CURRENT MISSION

Travelling to off-beat places and learning their language

ABOUT ME

I am an incessant traveller, interested in Far Eastern culture; my interests are reading, writing
and visiting new places. Since 2012 I've been about 3-4 times to Taiwan, maybe 5 months each year.
This year I plan another trip for about 5 months to Taiwan, sorting out teaching possibilities in
Taizhong, Gaoxiong and Douliu. I have rudimentary Chinese language knowledges and I want to improve
my linguistic skills. I have been to Douliu to 5-6 times already but due to language shortcomings
I couldn't make the right contacts.

PHILOSOPHY

Life-long learning by studying all philosophical and religious books available in modern or antique languages

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I am open to all culture but especially interested in Far Eastern cultures like Chinese, Tibetan and Indian;
trying to master their languages and reading all the books available

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I travelled to Taiwan about 10-11 times, staying with hosts which was a unique experience to me learning more about Taiwanese culture; in turn I enjoy receiving people from China, Taiwan, Japan and Southamerica at my home,

Interests

In first place Indian & Chinese philosophy, temples, etc; learning languages; I know German, English, Portuguese, Spanish, Thai (6 years in Thailand as a teacher); now I endeavour to become fluent in Chinese (Putonghua, Taiyu or Hoklo/Hokkien -- Lam Wah style) and master at least 20k characters to my memorized 2k!

• culture
• writing
• books
• reading
• traveling
• teaching
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Classical European music; Chinese ancient court music;
movies about travels to off-beat places like Amazon jungles, Mongolian deserts and Chinese mountain fastness; highly interested in Chinese classical literature, especially from the Tang and Ming dynasties; Taoism, like Chuang Zi (Hua Yan Zheng Jing, etc.)

Dao De Jing, Yi Jing, Pu Song Ling; Chinese ghost stories, Nan Hai Zhen Jing and all extant books by Zhuangzi!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Well, especially Taiwan since 2012 (first time in January) I was awe-struck by the friendliness of the local people. One memorable moment would be Sanxiantai and doing walks in Chenggong (Malalou,Taitung); especially Douliu (my favorite) and San Yi and, of course, Puli with the beautiful Sun and Moon Lake which I surrounded several times! -- Unforgettable my rides in the gondola and visiting the "tea-country" sampling delicious tea in the hills north of Taipei.

Teach, Learn, Share

I used to teach English (conversation and commercial correspondence as a regular teacher at a commercial college at Bangkok,Thailand for 6 years; learnt old scripts and languages like Mon, Lao (Northeastern Thailand), at the moment studying Chinese and Taiwanese and endeavouring to memorize the whole Dao De Jing by heart!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Showing them around my immediate home place and its natural beauty (nature reserve Nida meadows) with its wild life of nile geese, green-headed ducks and nutria, Although Frankfurt is a rather big city, the surrounding countryside is worthwhile visiting!
Besides I can teach German, English (with US experience) , Spanish (travels all over Southamerica) and Portuguese (repeated travels in Brazil: Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Patos de Minas.

Countries I’ve Visited

Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Peru, Thailand