CURRENT MISSION

I believe in hospitality, as well as the curative powers of being on the road.

ABOUT ME

She's poor, she's wayfaring, but she's no stranger. Christine Laskowski's soul-wilting vocals and gift for songwriting resonate with the clarity and transcendence of a church bell over a sleepy village. Never static, her melodies and lyrics vacillate from the up-beat bliss of love and marriage, as in "The Wedding Cake Song" to the haunting vulnerability of songs like "Pero tu Corazon" and "Never Get Another Love Song." While "All That Glitters," the first album released in June 2010 by her bluegrass, old-time and country band, The Redbucks, has been greeted with wild success among audiences throughout China, roots music is just one stop on the songstress's journey. A look at her repertoire yields a talent for other genres that matches her passion for travel and connecting with different cultures. "The Good Life," a hip-hop single she co-wrote with Tajik rapper, DJ Shaitan, while she was in Dushanbe in 2007, is a political commentary about the struggle to overcome the devastating effects of the Central Asian country's civil war. The edgy, Latin style of "Sky Dog Eats the Moon," a six-song album released with her Guangzhou band, The Gagaga's, dabbles in everything from syrupy pop ("Delight") to a high-energy ska tune ("Leprosy") about the German philosopher Hegel. Whether its Swahili folk songs or gender-bending country ballads, Christine Laskowski strives to write honest songs as diverse and complex as the world she lives in.

PHILOSOPHY

Support is the truest form of love. When in doubt, smile. You can't go wrong by being hospitable to someone.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'd like to open up my home to people who are visiting Boston, or wherever I'm living, and make them feel safe, welcome and a chance to experience it like a local. Send 'em off with great stories to tell.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've had only glowing experiences as a surfer and am looking forward to returning the favor to couchsurfers coming to Boston.

Interests

Singing/songwriting, playing banjo and learning new instruments. I'm a total bookworm as well as an avid traveller. I love to scuba dive, practice yoga, and enjoys panoramas of cities on terraces while sipping a glass of whiskey or wine with good company.

• dogs
• singing
• wine
• yoga
• traveling
• music
• scuba diving
• languages
• philosophy

Music, Movies, and Books

Favorite books of all time: Another Country by James Baldwin, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, Collected Fictions by Borges, Red Dust by Ma jian, Two Kinds of Time by Graham Peck, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, anything by Murakami, East of Eden by John Steinbeck

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Going on a trek in Rwanda to spend an hour with a family of silverback mountain gorillas. We got so close to them, literally they would scramble right past me, brushing past my leg. The guides would also stop and take us on a gorilla culinary tour, letting us sample the different plants and roots that they ate. Really incredible.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm familiar with quite a few languages and can play some banjo. That's about it, though.

Countries I’ve Visited

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Chad, China, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Morocco, Nigeria, Poland, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Cameroon, China, Kenya, United States

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