Hi there!

My name is River Shaw, I'm 24 years old and come from Ottawa, Canada.

I have been working as an Administrative Assistant with Elections Canada since November of last year. Not the most exciting job, but it paid the bills! My passion however is working with refugees and refugee claimants. I spend a lot of time volunteering at Matthew House, a refugee claimant shelter. I will be starting my Master's Degree this September in Immigration and Settlement Studies at Ryerson University in Toronto. I want the opportunity to travel before I begin my classes!

After finishing my Bachelor's in Communications from the University of Ottawa, I moved to Thailand for a year and a half where I taught English as a Second Language. It was an amazing experience and I was able to visit a lot of South East Asia.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I have met truly great people through Couch Surfing, both hosting and travelling. I love the idea of helping a fellow traveler out by hosting them, and being able to rely on a kind stranger from CS is a really amazing experience.

Interests

Music, going to concerts, the outdoors, scuba diving, hiking, cooking (vegetarian), picnics, reading, board games

• cooking
• traveling
• music
• outdoor activities
• surfing
• communications
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:
The White Stripes, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stars, Lykke Li, A Tribe Called Red, Metronomy, Alt-j, Stromae, Kevin Morby, Rationale, The Strumbellas, Tame Impala, Wolf Alice

Books:
The Kite Runner, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Book of Negroes

Movies/tv:
Once, V For Vendetta, Into the Wild, Adventure Time, Orange Is the New Black, Girls

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Seeing Mount Everest and the Himalayas

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can offer good conversation, smiles, I can attempt to cook something yummy... and most importantly I will buy us wine!

Countries I’ve Visited

Bolivia, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Russian Federation, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Ukraine, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Spain, Thailand