I'm Michael! I'm doing my MSc in Computer Science at McGill. ahhh i'll write more next time!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing is a very cool, interpersonal, and affordable version of airBnB (which is often uncool, impersonal, and expensive), and is my personal favourite way to find a place to stay when I'm out and about. Vancouver is also a very expensive place to stay so I sympathize with those of you who travel here! Couchsurfing does make meeting people familiar with town and finding unique things to do much easier than, say, hotel tour brochures.

I've had nothing but good experiences sharing my place or having people share theirs with me. I've hosted, surfed, and participated in meetups several times over the last several years. After a bit of a hiatus I'm looking into hosting and surfing again since I now have a place to myself and since I'm finally travelling again!

Interests

I like hammocks, long books, learning stuff, the breast stroke, banter, and other things.

• books
• wine
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• learning languages
• rollerblading

Music, Movies, and Books

Check out my:
Last FM: http://www.last.fm/user/give_er
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/8646211?shelf=read (i don't update this much anymore, so lets just say some very nice books I've read recently are Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and The Death and Life of American Cities by Jane Jacobs)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

- Seeing the northern lights unexpectedly dance over the entire sky in interior BC (to the chagrin of the astronomy club i was tagging along with, who were very frustrated at not being able to see the galaxies and planets they'd planned so carefully to see)
- Riding a local bus over the (almost) highest roadway in the world from Manali to Leh, seeing the most splended geological variations I've ever seen
- Playing trombone on the Great Wall of China for a small group of tourists and locals.
- Sneaking into the Botanical Gardens/Steam Tunnels at UBC during the night. Never gets old.

Teach, Learn, Share

- i love to learn languages (though I'm not very good at it)!
- i've only lived in Montreal for a little while now but I hope I can share many of the more affordable, interesting, and unique places around town, at least the ones that i know about!

What I Can Share with Hosts

- good (in my humble opinion) company!
- a bottle of wine or something similar!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, China, Costa Rica, France, India, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Qatar, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, India