CURRENT MISSION

To continue avoiding a forty hour a week job, but work my butt off as a teacher

PHILOSOPHY

I know it sounds really cheesy, but I believe that I should treat others as I would like to be treated. As my dad would probably say: don't pee in someone's pool cause they probably don't swim in your toilet.

As a teacher, my philosophy is to make the student feel as integrated in learning as possible. He/she should NEVER feel as if he/she was less than I. I, too, am a human...or at least I've heard so.

I have read Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf many times and each time I find something new.

Tuba is also important.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Well...

I was known to be the offical halfway house for German students for quite some time. I don't think more than four months went by in the past 3 years, where I didn't have someone on my couch living there.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've surfed around a bit in Germany, but I have this urge to go east. I don't have a lot of experience, but I do understand how it works, as I hosted a few people at my place in Arizona. I really do like it, as it gives me the chance to talk with other like-minded people and maybe learn a bit more.

I spent a weekend in Zagreb, which was great and my host was amazing. He basically knew the whole city. A fellow in Macedonia opened his door to me for four days. It was a hoot.

Interests

Languages, tuba, tuba, languages, biking, going places I shouldn't, cooking, eating other people's cooking (provided it is good) and wandering aimlessly in large cities, tuba.

Did I say tuba?

• cooking
• breakfast
• coffee
• clubbing
• reading
• billiards
• music
• cycling
• swimming
• teaching
• languages
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Any movie from Emir Kusturica is good. I read a lot of Hesse when I was young (and am beginning to read him again). I generally like literature that is challenging, but not ridiculously long (like Thomas Mann!). I also like to read books about different languages and I enjoy studying them, but often find that I get a bit disillusioned at times. Georgian is an amazing language, albeit hard. I also love Dutch.

As for music: It's kinda silly: I really love Trubaci Music. Being a tuba player, it's a great feeling to be treated like a rock star. I also love any type of music that features brass. I played in a punk rock-polka band for a few years as well as a Trubaci orkestar. Yet I do also enjoy a bit of rock here and there.

I grew up listening only to KJZZ and KBAQ (the jazz and classical stations in the Phoenix, Arizona area). I have since expanded my appreciation of different styles of music. Hell, I can even tolerate country music in doses. I am not much of a fan of top 40 or that stuff. If it isn't complicated, I generally shun it off (but I love to hear why others love it).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I played for a crowd of over three grand or so at Excaliber club in Chicago. I never thought a tuba player could feel like a rock star, but I did.

I have also had breakfast at a park in Heidelberg and watched the sun come up over the Valley, reading a Rhein-Neckar Zeitung and having Coffee and a Käsebrötchen after realizing my 5 year dream of going back to Germany.

A few other cool things I have experienced:

I led a group of about 1000 Serbs down the streets, playing one of their favorite songs- Djurdjevdan. Just me and some guy playing Goc (drum).

I have played in front of a crowd of over 10,000 at Drum Corps quarterfinals in Buffalo, New York. I played Wagner in a huge band with a pipe organ, ridden a bike long distances and taken lots of pictures, I have been in a place in the middle of the desert and saw cows wandering around, I found some pictographs on the side of the San Tan mountains in a place that felt like it was forgotten.

I've driven a moving truck from Phoenix to Washington State....I don't know...there are many of them.

The most amazing thing I have done so far was go to Guca in Serbia. I love the music and loved the atmosphere.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Croatia, France, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, Germany, Serbia, United States