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Overview

  • 20 references 17 Confirmed & Positive
  • Fluent in English, Russian; learning Bulgarian, German, Italian, Norwegian
  • 39, Male
  • Member since 2010
  • Free spirit
  • University
  • From Wellington, NZ
  • Profile 100% complete

About Me

CURRENT MISSION

Become Norwegian

ABOUT ME

If I was an animal, I would probably be a banana.

About me - I'm a pretty active sort of guy, love the outdoors, cooking, and being in the moment. Also have a tendency to sometimes drift away in thought and occasionally sing to myself loudly and badly when alone in nature.

I moved from Wellington, New Zealand, to the big city of Moscow in late 2010 to work for a UK firm. Then a couple of years later I decided that I wanted to enjoy life more, so I quit my job and went travelling. I spent an amazing summer at home in NZ, and now I have moved to Norway.

PHILOSOPHY

I can really relate to this beautiful Jewish parable below (the essence of it is this, though the full story below says it more beautifully: if you think things are bad, the truth is that they are actually pretty good, 'cos in all likelihood they could be much worse!)

A man goes to the rabbi and complains, "Life is unbearable. There are nine of us living in one room. What can I do?"
The rabbi answers, "Take your goat into the room with you." The man in incredulous, but the rabbi insists. "Do as I say and come back in a week." A week later the man comes back looking more distraught than before. "We cannot stand it," he tells the rabbi. "The goat is filthy." The rabbi then tells him, "Go home and let the goat out. And come back in a week."
A radiant man returns to the rabbi a week later, exclaiming, "Life is beautiful. We enjoy every minute of it now that there's no goat -- only the nine of us."

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've been to many top-notch CS events during my stay in Moscow and can sincerely say that it was a fantastic experience.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've hosted a few people in Moscow, and stayed with other CSers a couple of times when travelling.

Interests

I like to use my brain, and I like to use my hands. That tends to manifest itself in a love of cooking, learning languages (right now it's German, plus I want to learn Chinese) and building things. Needless to say, like most people on this site, I also very much like to travel and tend to do it quite often.

  • animals
  • singing
  • perfumes
  • cooking
  • traveling
  • outdoor activities
  • languages

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've been very lucky to have had some awesome experiences. In 2012, I biked from Geneva to Nice. In 2010, I walked up China's holiest mountain and slept on a rock on the summit, and driven an ambulance from Ireland to Mongolia with a couple of other Kiwis (http://mongolia.charityrallies.org/haerenga). In 2009, I ran over the Tongarero alpine crossing in NZ.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you Russian, how to make the world's best apple crumble (this I learned from my guests), and how to stand on your head.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Australia, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

New Zealand, Russian Federation

Old School Badges

  • 2 Vouches
  • Pioneer Badge

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