My name is Matthew, I grew up in the UK, am half Australian, and have lived in France, Germany, Portugal, and China. I am an anthropologist, and have spent much of my adult life travelling or working abroad.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

On the recommendation of friends.

Interests

Philosophy ? Politics and social theory ? I hate to say that I specialised in economics at uni but I have since switched to studying anthropology.

I like playing music and, cliché of all clichés, I would love to be a writer. I also like (and study) video games/VR.

• writing
• books
• politics
• movies
• video games
• traveling
• music
• anthropology
• economics
• teaching
• psychology

Music, Movies, and Books

Big fan of Radiohead, but I like anything and everything. Everything from Satie to reggaeton, hip-hop to electro swing, or chillstep to K-pop.

Movies ? Aside having something of an obsession with Chinese cinema (we're mainly talking Edward Yang, Jia Zhangke sort of stuff, but I do like a good Hong Kong action flick as well) I'm pretty easy, I try to watch as many films as I can as I think it's important to cultural education, and one's cultural education should be as broad as it is comprehensive.

Books, hmm. By chance I have always tended toward Japanese authors, particularly the likes of Kawabata Yasunari or Mishima Yukio but I studied literature a few years after sixth form and try to read widely. I'm currently indulging a guilty pleasure of systematically binge-reading Murakami's oeuvre but I'm not sure if this is indicative.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

No idea what to put here, when I was working for Oxfam in Germany (in Frankfurt of all places) I caught the Black Death (which is rather rare nowadays) and so that's pretty cool. I am not sure what I really did, as I was rather passive in this, but I was certainly amazed - and quite thankful (to survive).

Teach, Learn, Share

I teach all sorts, I have taught EFL for years now, and I have tutored broadly in the social sciences and humanities.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Umm, I can share company, good stories, whatever cigarettes I have leftover, (?); if I have anything at all I will exhaust it pampering any and all about me, and when I don't I'm sorry.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Algeria, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vatican City State, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Portugal, Romania, United Kingdom