Torsten Philipp

Torsten Philipp

Current Mission: "wakunda makaw zack boing"

Personal Designations

Maybe has couch available Vouched for5
Germany
Saxony
Dresden
Lat: 51.05, Lon: 13.75
Show nearby Couches (100 K)

General Information

Torsten Philipp has been vouched for
Couch availableMaybe
CouchSurf requests replied to90%
member sinceJune 20th, 2005
profile views3614
age30
genderMale
membernameTORSTENPHILIPP
occupationdreaming, searching, finding, looking, trying and failing
grew up inSuhl, Germany
Direct Profile URL

Languages

  • GermanExpert
  • EnglishIntermediate
  • FrenchBeginner
  • ArabicBeginner
  • IcelandicBeginner
  • RussianBeginner

Groups I Belong To

Open Organization 133:216Dresden 1322:3610
Why: I join because i love to.
Brainstorm - the original one....  2331:15170
Why: i will know tomorrow
Couchsurfing Politics and Policy Discussion 127:1068
Why: joining out of interest
Active in 12 more groups.
Show them all

Couch Information


     << CouchSurf with Torsten Philipp!    

Couch picture

Couch Available: Maybe
Preferred Gender: Any
Max Surfers Per Night: 2

Shared Sleeping Surface: Depends
Shared Room: Depends

d


Hi there folks,

I'm living together with four other beautifully nice people in an old bakery at Dresden-Löbtau. We have one guest room with a mattress that is big enough for two people.

We don't have pets bigger than spiders and we smoke but at the moment outside only. Our flat is close to the city center (10 min tram ride). When I am in the mood and have time I can show you around the city of Dresden.

See you!


Friends (22)

     + Add to my friends    

World map
Map of friends
Simon RobitailleSimon Robitaille
25, Male
Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Quebec
Canada
Friends since June 2006
"we spent hours on the arteries to highways"
Friendship Type: Friend
Met in person  
Bella SchmidtBella Schmidt
26, Female
Dresden, Saxony
Germany
Friends since April 2002
"we spent an intensive time together"
Friendship Type: Close Friend
Met in person   Traveled30+  
Caesar Appleton Caesar Appleton
56, Male
Montmorot, Franche-Comte
France
Friends since June 2006
"We exchanged lots of thoughts and idea on the Hospitality Club forum and we met at the Berlin Beach Camp, June 2006"
Friendship Type: Friend
Met in person  
Frederico KuhlFrederico Kuhl
35, Male
Lisbon, Lisboa
Portugal
Friends since July 2007
"was walking down a dark alley and a space ship landed in front of me... it was torsten"
Friendship Type: Good Friend
I vouched for Torsten Philipp
Met in person   Surfed15  
LOUISFLOUISF
30, Male
Montreal, Quebec
Canada
Friends since July 2006
"Met in Dresden while I ws in Freital (huuuu...Freital)"
Friendship Type: CouchSurfing Friend
Met in person   Surfed3  
Vagante CoaloaVagante Coaloa
22, Male
Los Angeles, California
United States
Friends since May 2007
"couchsurfed his coconuts completely spectacular place"
Friendship Type: Friend
Met in person   Surfed2  
Nathan SharpNathan Sharp
25, Male
San Francisco, California
United States
Friends since August 2006
"stayed at his flat in dresden"
Friendship Type: CouchSurfing Friend
I vouched for Torsten Philipp
Met in person   Surfed4  
Gil Vicente OliveiraGil Vicente Oliveira
33, Male
Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo
Brazil
Friends since July 2006
"I saw him the firs time in bahnhof mitte"
Friendship Type: CouchSurfing Friend
Met in person   Surfed2  
Noora HuhtanenNoora Huhtanen
24,
Ahtari, Western Finland
Finland
Friends since May 2007
"surfed his couch in Dresden"
Friendship Type: CouchSurfing Friend
I vouched for Torsten Philipp
Met in person   Surfed1  
Liang RaoLiang Rao
26, Male
Biel/Bienne, Bern
Switzerland
Friends since July 2007
"couchsurfing"
Friendship Type: CouchSurfing Friend
Met in person  
12 more friends
     << CouchSurf with Torsten Philipp!    

     Send Message    ++ Contact List    ++ Make Note    Print    

Torsten Philipp

trying to imitate a cow

View all 18 photos

How I Participate in CS


Being there and trying to listen.

Interests


At the moment I´m interested especially in gaining more experience in aikido, forum theatre and lucid dreaming.

