CURRENT MISSION

To understand to the point where I don't need to understand anymore

ABOUT ME

All about me? Pffff, piece of cake. Well, I love water and especially being in the water - surfing, bodysurfing, water polo, hot springs, long showers ... water's the best.
And music, yes music is good stuff too. I enjoy playing little tunes on guitar, ukulele and the piano. Plants and animals, I also like them. More of a dog person.

I'm originally from the beautiful north of California, but I haven't lived there for 10 years. I went to university in Hawaii, mainly as an excuse to surf and live the 'endless summer'. It was a choice I do not regreat. I then lived in Japan for around 3 years - teaching English, surfing, learning the tea ceremony and being a movie/tv extra. Somehow I ended up down in NZland - as you do - where I did an MA in linguistics and am at work on a PhD in anthropology.

PHILOSOPHY

'Be like water' - not mine, Bruce Lee's

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm new, still getting the hang of it. But I love the concept and look forward to contributing to this excellent cause.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

West Oz in a few weeks will be my first.

Interests

Water, music, complexity theory, Chilean poetry, Japanese aesthetics.

• animals
• dogs
• poetry
• yoga
• tv
• music
• guitar
• piano
• surfing
• water polo
• anthropology

Music, Movies, and Books

All films by Ozu Yasujiro, the Endless Summer of course.
Books? Borges, Murakami, Self ... lately I'm reading only 'academic' books, of which I'm really impressed by those of Nikolas Luhmann, Bourdieu, Hiedegger, Virilio, Rorty and Victor Turner.
Music? Increasingly drawn to jazz piano, particular that of Keith Jarret - he has the force. I also like Erik Satie and Debussy, folklorica Chileano, Devendra Banhart, AIR, Shugo Tokumaru and Takagi Masakatsu, Curly Giraffe and Real Estate.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Amazing is a relative concept. Sometimes I'm amazed by the idea that I'm anything at all. Surfing big waves is probably the best thing I've done in my life.

Teach, Learn, Share

If you like, I do Japanese and Spanish lessons, speak about classical social theory and complexity theory, teach a few simple songs and chords on the guitar, yoga and chi kung, I give a good massage and am good at cracking backs.