Molote, Anthony and Vitalii

The year 2009 is about to say good bye.....A melancholic feeling comes up, preparing cookies and presents for Christmas, the tension we know all too well when we open up the next door on our Advent Calender.

My last surfers have been such good guests and I felt they were rather like friends or relatives than ordinary couchsurfers.

Vitalii
My mum just went home and I decided to host the next surfer. Vitalii from Canada with Russian roots was a new member but his profile was so impressive that I decided to host him on a fairly short term. He was interested in sports and martial arts like me, so it would be interesting to meet him. His messages sounded nice and warm and he definitely had read my profile in detail. A knock on the door and I saw a smiling, exuberant and warmhearted young man. He brought me my favourite Lindt chocolates...yummy....

Vitalii was different from most couchsurfers who came to Mainz. He didn't come for a short transit just inbetween 2 flights but to spend time in this area and meet the local people. We had a great and funny time Vitalii, chasing through Mainz and driving through the German wine country to Straßbourg France. I miss you and hope to see you one day whereever in the world....Toronto?

Anthony
Mainz is an unknown destination for international travelers and when they decide to stay, it is usually because they are on a stopover. Anthony Schmitt from the U.S. was not less interesting. I was the first Couchsurfing host that he found through Couchsearch. He had some hosting and surfing experience with other volunteers who were also on Couchsurfing. I have always been very intrigued by Peace Corps Volunteers, especially when they live in a rural area in Africa or Asia. What an interesting life, it reminded me of my time in Tanzania. He needed to travel a long way from rural Morocco to the next airport Fes and arrived shortly after midnight.

A nice and gentle guy who looked a bit older than his 25 years. We had a glass of wine, exchanged some information and went to bed. The next day we went on a long hike in the Rhine Valley, explored castles and made some photos. The day was nice and still long, so we went to Bacharach to look at the ancient half-timbered houses before we left for Mainz to have onion tart and new wine.

It was a strenuous day and I locked out his passport and the housedoor key in my trunk. Anthony remained calm and helped me a lot not to lose my nerves. Angela lived near my parking and fortunately she was at home and lent me her key. I could go home, fetch the spare keys and problem solved. Anthony was helpful and mature, had a lot to share about his life in Morocco and passion for travelling, he even offered a lot of assistance in the household. After he left I found a postcard from the place where he lived....Thank you Anthony, I will try to visit you.

In memoriam Molote Massilo
Probably my last guest this year was Molote from Johannesburg, South Africa. He was an outstanding and unique guest, a linguistic acrobat with versatile interests. Once you get used to constant business calls and mails, having him as a guest is highly recommendable. As I wasn't well because I was stressed out with work and the change of the weather didn't do any good to me, he proved to be an excellent companion. I was kind of fatigued and suffered a headache. Molote cooked a wonderful Spaghetti Bolognaise, did the dishes and we had interesting conversations about CS, South Africa and differences between cultures within and out of South Africa.

We got to know each other quite well given the very short space of time. Molote came back for the second time to stay with me and I nearly forgot him. Otherwise I would have organised something like a party with other CSers or friends. Nevertheless, the conversations with Molote were really eye-opening. Where should we start? Lifestyle, outlook on the world, international politics, economy, people inside and outside CS, the new South Africa after Apartheid, women, men........

Like with most of my surfers, we cooked together a lot because he was a homey person exactly like me. This time we had roast duck with potato dumplings(Knödel) and red cabbage or Rotkraut because Molote initially wanted to try out Sauerkraut. Like most South Africans Molote prefers a rich breakfast like steak but we agreed on a rich German breakfast with fresh rolls, cold meat balls and fresh bacon.

