CURRENT MISSION

Enjoying my blessings – family, friends, work, garden and home – and sharing what I can of this abundance to help others, especially those less fortunate.

ABOUT ME

I live in the same suburb where I grew up, in a house that was my grandparents’!! I like a quiet life, but not necessarily a boring or routine one. I enjoy staying home pottering about. But when the wanderlust strikes and I travel I LOVE the chance to connect with the locals living their everyday lives in other places. This means more to me than beautiful vistas, and even than exotic food or moving artworks…

I’m fascinated by the range of different cultural ideas, attitudes and values that can make us seem SO far apart, sitting alongside those that make us all seem SO similar!
I have a wonderful, kind, thoughtful, strong 26year old son who builds houses.
My 5yo is a lively, fun-loving girl with strong ideas and a great sense of humour. She has broad interests – nurturing dolls and animals, dancing and singing, how and why the sky is blue and the cows go moo.
She is very proud of new skills such as being able to wink and click her fingers. One of her current missions is to do the splits. As an only child May often feels lonely.
I don't have a TV and I'm not that good with computers. My hearing is impaired so even though I love to be with others and swap ideas and stories I tire easily in long conversation or noisy environments.
My partner is a quiet, gentle steady man who keeps the house toasty warm with a fantastic wood heater he devised. He loves science and knows all about everything. He has a tractor and a truck and a car that goes and one that doesn't. And an aluminium dinghy.

PHILOSOPHY

The best things in life are free so I strive to make the most of them. But its hard to enjoy them if you or your children are hungry, sick or traumatised. Or even if your neighbours are. I try to remember that we are all neighbours on this planet and to be considerate of that. I also want to live joyfully. I try not to waste resources or be greedy but at the same time I try to fit in comfortably with my closest communities - my family and my home town.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We have done lots of hosting and staying informally throughout our lives. Am now keen to use this site.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I grew up in a family of 7 kids and we often had exchange students, billets, boarders or visitors from far-away stay with us. I think it helped us have open minds and the confidence to find and choose our own way in life. When I’m travelling I find my heart is usually very open to people.
So I love to welcome people into our home for my childrens’ sake as well as my delight.

Interests

I have broad interests but I usually like to ‘dabble’ in and have a gentle go rather than hearing loads of detailed talk about stuff.
I love it when people get out their paints or songs or dances or stories or garden tools or needle and thread or even vacuum cleaners and show me how to join in as a beginner…
I like walking especially in natural places like beach or bush, singing, dancing, swimming, watching kids play, messing about with paints, sewing, food, gardens, picking up shells and gum nuts, hearing stories.

I work as an early childhood teacher with a special interest in early reading and writing. My favourite place to work is in schools in less fortunate areas of town. I’ve also worked in photo processing, retail and aged care.

• animals
• writing
• singing
• dancing
• environment
• dining
• walking
• gardening
• reading
• tv
• traveling
• billiards
• hiking
• swimming
• teaching
• science
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

As a young person I studied music and played in a youth orchestra. I sang folk songs to my guitar. I used to say I loved all kinds of music except grand opera and country and western. I’ve since sung in choirs – gospel, Bulgarian, jazz, African, - and enjoyed festivals of all sorts- folk, classical, world music, jazz. I still love all kinds but now I also love listening to the volunteer announcers playing super-corny country music on a local radio station. I have it on in my car. Simple universal ideas, funny expressions, catchy tunes you can sing along to even on first hearing. I also LOVE hearing people singing around to themselves or their family or friends for fun. The more out of tune, the better. It shows they’re doing it for their own delight rather than to impress others. Even though I wasn’t born back then, I’m nostalgic for the days when people used to sing together around the piano instead of watching tv. I often get tears in my eyes listening to young children singing together in school choirs. Actually at home I often prefer a quiet environment to music. Sometimes in shops where they play really loud non-background music I ask them to turn it down til I’ve finished my looking around. Most of the songs you’d hear at our place are my 5year old making them up… or even me…
I'm hard to disappoint with movies - its always a treat to go off into another world - but I usually prefer the arthouse cinema. I love having the time to snuggle up with any old good book.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

This might sound a bit silly but I can’t go past my daughter’s birth!! Where I live everyone is expected to go to a hospital to give birth, even if there’s nothing going wrong. You don’t know the midwives who will attend you and medical intervention is common. So we had our little girl at home with a midwife we’d got to know. 5 years later I still find it the most exciting thing I’ve ever done – I describe it as like riding a bronco in a rodeo and winning first prize – not that I’d ever do that. Because I really DID it – unlike with my son’s birth in a strange hospital environment with strangers helping and childbirth happening TO me…
Another super-exciting memory is catching my one and only real, over-my-depth-with-flippers wave on a boogie board, my son and his friend in the water nearby, watching the wave for me, yelling “GO! GO Mum! Paddle! NOW!!!” And I did.
Ok here is a travel one: Whilst hiking in the Himalaya watching a Tibetan mother prepare a meal fit for us guests. She carefully made one precious egg share around about 5.
And another – An ancient water temple and a cool soothing night swim in a huge, deep pool built of mossy stone. With the full moon reflecting. And walking home through the rice paddies with fireflies dancing about our legs.

Teach, Learn, Share

Hmmmm... maybe young children and behaviour stuff? Some of the issues around parenting...

I can teach young children to read and write if they're ready. Maybe adults too, I've never tried that. But not teenagers, sorry.