CURRENT MISSION

Connecting with myself and the world

ABOUT ME

After spending a year abroad in Bath (UK) and having walked the Camino de Santiago, I've come to genuinely like the taste of being on the road abroad, for it allows me not only to escape the routine at home but moreover provides new impressions, insights, experiences which allow me to savor the diversity of the world and, maybe even more importantly, help me to see who I really am and truly accept myself as part of this diversity.

I just came back to Europe from two years (04/2015 - 06/2017) in South East Asia, focusing a lot on meditation practice and immersing myself in the life of Thai, Burmese and Vietnamese Buddhists (monastic and lay), volunteering and attending workshops and retreats. It's been two of the most free, unburdened, yet challenging, intense and rewarding years of my life.

PHILOSOPHY

Allowing my inner impulses to emerge. Letting go.

CS HAS BECOME FOR-PROFIT

CouchSurfing is on its way to become a for-profit company. In Sept 2012 it changed its Terms of Use with very controversial changes with respect to the privacy of the data of its users -- us!

"C$ changed also the terms of use and privacy policy. Your profile information will be shared '... with third party vendors, consultants and other service providers who need access to such information to carry out their work for us'. Your profile information will be used to '... communicate with you about products, services, offers, promotions, rewards and events and provide other news and information about CouchSurfing and our select partners'." (http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/cowboyz85/)

You can find more on this topic at
http://tos-dr.info/#services
http://www.surfer-haben-rechte.de/cps/rde/xchg/digitalrechte/hs.xsl/75_2299.htm?back=index.htm&backtitle=Startseite (German)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/For-a-strong-Community-behind-CouchSurfing/259352857518810
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/For_a_strong_Community_behind_CouchSurfing/

BeWelcome is an alternative non-profit organisation with user agreed terms of use. Find me there at http://www.bewelcome.org/members/yodayeti

Switch off tracking of your data through CS:
http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Tracking_codes_in_CouchSurfing

Warum ich bei Couchsurfing bin

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My first couch surfing experiences (in the CouchSurfing sense, i.e. that I didn't knew the people with which I would surf beforehand) were in Santiago de Compostela. I stayed at two places and at both was allowed to experience supreme hospitality which showed me what people are willing to offer to contribute to each other's well-being. Experiences like these are very precious to me for they make words like trust, hospitality, contributing, solidarity, warm-heartedness tangible and support me in developing a more loving relationship with the world.

Also, the experiences described above were the reason I spontaneously hosted a French couple who ran into me on the streets of Aachen who didn't have a place to sleep. And I was not only willing but glad to do so because I myself had experienced being trusted. Very rewarding!

Interessen

nonviolent communication, empathy, the English language (sometimes we do fight but most of the time I simply adore her), (vegetarian) cooking, singing, (positive) psychology, cycling, voice impersonation, spirituality, meditation (vanilla :-), OSHO, Quantum Light Breath), fiction, human-computer interaction / usability, cats, initiation rituals, science, seeking challenges :-), throwing frisbees, buddhism, communities and community building, sustainable living, polyamory, improv (theater sports), drumming, origami

• cats
• singing
• theater
• cooking
• vegetarian
• meditation
• origami
• cycling
• hiking
• surfing
• buddhist
• sports
• paragliding
• psychology
• science

Musik, Filme und Bücher

Books I really liked: Otherland (Tad Williams), crime novels by Jaques Berndorf, The Art of Loving (Erich Fromm), Non-violent Communication (Marshall Rosenberg), Siddartha (Hermann Hesse), Steppenwolf (Hesse), Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert Pirsig), The Tender Bar (J.R. Moehringer), Looking for Alaska (John Green), The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien) and more

Music: soundtrack scores, since recently: accordeon tunes e.g. by Accordion Tribe, Blues, Swing, Cajun, mainstream, Jazz (at times), classical music (at times), well nothing I can easily put my finger on as you see ...

Eine tolle Erfahrung, die ich gemacht habe

- Walking the beautiful Camino de Santiago
- Stranding in the Peruvian Andes due to a potato truck having almost slid off the road
- Sleeping in the jungle with just a mattress and a mosquito net
- Paragliding in Ibarra, Ecuador

Lehren, lernen, teilen

- Learning and teaching to communicate transparently and from the heart, sharing presence and empathy
- Cooking vegetarian style
- Stuff about meditation

Länder, die ich besucht habe

Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Greece, Italy, Laos, Myanmar, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Länder, in denen ich gelebt habe

Germany, Myanmar, Peru, Thailand, United Kingdom

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