppose for me, life is about discovery at no matter what age. I believe that imaginations can always be made to see more.

ABOUT ME

My name is James Burke, 26 years of age from a small village in the West of Ireland. At the moment, I wish to follow my aspiration to one of my callings which is music. A love affair since being a young boy, it is something I wish to explore and see if I can further my life experience with. I'm a fun-loving person who loves to travel, meet different people and engage in different cultures no matter how varied!

I studied in Dublin for three years to become a primary school teacher so I teach children from anything between 4 to 12 years of age. In college, I took part in many aspects of college life from playing in talent competitions to taking part in the college choir as you can see from my photos!

I have a massive interest in the Arts, anything from cinema, to music, to Art, and sometimes a bit of theatre. I am a person who enjoys experiencing things for himself and loves to do so with others if possible.

Travel is a new love affair of mine and I have visited countries like Hungary, France, Switzerland. Last year, I lived and worked in Annecy, France. I taught English to French primary school children and loved the experience. I met people from all over the world and this has fuelled my interest for further travelling!

Generally, as I said I love conversation and like to put people at ease when I meet them as I know it can be daunting to welcome someone into their home! As a a guest, I try to make myself useful and if help is needed with anything I will do my best in order not to be a burden on you.

I look forward hopefully to meeting you new people in the future!

PHILOSOPHY

Do your best for those around you and enjoy yourself. Living for others can also be for yourself.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have not hosted anyone yet in Ireland but hopefully in the near future, I am definitely interested in hosting others!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have couch surfed in Lyon, France during La Fête des Lumières and this was an amazing event to attend. I have also hosted many people while I lived in France myself, and really enjoyed the experience.

Interests

Favourite Comedians: Louis C.K., Dylan Moran, Richard Pryor and many more.

Music (Classical, rock, blues and folk mainly)
Favourite artists: Rory Gallagher, The Beatles, Radiohead, George Harrison, Elliott Smith, Bob Dylan, Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, John Martyn, Jacques Brel among others!

Classical:
Anything from Frédéric Chopin to Beethoven, and some film theme music especially Yann Tiersen and Hans Zimmer.
I play guitar, piano, accordion, and mandolin.

Sports (Rugby, soccer, Gaelic football, snooker, anything really!)

Languages: English, French, An Ghaeilge (Irish), and a small bit of Spanish!

• arts
• books
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• billiards
• music
• guitar
• piano
• blues
• snowboarding
• sports
• soccer
• rugby
• teaching
• languages
• snooker

Music, Movies, and Books

Authors:
Jane Austen, Jack Kerouac, Thomas Hardy, J.R.R. Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings is probably my favourite book of all time), Charlotte Brontë,
Anything by Oscar Wilde, Bob Dylan. I love all of the older classics that just don't seem to be matched by today's literature!

Films:
The Blues Brothers, Lord of the Rings, Pan's Labyrinth, The Road, The Matrix, anything with imagination!

Poetry:
W.B. Yeats, Patrick Kavanagh, Victor Hugo, Sylvia Plath, Robert Frost.

Favourite albums:
Getting Ready (Freddie King)
Bryter Layter (Nick Drake)
Inception (Hans Zimmer)
Revolver (The Beatles)
Highway 61 Revisited (Bob Dylan)
From a Basement on the Hill (Elliott Smith)
Aha Shake Heartbreak (Kings of Leon)
Kid A (Radiohead)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

For me, snowboarding in the Alps was pretty amazing! Although I wasn't very good at it in fairness! I spent most of the day on my backside.

Teach, Learn, Share

I think I could share my own experience, my knowledge with others of a similar disposition. Usually I find people who I can share things with, be they great or small. I think for those who wish to know more about other cultures and are open-minded might be interested in meeting me perhaps. That all depends I suppose!

I have always been interested in thoughts and feelings of others. I suppose this interest in humanity came through reading many books when I was younger. I consider myself a person who knows himself fairly well for his age and hope to further myself by taking a risk, seeing new places and seeing other people's points of view.

Countries I’ve Visited

Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Northern Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Ireland