CURRENT MISSION

To explore a little bit of the planet meeting new people, laughing lots, taking the time to admire the scenery away from the hustle and bustle of life at home, and to figure out my next mission!

ABOUT ME

So first thing is to say that I am travelling with my friend Rebecca... 2 Rebecca's for the price of one :o) Although I'm usually known as Becs, so that makes it easier to separate us. That and the fact that I am shorter with dark hair, and she is quite tall with blonde hair. I have known her my entire life, and she is lovely :o) Being new to this, and both of us Google-ing how to do it, we were a bit confused on how to fill this in as a piar, so I just thought I would fill in the form for the both of us, telling you a bit about me, and a bit about her! Hope that's ok... :o)

As for me, I am a friendly, generally quite outgoing lass who loves to laugh, and tries to find something entertaining to do every day. I am inquisitive, and love finding out new stuff, so travelling has been an excellent opportunity to learn about different cultures, religions and customs. I also love meeting people and sharing their lives, even for a very brief moment :o)

I like Art, books, movies (anything from action to art house, comedy to chick-flick... and everything in between)and chocolate. I like flowers, but have hay-fever, so I have an ironic allergy :o)

I love music, but am largely guided by my mood, so wouldn't say I like a particular genre as such... I am musically fickle, or musically diverse, depending on your perspective!

I am not massively into animals... I never went through the teenage girl 'I want a pony' phase, and although we had pets at home, whom I loved, I am not what you would call 'Pet people.' I do however find penguins massively entertaining (something to do with the wonky walking), and one of the best things we have done whilst travelling is going to the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand. So, I am now a big fan of elephants, and if I had a big enough back garden would have adopted one to take home. Well, two... so they had a friend each :o)

I am a Christian, but with views that aren't very often in line with organised religion... so I would prefer to say that I am a believer in Jesus... but then people think that you are a bit flaky, which might be true in some ways, but not in others. I love a bit of theological debate, and am really interested in other religions. I firmly support the idea that all religions, atheists and agnostics, can learn things from each other and should be open to listening to each others opinions and beliefs.

I am really blessed to have amazing friends and family, who I love dearly, and respect immensely. I think I'm a pretty good friend back to them... I am loyal and there with advice and cups of tea, sweets and tissues when called for, providing either encouragement, solidarity or words of advice as necessary.

I am a really visual person, and often find it easier to connect pictures and events in my head, making me absolutely rubbish with remembering numbers and names... thankfully, other Rebecca who I am travelling with is a forensic scientist by trade, and is very good with numbers and details... otherwise I might be really stuck!

Forensic science sounds more glamorous than it perhaps is, but she gets to do some exciting stuff investigating fires and speaking in court cases. Plus she gets to wear a labcoat and goggles, which I find very exciting. I got to visit once and had to be told not to press the buttons on the super expensive machines. Suitably chastened I had to entertain myself on the spinning chairs wearing the labcoat and goggles.

Ummm, what else. I like daisy chains, stars, the ocean, and toasted marshmallows... but only when they are really gooey inside. I like Will Ferrell movies, Tim Burton movies, and TV shows from the 90's like Quantum Leap :o) I like hair straighteners, fancy body lotion, the smell of roses and sawdust. I love the sound a fire makes as the wood splinters and crackles. I think insects are fascinating, but don't actually like them... especially big spiders and cockroaches.

I don't like the feeling of wet jeans in the rain, but I do like jeans. A lot. Practically live in them at home.

I love the smell of laundry that has been dried outside. I like maltesers, and I am weird in the way I eat them: scraping off the chocolate with my teeth, then sucking on the malty honeycomb bit inside.

I have 2 tattoos, one on my foot, one on me left wrist. I have 6 piercings in my ears (3 on each side, but in different places).

I have a niece and nephew who I adore (other Rebecca has a niece and nephew too!) and who I miss very much. I love little ones, but actually really enjoy working with young adults. Teenagers can be had work, but working with them is very rewarding at times.

This is a bit of a random list of stuff, but I think it's the little idiosyncrasies which make us more interesting :o)

PHILOSOPHY

I think that life is for sharing, for grace, for learning, and for compassion. I try to enjoy my life and take opportunities to live it fully, but not to the detriment of others. I want to keep striving to put others needs and concerns before my own where possible, and to not be selfish. I also think it is important to try and find joy somewhere in every day that you live, and if possible laugh as much as you can. I think that respect and kindness for others are not only possible qualities to aspire to but essential to living a happy life.

I am also working on how I can try and contribute to the global community a bit more, and figure out how I can share in a sense of social responsibility... Couch surfing seems like a good place to start!

