I grew up in the tri-cities area of Vancouver, British Columbia where I studied French in order to be a French teacher. Thanks to the encouragement of a friend from Simon Fraser University, I left my home for a year of French studies in Quebec where I met my future husband (who was on a semester exchange from France); 18 years later we are married with three children and we live outside of Montreal in the province of Quebec. He is an agricultural engineer, and I recycled to the task of teaching francophone children English (primary level). We live in what is considered an "agricultural technopole" in the city of St-Hyacinthe. I travelled a bit before my over-seas romance began: New York, California, Florida, Hawaii, Mexico, Japan, through Western Canada. Since meeting Fabien, I've seen parts of France and Belgium and in the past years have seen Boston and re-united with New York.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

what a great way to meet local people and truly complete the travel experience!

Interests

I like jogging, zumba, reading and eating ice-cream. Of course, I spend quite a lot of time as a chauffeur for kids events. Recently my husband has developed a new obsession: geo-caching, so I've become an assistant/cheerleader in that event. We enjoy family outings to the zoo, the Botanical gardens and the swimming pool. We like to go camping in the summertime where we dabble in hiking, canoeing and marshmallow-roasting. A cold beer is always a welcome addition to an essentially vegetarian meal, and you can always convince me to go out for Thai food.

• dining
• beer
• vegetarian
• zumba
• reading
• traveling
• billiards
• hiking
• canoeing
• camping
• cheerleading
• swimming
• teaching
• engineering

Music, Movies, and Books

I try to share English culture with my students in class and they've come to a consensus: I like a confusing mix of "hyper" music and rock (I'm from the mosh-pit generation!). Favourite groups include: Spirit of the West and Great Big Sea, Hedley and Simple Plan, and I'm a long-time fan of Bon Jovi. Among my favourite movies is "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulin" and my favourite book is Paulo Coehlo's "the Alchemist" (although I confess to being a closet junkie of Harry Potter and Twilight). As I write this, I think that a reunion of sorts might be due...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

hiked a volcano in Hawaii on Christmas Day; rang in the New Year on a Japanese village church bell; rode a local bus (aka van with a door tied open) with chicken coops filled with clucking poultry in Mexico; been to all four of the Disneylands around the world (California, Florida, Tokyo, Paris); "escaped" from a black bear in hot pursuit down wilderness trails (o.k., o.k., is was a baby, but it was STILL a bear)

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, France, Japan, Mexico, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, France