CURRENT MISSION

Work hard and be nice to people...we really want to make friends and see new places and learn about different cultures- and eat cake!

ABOUT ME

Janet is a bit of a workaholic- I am an only child from a really small family, so work has always been a place to escape to and meet people. It probably sounds a bit unhealthy but I have been fortunate to do jobs which I really enjoy. I set up a participatory arts programme at a children's hospital, and am now researching arts and health work. The only child status has also led me to enthusiastically participating in lots of hobbies- dance classes, swimming, jogging ( although not very well!), jewellery making, crafts, cake making...etc, etc! I have a real weakness for shopping and finding bargains- I love a good flea market or jumble sale. I also love cakes and love to collect recipes ( and tastes) whenever I travel.
Tom helps keep janet orgainsed! He is probably more of the home maker and has spent some of the last few years working on the house which we bought as a wreck.He is never quite sure what he enjoys and likes ( much to Janet's frustration) but in reality quite enjoys listening to music, walking, writing comedy and watching football - he promises to think of something more interesting to do if you visit!
Tove is 3 and she enjoys cooking, dancing, cafes and staring at people (without a smile). She mastered sleeping through the night at 3 months ( for which we are eternally grateful)! Lars is 1 and has an angelic smile but a bite which has catched us out on many an occasion. He has tortured us by refusing to sleep through the night ( you have been warned) but makes up for it by being a laid back baby who loves a good laugh.

PHILOSOPHY

Work hard and be nice to people...

We have a strong belief in social justice and equality, and we try to live by these principles.
It might sound old fashioned but we try to be polite and think about how actions might affect others.
We love fun, and have a tendency to use irony, and we like to laugh at ourselves ( and others if they will let us!).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We are having a bit of a think about this- we are new to CS and we want to host and travel.
We do not see this as getting a free night's stay but becoming part of a community.

Interests

Anything 'housey'- interiors, junk shop/ flea market buying
Cooking, especially baking
Googling
Travel
Theatre and the arts
Visiting historic properties
Picnics and afternoon tea
Politics
TV ( guilty admission)
Clothes shopping ( Janet- another guilty admission!)
Craft- but not twee stuff!

• arts
• writing
• festivals
• dancing
• cooking
• recipes
• baking
• walking
• crafts
• shopping
• clothing
• politics
• tv
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• soccer
• swimming
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Word of warning- we are eurovision fans, and Janet especially loves cheesy europop. Tom is more sophisticated and also enjoys a range of rock, pop and folk.
We enjoy reading Tove Jansson books ( so much so we named our daughter after her). Tom likes Annie Proulx.
We like a broad range of films- we love foreign films like Amelie and Goodbye Lenin but we also love the occasional blockbuster like Notting Hill. We also love documentaries like Sounds like Teen Spirit, Spellbound and Etre at Avoir.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Married by a clown at a pumpkin festival!

Teach, Learn, Share

We are always interested to hear about social policy in other countries ( sounds really dry but we really have visited housing projects and hospitals whilst on holiday).
Janet is always keen to find out new recipes, bargain hotspots and tips for travelling with children.
We would like our children to find out about children's lives in other countries.
We are victims of bad language tuition at school, so we would really value any opportunity to learn and experiment with new languages.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Spain, Thailand, Turkey

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom, United States