CURRENT MISSION

I want to hug wild animals.

ABOUT ME

I am Eric Pfaff. I teach third grade students at a continuous learning school. I LOVE my job, particularly because it gives me opportunities to travel. I have three weeks off in fall, spring, and winter, and six weeks off in summer.

I love traveling and seeing new things and meeting new people. I think that our world is such an amazing place, with such unique cultures and languages and people. I cannot imagine ever not experiencing this.

I enjoy a good beer and conversation, and love visiting museums (history!!!) and trying new things. For example, I have never seen an opera or been to a symphony performance, and I have never eaten spiders or ostrich. On the other hand, I have been bungy jumping, I have eaten beetle larvae, and I have tried--my most recent discovery--chocolate snails! I love trying all sorts of different things!

PHILOSOPHY

I live my life to teach. Traveling expands the breadth of what I know and can help my students relate to--instead of talking about the Holocaust, I want to tell students about seeing a concentration camp personally. Instead of pointing out countries on a map and expecting them to know where it is, I want to be able to tell stories using world history and personal history to help them understand.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I love CouchSurfing. I have CS'ed a couple times and have hosted a couple time.

Interests

I love being outdoors. I love hiking through nature or walking all day through a big city. I love metros and crowded places and I love sitting by beautiful lakes. I love challenging myself. I love going into supermarkets in foreign countries to buy different foods.

• animals
• performing arts
• chocolate
• beer
• walking
• boating
• traveling
• opera
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• camping
• history
• languages
• lakes

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Avett Brothers, Ben Folds, Brandi Carlisle, Regina Spektor, Mumford and Sons, Adele...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I have swam with penguins, sea lions, sea turles, dolphins, rays and sharks.

I have kissed a wild tapir (named Carla). I have fished for pirahnas on a Guarani boat in the Amazon rain forest.

I have bungy jumped off a bridge.

I have eaten beetle larvae.

I have been to the Leaning Tower of Slovakia.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bolivia, Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, Hungary, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Russian Federation, Slovakia, South Korea, Sweden, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States