CURRENT MISSION

To like the company I keep when I am alone.

ABOUT ME

I am a student of life, and will therefore be a student all my life. I'm really interested in traveling and learning languages, and for those academics out there I love sociolinguistics. Most of my research has centered on minority-majority language interaction and language policy.
I love to cook and am a proponent of living simply. To do this I prefer to buy directly from farmers and other people I know who produce things on their own. I hope one day to contribute to society in a concrete way like farmers, cooks, and other artisans.
I like the idea that some things are sacred, like human interaction.

PHILOSOPHY

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day,and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!”

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

The Invitation
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm hoping to use CS as a networking tool to connect with people in the region where I currently live. A couch is nice; a friend is nicer.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I did previously have a CS profile but misplaced it after I left Strasbourg last year, and now can't even find myself in the listings! So here I am starting over, although I have couchsurfed before in Dijon (May 2008) and Vannes (October 2009), both very good experiences chez a couple of open-minded CSers. I also have volunteered before to go for a drink with CSers passing through Strasbourg, and I did the same last year in Pontivy.

Interests

Languages
Cooking
Eating
Regional culture
Travel
Photography
Church of the Brethren
Gardening
Reading
Helping

• culture
• photography
• beauty
• dancing
• cooking
• baking
• drinking
• gardening
• reading
• traveling
• languages

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I live near Lake Michigan. It's always amazing.

Teach, Learn, Share

Cooking and baking bread
English and French lessons
Gardening

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Germany, Ghana, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Spain, United States