CURRENT MISSION

Keep Calm and Carry On

ABOUT ME

I'm British / Irish but emigrated to New Zealand in 2005. I have spent most of my life teaching English as a foreign language and training teachers, but in New Zealand I became a learning advisor at a university, helping people with their essays / dissertations etc, and I have continued that in 2022 in Australia after a two year break. I spent 2019 to 2020 as a volunteer with a NZ NGO called VSA (Volunteer Service Abroad) on the Pacific Island of Tarawa, Kiribati as an English language advisor. I spent four months in 2021 in hospital and home recovery having broken my wrists in a cycling accident, but am very fortunate to have made a full recovery, with a lot of help. I spent the first half of 2022 in Sydney and now have come across the country to East Fremantle to live and work for the next few years.

PHILOSOPHY

Lazy idealism

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I plan to host travellers from time to time in my home here in East Fremantle.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

So far, I have been a guest a couple of times when I was travelling to conferences and too poor / mean to stay at the conference hotels! The people I've stayed with have been very hospitable. Thanks guys.

Interests

I play Celtic music on the fiddle (violin) at a very basic level. I enjoy reading, scrabble, music, theatre, football (just watching for the time being) ...

• writing
• education
• flowers
• traveling
• music
• violin
• soccer
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

I like world music, old jazz, quite a lot of classical music as well as a lot of other stuff. If you ask nicely, I may even let you wind up my gramophone (n.b. that's NOT a metaphor) ...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I gave a demonstration class in front of 2,500 Chinese teachers at a conference in 2003. And I was a judge for the national singing competition in Kiribati in 2019. Ok, it's not bungee-jumping, but ...

Teach, Learn, Share

I produce a podcast called http://www.academicenglishresources.com which has a lot of images, quiz questions etc about New Zealand - as well as academic English language and skills for international students. It's been hacked but I hope to get it up and running again soon.

What I Can Share with Hosts

It depends on what I'm up to when you come and how desperate you are for company. I imagine you'll look after yourself, spend the day out and about and come back in the evening to shower, eat and crash out. I usually come home after 8 pm.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Canada, China, Fiji, France, Ireland, Japan, Solomon Islands, Spain, Switzerland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Brazil, England, Italy, Kiribati, New Zealand, Philippines

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