CURRENT MISSION

To get there...(without too many bruises)... learn something in the process...and have fun doing it...

ABOUT ME

Born & brought up in New Zealand. At the age of 26 I decided that I needed to find more about my roots and so headed across the vast oceans. I ended up in London for 4 years and was ready to return home. However I thought that getting an EU passport would be a smart move if not for me then for any potential children I might have. So being tired of London I moved to Edinburgh where I stayed for another 4 years. I also lived in Guernsey and Sheffield.
It was certainly a huge collection of experiences and mixing of many cultures.
At this point I returned to good old New Zealand and found myself having the luxury of working 4 days per week for 8 years. Then with the downturn in the economy and a silly move on my part I found myself unemployed. I decided that another change was required.
So I left New Zealand, retrained into a completely different career and now find myself in Istanbul.
Expect the unexpected :)

PHILOSOPHY

I'm liberal. I can tolerate some pretty strange behaviour.
But basically my idea is if it doesn't hurt anyone what's the problem?

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Through another site I met Brie who is from the US and she introduced me to CS and a whole bunch of really cool people.
Oh I'm digressing - how will I participate? Well at this stage I can only offer floor space in my room in an overcrowded flat in Istanbul so I prefer to just say Coffee or Tea. But once/if I become more settled then I'd like to offer a Couch. Actually it's a kind of New Zealand way of thinking (CS is) so it fits well.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Meeting a great bunch of people for drinks - see "How I participate" where I got verbal diarrhea. . The CS idea from my first impression is that it closely mirrors the "Let's all be friends and help and support one another and have a good time" idea.

Interests

Many and varied. Coming from New Zealand sport is high on the list. Over the last few years that's been replaced by reading, surfing, trying to understand how the people and universe work. I enjoy simple things most. Funnily enough there's an inverse correlation with spending money and enjoyment I find. With the exception of paying for plane tickets :)

• coffee
• drinking
• reading
• surfing
• sports
• boxing
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

Another difficult category. From watching a movie a week and attending film festivals regularly I don't find I watch that many nowadays. Give me a computer and I'll be lost for days.
Having said that, and bizarrely I prefer to read. Music not so often but I like pretty much anything except country and I even like some aspects of that.
Last movie: Black Swan
Last book: a Paulo Coelho novel
Last music: Metro FM in Istanbul

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Rather than answer this directly I'd like to "Glass half empty" it which I know isn't quite the thing to do but ...
Towards the end of my first stint overseas I became aware, from looking at photos, that although I'd been to some amazing places I wasn't actually there.
What I mean is: sure I got the photo, the T-shirt and the box ticked but I didn't actually experience it. I didn't soak up the vibe nor did I make the most of the opportunity.
I'm taking things slower now and summoning up some courage to ask a few questions.

Teach, Learn, Share

Firstly I like the philosophy: everyones a student and a teacher.
I'd say my most useful knowledge has come from a lot of reading, courses, life experience and introspection.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Canada, Cook Islands, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Malaysia, Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

New Zealand, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom

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