Today's chuckle - a couch-surfer's story
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (323706)
Rockingham, Australia
November 30, 2017 5:32pm CST
We belong to an international organisation called couch-surfers which allows you to host people from around the world and also gives you the opportunity to request accommodation, or just a friendly contact, from other members when you are travelling. It is designed to allow cheaper travelling and is especially popular with younger people who don’t mind sleeping a night or two on the floor or couch perhaps.
Some of our couch-surfers have remained friends and we visited several when we were overseas. They often have funny stories to tell and have provided us with some fine entertainment.
One young German lad had a job in our town Donnybrook in Western Australia. He had a job which required him to live onsite in the hotel there but he would come out on weekends occasionally. His name was Christian. We visited and stayed with Christian in 2015. He is married to a Russian girl he met while travelling and they now have a little boy. The story of the relationship would take too long to divulge here so I’ll save it for later.
He told us that while travelling in Indonesia he was invited by a local person to a family celebration. There was an old lady sitting off to the side at the party and Christian approached and said ‘Hello, I’m Christian’. The old dear looked him up and down without smiling and eventually said ‘I’m Muslim’.
The photo is of some wall art in Christian's home town.
31 people like this
26 responses
@cahaya1983 (11121)
• Malaysia
1 Dec 17
Haha that is so funny! That's why traveling abroad can be very interesting.
6 people like this
@toniganzon (72317)
• Philippines
1 Dec 17
religion seems to be a very big issue there!
4 people like this
@Fleura (28941)
• United Kingdom
1 Dec 17
@JudyEv @toniganzon I don't think it was a big issue necessarily, the lady was probably surprised that a stranger came up to her and instead of introducing himself, apparently stated his religion. I mean if you were not familiar with the use of 'Christian' as a name, you would be surprised - imagine if someone introduced themselves by saying, for example 'Hello, I'm Sikh'.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29232)
• Eugene, Oregon
30 Nov 17
Very funny and he would have to explain.
5 people like this
@JamesHxstatic (29232)
• Eugene, Oregon
1 Dec 17
@JudyEv Not at all. It would stop you for a moment.
3 people like this
@FayeHazel (40250)
• United States
1 Dec 17
That wall art is great.
I think it's a wonderful idea , cheaper for the traveler and nice for you as well.
Do they screen people so that no harm comes to the hosts?
4 people like this
@FayeHazel (40250)
• United States
1 Dec 17
@JudyEv Ah good to know there are some safe guards in place
2 people like this
@MarymargII (12422)
• Toronto, Ontario
1 Dec 17
Ha ha! She must have thought- why is telling me this first thing--good poker face from her-hahaha!
2 people like this
@JudyEv (323706)
• Rockingham, Australia
7 Dec 17
@MarymargII She probably thought it was very confrontational.
@MarymargII (12422)
• Toronto, Ontario
7 Dec 17
@JudyEv Probably thought: Who starts off a conversation like this? haha!
1 person likes this
@ilocosboy (45161)
• Philippines
1 Dec 17
He he, that was an honest response.
That must be good, I mean being a member of couch surfers. When we're doing outreach orogram, we can sleep on anything at night.
4 people like this
@snowy22315 (168439)
• United States
1 Dec 17
Quite a picture..Couch surfers sounds a lot like Air B N B.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (323706)
• Rockingham, Australia
1 Dec 17
Except that you don't pay for your bed. It's especially good for younger people. It's almost like having instant friends.
@1hopefulman (45125)
• Canada
1 Dec 17
That is an interesting organization. I have never heard of it.
2 people like this
@Marilynda1225 (79232)
• United States
1 Dec 17
that's a very funny story and I had to laugh.
Being part of a couch-surfer group sounds really interesting
2 people like this
@JudyEv (323706)
• Rockingham, Australia
2 Dec 17
We thought it was very funny. We've met some lovely people through couch-surfing including an American couple in their 50s who rode their bikes right across Australia from Sydney. The Nullarbor Plain is quite inhospitable especially on bikes!
@Fleura (28941)
• United Kingdom
1 Dec 17
Yes I can imagine that. After all it is quite a strange name when you think about it, and you never come across people called 'Muslim' or 'Hindu' as far as I know!
I used to work with someone whose surname was Christian. She was always having to explain it and got into the habit of saying 'Christian - like the religion' so one day she got a letter addressed to 'Dr Religion'
2 people like this
@JudyEv (323706)
• Rockingham, Australia
1 Dec 17
Well, maybe but it's not supposed to be a permanent thing. Usually it's just for a few nights at the most but depending on the host and guest it can be for longer.