CURRENT MISSION

To turn my 3rd floor apartment into a fertile garden.

ABOUT ME

I think teacher/student describes very well as how I see myself and what my existence is all about. I love learning new things and passing them on to others. So far the theoretical side has been the strongest, and I hope to expand more on practical skills.

Cultural experience is something I love. I see myself as very flexible and adaptable to most (sub)cultures or individual weirdness, if only for a limited time. The impression I get usually outweighs possible inconveniences, if any.

I like to get to know people and to understand where they are coming from, literarly and figuratively. If they are completely different from myself, it's almost always an educational experience. If we are similar, it's great to share things we have in common.

PHILOSOPHY

To keep an open mind: never reject anything, and always keep the things I've accepted under constant scrutiny.

To do whatever it takes to maintain communication with my surroundings. This is the basis of understanding each other, preventing problems before they arise, or solving them once they happened.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have had quite a few CS-type experiences before discovering couchsurfing.com. I am a passionate hitchhiker, mostly because I realized that this way I tend to get the best scoop of local recommendations, as to where to go and what to see.

In 2008 I traveled down from California to Panama, spending most of my time working on organic farms. In between I did a lot of CouchSurfing, all of which, without exception, has been a very rewarding experience. In the end it's not as much about the place to stay as about the people you meet.

Interests

My up and coming interest is organic farming, self sustaining communities, permaculture design, and alternative technologies. I see this as the most important thing for me, what I want to focus my efforts on.

I enjoy nature: mountains, forests, deserts, ocenas, you name it. Hiking, swimming, camping, snoboarding, though I am not so good at the latter.

Other than that, I like to "play intellectual". That is have discussions about history, literature, religions, cultures, art, politics, etc. But most importantly I don't like to take myself too seriously, and I encourage my interloccutors to do the same. It's not uncommon that I addopt a point of view to play devil's advocate, or just to experiment with it.

• arts
• literature
• design
• environment
• gardening
• politics
• technology
• reading
• hiking
• camping
• swimming
• teaching
• geography
• history
• languages
• religion
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Books by Max Frisch, Herman Hesse, John Steinbeck, Bill Bryson, Robert A. Wilson, Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Wolfe, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kessy, and John C. Voss

Movies by Emir Kusturica, Tim Burton, David Lynch, Richard Linklater

Music --- folk/ethnic music (Gypsy, Irish, Hungarian), latin music (Merengue, Salsa, Reggaeton), 60's and 70's rock (Beatles, Dylan), punk rock from any era, classical masters (Beethoven, Händel, Mozart)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Initially I left this one blank, as I could not decide what to pick: clouds appearing and disappearing in front of my eyes, striking fire with remarkable ease using a neolithic tool, reading a nine-verse poem in which "e" is the only vowel, sunsets and rainbows and mid-summer snowstorms... raises the question: what is NOT amazing in this world?

Teach, Learn, Share

Teaching languages is what I'm really good at, especially English, German, and Hungarian. In Spanish I wouldn't feel competent teaching beyond the basics. Other than that, History and Geography are things I could lecture about all day. :-)
What I'm looking to acquire are practical skills related to organic gardening, eco-friendly construction, green-tech, community building, or anything related to creating a self-sustaining living environment.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Hungary, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, United States

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