CURRENT MISSION

To make the perfect lemon meringue pie

ABOUT ME

Well, I'm Scottish, I'm a Dad, I teach university, I write books, I travel, I love languages, I like to go running before breakfast, and I always want to know new things. I'm a vegetarian, I have a dry British humour which my German friends don't get, I like spaniels and Doctor Who and Linzertorte, and I think Brahms is God. I'm pretty easy-going, enjoy people, and am reasonably easy to please. I play violin execrably, I hate gardening, I'm ideologically a bleeding-heart liberal and I am totally into leftist hobbies like the humanities. Oh, and did I mention about Brahms?

PHILOSOPHY

I believe in people.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Since I moved from Hemau, I'm in a much smaller place and hosting is not quite so straightforward, but possible. As for surfing, well I travel a lot for research, giving guest lectures, visiting libraries, and often need to spend just one or two nights somewhere without paying whopping big hotel costs.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

CouchSurfing is great because of the way it brings people together. It's not just for people who need to travel cheaply - I can afford a hotel. But how often have I sat alone in a hotel room wondering who else was out there in that strange city? I mostly travel for work, but when I do, I want to spend time with people too. All different kinds of people.

Interests

• humanities
• books
• breakfast
• beer
• vegetarian
• running
• gardening
• traveling
• violin
• surfing
• languages
• medicine

Teach, Learn, Share

Oh, I could teach you some Gaelic, lots about the Middle Ages, quite a bit about German beer, and how to make a mean rhubarb crumble.

You could probably teach me about anything and I'd be happy. I once said in class that there is really nothing I don't want to learn about. One of my students replied "What about SM techniques?" I think what I most want to learn is how to control cheeky students.