ABOUT ME

"Le bonheur n'est pas une destination, c'est une façon de voyager."
Translation:
"Happiness isn't a destination, it's a way of travel."
^ this is my motto ^

I grew up in Ottawa, a city highly divided between English and French (across the river: Gatineau), but I hope to travel around a lot more.
I have a bachelor in Political Science from the University of Ottawa, and a master's in International Relations from the University of Montreal.

PHILOSOPHY

Exploration is the essence of man. We live to explore the world. Like most of us here, I love to travel, but unlike some, I do not like to rush & visit as many cities as fast as I can. I need to experience the -life- in the city that I'm in. Blend in the culture. The best discoveries are the ones I discover by accident! I find grocery stores & food markets abroad particularly interesting, they don't just expose what people eat, they often feature people of all social classes, ages, and origins mixed together.

Everything is a learning experience, there isn't a single thing or person you cannot learn something from. Risk is also part of the adventure of travelling. You have to accept a certain degree of (reasonable & intelligent) risk. If you're not willing to accept some risk, you will miss out on many great experiences!

FYI: My name is Emmanuel. When doing a CS request, please refer to my name.
Requests that are copy-pasted are usually rejected. I do not lend keys, and max stay is usually 2 nights, subject to my schedule (I work full time and have social plans for myself as well).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've started and produced most of the 100 things to do in Ottawa wiki page - unfortunately the new CS staff shut down the Couchsurfing Wiki, so I mirrored it here: http://www.bewelcome.org/groups/958/wiki

I try to join CS meetings whenever possible & share my knoweldge about the cities I've lived in or visited (especially Ottawa & Montréal), I invite people to events around town, and I even give tips on the French & English languages when I get the chance! :-)
I've done some French tutoring before. I also provided some advice on how to travel in South America. I've organised several CouchSurfing camping trips and a few skating events.

SEE ALSO: Teach. Learn. Share. section.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My experiences have been amazing so far.

I initially met 3 people from CouchSurfing, 2 from Spain and 1 from Germany. My friends & I showed them how Canadians party in winter, more specifically at Igloofest on the old port. I'm glad that they had a fantastic time!

I subsequently joined CouchSurfing, attended meetings, had great conversations in bars, exotic restaurants, and eventually had my first real "couchsurfing" travel experience in Québec City with a german friend & couchsurfer.

My best couchsurfing experience was in New York City where I was was greeted by a awesome mexican student and his roomate living in Harlem, where we went out with a large group of their friends, and faced one of the biggest winter blizzard New York has ever seen (which was fairly large by Canadian standards). In a way, we could say that I showed them what Canadian weather is like, and they showed me what New Yorkers partying are like!

I have also done some CouchSurfing in Bogota, Colombia, and met CouchSurfers in Peru; as well as in Vancouver BC (Canada).

I hosted several couchsurfing events as well as CouchSurfers in three of my former appartments in Ottawa, Gatineau and Montreal.

Interests

Blues dancing, Swing dancing, Taekwon-Do, boxing, Obstacle Course Racing, parkour, running, rock climbing, urban exploration, ultimate frisbee, biking & mountain biking, trekking, skating & ice skating, snowboarding, alpine skiing.

I love electronic music (techno, electro, house, jungle, acid jazz, electroswing), blues, jazz, hip-hop, hard rock, african music, classical music, opera, orchestra, and even (some) country to an extent.

I love foreign movies, nightlife, urban exploration, geocaching, photography, and learning new skills. My curiosity in things is wide and sincere. I love to discover new things just as I enjoy learning about other people's passions.

• culture
• photography
• perfumes
• dancing
• swing dancing
• dining
• running
• nightlife
• partying
• clubbing
• movies
• traveling
• music
• classical music
• electronic music
• jazz
• blues
• opera
• cycling
• camping
• skiing
• snowboarding
• boxing
• rock climbing
• international relations
• languages
• political science
• science
• parks
• urban exploration
• dragonboat

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: I especially love psychological thrillers, either American or foreign, that make you question your own world. Examples of these include 12 Monkeys, Momento, The Matrix, The Truman Show, Das Experiment, and Inception.

My favorite author is by far Bernard Werber (author of the series Les Fourmis, Les Thanatonautes, l'Ultime Secret et l'Encyclopédie du Savoir Relatif et Absolu).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

- Reaching Everest Base Camp in the Khumbu (Nepal)
- Glaciers in the Cordillera Huayhuash (Peru)
- Cannoying in Ecuador
- Small jazz clubs in Harlem (New York City)
- Instant parking lot parties in Brasilia (Brazil)
- Drum circle dances in Ivory Coast (West Africa)
- All-night rave party in a World War II factory in Berlin (Germany)
- 3-days camping rave in Canada near Niagara falls
- Full scale Middle-Age wars in the parks of Montreal (Canada) ... with swords made of cardboard and ductape, full scale shields, flags, and armors (some in metal).

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you swing or blues dancing! I've been taking swing & blues classes for a couple of years.
I can try to teach you -some- self-defense moves from Taekwon-Do.
I can teach you parallel skiing or snowboarding.
I can teach you principles of DSLR photography.
I can show you how you can use a playground as a full-featured gym without paying for a gym membership.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Côte d'Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Ghana, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Côte d'Ivoire, France

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