Straun

I was born in Toronto, Canada, and my family moved back to England when I was very young. We lived in Sussex, in the south, and I went to school in Brighton and studied philosophy in North london. At school I was in choirs and orchestras (playing trombone) and after college I managed a recording studio in London. My hobbies include playing the piano and guitar. I moved to Sicily, in Italy, several years ago with my family, and have 5 dogs and 5 cats. I love to read and watch movies, and my favourite genre is the psychological thriller. I live in an 800 year old monastery on the north coast and spend much of my time restoring old stone walls. We have a beautiful beach below the house so, between May and September, I go swimming most days. We have many olive trees on our land, and I am learning to care for them in the traditional Sicilian way. Sicily is extremely mountainous, so tending to olive trees gives me lots of exercise and fresh air. A couple of years ago I completed a TEFL course so that I could continue to work in a field which gives me huge satisfaction, and the opportunity to meet interesting people of all nationalities. I have been working at a beautiful language school in the historic fishing village of Cefalu, but, sadly, the school was forced to close with the arrival of Covid 19 and the lockdowns. I am, however, fortunate to be able to continue teaching English and meeting new people on-line here.