Stephen

Travel information

I am currently

Activities i am interested in:

Meeting new and interesting people and experiencing different cultures is my primary interest

Description

Hi,

Stephen here.

I am 64 years old, in good health, calm, very patient, and expect to be available for Workaway Projects from Easter to end-September each year in any destination that is warm (to escape the New Zealand winter).

**** Available for projects in New Zealand January - May 2025 ****

Summary (TLDR): I have had three Workaway experiences; the most recent in Laos teaching English and helping with construction and writing. The other two date from 2022, both of which involved preparatory work in gardens so I have become very good at wrangling wheelbarrows; some 30 cubic metres worth of shovelling, barrowing and tipping. It was a good, hard-working summer.....

That said, I hope that the remainder of what you will read here is of interest.

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I hail from New Zealand and also carry Australian and French citizenship.

English is my mother tongue and I have passable French; I am keen to learn the languages of my hosts.... I have a TEFL qualification and am keen to teach English and Business English as part of my stay.

I am widowed (early 2022) with two young adult children. They love the fact that I am doing Workaway and that is important to me. They appreciate the irony of the role reversal that it is I who have the adventures to recount to them.

My work-life has taken many twists and turns and these stories can be recounted at another time. For the moment, the important things you need to know about me are these....


Practical skills, experience and qualifications:

- I have renovated two houses: small alterations in one; a completely new kitchen, bathroom, toilet and laundry in the other. I did the design and the woodwork: studs and panels. Professionals did all the plumbing and electrical work. This was quite some time ago but I guess it's like riding a bike.....

- More recently I converted a semi-trailer into a mobile home. Again, I did all the design work, calculated material needs and made the purchases and arranged delivery. I had help with the welding but used the grinder, circular saw, drill and rivet gun as needed. I am very good at holding up lengths of steel as they are welded in place...... ;-)

- I have dug gardens and worked in a kiwifruit orchard building framing and lugging old steel framing out for collection. Commercial cleaning, hoeing tobacco, pulling weeds, and general property maintenance, including painting also figure in my experience.

- I have a heavy vehicle license (truck and trailer) with forklift, wheels, tracks and rollers endorsements and a dangerous goods permit. These are quite recent so there is not a great deal of experience in this domain. While they may not be entirely relevant they demonstrate an attention to detail and a willingness to learn new skills.

- Early in my career I served as a Naval Officer and still remember how to navigate, both coastal and open ocean.


Intellectual skills, experience and qualifications:

- I hold a degree in Surveying and an MBA in Strategy and Innovation.

- Much of my professional work involved organisational design and change, requiring careful negotiation between conflicting viewpoints. My focus was on the human side of technical project implementations.

- I have written a book (self-published) on organisational change and maybe one hundred articles on the subject.

- I have Chaired boards of non-profit organisations, saving one from bankruptcy and closing down another. Again, these required significant negotiation skills and lots and lots of patience.


Cultural skills, experience and qualifications:

- I am well-travelled, having lived and worked in eight different countries (Australia, New Zealand, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Sri Lanka, Angola and Fiji) and visited perhaps 35 more. I am happy in my own company, do not need supervision (once tasks have been explained to me) and am a self-starter keen to see a job through to completion and then, well-done.

- Happy to help with your English, conversational or business, spoken and written. I am recently TEFL-qualified and I am very keen to learn other languages.

- I have trained as a Waldorf (Steiner) School teacher and have some experience teaching upper school mathematics

- I have trained as a Bach Practitioner (Bach Flower Remedies) Level 3 and am happy to help using these should you feel the need.

- I played the piano as a child and, at last sitting (some years ago now), could still sight-read.

- I am now the proud owner of both a bass ukulele and an electronic drum kit because.... why not?


I am careful, methodical and a quick learner. "Measure twice, cut once" makes a lot of sense to me as does doing something right the first time....

It pleases me to finish what I have started and craftsmanship, "doing a job well for its own sake" is important to me....

Trust this is enough to start a conversation, I look forward to talking with you and hearing your stories.

Take care,
Stephen

Interests

Gardening

Charity work

Mountain

Fitness

Beach

DIY & crafts

Carpentry

Van life

Drawing & painting

Culture

Books

Cooking & food

Music

Languages

Nature

Writing

Astronomy

Art & design

Architecture

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Intermediate

More details about my language interests
Keen to teach/coach English: conversational to business, both written and spoken.

Find a language buddy

Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

I'm interested in:  

Teaching

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Some knowledge of:  

Art Projects

Charity Work

DIY and building projects

Helping around the house

General Maintenance

Gardening

Hospitality/Tourism

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Able to teach about:  

Languages

Helping with Computers/ Internet

More details about your skills

Practical skills:
- handling small power tools
- big gardening work (digging, cutting, building)
- housework (vacuuming, cleaning)
- basic renovations and building (keen to learn more)
- surface preparation and painting
- driving heavy machinery (limited experience and specific guidance will be needed)

Cultural skills:
- teaching English (TEFL certified)
- teaching / coaching mathematics up to, say, end of high school
- Bach Practitioner (flower remedies)
- water colour painting

Intellectual skills:
- bookkeeping
- intermediate-level computer maintenance and operations
- business plan writing
- grant proposal research and writing

I'm okay with my hands and learn quickly, show me what to do and I'll do it. If I don't understand, I'll ask.

Age

64

Some more information

• 

  Smoker

• 

  Driver's licence

• 

  Allergies
  No

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  Special dietary requirements
  No