CURRENT MISSION

I want to travel and see the world. I love learning about customs, in other places, eating new foods, and talking to new people.

ABOUT ME

I like traveling people, my family, papermaking, painting, art, cats, woman's history and my house. My husband is a geologist and I have two grown sons who are on their own now. For 18 years I had a business performing one woman plays all over the US at schools, museums, libraries, and colleges. When that ended I took up painting in 2004. I have had exhibits in India, Sweden, Denmark and the U.S. In 2010 I enrolled at Kendall College of Art and Design. I received a BFA then an MFA in painting. However, my senior year I fell in love with papermaking and I now make art papers.

PHILOSOPHY

I am on this earth only a short time so I want to leave it in better shape than I found it. This still leaves lots of space for enjoying life. I would rather have an interesting life with my hobbies and traveling, than spending my life gathering money and things around me.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I am always talking about CS and directing people to the website. Until recently there were few if any other CSers in my town. Suddenly there are many, probably through the college, I am not sure why yet. I plan to meet some of these new CSers and get to know them.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

During 2 1/2 months in 2010 I couch surfed all over Southern Sweden and Denmark. Since I am interested in painting I looked for other people who are connected to the arts. I have had the most amazing time from having hosts take me to meet artists, set up exhibitions for me and paint with me. It has been truly fabulous. I was teaching a class on Wednesday nights near Lund, Sweden. So for Wednesdays I had a place to stay but for the rest of the week I would couch surf between Sweden and Denmark.

I have hosted many people and would like to have others come to visit my husband and me. I love meeting people and am willing to take you around to the sites if you would like and if I have the time. We have great beaches, hiking, wine tasting, Dutch Village, and other nice things here.

Since I travel a lot I would like to meet other people around the world. As much as I love museums and historic places, I find that sightseeing is often exhausting. I really like painting as I travel and staying with other people so that I can communicate with people. I convinced some of my hosts to sit down and paint with me which was a lot of fun.

Interests

Travel, painting, some reading, playing with my cats, some cooking for fun. I like to bake breads and try recreating some of the foods I have eaten in other places. We are interested in reducing our ecological footprint also.

• cats
• arts
• design
• cooking
• wine
• wine tasting
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• painting
• hiking
• track and field
• business
• geology
• history
• sightseeing
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

We watched the series West Wing right and the Office. We liked the Harry Potter movies but tend to rent videos once a week. Otherwise we don't watch TV but get our news from the internet or from NPR on the radio. I always enjoy a good mystery but don't read as much as I would like. My husband is very interested in and knowledgeable about history, art, and geology. 30 Rock is our current tv show to watch.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

We once had a suitcase full of money that we had to transport across India. I accidentally took my son to a brothel in Bombay. I have traveled to India (9 times), Sweden (four times), Germany (lost track), Norway, Denmark, Holland, England, France, Wales, Canada, the edge of Mexico, Israel, Ramallah, Spain, Switzerland, and of course all over the US. In 1992 I was the Democratic candidate for state representative in Michigan. Once I was a harp builder, I have a degree in Mechanical Design which I never used. I saw a murdered politician in a river. Sorry, I can't reduce this to one amazing thing.

Teach, Learn, Share

I am always happy to teach a little about papermaking to anyone who comes to visit or who I go to visit. I also like sharing cooking. If you are an artist maybe you can teach me something. If you are not an artist maybe you will teach me something else.

What I Can Share with Hosts

cook a meal, teach painting

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Palestine, Qatar, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State, Viet Nam, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Sweden, United States

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