我为什么加入 Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Bec and I are new to the couch-surfing organisation, but both of us really love with the idea of (when we are not travelling and are each able to) providing the opportunity for someone to share the sense of hospitality and community that sharing someone's home can provide. At the moment I will hope to participate by staying with people on my travels, getting to know them a bit, enjoying their company, and being part of the Couch Surfing community. Bec and I have loved the chances we have had to be introduced to new places by people that actually live there, and I am really looking forward to being introduced to more people and places.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Not done any official couch-surfing (!) but when I had my own home I was happy to have friends of friends come and stay if they were passing through Nottingham and needed a bed for the night. I have also been blessed with reciprocated kindness.

In terms of using the website and participating in that way, my experience is sadly non-existent!

兴趣

Everything... I'm interested in learning, so have loved finding out new stuff on my travels so far. I especially like Art, History, Films, Music, Reading, Theology... I have very eclectic taste, so my interests are a real mish-mash of ideas and ideologies!

Bec is a big fan of science of course, and loves christian music. She also really likes watching House, Grey's Anatomy and playing board games :o)

I love trying new things, and will give most things a go if I can... scuba-diving, sea-kayaking, canoeing, para-sailing, climbing, abseiling, pottery, squid fishing...! I am pretty terrible at sticking to hobbies though, so even if I like something, I often move on to something else quickly!

Both other Rebecca (who I'm travelling with) and I are Christians, so reading Christian books is on the list, although she is much better at this than I am... I can often be distracted by other things.

I like reading in general actually, and will often be reading 2 or 3 books at once.

I am interested in people mainly though. What they like, what their story is, what makes them tick. Sharing their lives a bit :o)

• animals
• pets
• insects
• arts
• books
• tattoos
• piercings
• education
• cooking
• chocolate
• baking
• walking
• pub crawls
• gardening
• boating
• flowers
• movies
• board games
• reading
• tv
• traveling
• socializing
• pottery
• painting
• music
• fishing
• canoeing
• kayaking
• surfing
• scuba diving
• sailing
• rock climbing
• swimming
• anatomy
• divinity
• teaching
• history
• religion
• science

音乐、电影和书籍

As previously mentioned I am a bit of a fickle, eclectic tart when it comes to movies, music and literature, but I'll list some of the stuff I like... make of it what you will :o)

Movies - Leon, Forrest Gump, American History X, Aliens, Lord of the Rings, Old School, Anchorman, Love Actually, Die Hard, City of God, American Beauty, Clueless, Schindler's List, The Pianist, Avatar, Princess Bride, Goonies, Into the Wild, Kill Bill, Good Will Hunting, Devil Wears Prada, Beauty and the Beast, Addams Family Values, Happy Gilmore, Con Air...

Music - Counting Crows, Pearl Jam, Breaking Benjamin, Radiohead, James Vincent McMorrow, Martha Wainwright, Lifehouse, Foofighters, Ed Sheeran, Chuck Ragan, Crossfade, Three Doors Down, Third Eye Blind, Iron and Wine, John Mayer, Gavin deGraw, Muse, Switchfoot, Casting crowns, The classic crime, Otis Redding...

Books: To Kill a mockingbird, Jeffrey Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme books, The God of Small Things, The curious incident of the dog in the night-time, Twilight (!), anything by Kazuo Ishiguru, The Road, The Hobbit, The Girl with the pearl earring, His Dark Materials, Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, HARRY POTTER, If you want to step on water you have to step out of the boat, What's so amazing about grace...

Bec doesn't watch as many movies, but loves Casting Crowns, Ben Cantelon and Hillsongs. She also loves the Twilight books (!) and is currently trying to work her way through the free classic books from I-tunes. At the moment this means Sense and Sensibility... although she's not really loving it to be honest!

我做过的一件不可思议的事情

Hard to narrow it down to one, but I think swimming in the moonlight off the back of a junk boat on Ha Long Bay in Vietnam has got to be up there as one of the most amazing things.

Or swimming in Lake Galilee in Israel at sunset...

Or watching the sunrise behind Angkor Watt in Cambodia...

Or seeing Van Gogh's Starry Night Painting (just me, Becs!)...

Or riding round the TT course on the Isle of Man on the back of a motorbike (just me, Becs again!).

Or washing elephants at the Chiang Mai Nature Park...

Or being invited to a Cambodian wedding after stopping to take a photograph, and sitting with the bride's family...

Ooooh, too many things to narrow down. We feel very lucky :o)

教，学，和分享

I can teach some basic Art skills I suppose! I'm not bad at cooking... I can talk a little bit about a lot of stuff, so I can be good at pub quizzes!

Bec could tell you all about forensic science to do with fires! She also really likes baking cakes and cookies and stuff.

Both of us can iron and both have a lot of experience with childcare (in my case a PGCE, Masters in Education, Every Child Matters training, Emergency First Assistance First Aid Certificate, Safeguarding Children Certificate and up to date CRB clearance)... so we could definitely offer some babysitting!!

我游览过的国家

Cambodia, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Laos, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

我居住过的国家

United Kingdom