Fairly typical Kiwi, relaxed and friendly. I work as a writer, mostly for artists and musicians based in New Zealand.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I really like couches.

No, well.

I'm from New Zealand but I've been living in Europe for a couple of years on an extended break from university. During that time I've had a lot of people look after me - everything from letting me stay at their place, to cooking me food, donating warm clothing when I've been under-equipped for winter and helping fix my bike.

Now that I have my own place it'd be nice to give back a little and pay that generosity debt.

Interests

Like most multicellular organisms, I'm interested in a bunch of stuff. Some include:
Art, music, film, literature, history, philosophy.. science too, particularly physics & astronomy. Chess. Making and listening to music. Drawing. Sports that interface with nature, particularly rock climbing and surfing, hiking, biking.. etc

Music, Movies, and Books

Music.. all kinds. There's stuff I like in every genre from jazz to techno. At this moment I'm listening to a great band from Australia called Hiatus Kaiyote. Kinda of ah.. neo-soul arrangements with a whiff of jazz, pretty slick hip-hop production. Real nice

Movies.. hmm I like the weird stuff (david lynch and beyond.. Jodorowsky haha). Japanese film is a real pleasure too (not just Ghibli). The best film I watched lately was Moonlight.

Books.. David Foster-Wallace has been taking up a lot of my reading time the last year or so, he probably clinches it for the fav author vote and Infinite Jest is definitely one of my fav books. I love South American lit, Borges, Cortazar, Marquez and others. The old Russian guys were pretty great too. The Brothers Karamazov definitely up there.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

For three months, I lived in Athens in an occupied (squatted) hotel repurposed illegally by radical Greek leftists for refugee accommodation. 400 people speaking 20+ languages, representing 30+ countries living in one building, working collaboratively to provide for each other. Pretty amazing to see how well people could coordinate even across languages and cultures, and how living together actually diminished rather than heightened 'racial' tensions and prejudice.

I'll be cheeky and add another, though: travelling across Europe by bicycle. A friend and I started from Berlin and made it all the way to Granada, which is where we live now. A tad tough at times but thoroughly rewarding.

Teach, Learn, Share

Anything you have to teach is welcome.

It's great to jam with people - so if you play an instrument, that'd be a bonus. My flatmate is a really good Jazz Pianist and Saxophonist. I play the guitar a bit and try my best to sing.

We both like to cook, too, so we can probably put some nice food on your plate!

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, England, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Israel, Jordan, Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Palestine, Poland, Samoa, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Greece, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain