I have lifetime employment in social work here in New York.
I'm a member of SERVAS, a group similar to Couchsurfing, for more than 20 years. I've hosted hundreds of travelers from dozens of countries, and been
hosted all over Europe, Mexico, the States, Korea, Japan, India. I'm a SERVAS
interviewer and have interviewed 125 applicants. I picked up some Spanish
from my Puerto Rican neighbors over the years.

Pourquoi je suis sur Couchsurfing

A lot of SERVAS people have switched to Couchsurfing. I like the digital
approach and the large numbers of members compared to SERVAS; there are
hosts and travelers in Couchsurfing in many places where there are no SERVAS
members. Couchsurfing simply extends the reach of the host/traveler concept over a much larger area of the world. People to people contact is invaluable;
I'll never leave this kind of organization.

Centres d'intérêt

Art, music, children, travel, the environment, researching Chinese history and culture.

• arts
• culture
• environment
• traveling
• music
• history
• social work

Morceaux de musique, films et livres

I like Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. Also Gershwin, Barber, Copland, Wagner,
Debussy, Stravinsky, Ravel, Schoenberg, Berg, Strauss.

I like French, Italian, British and Swedish movies.

My favorite book is Joyce's "Ulysses." I read all kinds of books about China.

Une aventure extraordinaire que j'ai vécue

Long ago, I visited Dublin to visit sites in the city described in "Ulysses." I discovered that the fictional home of the main character, Mr. Bloom, at
#7 Eccles Street, was to demolished. I took the door knocker off the door to
preserve it. The knocker was fixed to my kitchen wall for decades. By the
accident a visit of an Irish SERVAS visitor, I was invited to the James Joyce Center in Dublin (2013) to return the knocker for permanent exhibit, decades after I removed it from its door. Hundreds of Irish and other people came to hear me describe my story and thanked me for returning it to Ireland.

Enseignez, apprenez, partagez

On two occasions, each lasting for years, I founded and directed small schools for
neighborhood low income children. All the kids, and all the teachers, came voluntarily; we had no budget at all. Both schools were successful.

Ce que j'aimerais partager avec mes hôtes

My experiences over 20 years with hundreds of travelers and hosts in perhaps
thirty countries. My work with kids. My lifetime experience in the field of
social work (alcoholics, addicts, the elderly, Cuban refugees, psychiatric patients,
AIDS patients). My efforts to build low cost housing in the Lower East Side of
Manhattan.

Pays que j'ai visités

Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Venezuela

Pays dans lesquels j'ai vécu

France, Israel