CURRENT MISSION

The history of the world -- starting with Scotland

ABOUT ME

I am 30 years old. I'm originally from northern New Jersey, in the northeastern United States. I have lived, studied and worked for over seven years in Scotland, the majority of which have been spent in Glasgow. I am a trained historian and tutor in Scottish history, with a speciality in Scottish sport and leisure, though I tend bar part-time to pay the rent. I live with my partner (herself an immigrant -- from England) in Glasgow's West End.

PHILOSOPHY

*My relationships with everyone, including my family, my friends, people I work with and (especially) my partner are based on equality and respect.

*My first full-time paycheck as a lecturer will NOT be a down payment for a large suburban home and a car. Money can't buy community.

*The best things in life aren't always free, but they're usually cheap. A £5 bottle of wine, thus, probably tastes better than a £30 one.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I make a lot of trips to a variety of places in Britain, Europe and North America for academic purposes. This is mainly for research, but also for attending conferences. My career work has taken me on a variety of different journeys, and I've met a lot of great people along the way. I'm thrilled to be in Glasgow, though, and I'd love to show visitors around my city, provided they don't mind my accent (which exists halfway between New York, Glasgow and Yorkshire). I also know a great deal about the area surrounding Glasgow, including places to eat, drink and WALK (I love to walk). My partner is a vegetarian, so I can also discuss vegetarian options in Glasgow (there are some good ones).

Por favor: Los espanoles y los latinos son agradables encontrar. Estudiaba espanol para siete anos en escuela y universidad en los estados unidos, pero hablo solamente un poco. Yo quiero hablar mejor. Si no vosotros hablais mucha ingles, por favor encuentreme.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I'm new. There will be some eventually. ;O) But while not having any personally, I have met Couchsurfers before, and have come to the site through a friend of my partner.

Interests

My work is my passion, and what has brought me over to Scotland. (If that sounds boring, I promise you it's not to me.) Along the same road as history, I enjoy discussing culture, politics, media, literature and anything on down this road.

However, I also love hiking, and while I haven't done much strenuous hiking since my years in the Scouts, I love to get out and about into the country.

I do enjoy either a coffee or a pint, and I love to meet other people, though I can't say I'm particularly wild -- I could never imagine enjoying a place like Ibiza or Magaluf (yet strangely I enjoy Glasgow).

I'm also interested in where you're from. ;0)

• culture
• humanities
• books
• literature
• wine
• coffee
• vegetarian
• drinking
• politics
• hiking
• sports
• soccer
• communications
• teaching
• history

Music, Movies, and Books

I do quite a bit of reading, but very little of it is fiction nowadays. Most of it is scholarly, and in the areas of: Scottish history, British history, the history of sport and leisure, sports studies, popular cultural history, and the history of food and drink.

Music? I like tons. My CD collection is quite large. My mother listened to the Beatles, Motown and Stax; my father was a Stones and Who man. I grew up listening (as was the fashion for northern NJ teens at the time) to grunge, 'indie' (but we didn't call it that)and hip-hop. Nowadays, I get most of my music from the internet. In the past few years, I have bought only a few CDs, but they include the last releases by Belle and Sebastian (appropriate enough for Glasgow), the Arcade Fire and My Morning Jacket. Jazz is great to listen to in the background. I've recently signed a truce with pop music, and genuinely enjoy some it (with a few MASSIVE exceptions).

Movies: I'm a bit of a snob. I'd organise it by directors. My favourites are (in no particular order): Quentin Tarantino, Terry Gilliam, David Lynch, David Cronenburg, the Coen Brothers, Martin Scorsese, amongst a lot of other arty stuff. Subtitles over dubbing.

NOTE: The Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) is a must-visit for anyone to Glasgow who loves good cinema.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I'm an Eagle Scout! I first came to Scotland on an exchange programme with the Scouts; I worked on the Cowal Peninsula of Argyll.

Teach, Learn, Share

See above (mostly). I'm always interested in sharing knowledge with people in the humanities, for career and personal reasons.

My PhD thesis formed the basis of a book that will be due out soon on the cultural history of early football in the west of Scotland. Right now, I'm researching two things: early English football and the Scottish diaspora, and the sport culture of the Firth of Clyde, c. 1840-1900. I'd love to tell you all about it.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom, United States