I used to host, but I don't have a couch right now...may be able to host again from June onwards. I'm mostly surfing at the moment. I've hosted many people at my home in Canada and when I lived in the UK, not all of them through CS but many strangers who became friends - one even ended up living with us for a few months! Have surfed a few times, and have had great experiences. It is so heartening to meet people from other cultures who are excited to extend hospitality to others.

Worked as a counsellor at a summer camp for two summers after spending eight summers there as a kid. One week, we had a girl who was a Rwandan refugee, and she couldn't speak a word of English. I tried to communicate with her in French for the week and eventually she came out of her shell and was always smiling and laughing even though she didn't understand the language that the other kids spoke. When she went home at the end of the week, she said to me "ne m'oubliez pas" and gave me a hug. I cried a lot.