CURRENT MISSION

Reading, writing - having fun!

ABOUT ME

I am told that I am kind, considerate, insightful- and sometimes entertaining.

PHILOSOPHY

I am a Buddhist and believe in the universal value of kindness to all sentient beings. I believe that it is better for one to think about what one can give others, than about what one can get from life. It is so simple!

Pourquoi je suis sur Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

The idea of connecting with people when I travel is really cool - instead of just interacting with paid-to-be-nice hotel staff. Life for me is about journeying and seeing the wonders of the world, and I would be delighted to help others who want to pass through Pretoria to some of the wild and beautiful natural places of South Africa.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I met some great folks in the States, in Washington, New York, and Iowa. I was overwhelmed at the kindness of people, and at their natural ability to trust and open up to others.

Centres d'intérêt

I like meeting people - in life and in books. I am an inveterate reader. I oteach English literature at a university in Pretoria. I meditate, watch films, study my dreams (I am a lucid dreamer). I am working on a PhD and biography of one of the first writers to introduce Buddhism to the West.

• arts
• writing
• books
• literature
• meditation
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• buddhist

Morceaux de musique, films et livres

I love the classics - from Old English to Chaucer and Dante, to Shakespeare - and then a big leap across the centuries (via Sterne and Blake) to the Victorians (Dickens especially), and the Moderns. I am particularly fond of Yeats, Wallace Stevens, and other Modernist poets and novelists.

I don't really like reading stuff written after WWII except Sci-Fi and Fantasy literature (espcially Phillip K. Dick). Much contemporary fiction seems to be reinventing the wheel, saying the same thing in ways that I do not find challenging or enlightening. I like Haldor Laxness, Dostoievsky, Jaroslav Hasek. One of my favourite books is the Oxford English Dictionary - the full version, with all the etymologies! I read a lot of history - especially biography.

My all-time favourite movie is Tarkovsky's 'Stalker'.

I listen to 'classical' music (Bach, Mozart, etc., though I don't like opera - read some libretti and you'll perhaps understand why). I love piano concertos - especially the Russians (Rachmaninov, Shostakovitch...). As for more contemporary stuff, I like mostly Indy and folk music, anything from Dylan onwards. I also groove to bluegrass, heavy metal, some New Age, and ambient trance.

Une aventure extraordinaire que j'ai vécue

I have met the Dalai Lama at a Kalachakra initiation in India, in a tiny village that became home for 2 weeks to 150 000 people (!), mostly Tibetans in exile from the Chinese occupation of Tibet. Mostly, though, I have been lucky enough to meet wonderful, kind, amazing people. That is the greatest thing about life!!

Enseignez, apprenez, partagez

Wow, this is a difficult one! I guess I know a lot about literature and art!! That sounds so reductive, but is the best I can do for now.

Pays que j'ai visités

Belgium, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Pays dans lesquels j'ai vécu

Italy, South Africa