CURRENT MISSION

From Elan (son) Now I start to travel and make new friends.... I really want to discover fun places and practice languages.

I also like to teach people about the ocean, and safety = Here is a short video I made for people going to the beach in Thailand:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ7WzKAc4ro

Also I play balance sports, you can see a lot about flowboarding on my facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/elan.leif.nicol

I also love to learn languages = already Chinese and Thai. Learning Korean and Japanese.

I love to play music - guitar, piano, drums.

And I want to be a good guide so I am making a new website:
www.kidsguidethailand.com
from Shawn (dad) To Share positive and happy time with new friends. For my son to develop his language and worldy skills. For me to continue gaining a deeper understanding of others about which I can write for better human living.

ABOUT ME

Father and son adventurers. We live in Thailand. My son knows 4 languages and loves playing music, skating, hiking, and surfing. I love to explore nature, do good work helping others through law and writing, happy to meet new people.

Please take time to read below:
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C'Surfers - The response to us here has been overwhelming. We often receive 5 requests in 1 day.
When possible I will reply, yet time allows that I cannot accommodate or reply to so many.
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Preferably, I would like to receive requests more than a month ahead of proposed arrival. This allows both time for planning and also to communicate together. I also prefer to have a chance first to introduce ourselves and talk via a Skype call.
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On staying here - We have a very large 5 BR apartment located in a most favorable part of Bangkok. I keep a few rooms that are for my son, myself, and I often have other family members staying with us.
For guests we have two rooms, one of which has a bathroom (with cool shower). There are times where C'surfer guests may share the 1 bathroom between two rooms, so the room with bath is less private. We have a full kitchen, and welcome sharing this - of course help and cleanup is key. My son loves to try and make new foods together too. He likes to make some Thai food, Mexican, pancakes, and wants new ideas :).
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We normally can offer a room for a Few nights. Beyond this - for weeks of stay, we can discuss further arrangements.
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Teachers and Friends for my son:
My whole life I have enjoyed making international friends,
and in this time I share this with my growing son.
For his benefit, I very much wish to host guests who enjoy time with a bright adventurous boy.
Practically, I would happy if he can meet some special people to help further his language learning.
He has started Japanese study, and really would go much further if he has some Japanese friends to learn with.
He is a fluent speaker of Chinese, yet he would benefit from more Chinese speaking friends spending time to assist his writing.
Beyond this, my son has interest in Spanish, Russian, Arabic, French, Korean, Italian... he hopes to learn many.
He also has some experience in Aikido, Kung Fu, Capoeira, Skating, Surfing, Climbing, and loves many sports
He plays piano, drums, guitar, and loves to learn and jam with musicians too. He has some fun with drawing and making movies as well.
New ideas are welcome ;)

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As for me, I am now doing a project researching Historical Value Systems. I do this both academically and subjectively by asking people to share about the value systems of their past and present culture.

PHILOSOPHY

For the Forest to Be Green, the Trees Must Be Green

Happy to share with sincere people who care to be better their life, make the world better by what we do.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Elan my son is now traveling more, with plans to visit Korea, Japan, China, and Russia and practice language this year in 2016. If you accept him as a guest he will be polite, funny, helpful and sure to be a good friend!

As hosts, we are happy to offer a place to friendly kind new people from any corner of the planet. We can offer guidance for travel in Thailand also.
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When we have free time, we are happy to share activities and excursions with guests. Really my son is the best guide with his native Thai fluency and as he knows the city and people well. Still we are often engaged (me with my work, my son with his private study, friends, sports). At such times we can at least offer guidance and people can transit easy by the trains and taxis located on our street.
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We do ask that people very much respect the integrity of our location, it is a family home and property. Even as Bangkok is relatively safe,each person will have to be introduced to security. For the "party travelers", this is not a location for coming back after excessive drinking and carousing.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Been traveling since I was born, once spent 6 years traveling by foot, sailboat, plane, raft, thumb and spirit of adventure all over the USA, Central America, Hawaii. Then had a large home in Hawaii to offer travelers where we made many friend. We moved to Asia and made our home in Thailand. Now my son is of age to explore broadly and we open our home to new friends who come here to Bangkok.

Interests

Love ocean sports, or any kind of outdoor adventure. Enjoy to create and share art, good thought...
We are really happy to travel and also invite new friends , now we live here in Thailand.
Now my son is learning his 4th language - Appreciate anyone who can share his development of Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, French, Arabic, Vietnamese, Korean, maybe more.

As for me, I prepare for writing and film making projects that encourage the development of a balanced life that leads children to become caring and beneficent adults.

• dogs
• arts
• culture
• writing
• film making
• capoeira
• dining
• cooking
• partying
• drinking
• flying
• movies
• traveling
• drawing
• music
• guitar
• piano
• drums
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• surfing
• sports
• rock climbing
• languages
• law
• tourism
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Teachers and Friends for my son:
My whole life I have enjoyed making new friends,
and in this time I share this with my growing son.
For his benefit, I very much wish to host guests who enjoy time with a bright adventurous boy.
Practically, I would happy if he can meet some special people to help further his language learning.
He has started Japanese study, and really would go much further if he has some Japanese friends to learn with.
He is a fluent speaker of Chinese, yet he would benefit from more Chinese speaking friends spending time to assist his writing.
Beyond this, my son has interest in Spanish, Russian, Arabic, French, Korean, Italian... he hopes to learn many.
He also has some experience in Aikido, Kung Fu, Capoeira, Skating, Surfing, Climbing, and loves many sports
He plays piano, drums, guitar, and loves to learn and jam with musicians too. He has some fun with drawing and making movies as well.

I would welcome some teaching/ long stay exchanges.
New ideas are welcome ;)

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As for me, I am now doing a project researching Historical Value Systems. I do this both academically and subjectively by asking people to share about the value systems of their past and present culture.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Elan - Lived without Dad at Kung Fu school in deep China.
Dad - Been completely surrounded by the graceful giant manta ray after the terror when I mistook it for a great white.
Elan - Surfed really fast, big waves at Cloud 9 , Philippines.
Dad - Enjoyed waking up and living on wild beaches with dolphins and tropical storms.
Elan - Love to shock people, revealing native tongue abilities.
Dad - Watched my son grow into a deep thinking, fun loving, bright caring person.
Elan - Flying in airplanes, always amazing

Teach, Learn, Share

As we prepare to assist C'surfers coming to Thailand, my son and I are making some basic Thai language cards (with phonetic spelling in English)for our guests to use to learn basic words. The language is tonal, so it takes some coaching to get the right pronunciation, my son is great at this.

We are also going to make a guide list of some of the interesting, popular, and handy places in Bangkok.

Of course there is so much more to share and learn.
For me, I hope to meet some more film makers, as we enjoy film making too.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My son, Elan can share good humor, funny stories, bright personality :)
Also he is a musician of piano, guitar, and drums. He can also share about English, Thai, Japanese, Chinese and is a fair cook and excellent dog trainer! Finally if you want to learn about surfing you can join him at the ocean.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belize, China, Guatemala, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Thailand, United States