Philippe J.'s Profile

2023 update : Since I wrote all this below, I met my lovely wife (thanks to CS), we had a kid, went to China, got married before kid nº2, and... kinda both didn't have time / room for CS, although we certainly did move around! I just had the idea to reactivate my account in case we could meet people while going on holiday or something. Anyway, the rest of my profile is kinda ten years old, but it's still very much me :) CURRENT MISSION Find the same amazing atmosphere I enjoyed with all the foreign students I met in Ireland over the years. ABOUT ME I'm a mostly French man, born in the city, then moved to the idyllic landscapes of the Alps and finally ended up in some crazy little town in Ireland where I had the best time of my life so far. What I learnt from this is that the most important thing in life is the people you meet, not the place you stay, really. As for me? I'm not too sure what I could describe myself as. I guess I'm a Jack of All Trades? I adapt to the people around me, to my environment. I'm the kid who was part of no clique, but welcome in all of them. I love painting and sculpting as much as I love coding and fixing computers. I'm as comfortable spending the night on the computer playing with people from across the globe, as I am going out drinking in the pub and chatting with complete strangers while listening to the music. I love moutains. The feeling of the rocks beneath my soles, the wind in my ears as I sit on a cliff's edge, the taste of the sandwich I prepared in the morning, the smell of the air when you're up that high. Then again I am happy taking the subway and enjoying the endless hubbub of the city, going shopping with my little sister and waiting for her to try on dresses. I try to keep a balance, really. That's the way I see it. Anyway, how about you tell me about yourself, instead? :) PHILOSOPHY I'm an agnostic. When religion got in the way of being myself, I opened my eyes and realised it does as much harm as it can do good. Ultimately, each and every one must take responsibility for being a good person. No book should excuse being a dick to other people. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you", sums it up quite nicely, and fits in with my feeling that I should maintain a certain equilibrium in my life. Not sure how successful I am at it, but I try :P

Why I'm on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING I've been receiving people, through CS or otherwise, over the last few years. I've also been active in the local CS community throughout that time. I still have to go into the wide world and get hosted! Since I had kids I haven't been active but I decided to pop back in to see how things are in CS land. COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE I've been on Couchsurfing for a few years now, mostly receiving people because I lived in a great touristic town (Annecy). It has been a fantastic experience and I've had the pleasure to receive a lot of first-timers who I hope I helped become part of the community.

About

Software engineering these days

MSc. in Computing. TEFL Cert.

Music, Movies, and Books

Too many! Let me see if I can pick a few... Books: The Name of the Rose, The Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, Horus Heresy, Lorrenzaccio, Shogun, etc Movies/TV: Seven Samurai, Legends of the Fall, Aliens, Ghost in the Shell, Seirei no Moribito, Underworld, Valhalla Rising, The Silence of the Lambs, etc. Music: Deftones, Rammstein, Pearl Jam, Incubus, Metallica, Sigur Ros, Massive Attack, The Prodigy, The RZA, MC Solaar, IAM, Johnny Cash, Yoko Kanno, Band Maid, Ningen Isu, etc

References

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One Amazing Thing I've Done

Well, I think amazement is a very fleeting thing, and so I think it's more a question of "what's the next amazing thing I'll experience?" Plus, I think amazement is a state of mind, so some of the stuff I've enjoyed would probably sound very mundane to you. But okay, flying is pretty amazing. Whether it's in a paraglider or in a Boeing across the Pacific, I don't think I can ever get bored of it. Meeting an ibex face to face as a kid, while all the grown up stayed away, was the most amazing thing (and yes, probably a bit stupid). Waking up to an Earthquake was fairly amazing. The view from An Grianan at sunset as the birds are all migrating south for the winter was pretty amazing. The crisp, dry scent of cold in the air in the morning as the sun rises over the snow covered mountains... I'll never stop finding it amazing :) Seeing the joy of new Couchsurfers as they discover how nice people can be is endlessly gratifying and totally amazing.

Teach, Learn, Share

In Rome, do as the Romans do. When abroad, don't spend your time with people from your own country, speaking your own language, unless you want to understand what it's like being on the receiving end of racism. That's how exclusion is born, that's how xenophobia is perpetuated. Blend in, meet the locals, become a person to them, rather than a living cliché of your home country. Be open to their culture, accept that it's different from yours, and don't ever be that guy who talks shite in your own language to the locals thinking they can't understand.

My Interests

Games of all sorts (roleplaying, cards, boardgames, Scrabble, cryptic crosswords, Sudoku, whatever!) Skiing, mountain trekking are always a sure bet with me. I also enjoyed climbing, aikido, paragliding over the years. I love books. Fantasy is my go to genre, I guess, but I really love reading in general. I'll spend hours reading encyclopedias, just for the sheer joy of learning new things. I like cooking, and have had many years of practice at it, even though I'm no chef just yet :P I love Art in general, whether it's just going to a museum and talking about it, or drawing, painting or sculpting, taking photos and so on. I'm always happy to learn more.

Philippe J.

Philippe J.

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References