ABOUT ME

Friendly, open-minded, curious about other people, generally laidback.

PHILOSOPHY

In a possibly apocryphal meeting with Dostoyevsky, Charles Dickens is supposed to have said, I have two people inside of me..."one who feels as he ought to feel and one who feels the opposite." To which Dostoyevsky is supposed to have responded, "What? Only two people?"

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've hosted and been hosted. Not a lot...only occasionally. Have always had a positive experience.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I live and work abroad so I end up hosting people in places where I'm also an outsider, which somehow makes the experience that much more enjoyable for me.

Interests

Teaching English as a second/foreign language, contemporary art, fiction/non-fiction/long-form journalism/anything worth reading, travelling, documentary photography and film, good hearts, good folk.

• arts
• culture
• contemporary art
• photography
• documentaries
• reading
• traveling
• backpacking
• journalism

Music, Movies, and Books

Eclectic taste in music (Bodies of Water, The National, Burhan Öçal, Joe Strummer, Booka Shade, The Knife, Sex in Dallas, The Dresden Dolls, Ulrich Schnauss, Arcade Fire) though mostly listening to jazz right now (Bill Evans Trio, Cannonball Adderly, Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson). If I had to pick a favorite work of fiction, I'd probably go for Italo Calvino's "Cosmicomics" because for some reason it's been around at important moments in my life. A few film directors whose work I've especially enjoyed: Jan Svankmajer, Werner Herzog, Michael Haneke ....but I'll watch just about anything. I'm not much into highbrow/lowbrow distinctions; if it works, it works. I heart Tina Fey.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Riding my motorbike through Saigon traffic. Getting to know Turkey via the warm and wonderful people who introduced me to the culture, delicious cuisine, and way of life there. Backpacking south along the Andes, through Ecuador and Peru.

Teach, Learn, Share

English language
English language editing services (copyediting, proofreading, etc.)

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Ecuador, Germany, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Puerto Rico, Turkey, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Estonia, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

•