CURRENT MISSION

More time for living

ABOUT ME

I'm a scientist, specialised in protein structure, function and design. Now I work in scientific writing. I grew up in NZ on little farm near a little town (1000 people) and have lived in NZ and in Switzerland. I live with my wife Christina and our young son in Zürich. We had a guest room before our son was born, but we still do have a very long couch that can sleep 2 (friendly) and sometimes we can find our way through the chaos to the couch bed for guests :)

I've been on couch surfing for more than 10y now, from before I met Christina. I've hosted many people, and met a bunch of good sorts. I've seen the couch surfing community and the website/app, change, grow and mature. But one thing that hasn't changed - there are good people everywhere.

PHILOSOPHY

Less is more
Butter is the best cheese

I'm a bit of a minimalist really, although this is always a problem as things seem to accumulate when one settles anywhere for too long. At the moment I'm apparently collecting old-school woodworking tools it seems, and boat parts, and baby stuff, and well ... I'm finding it harder to be minimalist the longer I stay here. It might be soon time for a clean out and a giveaway.

Nonetheless, I'm sure that less brings more to life. Material things do weigh one down, leaving less time to think and explore for one's self. I don't have a TV, and shun the consumer life. I make most of my food from scratch with whole ingredients. There are almost no prepackaged products in our house.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

By sharing, I hope. Couch surfing is more than just a bed for you, or a bed for me. Meeting people, talking to people, hearing their stories, making connections, expanding your echo chamber - this is couch surfing.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have hosted many people in Switzerland and New Zealand. I've met great people, and I've met strange people. I've rescued other couch surfers from dodgy hosts and hopefully I haven't upset any of my guests. :)

If you're on couch surfing to collect points, to collect likes, to bolster your self confidence through the seductive allure of anonymous positive reinforcements, you're probably in the wrong social media channel. If just you want sex, then go to tinder or grinder. If you just want a bed - go to a hostel or a hotel. If you want to convert people, go form cult somewhere. Couchsurfing is about accepting people, understanding people, learning from people and broadening your horizons. I'm not saying that some of those things above don't happen - they do and they can also be good - but it's not the raison d'être of Couchsurfing.

Interests

Food
Eating
Cooking
Coffee
Sailing
Boat building
The Sea
Coast
Language (but I SUCK!)
Art
Learning as much as possible
Energy efficiency
The infinity of the universe
Humour and positive feeling

• arts
• writing
• architecture
• design
• environment
• human rights
• cooking
• wine
• coffee
• boating
• woodworking
• sailing
• science
• ocean
• public health
• forest
• equality
• marine life
• modern architecture
• sustainable energy
• public transit
• rational thinking
• logic and skepticism
• exoplanetary discovery

Music, Movies, and Books

Books, Lots of Favourites, Bone people, Mr Pip, Hornblower, Watermusic.
but also plenty left to read.

Recently read: Complete short works (W. Somerset Maugham), Candide (Voltaire), Sea Shanties - history and use (Unknown), Slaughterhouse Five (Vonnegut), Principles of Yacht Design (Lars Larsson and Rolf Eliasson), Joinery - Parts I-IV ((1970) New Zealand Technical Correspondence Institute.). Methods in Molecular Biology - Leukaemia: Methods for diagnosis and monitoring disease response...

Music
Dub, Lounge, Jazz, Contemporary Folk, Electronic, Lucinda Williams, Opiuo, Shapeshifter, Nicholas Jaar, Bonobo, Chopin, Andrea Prunotto...

Movies? Kult Kino, forget Hollywood..., Sex and Lucia, Adam's Apples, Reykjavik 101, Rain (NZ film), The King's Choice, Sami Blood, Hunt for the Wilder People, 2 Cars One Night, Only Lovers Left Alive...

https://sites.google.com/site/skepticalmedicine/
www.freerice.com

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Life is amazing. Dolphins surfing the bow wave at night glowing an ethereal blue in phosphorescent water. Reaching out to touch them and three minutes later being hit by a squall with the spinnaker still up, knocked down to 90° and the whole place lit up like daylight as the howling wind and thrashing rain energises the phosphorescence in the water to blue fire.

Teach, Learn, Share

I believe it is possible to learn at least one thing from every person you meet. Some people have so much to give, so much to teach, some, unfortunately, have very little. From everyone something can be learnt, even if it is simply how not to be or perhaps something about yourself.

I can't list the things I can teach you because I don't know what it is you need or want to learn but somethings I could teach you are:

How to; sharpen a chisel, make a flat white, index a crystallography data set, how to set the valve timing on a 1976 Honda CB550, how to open a coconut with a stick in 2 seconds, how to sail...

What can I learn? Anything (except banjo)

What I Can Share with Hosts

Food and the best coffee you'll drink in Switzerland.

Peace

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

New Zealand, Switzerland

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