Besides I am interested a lot in what I study and work, which - by accident - happens to be social work, so have a look at my blog "Adventures in German social work" for insights into, well...German social work.

And in case you`re more into listening than reading check out my freemusicpodcast:

freemusicpodcast.de

There you can listen to and legally download music, that is under a free licence and read interviews I conducted with musicians about music, life and their approach to free music.


Philosophy


See that the itches on all ducks feet will glimpse like honey butter under vietnamese furniture.

( - Replace with any other nonsense - I despise personal philosphies. Not in a personal or philosophical way of course =)

Music, Movies, Books


Recently I stumbled upon the french philosopher Foucault. To me this stuff was hard to read, like running a marathon on hands backwards underwater during the night. I almost gave up on it but fortunatelly there where friends who helped me reading and understanding his crazy ideas.
I'm pretty obsessed by it at the moment. If you wanna do yourself a favour, DON'T read Foucault !


Other texts I like:

The Prince and The Magician - It's hippy shit, but I just love this story.

Ulises Mejias: Open Ijtihad - About Technology and New Opportunities for Community Building and Activism
Well the whole blog of Ulises is pretty irritating, so give it a go!

Something I wrote myself: The Logic of Collective Action and Wikipedia deals with the question why the production of the collective good "Wikipedia" works like a charm, though american economist Mancur Olson predicted in his book "The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups" that it can't. Unfy it`s only in german atm.

Not by me, but nevertheless interesting:
Why Open Software works

Bertram Russel: In praise of the idleness


My favourite blog: 360east.com - Ahmad Humeid's text, image and audio commentary on design, media and technology from a confused Arabia

And finally I think that this is a pretty amazing magazine: Surveillance & Society - An open-source online surveillance studies journal

And my all time favourite song: "Emmaline" by Hot Chocolate.


Teach, Learn, Share


I think I´m good in failing. Not that I have a long carrier or special skills in it, I just like to fail because it´s much fun if you know how to do it properly. Besides it´s extremely subversive and (done the right way) it gives a lot of power.

So from me you can definitely learn how to fail. Either you manage to learn failing the way I do it or you find your own way of failing or (if you are stupid) you completely fail in learning how to fail - Either way, you fail!

One Amazing Thing I've Seen or Done


When I was a child I´ve seen a dead cat swimming in a rain barrel. I couldn´t eat for weeks.


And once when I was hiking alone in the icelandic highlands I stopped my feet and realized that I heard absolute silence. This sounded soooo good and inspired me to write this small poem:

Ob...?
es eine Stille gibt
die so leise ist,
dass niemand sie hören kann




Opinion on the CouchSurfing.org Project


Great idea - yes, indeed. Really.

But maybe it lucks some openness? At least I got a bit scared about CS when I found one day that negative references can just vanish without people noticing or agreeing.

Maybe openness is just a buzzword in the end? Anyway I like to read what others write on www.opencouchsurfing.org



Oh yes ... and I don't care about references (neither receiving or leaving any) as both reading and writing them bores me to death - literally, it's a rare allergy.
If you explicitely want a reference from me though, just ask and I will see what I can do.


Locations Traveled

TRAVELED: Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States
LIVED: Iceland, Slovenia
WANTS TO GO: Syria

References

 
     Leave a Reference >>    
Bella Schmidt
From Bella Schmidt
 Dresden, Germany
 Oct 19
Met in person Close Friend, Traveled 30 days 
Positive

I can not find any words for this kind of relationship. Torsten, I thank you for so many things and for all the vacations, too! Bella

Pablo Ojeda
From Pablo Ojeda
 Mendoza, Argentina
 May 26
Met in person Good Friend,  
Positive

Hi torsten! take care of fred and tell him to come to say good bye before he leaves.
Hope we organize something more before or after the guys leave.

Piotr Kubowicz
From Piotr Kubowicz
 Krakow, Poland
 Sep 5, 2008
Met in person CouchSurfing Friend, Surfed 4 days  
Positive

Torsten showed me most important tourist attractions in Dresden at the beginning and told much about the city. Staying in his WG in an old bakery was quite an experience, as it's not a usual house ;) He made me feel like in home; like if I needed a map of Dresden, I could take one hanging on a wall. You can find lots of topics to talk with Torsten and if you are in Dresden you should definitely meet him.

