CURRENT MISSION

To care about what is impotant in life - family, friends, and living to the fullest.

ABOUT ME

I finished my course work for my Master's, and then immediately wanted to travel so I moved to American Samoa to be a volunteer teacher for a year. After that awesome year I decided to move back to my home town to spend a little time with my family, and worked as a science teacher in an alternative education program in the city. Sadly, budget issues cut my job, so I decided to spend the summer visiting a friend in England and looking for jobs in Europe for the year. Ended up as an au pair in Austria for a few months and in love with a adorable German nerd - so now I moved again, this time to Munich.

PHILOSOPHY

Be nice, have fun, and talk to strangers.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

So far I have only hosted and surfed, but now that I live in a bigger city I hope to participated in some CS community events.

I love the feel of couchsurfing, the idea that strangers are people who can open your eyes to new ideas and experiences, instead of being avoided at all costs. As a host and a surfer I have really experienced how much more interesting a meaningful travel can be when staying with people who live in the area. From my experiences with couchsurfing I have learned a plethora of interesting things including the spread of the Spanish flu through the South Pacific, what it's like to be a pastry chef at a casino in Australia, and how to put in a needle for an insulin pump (while drunk, which I don't recommend!).

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've hosted a few people in Erie, and one guy in American Samoa and all of them were great guests. I have also surfed a few times, and loved it.

Interests

Teaching, voluntary simplicity, service work, traveling, ultralight packing, anything involving biology - especially birding and playing with bugs, telling stories, loving life.

• education
• traveling
• surfing
• biology
• teaching
• science
• volunteering
• au-pair

Music, Movies, and Books

Any good work of fiction I can get my hands on in English here in Munich at the moment. As for nonfiction I am recently enjoying books on nerdy biology stuff.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I taught for a year in American Samoa, and three months after I arrived a tsunami stuck our island, including villages where many of my students lived. The amazing part was how the villages and others across the island reached out to help each other in the tough days that followed.

Teach, Learn, Share

Couch surfing has allowed me to meet some very awesome people that I otherwise would never have met and for that I am very thankful.

Countries I’ve Visited

France, Guyana, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Samoa, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

American Samoa, Austria, United States

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