Clementine... longet post yet

“Nice day” the girl says as she wades knee deep through the riverbed
“Yes, its beautiful. I’ve been thinking about jumping off that … how do you say… bridge? Platform? Over there, the thing for boats. Have you ever jumped off of it?” The guy on the bike points in the direction of the dock.
“No I haven’t, but you should!!! I think about it every day, but I am not sure if its deep enough.”
“Will you jump if I do?”
“hmm… maybe. But you go first and then I’ll decide” she sarcastically replies
“Okay”
“What’s your name? I am Colleen”
“Oh I am Clemens. Nice to meet you. Be right back”
“Okay good luck. I’ll watch from here”
So Clemens climbs off of his bike and places it down, off the path and against the tussock grass clumps. I wade deeper out into the river so I have a better view of the platform. We exchanged thumbs up before he jumps. He dives, head first and without hesitation into the deepest part of the river, and reemerges much further down the river with the current a with a smile across his face and lets out a howl about how cold the water is. I didn’t jump, but this was how I met Clemens… the unofficial couch surfer from Frankfurt, Germany who I proceeded to hang out with for the next 36 hours.
We both had bikes nearby and decided to go for a ride from my small town of Albert to the larger town of Wanaka for a quick drink- after all it was Friday and neither of us had ever gone out in Wanaka. I made a comment about how I thought it was cool he was hitchhiking and couch surfing through New Zealand, how that had to be more authentic and exciting than the ways I have previously traveled. Upon hearing this he quickly invited me to join him and thumb our way to Fiordland. I might have had some inclining to go with him if I was backpacking through New Zealand, but I am not, I am living here and saving money so I can travel to Australia, besides John and I had just been there two short weeks ago, so I politely declined. However I enjoyed his company and had a nice evening chatting and eating cheap Indian food with him on the shores of Lake Wanaka.
His bike lock fell off of the bicycle earlier that day and so he decided he would bike back to Albert Town in the morning to look for it. I told him to stop by my house for coffee, maybe breakfast if I had anything to eat. Clemens showed up with bread, avocados and hummus. I had eggs, which we poached. He was really excited about poaching eggs- he had never poached an egg before. Breakfast turned into hiking and somewhere along the lines he asked me if he could couchsurf on my couch, and since I have a spare loft I hesitantly replied… “Um, okay… but I have a lot to do this weekend, and I don’t want to feel responsible for entertaining you.” Which was really my way of saying, “I am not too comfortable with the thought of a stranger staying at my house, in a town where I don’t know a single person and have no flatmates”… but I couldn’t bring myself to say what I sort of felt deep down inside. And so deep down inside my uncomfortable feelings turned into a nervous twitch in my eye, which didn’t stop until after our hike to Rob Roy Glacier. Finally, on the drive back when he put on some German funk music I came to the conclusion that this person really was a kind, traveler who really was backpacking through New Zealand and whose stories about hitchhiking and couchsurfing with other people along the way really were true. I relaxed and my eye stopped twitching. I decided to tell him what a relief I felt, when I realized he wasn’t a terrible person who was lying or dangerous. He laughed and said he felt a little guilty (which was unnecessary) but he didn’t know I was uncomfortable with the situation. And I told him I wasn’t anymore, which was a relief.
Clemens is a lovely person, who in many ways is a lot like myself- taking some time to learn about himself, not sure of what he wants to do, has many ideas for jobs but not sure he is good enough at any of them to really make it. I enjoyed our conversations about life, sociology and traveling. That night we went out to the local pub, listened to 3 punk bands, moshed a bit then went back to my house where he passed out on my miniature pink couch and I made a late-night snack for Alibi and myself.
Sometimes being a woman is a disadvantage when it comes to safety and privacy- some terrible things can happen when someone is kind, friendly and opens their doors to strangers- but its bit of a relief to know there are people in the world who are polite, respectful and just looking for just a couch to crash on.
I had previously thought that I might host couchsurfers at my home in Wanaka, but I don’t think I’ll make a habit out of it. I’ve hosted in the past in Portland and Eugene, but have never gone through so many mental conundrums as I did upon meeting Clemens. Regardless, I am glad I met Clemens and was happy to have hosted him and hopefully look forward to a trip to Frankfurt, Germany someday so he can make me some lasagna and marshmallow pie (a German thing?... I was kind of confused about the dessert but it sounds good)!

This is a photo of Clemens poaching his first egg.

A little about Clemens and his philosophy about his life…
“Ich mache mir die welt wied-di wie sie mir gefaeit!”
-its important for people to create their own life and seek what they are looking for.
- be proactive
- Clemens is a self-described sociologist and journalist who enjoys talking about cultural differences, politics, and making small talk with the people he meets while traveling. Example of a “small talk” question from Clemens, “Is there Nutella in the US?”