Nana Vereskaya
From Nana Vereskaya
 Montreal, Canada
 Jun 3, 2008
Met in person CouchSurfing Friend, Surfed 1 days  
Positive

this guy has a great sense of humor, good taste in yogurt and I fell in love with his city! what more should I say other than go to Dresden and meet him!!! I know I will be back!

Alexey Kostin
From Alexey Kostin
 Saint Petersburg, Russia
 Sep 14, 2007
Met in person CouchSurfing Friend, Surfed 2 days  
Positive

Torsten have hosted us in his nice WG in Dresden for 2 days, tryed to make our stay as comfortable as it could be. Thanks a lot! :)))

Steph Flynn
From Steph Flynn
 Copenhagen, Denmark
 Aug 26, 2007
Met in person  
Positive

VERY nice.. wow looked after me.. found me a punk movie to watch, told me good places to go too. waited for me to get home to make sure i could get in the door. GREAT sense of humour... will miss him

Frederico Kuhl
From Frederico Kuhl
 Lisbon, Portugal
 Aug 17, 2007
Met in person Good Friend, Surfed 15 days  
Positive

I stayed with Torsten 2 weeks. I dont have enought words to describe such an excellent experience. This guy is one of the funniest people ive meet in a long long time. Dont you just love when you meet someone who combines a sharp sense of humour with inteligence. He is political incorrect with style, a sweet smart ass and the best social worker i ever meet. Torsten was one of my best couchsurfing experiences and i do hope i have a chance to meet him again sometime soon. Untill then take care my friend!

Christophor R.
From Christophor R.
 Liberec, Czech Republic
 Aug 6, 2007
Met in person CouchSurfing Friend, Surfed 1 days  
Positive

Torsten the magnificent. Torsten and crew were a great bunch of people. From when I first arrived and he made me a cup of coffee and all through the stay I felt like I had known him for years. Hell they even invited me to stay and have dinner with them and their friends, and while I don't speak much German I was still quite comfortable. He even gave me all the info I needed from the nightlife to where to hitch a ride to Berlin.

So if you're going to Dresden this is the man to contact.

Thanks again Torsten, that bottle of wine will arrive soon.

Luigi Fadda
From Luigi Fadda
 Milano, Italy
 Aug 2, 2007
Met in person  
Positive

thank u for everything
really sociable and kind guy
see u in naples
ur welcome

Liang Rao
From Liang Rao
 Biel/Bienne, Switzerland
 Aug 1, 2007
Met in person CouchSurfing Friend,  
Positive

hi torsten, are you at home? and the others? say hi to murihuana and hubrita. they are good people. you should come to our wg-party on 24.august. the address you know. see you, amen.

DASMADE
From DASMADE
 Dresden, Germany
 Jul 11, 2007
Met in person  
Positive

I met torsten at two cs-parties, one of it was his self best-organized party, where he was a great host. He is really nice, open-minded and funny and of course helpful!! Torsten thank you for your help with the music-equipment. hope to see you once playing with your own band ;-)

Vagante Coaloa
From Vagante Coaloa
 Los Angeles, United States
 Jun 16, 2007
Met in person Friend, Surfed 2 days  
Positive

Torsten is a great, gentle, openminded, analytical guy and i feel grateful to have couchsurfed your place...but it was too short and i will have to come back, there is much more to experience im sure. great music and hope our paths cross again!

Anna Földházi
From Anna Földházi
 Budapest, Hungary
 Mar 23, 2007
Met in person Friend,  
Positive


Caesar Appleton 
From Caesar Appleton
 Montmorot, France
 Mar 14, 2007
Met in person Friend,  
Positive

Torsten and I have exchanged ideas and thoughts over the hospitality club forum for a while. And then, he came to the berlin beach camp. I was so damn sloshed but he was cool~~~

Torsten can surprise you immensely with his wit, and his sharpness. He's a very intelligent guy with the soul of true spirit. I would love to meet him again.

Take care, dear brother
Caesar

RUDELHEINZ 
From RUDELHEINZ
 Dresden, Germany
 Mar 7, 2007
Met in person Acquaintance,  
Positive

We met at the notorious Dresden CS member's parties. You're a pleasant and funny company and party host with interesting opinions and maybe one of the last in the world who knows how to prepare a "cold dog" ;o)
What a special sense for artistry!

