CURRENT MISSION

To live the last 3rd of my life with purpose and impact. No more futzing around. it's time to get cracking on being part of the change for the good.

ABOUT ME

I'm pretty easy; my favorite thing to do is sit and have a cup of coffee with someone and talk. I like a broad range of conversation, from movies to hearing about your family to the public policies of your country and mine. I love "how we met" stories and how you or your family came to be where you are. We lived in CA, where I grew up, for most of our marriage before moving to Austria for two years (2010-12). Upon our return, we have lived in the Pacific Northwest. Before going to Austria, I was an activist for housing policy to prevent and relieve homelessness in the US. While living in Austria, I tutored immigrant students in English and it was my favorite activity. Now that I am in Portland, I am back to writing grants for non-profits and working on relocating a family from Afghanistan. We have two grown children and a dog. The children are out of the house, the dog is here. If you stay with us, you will likely meet my husband and do something with us together. While he lets me do the logistical stuff with couchsurfers, he enjoys much the same things I do. He's usually busy coaching or doing something to do with soccer (football) or riding his bike.

PHILOSOPHY
Be helpful, not hurtful, striving to part of the solution, not the problem.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I mostly hosted when we stayed in Austria. I only stayed a few times with others, and last "surfed" in October, 2012. My husband has never "surfed" Since we came back to the US in summer, 2012, we have hosted sporadically. We had two long-term stays for a woman who wanted to purchase property where we lived and in June, 2015 started to host again for short term stays. Until COVID, we traveled a lot ourselves every few months, but until the incidences scale back significantly, we are not hosting for now. My response rate is low because of a bad habit of scrolling through my emails on my phone and intending to get back when on my laptop, which I rarely do. I will get better. I still talk up the experience to others. I have donated to CS.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE
We've mostly hosted, never surfed as a couple, I usually do the traveling and asking for CS.

Interests

I have many interests. Currently, I am fascinated by immigration policies and their impact on migration, and also the impact of migration on language. I wish I was a polyglot like all you people in Europe! And I love football (soccer to us). I met my husband at the World Cup in Barcelona in 1982. We attended the Women's World Cup matches in Vancouver in summer, 2015, and had a wonderful time. We photo-safaried in South Africa, and traveled to Thailand while my husband worked a stint in Singapore in 2018. Our travel has been limited since a health issue in our family in 2019 and then COVID hit. We currently are customizing a camper van and doing road trips in the US.

• coffee
• movies
• traveling
• cycling
• soccer
• world cup
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

I LOVE movies!! Comedy, historical epics, film noir, classics, horror/thrillers (Koreans and Spanish are doing it well lately!). I like lots of music, from American standards to flamenco to classical to some stuff my son turns me on to. I MUST have something to read: I love GOOD fiction, especially short stories (don't know why), biographies, and anything written by the guys who wrote screenplays for The Wire (Lehane, Pelecanos, Lippman).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Only one? This is tough. Giving birth to live human beings is pretty cool, but REALLY painful; raising them to adulthood without drowning them or alienating them so much that they never talk to us again amazes me, but that says more about how I feel about parenting than the amazing thing itself. When we meet, we can share more that might be of more interest to you.

Teach, Learn, Share

I notice that some people are engaged in NGO's or other efforts. I know how to write grant proposals and have some training in fundraising strategies. I would be happy to share the knowledge.

Countries I’ve Visited

Costa Rica, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, United Arab Emirates

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, United States