Johnny (Harold John)

Travel information

I am currently

Description

Two different wise sages said: "To story is to be human...To listen 👂 is to love." And Einstein said: "A person who lacks wonder or appreciation of mystery is as good as dead, for he has lost the eyes with which to see." — Having lived in Asia 8 years (teaching in China 4 yrs, studying in Malaysia, volunteering in Bangladesh, ashram-ing in India) and Latin America 6 months, I grew up on la frontera/border 20 km from Mexico. I'm a farmboy (LOTS of weeding and feeding the 🐖s) and am an "old soul" kindred spirit, an easygoing lover of beauty, simplicity, justice, wonder, differences, stillness, the "ordinary", connection, compassion and lifelong learning--being challenged to grow out of my comfort zone and find the beauty of life and its glorious parodoxes. I have volunteered eight, one-month times with the L'Arche Community (for those with severe intellectual disabilities) in Mymennsingh Bangladesh and more than a dozen times with monastic (or retreat) guest/volunteer work programs: organic mushroom farming, painting (a whole monastery basement); library cataloguing, data entry and organization; gardening, dishwashing, cleaning, lathing, weeding, kennel puppy rearing, harvesting, planting a very long hedge. I have also volunteered at the off the grid, no plumbing White Rose CW Farm La Plata, Missouri and two months at the El Paso Annunciation House of hospitality for immigrant asylum applicants. By vocation, I taught and also served various immigrant and ethnic minority communities as a Detroit Michigan community organizer and fellow learner around cultural literacy, racial justice, and spiritual formation. I have been a refugee resettlement assistant, an international student specialist, an IVCF campus chaplain as well as a Youth Conservation Corp member at the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge and a volunteer caregiver (being present to) those in an AIDS hospital wing (Sg Buloh, KL, Malaysia). Learned my bahasa Melayu y Indonesia languages initially via a three month village homestay where I later directed 7 IVCF summer cultural immersion homestays where American university students taught English in the one village school. I also studied Malay in Kuala Lumpur for two years but the 3 mes/month village homestay was most essential. My putonghua Mandarin Chinese was 1000 words when I finished teaching English my fourth year in China in 1999. "Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly." Malachi. "People were created to be loved. Things were created to be used. The reason why the world is in chaos is because things are being loved and people are being used."
Dalai Lama XIV

Interests

Music

Books

Vegetarian or vegan

Sustainability

Politics / Social justice

Movies & TV

Culture

Charity work

Writing

Languages

Gardening

History

Animals

Nature

Hiking

Languages

Languages spoken
Spanish: Intermediate
Indonesian: Intermediate
Malay: Intermediate
Chinese (Mandarin): Beginner

More details about my language interests
I've taught English for almost twenty years mostly to non native speakers including four years in China where I learned 1000 words in putonghua, zongwen, Mandarin hanyu

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Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

DIY and building projects

General Maintenance

Creating/ Cooking family meals

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Some knowledge of:  

Gardening

Being an elderly companion

Life at a Farmstay

Eco Projects

Helping around the house

Animal Care

Hospitality/Tourism

House sitting

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Able to teach about:  

Charity Work

Languages

Teaching

More details about your skills

teaching, mentoring, tutoring, listening, empathy, counseling, organizing, raising animals, gardening, (raised on a farm), weeding, cleaning, painting walls, spiritual formation, guitar

Age

64

What else ...

🎾, ping pong, racquetball, reading, forest bathing, hiking, tennis, other cultures

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies
  sulfa drugs in medications

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  Special dietary requirements
  vegetarian and humanely raised animal products (dairy, eggs)