Zsizsi
From Zsizsi
 Dresden, Germany
 Mar 6, 2007
Met in person CouchSurfing Friend,  
Positive

He was a great host of the 03.03.2007 CS Party. It was one of the few German parties in the last 4,5 years where I danced until 6 am!!! It was a very nice music and there were very nice people as well! Also thank you Torsten for the host and let it be some other nice parties like this! :)

Anna Schiller 
From Anna Schiller
 Dresden, Germany
 Jan 29, 2007
Met in person Acquaintance,  
Positive

next time i`ll be more awake to talk to you and get to know you better!

LEFTIE
From LEFTIE
 Budapest, Hungary
 Jan 10, 2007
Met in person CouchSurfing Friend, Hosted 3 days  
Positive

I met Torsten at Leon's birthday party in Budapest, then he stayed at my place for 3 nights.
Torsten is one of the nicest people I ever met and definitely the nicest guest I have had so far. Though he crashed in at the last moment my only regret is that he didn't stay one month instead of just three days. I hope he comes back. If you ever believed that germans have no sense of humour Torsten will make you change your mind: he can make you laugh for hours on end. You don't actually need to go to Dresden just to meet him, as Leon says, you can always invite him to your place. He is a wise, intelligent and mature person, who can prevent any conflict. There's no way you can have a problem hosting him, because he always asks permission about doing things, leaves everything perfectly clean after himself,and he is always thoughtful about little things. He is such interesting company that any feelings of awkwardness will disappear like snow melting in the sun. He has varied interests and it's fun to talk with him about any topic. In the end I might just have to go to Dresden just to visit him.

Yael Ben Jacob
From Yael Ben Jacob
 Herzliyya, Israel
 Jan 7, 2007
Met in person  
Positive

my sister and i spent 2 nights at torstens place.
torsten is realy nice, interesting and open minded!
he's a great host.
see u in israel torsten.

JEANKEBOS 
From JEANKEBOS
 Brussels, Belgium
 Nov 18, 2006
Met in person CouchSurfing Friend, Surfed 2 days  
Positive

I stayed at his place in Dresden, some months ago; i contacted him with this other website globalfreeloaders.com. We had some good time talking, drinking wine, eating carrots, going to some bars.

Gil Vicente Oliveira
From Gil Vicente Oliveira
 Sao Paulo, Brazil
 Sep 13, 2006
Met in person CouchSurfing Friend, Surfed 2 days  
Positive

Torsten is really a great guy, very attentive he waited for me and my girlfriend in the train station and carry us to his home. He is inteligent, good talk and very human. Thanks a lot, Torsten

Johnny Fıtzgerald Bliss
From Johnny Fıtzgerald Bliss
 Vienna, Austria
 Aug 22, 2006
Met in person  
Positive

torsten was a really cool host, very interesting personality.. my only regret is i didn't have more time to get to know him (i was in dresden 4 days, and i stayed 3). the people in his community were also very cool, a good trustworthy bunch. i would stay again in a heartbeat, and would also host torsten when i have a couch.

Nathan Sharp
From Nathan Sharp
 San Francisco, United States
 Aug 15, 2006
Met in person CouchSurfing Friend, Surfed 4 days  
Positive

torston is a fantastic fellow. wonderful listener. i really felt welcomed in his home. he invited me to listen to jazz at the museum of hygiene one night. too bad we couldnt meet up in berlin. maybe next time....

LOUISF
From LOUISF
 Montreal, Canada
 Aug 7, 2006
Met in person CouchSurfing Friend, Surfed 3 days  
Positive

Thanks again Torsten, my life in Freital would have been hell without you, Dresden, your Freudin and the good talks we had. Thanks again.

Lam Tran
From Lam Tran
 Vienna, Austria
 Jul 19, 2006
Met in person  

short but nice. torsten and his girlfriend isabell just stayed for one night, but still we had a comfortable relaxed evening and it was fun having them here as the first two official couchsurfers to use my new actual couch which now allows 2 people to surf my place.

Anais Moller
From Anais Moller
 Caracas, Venezuela
 Jul 19, 2006
Met in person  

Dresden. We had a great time staying at Torsten house. He is a really a nice person and his roommates were also cool.
Originally we were going to stay one night but then we stayed another one without a problem. He also tried to help us in our way towards Berlin.
Very helpful, lots of fun.

Pavel Kocourek
From Pavel Kocourek
 Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
 Jul 19, 2006
Met in person  

Torsten helped me to stay in Dresden!!! Unfortunately I came to dresden when Torsten was out, so I have not met him, but he let me stay althrow - really nice of him. His roommates are so great that made me laugh all the time:-)

     Leave a Reference >>