I am currently living the good life, headquartered in Mitaka, Japan (just west of Tokyo proper), and occasionally making forays out to other bits of Japan.

My partner, Lorena, and I moved to Japan in 2017 while she pursues her master's degree here. While she studies and prepares to save the world, I split my time between teaching English, frustratedly pursuing full-time employment hampered by my lack of Japanese language prowess, struggling to speak in Japanese to local shop owners, taking baby steps into reading kanji, riding my bicycle and trains, and brewing lots of coffee daily.

We and I are big coffee lovers, and we run Coffee Positivo, where we travel around giving workshops sharing information with people on how to be more conscious, sustainable coffee drinkers.

I enjoy making friends the world over, surfing, playing guitar, rock climbing. I have a twice monthly tennis match with a group of dudes who are all well into their late 60's, and about half into their 70's, and I'm only somewhat ashamed to admit that we're fairly evenly matched.

On the other hand I'm terribly ashamed to admit I've gotten myself hooked on a mobile video game that forced me to stop playing on the phone (thumb tendonitis) and move to a tablet. And I'm going to have to quit cold turkey soon (wrist tendonitis). It's not that I'm addicted or anything, it's just that I've got sensitive tendons...

I *am* addicted to cracking my knuckles, which is a habit I desperately wish to drop. (I'm frowning as I write this since I just did it again.)

I love Japan, especially the food (Sushi! Ramen!), the culture, and the people once you get to know them. Well, I guess that's pretty much everything about Japan. I really like it here!

Also, I clearly love adding parenthetical comments in my About Me's.

Anyways, I'm always looking for partners for a jam sesh, surf sesh, climbing sesh, any kind of sesh really, just drop me a line and come visit!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

(Update circa July 2013) Been a member since using it to help find people to practice Spanish with while living in Buenos Aires in 2010. Since then, have hosted a few friends, and I am really interested in getting much deeper into the community on my current trip which will take me from Indonesia to Brazil (for the world cup) over the course of a year.

(3/22/18) Whoa, it's been sooooo long since I updated this bad boy of a profile. Crazy! When I was last active on Couchsurfing, I was taking a trip around the world solo. To think, I had listed that I was starting to learn Spanish. Now I'm fluent (well, fluent enough) and starting to learn Japanese. I also finished that trip around the world, got married, moved to an apartment with a crazy roommate where we couldn't host Couchsurfers, and basically completely disconnected from Couchsurfing for a few years. Now, my wife and I are living in Japan where she studies and I teach English, and we're excited to open up our house to new friends we haven't met yet!

Interests

Surfing, climbing and bouldering, music, guitar, snowboarding, reading, cooking eggs, coffee, and most recently, oneironautics.

• cooking
• coffee
• reading
• bouldering
• music
• guitar
• surfing
• snowboarding
• rock climbing
• travel

Music, Movies, and Books

Currently reading: Infinite Jest (almost done you giant bastard!)

A short list of books I loved so much I've re-read them all: Neuromancer, Harry Potter, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, The Inheritance Cycle, The 4 Hour Work Week, How to Win Friends and Influence People, 1Q84 (ok, so I didn't read that more than once, but I really liked it)

Favorite Movies: Star Wars, Lost in Translation (especially poignant now that I've moved to Japan)

Favorite Music: generally rock, rap, and the poppier electronic stuff - lately been listening to Four Tet, Mitski, The White Stripes, Kendrick Lamar, and Yelle on pretty heavy repeat.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I have lived in California, long enough to know that I'd like to die there. And I've lived in Argentina long enough to know that (for now) I'd like to be buried somewhere in Patagonia. That's amazing enough by my standards.

Teach, Learn, Share

What can I teach you, let's see:

* First-time ever surf lesson (includes paddling out, popping up, and safety tips)
* Simple songs on the guitar
* Bouldering (rock climbing) technique
* How to cook orange rice (my favorite dish, and also named by me as a youngin'. It's only orange in color, btw.)
* Secret recipe for cleaning your car's windows (this is worth letting me surf at your place, trust)
* Time management and productivity skillz

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Bahamas, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina, Colombia, Japan, United States