CURRENT MISSION

To simply experience the depth and colour of the Philippine culture and its people on a daily level which includes adopting the Manaya na perspective on life.

ABOUT ME

Clinical Therapist working with victims of human trafficking with the INGO RENEWfoundation.org in the Province of Pampanga.

In addition I work professionally as an International English Language Teacher for a Korean owned Philippine based private language acadamy

PHILOSOPHY

People -one of the most valuable gifts one can give someone is time. Time to listen and hear them.

Whilst living withing a culture which is not mine I endevour to challenge my ethnocentric views and take a more cultural relativist perspective. Sometimes this is difficult when I sense a challenge is on a more personal level.

My approach to life is to absorb as much as possible of what's around me with openness and energy. This in the main involves relationships I develop with people be it a brief or long term deeper experience.

I attempt when possible to reflect upon whom I am and why I'm doing something in the context of who and or what's around me. Not always easy when one is dealing with day to day living.

Fortunately both my present occupations award me valuable moments to reflect both with other people and myself. Simply wonderful and I feel privileged to have this opportunity for however much longer it may last.

Share what you can with genuine good intention but be frugal with what finaite resources man has left available to him.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I rented rooms in my home in the UK for ten years (up to 2009) and during that time I had over 120 different people (and their animals) stay with me. Some stayed for several days, some several years. Very diverse nationalities and characters ranging from Angolan asylum refuges to hard working Polish immigrants; from Spanish wealthy business men to intellectual vagrants bursting with autistic traits; a bi polar South African to Chinese language students. It was fun and interesting and changed who I am and brought a wealth of life to the house.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Sky stayed a while and we are good friends. At the moment I have 3 Filipino women staying whom I helping while they settle into the city.

Interests

The potential depth of difference and how we interpret differences.

The suprises people bring into my life - positive and negative. Differences between cultures and race.

Social networking.

Music - Its power to unite people and how wonderfully it can lift or relax me.

Silence and the sound of the ocean.

Standing, walking and especially swimming in the rain.

The relaxed feeling brought by a beer and good conversation after work!!

• animals
• culture
• architecture
• beer
• walking
• shopping
• music
• swimming
• business
• teaching
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Who doesn't like movies music or books. The internet brings them all to my phone. How wonderful that is.

Schindler's List. Handcock. Ne-Yo. Rihanna. The Kite Runner. Pulp Fiction. Bolero. Chi Mai. Phantom Of The Opera. Pitbull. DSharp

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Watching the birth of my eldest son Oliver; witnesing the thunderous sound and sight of Niagra Falls; the views from the Effel Tower Paris, the silence of the Ven Resovoior Cyprus; the piece of the Derbshire dales England; the 1999 total eclipse of the sun in Rhemes France;the wonderful heights of the caldera of Santorini; the architecture of Venice, Montreal,Hong Kong, Rome,the incredible landscape Gualin China,

Teach, Learn, Share

My 59 years of life is filled with some incredible and some awful moments which I feel have shaped who I am. However I'm still learning what pleases and displeases me. I try to avoid routine and yet some routines do sometimes reduce the potential stress brought by suddenness or being not organised.

Some memorable experiences, good and bad I've had include the following:-

Being deeply in love with one woman; being in love with someone after loosing them!; eating kimchi for the 1st time; witnessing my sons graduation day; rescuing someone from wanting to die; winning the lottery ($20);rescuing women from prostitution; getting caught shop lifting as a kid; having my ex as my best and most trusted female friend; being forgiven for wrecking my dad's car; Bungi jumping and suffering for days;

Completing the final renovation of my bathroom and kitchen; taking a 5 year career break; ; selling my home for just $2; landing in a new country; being loved by my best gay friend; experiencing the invisibility of trauma on a sun drenched island in Malaysia; riding Space Mountain in Disney World.

Loosing a heap of cash on Chinese shares; washing myself in the rain; waking up looking at the sea from a cliff in Wales; waking up on a beach in the Philippines..........

The list is endless and has far more breadth.

What I Can Share with Hosts

What can't I offer 🙂🙂