CURRENT MISSION

Just retired from working for the ICRC, trying to be a good musician and song writer.

ABOUT ME

I am a 60 years old French man, just retired from working for the International Committee of the Red Cross since 2007; after having grown up in Paris, France, then spent 23 years of my life in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Since joining the ICRC I have been living in Aceh, Indonesia, then south Afghanistan, Papua New-Guinea, Bangladesh, Congo-Kinshasa, Nigeria, Uganda, the Philippines and finally Uzbekistan, together with my wife Puji (who is Indonesian).
I play a lot of music, write my own songs, like to create things (decorating brooms used to be one of my hobbie), and to have a peaceful time. I used to be partying all the time when I was younger, now as I'm getting older I'm taking things more smoothly - and I don't drink alcohol anymore, since 2004. Traveling is still something important, discovering new cultures, new people, new architecture and nature spots, and I am grateful to my work for having given me fabulous travelling opportunities.

PHILOSOPHY

To transform the negative into positive.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We have a big land North of Yogyakarta, by the Merapi volcano, with a villa that is listed on Airbnb for rentals (you can check it on airbnb.com/h/villa-undhak-undhak-kemiri)
But we could still host 2 persons for free, providing you are really interesting, and matching my centre of interests!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Twice hosted a couple on our Yogyakarta land. Great experience, it was nice to be able to show them another side of Yogyakarta and Java.

Once I was received by two young students in Istanbul who took good care of me on my way back from Afghanistan. Thank you my friends I still remember your great hospitality.

Twice I was received by beautiful people in Australia, once in Cairns with my son Valentin and once in Marlo, next to Lakes Entrance in Victoria, with both my son Valentin and my wife Puji. Thank you Kim, Alex and Debra for these nice times together.

Recently I was received for 3 nights in Singapore, good experience to see how is the life in one of the city high rise building.

Interests

Music (playing the guitar, writing songs, singing, jazz, english and french songs, pop, rock from the 70's, ethnic music). Geography. Creativity. Beautiful places, traveling, seing the world. Relaxing. Friendship. Decorating brooms. Driving on endless roads. Riding horses if I can, snorkelling.

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies without violence (ie without gun shooting, blood etc): I don't like violence at all. Music : Leonard Cohen, Pink Floyd, french singers (Nougaro, Reggiani, Higelin etc), rock'n'roll, cool jazz, Miles, Québec singers (Rivard, Charlebois etc). Books that are heavy to carry (but I don't carry them around anymore, too heavy), long stories, French litterature. Novels.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Crossed the US (San-Francisco - New-York) at age 18, in a car I had bought 200 US $ without any papers, nor insurance, nor valid plate licence. Re-sold the car 300 US $ in NYC three weeks later. It was a beautiful trip across North-America and a lot of freedom at that time.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach : Yogyakarta suroundings, knowledge about Indonesia, Indonesian language. French language. Music, guitar, playing jazz standards.

Share : my time and space, great conversations, local food. My wife loves to cook Indonesian meals.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Driving guests around, showing them the Merapi volcano vicinity.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Fiji, India, Iran, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Yemen

Countries I’ve Lived In

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Indonesia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Uganda, Uzbekistan

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