CURRENT MISSION

I want to help people think better, be more healthy, and get more cheap energy to the whole world. I have some ideas on how to do this.

ABOUT ME

I work at Rosetta Stone researching and prototyping new & better ways to learn languages via computerized systems.
I've been doing comedy improv, for pay and for charity, on stages in any place that will take us since early 2008.
I've taught English in various countries and have learned the languages of those places as much as I could, while still being somewhat gainfully employed. It was a lot like comedy improv sometimes.
I don't watch TV anymore, and I haven't missed it. :^)

PHILOSOPHY

Be good to yourself. Be good to others. Try to make the world a better place.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Visiting people is much better than visiting places in my opinion. When I've traveled abroad, the best times were about the people I met and whom stayed with. So when I go somewhere I'd like to meet people. Also, it can be cheaper. In my house I have one shared middle room between bedrooms, that has a convertible futon couch-bed.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've been interested in this website and the experience for a while, but have only just started.

SURFING:
I stayed with a friend's family in Germany for a few weeks, with a friend in Vienna, Austria, and in a few other homes in Sweden and Poland. The Vienna stay was right as I got a terrible cold. It was so nice to just recuperate there.
I've visited students in the south & center of China, and stayed with a friend's family in Thailand, all of whom were great hosts.
I took a few short-term trips to stay with families when I was an exchange student in Mexico, and I did the same to other US states when I was in high school.

HOSTING:
While growing up my family hosted probably about 6 foreign exchange students and 1 foreign teacher, for 1 week up to an academic year.
Since I got my house, I've had about 8 interns staying here, as well as friends who were in between leases, or people who were moving from or to my town.

Interests

What's not listed in the other categories:
- understanding people better
- comics & cartoons: magazine, newspaper, historical, TV, movies (not so much on the anime, but I appreciate it)
- science & applications to improve the world for all

• singing
• acting
• education
• cooking
• comics
• cartoons
• movies
• tv
• traveling
• socializing
• drawing
• teaching
• languages
• mathematics
• physics
• science
• parkour
• rollerblading
• improv
• singing,

Music, Movies, and Books

I like a lot of genres. I like books and movies that make me think and have a good plot. But seeing something with explosions and craziness with some friends once in a while is fun too. I read very slowly, so I don't read nearly as much as I'd like to. :^( I listen to pretty much whatever's on the radio. I like to listen to as much variety as I can, since I don't know where something cool or interesting could be lurking. (There's so much to hear!!) When in the mood, show tunes, heavy metal, and pop-hip-hop can all energize or affect me.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Just anytime I look around and realize that I never expected to be where I was and doing what I was doing.
- taking a late-night bus in Thailand
- watching the sun set over the clouds on a Slovakian mountain top
- saying a very sad goodbye to my students in Poland
- holding on for dear life to a spooked horse racing through a field of cacti in Mexico
- teaching an English class to a moving travel bus full of students on the Chinese island of Hainan
- debating with German police officers one night about my bike's headlight
- spending time with someone whom I can look in the eye for 10 seconds or more and not feel the need to say anything

Teach, Learn, Share

TEACH:
Inline skating (rollerblading) - my skate are always in my car and I bring them on every trip I take)
physics & math, problem solving approaches
acting, improv
ultimate frisbee, roller-hockey, parkour
teaching languages & physics, education in general
intermediate computer stuff

LEARN:
tai-chi, economics, cooking, singing, telepathy, drawing,

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Germany, Mexico, Poland, Thailand