After that we went out to see Mainz, had a second good breakfast before heading to see Frankfurt and enjoy a sumptuous Mongolian Buffet. This Mongolian buffet at Shangrila actually deserved an article on its own. Thomas Hervouet from France, my surfer who came earlier this year, also had the pleasure to enjoy this marvelous restaurant. Name it, they have Chinese dumplings, duck, curries, vegetables, fruits, sushi etc along with ice cream, cakes and Asian pudding. But the best of all is a large selection of fish, giant green prawns, kangaroo, beef, pork, mutton cooked in front of you with fresh vegetables.

UPDATE May 2011:
This summer(South African winter) in 2011, Molote sadly passed away due to bacterial meningitis. He was attending a CS meet on Saturday, suddenly developed high fevers which the doctors didn't take seriously in the beginning and as it was diagnosed it was too late......He passed away on Thursday.

I have shut down my couch due to health and work reasons before hitting the road again
Unfortunately I have caught a horrible cold bug and had pseudo-asthma attacks for 2 weeks. Bad enough to irritate but not threatening enough to fear for my life. Sylwia from Warsaw would have been the next guest but I was so sick that I couldn't host her and needed to cancel on a short term. She was already the second guest this year that I needed to cancel due to unforeseen health challenges. Those things happen and it again reminded me that we always need a back-up host or hostel

Farm area will be lost forever

For those people who are not aware of the previous history, please read this articleThe Mainz court has decided in favour of the stadium without even going through the many environmental and financial issues. We will now check with the lawyer how much chance we have to appeal for a higher court in Koblenz. Once they have started with the actual construction, we will have the opportunity to launch a complaint again? But how many chances do we have? So be prepared to say good bye to the beautiful land.

Abuse against nature

This is the beautiful farming area straight behind my house, one of the most fertile farming areas in Germany. My couchsurfers get the chance to take an early morning walk stealing good strawberries. Don't tell anybody because it's a secret. This area is going to be flattened out(!!)) to make way for an ugly football stadium. The view of the mountains will be gone and so will be the healthy crop. Not to talk about drunken soccer fans tramping through the remaining crop.

Penang food

My trip first trip to Penang to temples, eating tours and plantations.












Penang Bridge

More food

Melinjo, A Malay Indonesian bitter vegetable

Malay food

Rojak, an Indonesian Malaysian salad with various sauces among others cincalo. Cincalo is a sauce made of nearly rotten little shrimps. Cincalo is also a somewhat ambiguous word for a Malaysian European Eurasian. My Malaysian friends joke and called me"cincalok". The Indonesian word for cincalok is terasi, the same word for Eurasians. Cincalok supposed to be the favourite food of the Eurasians i suppose;-))))




Mamak stall on the Malaysian Thai border to Hat Yai

Couchsurfing hosts

These hosts are not looking for references and vouches. Zita, Oliver's dog from New Caledonia and Kangaroo I took a picture of at one of Kakadu's carparks. Zita will only vouch for you if she smells you and finds you vouch-worthy:-))))). If you feed Kangaroo maybe she will vouch easier than Zita?

Meet people or save money?

It is quite annoying when you have the impression that people are only interested in free accommodation without any respect for the host. As a matter of fact there is quite a fine line between CouchSurfing and free accommodation. A person can be a wonderful guest and friend at one place which explains many not other than glowing references and multiple vouches.

However, the same person could be tired, out of cash or in whatever state of mood when arriving at another host's place. When somebody desperately needs a place to sleep for the night, they would stay with anybody who offers a place. Worst case scenario: A freeloader not interested in you, eating your food without asking, leaving a dirty lump of washing and souvenirs like bed bugs or even swine flu.

Nearly every surfer prefers a host that fits but they would definitely keep options open and "reserve" a second choice host. The problem would occur when this second option host is YOU. As a host, we may examine the request, profile and your own possibilities very well before accepting the person. This is also the reason, why I am not keen on last-minute requests. Email contact is a good way to find out more about the personal connection.

Is a member required to host before surfing?
Well, I would not feel very comfortable to host someone who does not intend to host me back. So if their profile doesn't contain any couch information I tend to be reluctant. Some members organise a lot of meetings and potlucks, give generously to their hosts. So why not hosting these members? It is not pleasant to see when a member has surfed many couches, receive positive references and then delete their profile or don't log in anymore.

