CURRENT MISSION

To get to know my neighbors in this global village of ours

ABOUT ME

Let me start off by saying that I'm usually very reluctant to give self-descriptions, but I'll give it a shot since you will more than likely want to know a bit about me before you allow me to surf on your couch or before you request to surf on mine.

Well, I'm a low-maintenence, no-drama kind of guy who prefers spending time in a small group of close friends rather than in a sea of acquaintances, but occasionally I do like to mingle and maybe get a little rowdy. However, despite the impression that my profile might convey, I much prefer to listen and ask questions than to speak at length.

Concerning what I like to do in my spare time, I enjoy taking long, aimless walks both by myself and occasionally with one or two companions; hiking in the Blue Ridge mountains; sharing a couple of pitchers of beer with good friends; and going to CS events. In general, I enjoy almost anything that allows me to empty my mind for a little while.

PHILOSOPHY

Our life on this earth flourishes in character-forming friendship and harmonious community with others, and we only experience such friendship and community when (1) we come to recognize the human face of God and (2) we respond with non-coercive compassion to someone who is entirely other than us. Those are really two sides of the same coin.

Por que estou no Couchsurfing?

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I am very eager to start hosting for the CS community, but as a college student who lives in a campus dormitory, I am not able to do so at the moment. On top of that, as of September 1st, 2010, I will be studying abroad at the University of Tübingen in Tübingen, Germany, and I won't be back in the States until August 2011.

Thus, for now my participation in CS is a little one-sided: I get to enjoy the benefits of your hospitality, but you might have to wait a little while before I'm able to return the favor.

What I can do in the meantime is offer you my friendship and share my life experiences with you. I mean, that's what this whole thing is about, right?

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I'm relatively new to the CS community, and I'm ready to start surfing! I would say that I'm ready to start hosting, too, but unfortunately I'm not in a position to do so at the moment. (See above and/or "Couch Information".)

Interesses

For me, this is probably the most difficult to fill out, since I have far too many to list here; and, honestly, I would rather learn about yours. But you can probably guess what my interests are from what I've said in the other sections.

• beer
• hiking
• surfing
• mountains

Músicas, Filmes e Livros

Movies: The Fountain, There Will Be Blood, Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Music: Woody Guthrie, Led Belly, Son House, Blind Willie Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Levon Helm, Paul Simon, Johnny Cash, The Band, U2, Wilco, Jon Foreman, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Vampire Weekend, Beethoven, Aaron Copeland, Haydn

Books: Four Quartets, The Wasteland, The Brothers Karamazov, From Brokeness to Community, After Virtue, The Nicomachean Ethics, Plato's Dialgoues, St. Augustine's Confessions

Uma Coisa Incrível que Eu Fiz

I've witnessed bourgeois "do-gooders", myself included, be broken and healed by friendships with the poor and oppressed.

Ask me about it sometime.

Ensine, Aprenda, Compartilhe

For almost everything, I can only say this: I know that I do not know, and I'm hoping my fellow CSers will help me out with that.

However, of two things I am certain: First, God has a human face - in fact, one could say that God is more human than any of us - and because of this we can move toward knowing and loving each other truly. We can overcome the loneliness and violence that alienate us from each other in this post-modern, post-industrial, post-everything age. Second, in the end, every tear will be wiped away, the lion will lie down with the lamb, the people will beat their swords into plowshares, and all things will be made new. If we put our trust in this hope, then God will cause glimpses of the future to spring up in our midst.

I hope that these two certainties will continue to shape who I am, and I invite you to let them shape who you are.

Países que Visitei

Czech Republic, Ecuador, Germany, United States

Países em que Morei

Germany, United States

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