CURRENT MISSION

Backpack Australia/New Zealand February-March 2009

ABOUT ME

I'm a sixth year Medical Student at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense.-----I'm originally from Milwaukee, but I've been living in Denmark since I was 16 years old.-----I have a dog named Bodhi. He is an Australian Blue Heeler, and, without a doubt, the best trained dog that I've ever had.-----I value friendship very highly. I think that the connection made between individuals is the most rewarding thing in this life. I have moved around quiete a bit during my life, and I've had the experience of meeting many different types of people and living in many different places. I've learned that there is nothing more important in life than the people with which you share it.

Interests

It goes without saying that I am a huge fan of the human body and how it works: anatomy, biochemistry, physiology, pathology. I know it's sound kind of nerdy, but I love it. If I didn't, I probably would be studying something else.-----I love going out and having a good time with friends, but I can stay in and have just as good a time with friends.-----I love being outside in the sun. I doens't matter what one does as long as their is a clear blue sky up above.-----I love playing music, and painting (when I have the time,) and I really dig playing with my dog, Bodhi, with whom, I try to include in my daily life as much as possible.-----And I love trying new things. It doesn't matter what it is. Last year I tried out: sky diving, the tango, fencing, and horse back riding. I just get crazy ideas all the time where I think, "That looks fun/I could do that."

• dogs
• tango
• painting
• music
• backpacking
• scuba diving
• fencing
• anatomy

Music, Movies, and Books

I consider myself a big movie fan. I feel that my taste in movies runs the gamut. I like everything from renditions of Shakespears masterworks by Kenneth Branagh to black comedies like "Grosse Pointe Blank" with John Cusak.-----Some of my favorites include:-----"Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray-----Jim Hensen's "The Dark Crystal"-----The Lord of the Rings Trilogy-----"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" with Johnny Depp-----"Swingers" with John Favreau and Vince Vaughn-----and "The Doors" with Val Kilmer.

More than hearing music, I love playing music (guitar, saxaphone, bagpipes,) singing music, and dancing to music. I doesn't really matter what it is as long as it's good.

As a full-time student, it's difficult to find the time to read for pleasure when you spend the vast majority of your day burried behind text books; but when I do find the time to wrap my hands and head around a classic piece literature, I find it hard to let go.-----Here are a few of my favorites:------"The Doors of Perception," "The Island," and "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley-----"Lame Deer: Seeker of Visions" by Richard Urdue and John (Fire) Lame Deer-----"The Symposium" by Plato-----"Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck-----"Sparticus" by Howard Fast-----"The Book of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi-----"The Gallic War" by Gauis Julius Caesar-----"For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Ernest Hemingway