We cannot eliminate this behaviour and as a host, the only thing we can do is to select our guests properly. Since we cannot guarantee that it will click we can do a few things. I look at a profile and the first communicator is the photo. Until now I was never wrong and people whom I met were quite decent characters. It happened only one time that we decided not to continue our friendship although this person was a decent character.

After I realised that a traveller in an internet cafe cannot read a whole profile, I ask them to read the couch information only. I'm not too keen on last minute and 1-night requests because we simply do not have the time to get to know each other. The groups on a profile are important because if somebody is a member in several satanist and sadist clubs, it would be a reason for me not to host them. References and friends are most important but I will start to look at the references and profiles of their references.

Of course everybody would like to save money. If we stay with our parents or best friends we will save a lot of money too. But I wouldn't like to feel like a free B & B nor would I like strangers to save money at my expenses.

Couchsurfing Leadership has given their stance to us on Ambassador Info group. We may not charge for the couch itself but it would be OK to charge for food, phone calls, internet and any costs which may occur to us due to a surfer staying at our place. Such costs may be water, electricity, gas, petrol etc. You can visit my profile and look for the group: Ambassador Info and Q & A for questions.

Couchsurfing in a Thai nunnery

Jeffrey took us to a nunnery near Hat Yai, Thailand. Originally we only came to eat durian and vegetarian food for free. The nunnery was very well-managed and organised. No men are allowed to reside here although there are some men employed by the nuns. WOMEN ARE STRONG BOSSES WITH A KIND HEART!!!

The nuns were all very strong, down-to-earth and technical women. The seniors were assertive but wise, the younger ones a bit more nerve-wracking and tried to boss on me. Of course I was the wrong person for that because I would have appreciated more respect and consideration towards my person. The language barrier was not of much help. The social structure was downward and authoritarian but friendly. Too downward for my taste but my reason to stay there was to immerse.

Nevertheless, I decided to stay there and experience their lifestyle and meditation. They expected someone who stayed there to contribute with whatever, especially in household and gardening. We had to start total fastening and silence starting from noon until 3.am noon. In the evening we had more singing prayers and physical meditation including long walks(similar to Tai Chi walking). Then sleeping time until the gong woke us up for singing prayers. The senior nuns are however aware that a person new to fasting or somebody with medical conditions such as arthritis could not be subjected to the fasting and sitting prayer. So they allowed me to eat a little and gradually adapt to their lifestyle.

I admired their pragmatic attitude of integrating meditation practices into any physical task needed for the nunnery. As a martial artist, I'm very well aware of involving the qi(life force) from meditation into physical activity like sports and martial arts applications. Involving and later infusing the qi into the muscles not only through Tai Chi or Wing Chun forms but through daily activities is very well practiced in this nunnery. I do practice Tai Chi during any kind of activity including computer- and housework.

SEE ALL PHOTOS BELOW




Me going out of the temple after presenting the brick to Buddha

Me entering and kneeling in front of the temple before presenting the brick to Buddha. We can write a special wish on it and it is said that it will come true

Me in temple clothing in front of my private chalet. Joe and Anthony visited me.







Sewing, a contribution to the nunnery



Buddha

Nitmiluk Gorge, Northern Territory, Australia

This is less well-known than the Kakadu National Park. You can hike and ride a boat to see the maximum of this beautiful gorge. I bumped into a bunch or good fun local Australians. Lots of conversations about travels, people, life so we decided to do several boat rides and hikes together. And who said that staying at a hotel doesn't make you to meet people? I met all these wonderful here as well as in pubs and sports clubs until I decided to settle down and live in a nice apartment

Noumea

New Caledonia is one of the most expensive countries along with French Polynesia. It is not the usual backpacker trail despite breath-taking nature and some beautiful sandy beaches. More than the majority are white French decendants but living on Polynesian grounds has changed a lot of their way of life, spontaneity and hospitality. New Caledonia is a multi-cultural and -ethnic society where even a giant cruise ship arriving from Australia will make the people blend in completely. There is nothing of that weird feeling of isolation as a tourist here. If you speak decent French, it will make your life even easier....

