During our team meeting today it dawned on us that it was all well and good to do an exposition on couchsurfing and the like, but how could we really do it honestly and properly if none of us had ever actually tried it?
So with that I have courageously volunteered my services for the cause, to help us get a better understanding of the couchsurfing phenomenon! Now, my first preference was Hawaii - Jetstar even has a sale on right now. But, following a bit of research I discovered that we don't actually have a "budget" for this little production, and being the poor struggling university students we are I have downgraded my ambition to Melbourne. Considering I am probably the only Sydney University Arts student that hasn't been to Melbourne and realised that the culture is like, soooooooooo amazing down there, it will for all intents and purposes be a foreign experience.
STEP ONE!
Join the couchsurfing community - CHECK!
STEP TWO!
Edit my profile so that someone might actually want to host me - CHECK... errr, wait hang on
STEP THREE!
Find a willing compatriot in Melbourne ready to host yours truly and (hopefully) talk about their CS experiences - WORKING ON IT!
From this experience, I am hoping to develop a feature on a) what makes a good online 'couchsurfing profile' that would make someone want to host you, as well as b) the experience itself! Does online translate into real life? Can something meaningful really come of nothing?
If nothing else, hopefully i'll get a few free nights accommodation in Melbourne...
Good luck Alex - you might also want to check out these couchsurfing tales:
ReplyDeleteEtiquette
http://www.onthigo.com/art_of_couchsurfing_etiquette/
Is Couchsurfing safe?
http://www.twortw.com/2009/07/22/is-couchsurfing-safe/
Couchsurfing mismanaged by bad people http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1840044
Safe for women?
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/is-couchsurfingorg-safe-for-women
Dating caveats
http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/clark/foreignexchange?page=2
There's a nifty YouTube video about someone doing almost exactly what we're talking about. Embedding is disabled but the address is
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYs9QfiUzlM&feature=player_embedded
I think ours should be a bit more tongue in cheek though, this one is pretty boring.