CURRENT MISSION

Temporary mission: To upload more photos of places *I* went travelling.

ABOUT ME

I came to Palermo to work at TEATRO MASSIMO theatre.

PHILOSOPHY

Try to help others, and also try and have a nice time myself.

Where it gives the details of countries I have visited it says "Russian Federation" but this is wrong. I went in 1987 when it was still communist "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" (USSR). I went to Moscow and Leningrad (later renamed St. Petersburg).

FUTILE EFFORTS BUT VALUABLE LIFE EXPERIENCES: When I was 20 years old I was squatting in a Victorian home in Primrose hill near Camden, London. Spent 3 months painting and decorating the place until it was perfection. Then got thrown out of the place during the 4th month. Camden borough council easily could have forgotten about the house and left it to us for 10 years to live for free. Life is the luck of the draw.. then I got other good luck.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I run a club where several languages can be spoken, but particularly English and Italian.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have met many people from couchsurfing during my club activities here in Palermo, Italy and I've done a lot of hosting. When I visited the UK I organised a few successful CS meetings without actually having previously known any of the participants. I also hosted a couchcooking evening in Budapest where I cooked Indian food for 8 people. When I travel alone or with one other person then I will ask to stay with CS dudes. But it's difficult if you're travelling in a larger group.

In an age of cheap airfares and porous borders, where nearly every corner of the earth, from Bulgaria to Bhutan, is open for tourism, the home is the final frontier, the last authentic experience. Instead of being in some sanitized hotel in Hanoi, said Erik Torkells, editor of Budget Travel magazine, “if I couch surf I could be on some cool ex-pat’s or local’s sofa.” He added: “I’ve already leapfrogged barriers. It would take weeks under ordinary circumstances to get in someone’s home.”

With regard to “the whole FACEBOOK thing,”: “This is a generation that’s all about talking to strangers. And why stop there? Why not crash at their place?”

Interests

music, flute, sports, cinema, cooking, reading, travelling, organising events, finale music computer program

• dining
• cooking
• indian food
• running
• clubbing
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• cars
• socializing
• painting
• drawing
• music
• sports
• teaching
• emergency services
• languages
• study abroad
• tourism
• budget travel

Music, Movies, and Books

I can't list here hundreds of books and movies, and after all, isn't this what you're coming to talk to me about, amongst many other things? But I gradually start to make a list..first some authors and then some titles: Solzhenitsyn: Iris Murdoch: Charles Dickens: Peter Hoeg: George Eliot: Thomas Hardy: Italo Svevo: Thomas Harris: Graham Greene: Leo Tolstoy: Boris Pasternak: Mario Puzo: Jostein Gaarder. I also love listening to audiobooks read by actors, and love dramatizations on the radio - particularly from BBC Radio 4 or 4 extra, and I collect audio files of all these things and try to pass on data files to other CSers even though their tastes in classical music are not so extreme and specialised as mine! I am a professional classical musician and I have met many theatre directors and I would like to think my taste in these things is at least passable.I don't just like classical music, and many have seen me even get enthusiastic about disco and house music and at heart I'm just like anyone else..not a music nerd : )))

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Two friends of mine fell asleep in another friend's car during the night, which was parked on the street, and I was awoken by the sound of 11 police cars, 2 ambulances and a fire - engine, just for 2 guys fallen asleep in a parked car. And two guys in full phorensic kit were peering through the car window. Fortunately a murder/death had NOT taken place....hehe.

Teach, Learn, Share

Qualified flute teacher, but I teach English too and I hope some of my knowledge will be useful to someone : ))

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy, United Kingdom

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