Professional musician, played in Alaska, Canada, USA and Japan. Used to be a jeweler and made custom rings, but gave that up to play music full time. Last summer I was playing 4-5 nights a week.

Snowmobile guide in Alaska from early 90's till recently, during which time I learned Japanese from my customers.

Lived in Japan for a total of 7 years (Yamanashi, Tochigi, Kanagawa, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Offering a place for Japanese travelers and others to come and go hiking, playing music and visiting.

Interests

• language exchange
• learning languages
• japanese culture
• japanese language

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Hitchhiked on all four major islands in Japan! My second trip there lasted only three weeks, but I went from Narita to Nagaoka, Kofu, Kyoto, Yamaguchi, Gifu, Nagaoka and back to Narita all by hitchhiking, a lot of it in the typhoon!
First time ever to swim in the ocean was during typhoon in Ibaraki.

Teach, Learn, Share

I have an approach to teaching English that has allowed my students to make big leaps in their progress to sounding more like a native speaker than the usual methods, but I'm best working with intermediate students.

I'd like to improve my Japanese and still work on it most of the time.

There are some great hiking trips to be had around the local area here, including one that doesn't even take a car to get to the start of the trail. Just walk out the door for a block and there it is.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Language exchange and stories of Alaska, Japan and years of traveling as a full time musician!

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, England, Japan, Mexico

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Japan, United States