CURRENT MISSION

Return to doing things for fun!

ABOUT ME

We (Belinda and Kamil) are from Vancouver, BC, Canada. Coming from two very different backgrounds (Belinda is Chinese, Kamil is Polish), and living in such a diverse city, we love to learn about different cultures. Belinda's an environmental engineer with Tetra Tech, usually working on planning projects on waste reduction, recycling, and composting. Kamil is a software/electronics engineer a.k.a. "professional synth nerd" for Intellijel.

PHILOSOPHY

- Tread lightly on the Earth and respect the ways of the natural environment
- Keep learning and expanding our knowledge about the world around us

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We are happy to help travellers navigate the Vancouver area, but won't be able to host at the moment. Too much of a crazy work/travel schedule to be reliably at home any given day.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

The beauty of couchsurfing is developing this network of friends around the world. Our first couchsurfers were Kristin and Elias back in Aug 2010. A few months later, they were working in Whistler and graciously hosted Kamil. We wouldn't have met them without couchsurfing!

Belinda had a very interesting CS experience with Joan, author of Down Under Over Easy, a book about how she couchsurfed through New Zealand and Australia (highly recommend that everyone CS read her book). She wasn't on vacation or travelling, instead was looking for a place to stay so to do research at a lab on Vancouver Island. It started with a CouchRequest to stay with her for one week, which turned into two, and then a few more one-week stays after that. Joan's kindness helped her through a difficult time with a tight research budget and experiments in the lab that weren't working very well. After long, often tiring days in the lab, she always appreciated going home to spend time with Joan and Emma. Her heartfelt thanks goes to Joan for "adopting" her for a few months. We hope that we can return the favour in some way in the future.

Interests

Outdoor sports: climbing, sea kayaking, backcountry skiing, cycling, hiking
Kamil plays with a Taiko drumming group
We have a community garden plot where we attempt to grow vegetables

• writing
• books
• beauty
• environment
• electronics
• gardening
• technology
• traveling
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• hiking
• kayaking
• skiing
• sports
• rock climbing
• engineering
• software

Music, Movies, and Books

Any kind of music so long as it is interesting and original. Usually that excludes most mainstream, overly-processed, top 40s type of stuff.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Bermuda, Canada, Japan, Malawi, Poland

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