CURRENT MISSION

Meeting fun and interesting people

ABOUT ME

I like to laugh....most people do, but I seem to do it more than others (not that it's a competition). After working with children and youth for 6 years (and now for the gov't), you learn to laugh at yourself, the world and petty stresses.

I like to have fun. This doesn't mean party party party (though occasionally I'm down for that! Just not every night). Good food and good company are the best things in life and Couchsurfing seems to be a good place to find the company.

I enjoy sports, discussing world events, art, music, a little philosophy (not too much though, I can't handle the circular arguments after a while) and always enjoy talking to people about what they're passionate about. There are exceptions though....Nascar, the engine in your car, comparing one brand of vehicle to another will often be met with replies like: "I never plan on owning a vehicle" or "I like red cars, they go fast". Chuckle, you've been warned! My girlfriend speaks a little "car" but I will definitely glaze over during that conversation.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've been a surfer but the real benefit to me has been being able to connect with a community when I move to a new place. This has been particularly rewarding in Toronto, Ontario, Canada where there is a strong CS community. After only really being a surfer, I am now opening up my home to host.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Couchsurfing has been good to me in a number of ways. I've couchsurfed three times in Canada: Moncton, Quebec and Ottawa. Each of those experiences were very positive and I made a lifelong friendship out of one of the visits. I've also surfed in Buenos Aires....which was one of the best parts of my three month trip!

Interests

Sports, the outdoors, world issues, word games, people, books, travel, careers that benefit communities, laughing, joking, playing. Isn't it amazing how few things you can list when you're interested in so much?

• arts
• books
• dining
• partying
• traveling
• cars
• auto racing
• music
• outdoor activities
• sports
• dialects

Music, Movies, and Books

Oh, too many to list....but everyone says that. Here's a summary:
Music:
Elliott Smith; Heatmiser; Audioslave; Harvey Danger; Hey Ocean!; Cat Stevens; The Black Keys; Tegan & Sara; Metric; Fleetwood Mac; Black Rebel Motorcycle Club; the Eels; Led Zepplin; Xavier Rudd; Sam Cooke, The Temptations; Ryan Adams; Gordon Lightfoot; Dan Mangan; Hollerado; Winter Gloves; Bend Sinister
Books:
White Boy Shuffle - Paul Beatty
Fugitive Pieces - Anne Michaels
Wheel of Time Series - Robert Jordan
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Ishmael - Daniel Quinn
Race Against Time - Stephen Lewis
jPod - Douglas Coupland
Beloved - Toni Morrison

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I had the amazing opportunity to visit some of the poorer neighbourhoods of Dakar, Senegal. On one visit, we (a mixed group of Africans and North Americans) were invited to join a language session where local women were learning to read and write in their local dialects (French country but with 50+ linguistic groups. The biggest one being Wolof). It was pretty amazing aura about these women....very maternal. They taught us how they went about learning and then asked the different language groups amongst our group to do the same for them. Words such as mother, daughter, son, family, love were the most common. It was all pretty special and then the gentleman in our group from Botswana got up and started teaching us his language. The clicks and grunts that came out his mouth were stunning! No one could duplicate the sounds! The words he taught were a bit strange: fire fox, water snake....etc. It was a pretty unique cultural experience.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Finland, Philippines, Russian Federation, Senegal, Uruguay

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada

• 

•