Moved to Oahu (from Boston) to pursue a graduate degree at UH Manoa and eleven years later I'm still loving it. Spent multiple years serving the homeless and mentally ill in a variety of capacities . Still doing my best to serve humanity and in recent years I've been providing crisis counseling at a hospital emergency room while maintaining a private practice for psychotherapy. A previous long-term resident of Japan, this has left me with functional fluency in Japanese and a keen interest in cultural exchange.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Traveling solo and more interested in meeting people in the places I'm visiting than hitting all the tourist spots and staying at bland hotels. I heard about couchsurfing from a friend and loved the concept. Once I'm back in Hawaii I'd be happy to host.

Interests

• learning new languages
• hikiing

Music, Movies, and Books

Life of Pi
The Brothers Karamazov
Norwegian Wood
IQ84
The Geography of Bliss
The Wisdom of Insecurity
A Song of Ice and Fire ( i.e. Game of Thrones series)
American Beauty
Pulp Fiction
Groundhog Day
Twilight Samurai
Rashomon
The Seven Samurai
Ikiru

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've completed several grueling Sesshin at Zen centers in Japan. This is another way of saying that I've spent countless hours pondering non-sensical Koan while being beaten mercilessly on my left shoulder with a hard, wooden kyosaku. In the end the toughest and most rewarding thing I've ever done..

What I Can Share with Hosts

My passion for Hawaii, cultural-exchange, psychology, and spirituality, and at some point, my couch in Honolulu..

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Mexico, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, United States