ABOUT ME

Update: I just moved in Baku, Azerbaijan!

After 10 years living, working and studying in China, I decided I needed to experience more of the world, so picked up some aid worker roles in Vietnam, Vanuatu, Ethiopia and now Laos. I like visiting countries which don't see many tourists, such as Turkmenistan and Djibouti, and putting my hand up for assignments in countries such as South Sudan.

When I'm not working, I like to spend my time doing activities that don't involve sitting in front of a computer: hiking, or something active outside, motorcycle trips around the country, watching some interesting films, or having some interesting conversations over a nice cup of Ethiopian coffee or bottle of beer.

PHILOSOPHY

Some of my favourite quotes include:

"The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can't find them, make them."
-- George Bernard Shaw

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."
-- Mahatma Gandhi

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
-- Mark Twain

"We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection"
-- Dalai Lama

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

While I was living in Nanning, China, my best friend, Robyn introduced me to CS, and while I was there I hosted and met a number of people over this time from China, Hong Kong, Germany, Bangladesh, Portugal, Switzerland, Australia, Finland and the UK. In London, I attended a couple of CS events and met up with travellers, and in Indonesia and Vietnam, I did the same. In Ethiopia, I also hosted occasionally and look forward to doing the same here in Laos - depending on whether my spare room is occupied, and if I'm in town :-) If I can't host, I love having CSers over for a wine/coffee/tea and chat or meeting up for a meal!

Interests

* Travelling (of course!)* Learning foreign languages - improving my Chinese and German, and now learning Azerbaijani and Russian * Different cultures, religions, perspectives, ways of life* International relations * Disaster Management and learning/teaching how to reduce the impact of natural disasters. * Drinking wine (especially with friends)* Lots of cheese (together with the wine)* Olives * Spending time with good friends * Getting to know new friends * My garden * Cats * Chocolate * Going to the gym * Crazy jewellery * Colourful clothing * Haloumi * Collecting postcards - trying to get one from every country to decorate my wall!* Art from all over the world * Trying all kinds of different food * Learning to cook new kinds of food* Doc Marten boots - very inconvenient when you move as much as I do! :-)

• cats
• arts
• writing
• books
• dining
• cooking
• chocolate
• wine
• cheese
• coffee
• zumba
• drinking
• gardening
• clothing
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• painting
• teaching
• international relations
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: I love biographies, travel stories, anything to do with minority groups, international development, migration and refugees, psychology and human relations as well as novels. Books I've read recently include:* Eleven Minutes - Paulo Coelho* The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho* The Witch of Portobello - Paulo Coelho* A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini* The End of Poverty - Jeffrey Sachs* Poor Story - Giles Bolton* Collapse - Jared Diamond* Guns, Germs & Steel - Jared Diamond* Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert* The New Great Game: Blood and Oil in Central Asia - Lutz Kleveman* Murder in Samarkand - Craig Murray* Affluenza - Clive Hamilton* Banker to the Poor - Muhammed Yunus* Three Cups of Deceit - Jon Krakauer * The Wisdom of Whores - Elizabeth Pisani * The Slap - Christos Tsiolkas* Single White Female in Hanoi - Caroline Shine* Nothing to Envy - Barbara Demick

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

* Slept next to a flaming gas crater in the desert in Turkmenistan.
* Lived in a Tibetan village for a whole winter - freezing!
* I could probably list a few more cool things, but actually I have to say that the most amazing thing I've ever done is to have found and kept a group of amazing, supportive friends from places I've worked and studied. Despite the fact that I travel a lot for work and don't see most of these people nearly as much as I would like, these friendships have sustained for 5 - 10 or more years. For me, that's more important than most other things in life.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach:
I was an English language teacher for refugees in a former life, so am always happy to help people improve their English level. And, can teach you some Chinese too!

Friends tell me that I'm great at editing people's CV and helping with writing selection criteria for jobs! Not the most fun skill, but it does come in handy.

Recently, I've been giving lessons in motor scooter riding in Bali. So far, none of my students have had accidents!

If you want to learn how to reduce the impacts of natural disasters or how to become an aid worker, I can probably give you a spiel on that too!

Learn:
I'm always looking for Chinese, German and Indonesian speakers who are willing to help me improve my command of their languages. And, now that I'm in Vientiane, add Lao to that list!

I love learning from and debating with other people interested in international development, and sharing funny stories about it at the same time.

Growing up, I wanted to become an artist, but gave it up for more academic pursuits. But, recently I've tried to learn more creative skills, so if you can draw, paint, sketch or take great photographs, I'd love it if you could share some of your wisdom with me!

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, Djibouti, Egypt, England, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malta, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, North Korea, Oman, Palau, Palestine, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Serbia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Azerbaijan, China, Ethiopia, Germany, Laos, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

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