CURRENT MISSION

After a crazy 3 year remodel, I'm trying to make time for all the other worthwhile things in life.

ABOUT ME

I'm very talkative and often blurt out things to people. I also have an odd sense of humor. Sometimes this scares people, but most people like me, or at least pretend to.

Je suis très bavarde et dis parfois des conneries. J'ai une sense d'humour parfois un peu particulier. Parfois ça fait peur, mais la plupart du monde m'aime ou en fait semblant.

PHILOSOPHY

I like to give more than I take. I readily think of people as friends, and do things for them when I can.

J'essaye a donner plus que je prends. J'accepte rapidement les gens comme amis, et je les aide quand je peux.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm trying to think of everything I could possibly do to take people in in spite of living with my parents during the summer and thus not necessarily being able to host people. I know my way around the city and give tours, participate in gatherings, and sometimes hang out with visitors in the afternoon since I get off work early. I hope that I get the opportunity sooner or later to have the same great experiences as a host as I just had as a guest.

Je ne sais pas exactement comment participer quand j'habite avec mes parents. J'assiste aux fêtes, et je peux certainement être guide francophone. Je ne sais pas si c'est difficile à trouver ou non.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I just couch surfed for the first time in April 2008 and it was amazing! I stayed with really cool people and feel like I made friends with all of them. I don't know if I'll ever want to stay in a hotel again, even later on when I can afford to.

J'ai couchsurfé pour la première fois en avril 2008 et c'était incroyable. J'ai resté avec de personnes supercools et je crois d'avoir fait ami avec les tous. Je ne voudrai jamais encore rester dans un hôtel, même plus tard quand j'en aurai de l'argent.

Interests

Community service, architecture, play piano and trombone, gardening, cooking, home renovations (so that means I enjoy manual labor)

Bénévolat, architecture, urbanisme, piano et trombone, le jardinage, la cuisine, le bricolage (bizarre, j'aime les travaux manuels)

And if you want to see more about the all-consuming hobby of my house, here's my blog: https://chadscrookedhouse.wordpress.com/

• culture
• architecture
• dining
• cooking
• partying
• gardening
• piano
• history
• tourism
• volunteering
• tours

Music, Movies, and Books

I guess you could say that I have no taste in music, because I like most of it. I don't usually pay attention to what I'm listening to either. French people make fun of me because they know American music better than I do. I go to the orchestra though, so maybe I know classical music better than them.

Candide and Le Mariage de Figaro (the versions I filmed in the coolest AP French class ever), The Gods Must Be Crazy (because he's more of a mess than I am and somehow he gets the girl he wanted anyway)

Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs, Candide and Figaro (the real books), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Savage Inequalities

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

For me, really feeling fulfilled by being in a place means knowing its history, its quirks, and feeling at least in some way a part of it. I love knowing the ins and outs of the areas where I've lived.

While volunteering in a nearby mother-baby program as a teenager, I saw first hand a degree of desperation that didn't exist in the comfortable world of my childhood. One of the most important influences on how I view the world.

Very unoriginal, but the Philly Couch Crash immersed me in friendliness and generosity, and broke the ice with my local CS community. This truly changed my day-to-day life for the better.

Teach, Learn, Share

I've taught a few people how to cook. One friend wanted to learn after coming to dinners at my house and seeing how great it can be to bring people together around the table.

Love to learn about what it's like to be in a different place, and how another country's culture would be different and similar to mine.

Almost anytime something makes me smile, either something beautiful, or a random fact, or good food, or parties, games, and good people, I'll expect that they can make someone else smile too. I'm also pretty handy and have helped out friends and family with garden designs, semi-illegal NYC apartment partitions, and odd jobs.

Countries I’ve Visited

Czech Republic, France, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, United States

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