Second of 4 brothers in my family, I studied comparative religion in college and university. I practiced Karate for 10 years when younger but moved to the study and teaching of Chinese Martial Arts from 1977 to 1995 including 3 years on Maui in Hawaii. Had my own martial arts school in Montreal for many years teaching Tai Chi, Hsing I, Bagua, Chang Chuan and other arts in the Wushu family.
I also worked as a High School teacher, painter, acrobat, artisan-baker, psycho-educator for teenagers, state employee in Quebec and union representative....also as a volunteer in animal shelters.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To meet people in their daily life and relate to them on a personal level.
To discover the world in which "they" live and feel "at home" with them.
To help them with tasks they may need support with or projects they cherish.
To travel their land possibly along with them and meet their family and friends.

Interests

Share a good intimate conversation and relate on a personal level.
Play diatonic accordion, a bit of piano...and listen to other people's music.
Make pictures of people, flowers, animals, moments...share them with friends.
Practice Tai Chi in the park....once in a while, go swimming, go for a walk !
Share a coffee, a meal, a moment and have a significant exchange.
Help a person by listening to their life story. Practice Vipassana meditation.
Do volunteer work with animals. Read an inspiring book. Sculpt a wood mask.
Drawing pictures that come out of my imagination...and adding lots of colors !

• animals
• arts
• books
• education
• wine
• coffee
• athlete
• meditation
• flowers
• traveling
• volunteer work
• socializing
• drawing
• music
• piano
• martial arts
• swimming
• teaching
• religion
• volunteering
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Love Celtic, Quebec, American, French and Chinese traditional music.
Classical music : Bach, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Rachmaninnoff... PIANO music ! Love accordion music : Diatonic, Russian Bayan.
Love choirs singing. Folk singers : Jim Croce, James Taylor, John Denver, Jean Ferrat, Felix Leclerc. Books on psychology, religion, philosophy, sprirituality. Adventures movies like The Lord of the Rings or repertoire movies by independent movie makers. Herman Hesse's books, Thomas Moore, Francesco Alberoni.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Been in China to study Wushu for 3 months in 1981 at the Beijing Physical Education Institute just about in the days when the country was virtually closed to foreigners. Was the first athlete from Quebec to do this after China reopened to the west.

Teach, Learn, Share

Been teaching primary and High School in Canada and the USA.
Teaching of Japanese and Chinese Martial arts for many years.
Learned how to play a bit of piano and more diatonic accordion music.
Been doing volunteer work in animal shelters in Quebec.
Did volunteer work in the Talamanca mountains od Costa-Rica. Organic farming.
About other people's cultures, language, traditions and music.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My capacity to listen...and support.
My life experience as a teacher.
Share the burden of their work...of their pain.
Share their dreams.
Share some music perhaps with them...and their friends.
Share a good conversation and a glass of wine...or a coffee....or tea.
Take lots of significant pictures with my camera...for the fun of it !

Countries I’ve Visited

Algeria, Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Philippines, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, China, United States