CURRENT MISSION

I'll be visiting Maceio, Brazil in June, 2008. I will be staying with relatives for 2 weeks and would like to meet new friends and learn new cultures. I speak English and want to learn yours.

ABOUT ME

My name is Steven and I live in the mountains of North Carolina, USA. I own a condominium apartment very close to downtown. I am very active in my community. For my 50th birthday I had a benefit concert for a local HIV/AIDS food pantry and raised over $5,000 our first and topped that for my 2nd Annual 50th birthday last March..
I'm currently single,and enjoy hiking, walking downtown, and dancing. I'm very extroverted and cultural.

PHILOSOPHY

My personal philosophy is to spread love and education. It pains me terribly to see the consequences of lack of education and lack of food. If we do not teach our troubled to make better choices drug addiction and disease will just continue to spread. If we help a person make better choices and teach them to find better choices in life then our children and theirs will have a more optimistic future.
If we as an international community can discuss and exchange ideas then a positive influence can encompass a greater reach. I would love to get to know you and hear all your life's experiences both positive and negative. I want to learn what beauty is to you and share my visions with you.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've belonged to Couch Surfing for over 18 months and I have met some wonderful people in my area. This to me is the way I see our world. We the people make the differences in our communities by our open mindedness. So many people still live in fear and practice hateful crimes but CS is the prime example of how loving we really are and we each need to spread and share our love of humanity. A week after I joined in December 2007 there was a party here in Asheville and I met people from all over the world and loved the experience immensely.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

In these past 18 months I've hosted perhaps 5 surfers, met around 5 for dinner or a drink, experienced countless potlucks and parties, and surfed with 2 hosts. I've hosted visitors ranging from locally surrounding states and travelers from Switzerland, France, Brazil, and Japan. My overall experience has definitely enriched my heart and has opened my eyes to the world at large.

Interests

I'm a people person. This is my job. I spend my days helping people feel comfortable, and loved. I am extremely extroverted and have a need to stimulate myself by meeting new people always. I'm also very involved in volunteer work and raising awareness with human issues and concerns such as disease, hunger, and then finding solutions to help others help themselves. I strongly believe we need to begin communally. When people join together in a community and find ways to help themselves then it blossoms like a flower. We then go to our neighbors and teach them what we have learned and help them pass it on.

• culture
• beauty
• concerts
• dancing
• education
• environment
• dining
• cooking
• walking
• partying
• drinking
• flowers
• volunteer work
• hiking
• surfing
• agriculture
• ecology
• teaching
• volunteering
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

My favorite movies are comedy and romantic comedies. But the movie that has always had the deepest impact upon me was Benny and Joon with Jonny Depp. It's a movie about a woman who has suffered emotional setbacks and a man who can only communicate through his artful comedic antics. They are in love and in the the end it shows us that anyone is not only capable of love but capable of their love touching another in an incredible, moving way.
LOVE IS THE ANSWER by Todd Rungren, my favorite song by my favorite artist.
I love rock and roll, 70's and 80's, blues, jazz. My list is so extensive that we could go for hours.
I like inspirational books or ones with a positive message. I also enjoy detective and crime novels.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

My upcoming concert to raise money and awareness in how far advanced we are in living and understand HIV/AIDS. Food is such a simple thing yet many of us live under nourished or malnourished. With absolutely no fund raising experience I've been able to bring many people in my community together and help me with my goal. This will be my 50th birthday and many people have helped me through the years so my gift is to help others.

Teach, Learn, Share

After suffering a head trauma 15 years ago in a professional kitchen I was unable to cook for a living. But you should see my spice collection. My love of food is enormous because it is love. Many years ago I worked in a kitchen where I was the only English speaker at my job but amazingly we all understood the language of food. I want to exchange love. I want to show you my culture, my customs. I want to share with you my experiences in my local environment where we are more conscious of our ecology. In Asheville, Green Building is on the rise. Many people here prefer to remodel and restructure a home instead of building a new one. Or to build a new home using the most environmentally safe materials selectively, not carelessly cutting down trees.
How communities are caring more for our children and even how communal living is a stronger way to preserve our agriculture and environment.
I want you to teach me how better I can improve myself, and my community.

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