CURRENT MISSION

"To infinity, and beyond!"

ABOUT ME

Just your average world-citizen mutt, I guess. Scottish mother, father from (what was then) East Galicia (the Central European one, not the Spanish one), Japanese ex-wife, Guatemalan brother-in-law. As that Steven Wright joke goes, "it's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it."

PHILOSOPHY

"The golden rule is there are no golden rules" (G.B. Shaw). Be flexible. Learn from your mistakes. Listen with your heart as well as your lugholes. That and most of the Desiderata:
"With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy."
Can't say fairer than that, really...

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

As a generous host, a considerate guest and a moderate moderator.

Once upon a time, I wrote this article on CS and Japan for a local magazine:

http://www.fukuoka-now.com/en/articles/show/3006

Japanese version here:

http://www.fukuoka-now.com/jp/articles/show/3006

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

So far, so good.

Interests

photography (IG account: "joesieder"), meeting good people, red wine, the state of the world, film, billiards, all my friends old and new, music, a good, good meal, traveling, hiking, a serious boogie.

• photography
• education
• human rights
• wine
• reading
• traveling
• billiards
• socializing
• music
• hiking
• cinema
• nature
• sustainability
• climate change
• ngo

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: John Cassavettes, Lynne Ramsay, Martin Scorsese, Shohei Imamura, Nicholas Ray, Hal Hartley, Frederick Wiseman, Werner Herzog, David Lynch, Orson Welles, Errol Morris, Nagisa Oshima, Terence Malick...The list goes on and on.

Music: as long as it's not death metal, I'm all ears.

Books: Raymond Carver, Don Delillo, Elmore Leonard, lots of non-fiction.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In Belize, I trusted a skipper smoking a very large spliff who told me it was safe to swim with sharks. He was right, of course.

Teach, Learn, Share

Hmmmm. Can teach you English, Japanese, Spanish and "cockney rhyming slang", should you feel that way inclined. Would like to learn the meaning of life and also how to play the guitar. Will share a few secrets if you buy me a beer...

Countries I’ve Visited

Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belize, Cambodia, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

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