Before I get started I should probably explain that I have been pacing myself with this blog. I write notes about my experiences often but only blog around once a week as I don’t want to bombard people with it, I would prefer people to read it periodically. I guess I treat it a little like an e-mailout… I’m sure most people have experienced this, you sign up for updates from a website that you find interesting only to find out that they send you an email whenever something remotely uninteresting has happened and you soon find yourself hitting the `unsubscribe’ link. What this means is that I am posting about something that happened weeks ago, using the aid of my notes, but my writing would lead you to believe that it has only just happened.

This morning (actually three or so weeks ago) I left the Hostel to spend the weekend with a new friend from the website – couchsurfing.com. Couchsurfing is a not for profit website that connects travellers with people who might have a couch (or a spare room) available on their travels. You set up a profile that lists your interests/philosophies/special skills etc. A traveller makes a search that you can base on age/sex/location etc. and can then make requests to those who the search returns.

Couchsurfing is more than just a free place to stay, it is supposed to be about bringing people together from different places and cultures to share experiences and perhaps special skills such as cooking a mean lasagne. It is advised that you look at the profiles of people before contacting them with the idea being that you don’t contact anyone who you wouldn’t be interested in meeting under normal circumstances. Naturally I steered clear of any West Coast Eagles supporters living in the Vancouver area.
I sent off a couple of requests for people in the area and had a couple of people respond with open arms. After a couple of emails, a lovely woman named Lisa gave me directions to her place. She was going to be at work when I arrived so she left instructions on locating the spare key. So it is quite strange that I am writing part of this blog (or at least notes) while sitting at a kitchen bench in a house of someone who I haven’t met. I actually feel that it is terrific that this sort of trust exists in humans.

Lisa was a terrific host. We went out for Afghan food on Friday night and she paid the bill while I was in the washroom. She insisted on paying as I had offered to cook for Saturday night. Both nights we stayed up late drinking a couple of local brews and getting to know one another.

Based on my first couch surfing experience, I would highly recommend it to anyone whether it be hosting or surfing. I have no idea when my next pay cheque will arrive, and as such am doing my best to minimise my expenditure. I have a couple more couchsurfing appointments lined up for the next week so I am bouncing between the hostel and various places around Vancouver. This will also give me a chance to see some of the city and get a handle on the public transport system. Perhaps I will be able to give you a more accurate appraisal of couch surfing once I have had a couple more experiences. Meeting people and sharing stories and general cultural exchange is fantastic, not to mention the fact that I am saving about $30AUD each night I spend away from the hostel, but I am looking forward to finding an apartment so that I don’t have to continually pack and unpack my bags which are bursting at the seams.

There are many apartments out there at the moment but I am hesitant to move into an apartment downtown as it would be counterproductive should I secure work outside the city.

In my next blog I will mention some more about my experiences couchsurfing and perhaps some thought about the city or my frustrations with job hunting.

I usually try and end a blog with a cold-close to wrap things up but I have failed on this occasion. Instead I am going to leave you with a joke, actually it was a classified advertisement that I saw:

Tired Of Working For Only $9.75 Per Hour?
We Offer Profit Sharing And Flexible Hours.
Starting Pay: $7 – $9 Per Hour

Until next time, fish-heads and lightbulbs to you all