Couchsurfing 2008

The Couchsurfing (adventure) goes on and 2008 started in a great way. And to start this year's stats, let's see the first participants:

• Yong (Korea)
• Gil, Luis, Daniela & Tiago (Portugal)
• Elsa & Jan (Colombia & Germany)
• Jessica & Mayo (US/Colombia)
• Amy (London,US)
• Claire (Switzerland/Canada)
• Natalia & Anca (Berlin/Romania)
• Nick (US)
• Nina, Steph & Kate (USA)
• Pascal (France)
• Chris (USA)
• Kimberly & Monika (USA)
• Anna (Poland)
• Pavel & Daniel (Czech Republic/Russia)
• Irina (Ukraine)
• Rossella (Italy)
• Panos (Greece)
• Penny (Australia)
• Joanie & Liane (Quebec)
• Tim (USA)
• Carrie & Amy (USA/France)
  
• Agnieszka (Poland/Germany)
  
• Pierre & Pascal (Quebec)
  
• Franchesa & Bradley (USA)
• Sandra (England)
• Leover & Bernadette (Australia)
• Skye (Australia)
• Lani & Tricia (USA)
• Patricia (Portugal)
• Karie & Mateo (USA)
  
• Halley (USA)
• Danielle & Race (USA)
• Jeanne (USA)
• Emily (USA)
• Valera (Russia/USA)
  
• Patrice (Quebec)
• Karla (Canada, not CS yet)
• Emilie & Sasha (France/Canada)
• Valerie (Quebec)
  

UPDATE - 02 Jun 2008: between Feb.26 and May 31, 51 (fifty one, yes) people surfed my couches/floor.

Funny how I get less CS requests than I would expect - as a CS ambassador, I come up pretty high (first...) on the Munich search results list. I can only attribute this fact to the way my profile is setup, after I changed it since my return from Aus. It shows pretty clearly about how I do or want to do things around here (am I germanizing myself too much or was I just myself? Where's my shrink when I need someone to answer that doubt in my mind?). Actually, it should only attract people interested in what they can read and that apply an effort in making a request I will value. I have to clarify, I don't take requests in the kind of: "Hello, I'm John and need a couch from the 22nd to the 23rd. Are you available?", I am a strong believer of the bilateral effort, show me some and I will show some too, which is for me MORE than fair.

2008 has been filled with quite some good times, the continuation of a give & take experience where some of them become friends, people I would really want to see more often. If only I could decide (in a god kind of way) who would just move to my neighborhood and allow us to meet more often - Norb Almighty, in theaters, soon!

My admiration for artists never ceases, I just love to have them around. They have a glow that just inspires me to get back to my pencils, pens and markers. That is in fact one of the best thing I can be given, the motivation or push to get back to my modest-wannabe-artist side and create stuff. Well, the drawings I started with, were sketches of Batman. What can I say? I love comics and the Dark Knight's, my personal favorite, image was floating in my head at that moment.

Sidenote: only now did I notice that in Nolan's next cinema take on Batman "The Dark Knight", The Joker is played by Heath Ledger, seemingly even more demented and scary than Jack Nicholson's in 1989.

Besides the brilliant colombian cooking, the crazy drinking games, a couple of city tours, the ride to Neuschwanstein, one of the moments I most appreciated was to attend an exhibit at a gallery. We were looking for a piece of Jeff Cowel's work, the one Natalia was portrayed on (she's not in the link's gallery). Art, for me, works when the image stays in my head and that particular piece hasn't vanished since the moment I laid my eyes on it. Unfortunately I don't have 25.000EUR to spend on and keep that piece of work.

Couchsurfing, more people to come (and go) but some do stay in a special way.