My Couchsurfing host locked me out by accident and I thought I would go out dancing salsa for a while. Since I had my sneakers on, I was not permitted into their posh club and was forced to sleep on the beach.  Luckily there was a homeless Melanesian family who offered to protect me. They had a huge campervan and didn't come across as poor as the usual homeless. One policeman offered me a place to sleep in a comfortable room and not in jail, the others commented "La femme n'est pas catholique". This refers to somebody who is not quite right on the mainstream track, France being a predominantly Catholic country. I preferred the beach because I felt safe with the 'homeless' family.

Me and indigenous woman in Noumea, New Caledonia

Nic and Annelies, my hosts in Vienna

Normally I'm not a particular friend of large gatherings because I like to interact on a deeper basis. But the Vienna Calling was so inspiring and meaning: I just felt the endorphines flowing through my body!!!! I met many people with whom I just communicated on the net. Joking, drinking, hiking...name it!!!!! I met the LT or Leadership and Tech Team of Couchsurfing, some crazy guys but yet so down-to-earth.

I thought it was going to be difficult to find a couch in such a city like Vienna especially during this gathering!!! After sending out 4 requests, 3 hosts said yes and the last one who was about to embark on her travelling sent me a nice very personalised message. Nic and Annelies were probably the most caring hosts in my Couchsurfing life and we had so many good experiences!

Nic
Nic's apartment was cosy and perfectly organised with towels artistically arranged in a basket. I needed to be careful in order not to intrude into this harmony. As I arrived after midnight because the flight arrived late, she had already prepared a small table next to my couch. On this she put a bottle of water and a glass, a small bottle of shower gel in the shape of a turtle and the keys hanging around the bottle neck.

She could perfectly empathise with the feelings of a guest who arrived and even provided some cupboard space for my clothes. How grateful I was!! I don't demand space for my things from my hosts but how grateful I was not to live out of the suitcase. NIc had a wicked sense of humour and a lot of stories to tell, entertaining funny stories but a few things were food for thought........Nic was German but her accent as well as mannerism was more British I thought.....

We were supposed to attend a CS Vienna Calling gathering but I looked at the wrong page. As we arrived at the BBQ spot on the Danube Island there was only a CS sign but nobody there. After a long walk through the labyrinth of skateboarding and various ethnic groups of Vienna we realised what happened. Anyway we met a bunch of nice young people and still had a great day out together. An experience of the other kind on CS.

Annelies
The next host was Annelies. She was a sporty middle-aged lady who loved to entertain guests. In the past she had been travelling and she was a good French teacher too. The home-made Apfelstrudel or apple strudel spreaded the kind of scent that you only smell in the kitchen of an Austrian Großmutter or grandmother. She prepared it in front of my eyes and popped it into the oven. It was so delicious that I didn't realise that I nearly ate all of it.

I had my own room which was so big that I could do my morning exercise in it. But it was not necessary because I could go into the garden. She had a cute cat and I liked to play with him. We talked a lot about the Austrian school system and we went to visit her holiday house in the Wienerwald, a beautiful mountainous area about 40 km from Vienna.

Annelies cooked a few more Austrian specialties like Wiener Tafelspitz or gourmet beef soup with apple and bread sauces with horse radish. As an entree she served the typical Austrian with pancakes. She is good with the knife and I wish I could be as fast as she was. Our interests were quite similar and we visited the Heiligenkreuz monastery. We attended a meditative Gregorian chant evening mass. This monastery is a silent monastery and speaking is only allowed at certain times.

The time with these 2 hosts was lovely and I was quite sad as I had to leave Vienna....