CURRENT MISSION

Eat, bike, dance.

ABOUT ME

Easygoing, considerate, musical, friendly, hilarious :)

PHILOSOPHY

Have you seen that episode of Star Trek where the secret to saving the universe is hidden in parts on every planet? I'm travelling until I figure it out.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Just arrived in Taipei. I demand to meet great people! But I'm very open-minded so I think a lot of people are great. I'm also able to host anyone who is clean, considerate and bed-bug free! I'm most comfortable with female and queer male guests, but if you are a straight man who has a clear understanding of boundaries and respectful behaviour, as well as a great sense of humour and/or good stories then you are also welcome! My apartment is in Beitou, just north of Taipei city. It's a (very pretty) ten minute walk to the MRT so it's not hard to get to the city center and I have a stunning view of mountains and trees. Taipei people say, "The air is always good in Beitou". It's a good location if you want to focus on hiking, eco-tourism, etc.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Had a good friend recommend couchsurfing constantly in Beijing, but alas, I had no couch. Then we travelled to Lamma Island, Hong Kong together and stayed with a really cool guy who played classical guitar for us and took us to dim sum on the beach. Looking to get more involved in events to meet people who travel the zigzag trail.

Interests

I love to play the ukulele and sing folk songs. I have a typically Canadian sense of humour. I like hiking, biking, walking, and trying things I've never done before. I love to travel and I speak some French and Chinese.

• singing
• dancing
• dining
• yoga
• meditation
• walking
• traveling
• socializing
• guitar
• cycling
• hiking
• tourism
• ecotourism
• beaches
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Ok, last one I saw was Pacific Rim 3d only because it was raining, and yeah, it wasn't great, but ohmagad Idris Elba in 3D....guess I'm not that into movies but the docs The Last Train Home and Schooling the World were both amazing.

Music: Gillian Welch, John Prine, old bluegrass, Deng Lijun (although I'm just getting to know her), any Chicago blues, The Black Keys, and Janelle Monae just to name a few. Local music is best, in Montreal it was especially alt-country & bluegrass. In Tianjin, I guess it was all about the Filipino bar bands, expat troubadours from Liverpool, and staying up all night in KTV rooms. I sang in a Tianjin band called MSG and we covered stuff like Neil Young, Dylan, and Nina Simone. Beijing offered everything from French Gypsy jazz to Peking Opera so I was set. A really fun project in my last two months there put together a Canadian jazz musician on guitar & sax, Chinese goth keyboard player and an American hip-hop drummer for my first ever original songwriting project. If we'd had a little longer, it could have been really cool but we just got our feet wet. Funnest jams ever. Still waiting for the soundcloud on that.

Books: anything by Mo Yan, Strange Stones by Peter Hessler, and Bell Hooks & Lisa Delpit's writings on race and language issues in education. Anything by and about the eleven Sikh Gurus, including Siri Guru Granth Sahib, of course. My job has me reading lots of kids' books and I'm a big fan of Dr. Seuss, Julia Donaldson (The Gruffalo) and the Scaredy Squirrel series.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Spent a year of senior high school in an international yoga/meditation school in Northern India. Came back and wondered how so few people were gonna eat all the food in the huge Canadian grocery stores.

Teach, Learn, Share

Anything I can teach you, you can teach me through your questions, so let's just start the conversation.

Countries I’ve Visited

Cuba, France, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, India, Taiwan