CURRENT MISSION

To spread the word that despite what the media portrays, the world is a great place to live and there are millions of kind, honest, decent people in it.

ABOUT ME

I love to spend time with family and friends (old and new), enjoying good food, wine, music and lots of laughter, but I am also very happy with my own company and can walk for hours on my own enjoying the landscape and watching people.

Until recently I'd spent all my life in a small rural town, raised a son 22 and a daughter 20 and was considering moving on to a couple of acres for the serenity. In June 2007 in a matter of three weeks, I'd packed up my house and moved two and a half hours away to Brisbane our state's capital city to a new job. (Was it a mid-life crisis - I'm still not sure?)

I love my new life, there are so many new things to experience: new people to meet, kilometres of new territory to walk, and best of all so many different cuisines to sample in this beautiful city.

PHILOSOPHY

I believe in enjoying the now, taking life slowly, being aware of and part of my surroundings. Life is too short to rush through it, slow down and savour it.

I believe the world is chock full of good people and look for the best in people rather than the worst. I believe in Pollyanna's outlook on life and try to be glad about everything I experience, good or bad, as there really can be a silver lining in every cloud if you look hard enough. We are always presented with new lessons to learn.

Pourquoi je suis sur Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

At the moment I'm sharing a unit so am unable to host anyone, I hope to find my own accommodation by early 2009 and will definitely make a couch available once this happens.

Until then I'm available to meet you for coffee or a drink and a chat.

I'm travelling to Europe in October 2008 and hope to make some new friends couchsurfing.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've only recently become aware of CouchSurfing, so don't have any experiences as yet, but while not part of the CouchSurfing network, I participated in a similar situation when I was hosted by families during a school trip (as a supervisor) in Japan.

It was so much better to be welcomed into a family and be part of their life, than being a tourist on a tour in a hotel which could have been a hotel any where in the world.

With lots of mime and laughter we overcame the language differences. I was able to taste real home cooked Japanese food. I hope my host families also enjoyed learning about life in Australia as we shared and compared our cultures.

Centres d'intérêt

I enjoy walking and exploring new places and trying new foods. I enjoy picnics. I like going to the movies, listening to great music and spending time with family and friends.

I volunteer at the Brisbane Jazz Club, welcoming members and visitors, clearing tables and selling raffle tickets.

I would like to improve my school French I learnt a long time ago.

• fish
• dining
• wine
• coffee
• japanese food
• walking
• drinking
• clubbing
• movies
• traveling
• crochet
• knitting
• music
• jazz
• fishing
• scuba diving
• communications
• languages
• volunteering

Morceaux de musique, films et livres

I enjoy watching films and like thrillers (Sixth Sense, The Others, The Village); fantasy (Lord Of The Rings); sci-fi (Star Wars); romance (Chocolat, Under The Tuscan Sun, Shall We Dance); period (Elizabeth, The First Knight); international (Conversations With My Gardener, Amelie) drama (The Notebook) and comedy (Saving Grace, any Monty Python). I don't like horror (though I've seen Saw I, II and III) or action/war movies. I watch anime with my son (Death Note, Grave Of The Fireflies).

I enjoy listening to music, jazz (my daughter introduced me to jazz) and popular mainly, I don't like country, heavy metal, techno or dance. Some artists/groups I like are Corinne Bailey Rae, Nora Jones, Eric Clapton, Harry Connick Jnr, Glen Miller and Dave Brubeck.

My favourite TV series are Gilmore Girls, Grey's Anatomy and Twin Peaks.

I enjoy reading though I don't do as much as I'd like to and like Agatha Christie and John Grisham.

Une aventure extraordinaire que j'ai vécue

I scuba-dived on the Barrier Reef (off the Queensland, Australia coast), it was amazing, the colours of the fish and coral were so much more brilliant than photos can depict.

Enseignez, apprenez, partagez

I'm happy to help people improve their English and I'd learn some words from other languages.

I want share what life in Australia is like and learn more about everyday life in other countries.

I can knit and crochet if you'd like to learn how to do that. lol

Pays que j'ai visités

Indonesia, Japan

Pays dans lesquels j'ai vécu

Australia

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