CURRENT MISSION

Make it through that upcoming exam - Oh, more generally? Hm... Save the world? - Something somewhere in between...

ABOUT ME

I'm just a thinker/dreamer, interested in the different perspectives on things... and an optimist who believes we can make things work out somehow.

I'm someone who's experienced a fair share of deep experiences... and I think that's why I'm somewhat of a deviant. I'm curious and creative. I think outside the box. I'm enthusiastic about life and easily interested and motivated in topics.

I have opinions, but they're based on the parts of the facts and influences that I have received or gotten a hold of in the past. If you have something to add you might well change or reinforce my assumptions about the mechanisms of things.

I study Psychology to challenge my assumptions and learn humility.

I love sharing, as in talking and listening. I also love discussing, as in actually persuading one another to consider new points of view. I'm sometimes annoyingly literal and logical, because I often over-think things.

PHILOSOPHY

I strive for a balanced mix between means and ends. [Utilitarianism ("it's good, because it caused greatest good") and liberalism ("it's good, because it upholds innate rights and doesn't interfere with other's rights")] I demand of myself to always consider the different sides, before making a judgement, and even then keep in mind that there's probably more to it. So I can accept that the judgement is only a subjective opinion and thus am more humble about it.

I love life, for I know it is fragile.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I host as well as I can, which isn't really that much more than indoor camping...

I surf, when I find the time to travel but no known friends-friend's place to stay.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've only had a few CS experiences, but the traditional sleepover at a friend's-friend in times of need and/or bad prior organization saved me a couple of times...

...and I've had other people crash at my home too, mostly spontaneously such as when their other plans fall through.

I like it when after the departure there is nothing left behind worse (e.g. dirtier) than it was on arrival, both when surfing or hosting, and love it when both sides of the experience come out of it better off than they went into it (e.g. learned something, feel appreciated/respected).

Interests

Activities
Climbing (Indoor bouldering)
Snow-/Skateboarding (mainly downhill-/flat- and street)
Music (Guitar, busking, listening, singing,...)
-logy; -y; and -ics (The study of many things interest me - or is it perhaps just learning? e.g. psych-, physio-, socio-, bio-... philosophy, economy, politics, statistics, ... and many more)
Socializing (Communication, sharing,...)

Topics
Mindfulness and positive psychology
Applied philosophy (e.g. in medicine, politics, business, law...)
Psychology ("the study of human behaviour and mental process" that's pretty much anything human related that happens. Why do we do this? How is it that...? LOVE IT! :D)
Arts (doing lots of it in the past probably contributes to it, but the motivation behind expression just interest me...)
Stories (in form of movies, books, roleplaygames...)

• arts
• books
• singing
• working out
• raves
• politics
• movies
• traveling
• socializing
• drawing
• bouldering
• music
• guitar
• camping
• surfing
• skateboarding
• boxing
• rock climbing
• business
• law
• medicine
• psychology
• statistics

Music, Movies, and Books

Real: Documentaries. Fictive: ideally realistic (as though they could have happened in real life), and logically/emotionally sound stories, characters, relationship dynamics,... I can't focus on the movie when the guy is shooting for the 22nd time out of a 6 bullet revolver without ever reloading...

I like most music. For me to *love* music I have to feel a part of it - either by making the music or by having it interact with me, as though it was playing me. Such as shaking me by being technically/rationally impressive, or just emotionally connecting and moving, or have meaningful lyrics (rhyming and smart, or emotionally moving), or a great environment where the music is just one contributing factor. (e.g. on a great rave I can stand mediocre quality dub-step; though I don't listen even to the best dub-step during most normal days...) - Ideally it's all of it together like playing "Imagine" by John Lennon on guitar while walking down Bakerstreet as part of the Occupy Nelson movement. :-)

Books: while in college I don't really read anything voluntarily. I'm happy when I stay on top of the required readings. - lately I've been starting to pick books back up again, but I haven't found a new favorite yet, and Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings were so long ago that I can't really tell if I'd still enjoy reading them (i.e. if they'd still be my favorite books like they used to be) -- So I guess I don't have one currently!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Watched all seasons of The Simpsons in one Summer parallel to being in a new country, doing 9 high school courses, applying for college, going on plenty of raves and meeting amazing people left right and centre. How did I do it? - Ever used that 1.5x speed function in the VLC video player? It doesn't mess with the pitch at all, it's just faster. So instead of "Joke-Getit-Laugh-pause-pause-pause-... movie goes on" it was "Joke-Get'it-laugh->movie goes on" :-D

Hm... maybe not that amazing. But I've only been on this planet for 2 decades and in Canada for 2 years. I still have time! :-)

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: I can introduce you to any of the things I do well at, because I remember well how I got there and what helped me get there. So intro (first year) Psych, Statistics, Skateboarding, Guitar, Drawing. I have some computer skills too, but I've had very different experiences teaching those to different people, so we'd have to test that to be sure.

Learn: Anything you REALLY care for. I'm a mirror of enthusiasm. If you're loving it, I can too. - Depending on your expressiveness... I need to get that you love it from your body language and tone of voice and vibes, not from the fact that you've been doing it for 20 years... ;-) I pick up quickly too, so if you like teaching, I have many "empty pages" to fill. :-)

Sharing: Any of the things I can teach the intro to, I could also learn if meeting someone better at it than me. - But even when meeting people on the same beginner or intermediate level, I think we can bounce a lot off of one another. For example in a game of S.K.A.T.E. - or a discussion about something :-D

What I Can Share with Hosts

Quite a few stories, and a willingness to engage in conversation.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Germany