CURRENT MISSION

Living in Glasgow; aiming for Nirvana!

ABOUT ME

In a nutshell:
Currently the resident teacher of the Vajrayana Kadampa Buddhist Centre in Glasgow (living in the centre just now so can't accept guests for the time being) ; part-time college teacher of English, English to Speakers of Other Languages and media studies/broadcast; qualified Swedish massage therapist, former broadcast journalist and student of Astrophysics. Loves Buddhism, Beethoven, Biryanis and The Big Bang Theory!

Longer version:
I arrived on this planet 45yrs ago, following an accident with a particle accelerator and a rubber band.

The first 18 years in Arbroath (a wee fishing town on the the north east coast of Scotland) were great. Then, after an exciting whirlwind tour of St.Andrews University, Cornwall, Bristol, Plymouth and London, I ended up in Glasgow. I've been there since the Millennium living in various great places, including a Buddhist Centre in the west end. I was there from its inception in 2005 and moved back in at the start of 2011 for two years. Moved back in as Resident Teacher in Jan 2015.

I used to be an Astronomer/Astrophysicist, a broadcaster for BBC television and radio, then qualified as a Swedish massage therapist, worked in Further Education in student support and now I'm lecturing part-time in English Communication in a Glasgow college.

I'm a meditation teacher, I cycle, I'm into Astronomy, science and really weird science. I eat curries, I enjoy classical music, dance music and everything inbetween, apart from maybe R n B. Not into Gangsta trippin'.

My heroes: I think David Attenborough totally rocks, as did Carl Sagan and Beethoven; and, of course, the man himself, the Buddha :-)

I love anything that's weird and unconventional, apart from Mum's 'stovies'. They were as traditional and as Scottish as you could get and they tasted amazing! If you don't know what stovies are, I'll have to cook some for you. You have got a real treat coming!

I try to practice Buddha's teachings in my daily life, which has helped to prevent many head rants! That guy knew what he was talking about.

Cheers :-) x

PHILOSOPHY

Be as happy as you can be without being selfish; and try not to worry. Things ain't that bad.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I started CSing during the Easter break, 2009. I travelled around Hungary and Vienna. I am unable to host at the moment as I live in a Buddhist centre and there is currently no room. However, if I am free I am still very happy to meet for a coffee.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

see above

Interests

Meditation, Buddhism, cycling, astronomy & astrophysics, reading, films, music (mainly classical concerts), a bit of tantric yoga, science, natural history.

• concerts
• dancing
• education
• cooking
• coffee
• yoga
• meditation
• yachting
• movies
• reading
• music
• classical music
• dance music
• cycling
• fishing
• buddhist
• astronomy
• communications
• teaching
• history
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

I LOVE classical music, especially the symphonies of Beethoven, Sibelius, Mahler and Vaughan Williams.
I love ambient electronic music and some dance; I adore hearing jazz live and I get all traditional and Braveheart-like when I hear some great celtic music. Pop's a bit dull, but sometimes a band comes along that pricks my interest, such as Muse, Kasabian or The Bees. However, I'm getting into vinyl and so I'm re-discovering some of the great albums of the 60s-80s.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

1. Jumped out of a plane!

2. Off the west coast of France in 1996 I broadcast live on the radio as I crossed the finishing line of the Vendeé Globe yacht race with a national hero who risked his life in the Antarctic Ocean to save a capsized competitor. A crowd of 300,000 people also turned up to welcome him home.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to meditate, I can waffle at length about all of our eclectic interests and have a laugh as we try and make sense of our crazy, colourful world. I can give you a therapeutic massage if your rucksack has been biting into your shoulders (I'm a qualified massage therapist) and I can show you around the west end of Glasgow - I know some great dives that make great pizza :-)

What I Can Share with Hosts

Massage, meditation, some traditional cooking, swapping stories, laughing at life, general bon hommie :-)

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom

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