CURRENT MISSION

Right Here, Right Now

ABOUT ME

Open-minded and open-hearted; I study the human condition.

PHILOSOPHY

Ad majorem Dei gloriam

The colors of a rainbow / so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces / of people going by
I see friends shaking hands / sayin How do you do?
They’re really sayin I love you!

Porta patet, magis cor. (The door is open, even more the heart.)

Luceat lux vestra – Euer Licht soll leuchten – Let your light shine (Mt 5:16)

Christ lives through anyone who has an open heart and a willingness to be an instrument of God – just as Jesus did.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Oliver & Maria (2009–2010):· Stayed with Florence and Thomas (Paris, France)
· A superb week in Atlanta, GA with »CS pro« Caroline; we enjoyed a CS-potluck-party there
· Some wonderful days with Katie in Asheville, NC; we enjoyed a CS-potluck-party there too
· Stayed with Greta in Washington DC, heard her astonishing stories of her life; we enjoyed a CS-potluck-party there too; drove with Ally to Philly and stayed there together for some days
· Stayed with Hanny and Ray in Philadelphia, PA; met with Ana for dinner, she also invited us to the »Lights of Liberty« show
· Stayed with Ginny in Brooklyn, NY
· Stayed with Maria in Alameda (next to San Francisco), CA
· Stayed with Rebecca and John in Cambridge (next to Boston), MA; met with Sarah for dinner
· Stayed with Ariane and Steven in Cambridge (next to Boston), MA
· Stayed with Ruth in Portland, ME
· Stayed with Magalie in Montréal, Canada
· Stayed with Martina in Manhattan, NY
· Stayed with Kira in Weinheim near Heidelberg; we enjoyed a CS-chaiparty at Bruno’s place
· Stayed with Kerstin in Heidelberg
· Met with Brenda (we knew her from a cross US trip in 2009) in Munich
Oliver (from 2011 on):· Hosted Masha
· Hosted Ricardo and Carmen
· Hosted Kwame and Rachel
· Hosted Maja and Jaka
· Hosted Tim and Mona
· Hosted Vlatka and Drazen (and their dog Kala)
· Hosted Marzena
· Hosted Benjamin
· Hosted Alicja
· Hosted Bettina
· Stayed with Simon, Susi and Talita in Erfurt, Germany
· Hosted Jennifer and Tim
· Hosted Raja
· Hosted Christin-Marie
· Hosted Jazmin and Adrian
· Hosted Danielle
· Hosted Carola (and her dog Anaïs)
· Hosted Youngsin and Ssum
· Hosted Stefi
· Hosted Agnieszka and Zygmunt
· Hosted Victor
· Hosted Sarah
· Hosted Paul
· Hosted Roberta and Gabriele
2012:· Hosted Yan Yan
· Hosted Katerina (with Myrto and Kostantis)
· Met by chance with Victor, Jacqueline, Heidi, Carolin, Nicole, Ilona and Martin, joining them in an informal Munich excursion
· Hosted Susanne and David
· Hosted Christina and Katerina (with dog Kofi)
· Hosted Yi-Ming Liu (with her cat)
· Hosted Cathy and Zita
· Hosted Alessandra and Lorenzo
· Hosted Scott

Interests

I like singing and listening to renaissance and baroque choir music (Josquin, Monteverdi, Palestrina, Bach, Mendelssohn), computing (Mac), surfing the Internet, reading, hiking, photography (portraits, flowers, landscape), swimming, sauna, inline skating, laughing, loving.

• singing
• photography
• potluck
• sauna
• flowers
• reading
• music
• hiking
• swimming

Music, Movies, and Books

MUSIC

Renaissance and Baroque Choral Ensembles: The Tallis Scholars, Münchener Bach-Chor & Orchester (Karl Richter), The Cambridge Singers, Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists (John Eliot Gardiner), Concentus Musicus Wien (Nikolaus Harnoncourt)
A-Cappella-Masses: »Missa malheur me bat« by Josquin and »Missa Papa Marcelli« by Palestrina, »Missa Praeter rerum seriem« by Cipriano de Rore, »Vespro Della Beata Vergine« by Claudio Monteverdi
A-Cappella-Motetts: »Komm, Jesu, komm« by J.S. Bach, »Duo Seraphim« by Jacobus Gallus, »Praeter rerum seriem« by Josquin
Classical Composers: Johann Sebastian Bach, Palestrina, Josquin, Beethoven
Classical Composers (Contemporary): Arvo Pärt, Alfred Schnittke
Contemporary Music: Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Robert Fripp, Talking Heads, Kate Bush, Happy Rhodes, Laurie Anderson, Delerium, Daniel Lanois, Cocteau Twins, Harold Budd, Can & other Krautrock, Bel Canto, Genesis (early), Roxy Music, Biosphere.

MOVIES

Some of my favorites in no special order: Så som i himmelen / As It Is in Heaven (Sweden, 2004), Stalker (USSR, 1979), Rang-e khoda / The Color of Paradise (Iran, 1999), The Matrix (USA, 1999), Fitzcarraldo (Germany, 1982), El laberinto del fauno / Pan’s Labyrinth (Spain, 2006), The Big Lebowski (USA, 1998), Forbidden Planet (USA, 1956), Silent Running (USA, 1972), Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes / Aguirre: The Wrath of God (Germany, 1972), Bacheha-Ye aseman / Children of Heaven (Iran, 1997), eXistenZ (USA, 1999), Fight Club (USA, 1999), Amélie (France, 2001), The Mask (USA, 1994), Network (USA, 1976), Mononoke-hime / Princess Mononoke (Japan, 1997), Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi / Spirited Away (Japan, 2001), High Plains Drifter (USA, 1973), Léon (France, 1994), Bin-jip / 3-Iron (Korea, 2004), El topo (Mexico, 1970), Montana Sacra / The Holy Mountain (Mexico, 1973)

The most excruciating and unbearable trash movies:
Monster Truck (USA, 1987), Armageddon (USA, 1998)

I rarely watch movies anymore, and I ain’t got no TV…

BOOKS

»Siddhartha« by Hermann Hesse, »And There Was Light« by Jacques Lusseyran, »A Pattern Language« by Christopher Alexander and many more…

PHILOSOPHY

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Meister Eckhart, Angelus Silesius, Osho, Eva Pierrakos, Michael Brown to name just a few.

ART

Michelangelo, Tizian, Alex Grey, Matthias Grünewald to name just a few.

Sacred art, music and architecture in general.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

· With my choir I sang the 8v motett »Komm, Jesu, komm« (lyrics) by J.S. Bach…
· Ascending Angels Landing in Zion National Park (Utah, USA)
· Holding my dearest friend and lover close to my heart, hmmm…

Teach, Learn, Share

Want to learn: Spanish & French, Prima-Vista-Singing

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Dominica, France, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Spain, Switzerland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany

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