Bonjour! I am Andréa, from Arras (Northern France). I used to live in Brussels, and live now since July in Berlin.

I have always found the task of describing myself pretty hard. But let's try!

On March 4th 2019, I started a trip from Belgium to China, all by train, through Siberia. No time constraints, nothing planned, just freedom. :) After being back to Europe, I moved to Berlin!

I love taking pictures of piers, eating hummus, peanut butter and banana bread, trains, psychology, geography, reading, debating, writing, drinking oat latte, and eating hummus (did I mention it already?).

I studied Political Sciences, International Business and Economics. I have lived abroad several times, in Waterford (Ireland), Vilnius (Lithuania), Brisbane (Australia) and Brussels (Belgium).

All my CS experiences so far have been awesome, inspiring and full of learning and discoveries. Hope it keeps going!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

As I love learning languages and discovering local cultures, Couchsurfing is the perfect way to travel for me. It enables me to meet new people, to practise the languages I am learning if possible (and it is much more efficient than Duolingo!), and to discover a city in a completely new way.

I am looking forward to meeting new people, hearing about their stories, and challenging my perspectives of the world.

Interests

I have a very deep interest for the topics of sustainability, sustainable food, sustainable development, ecology, and so on. I am trying to learn how to reduce my environmental footprint and how to live in a more minimalist way. I would love to share about that!

When I have enough motivation, I enjoy doing sport, especially running, swimming, but also cycling and hiking in the nature.

I am fond of reading novels and history books, looking at geography maps, writing, and I have a passion for notebooks where I can just write down all my crazy thoughts and draw up lists. I have so many of them, I just can't help buying every single nice notebook I find.

I above all love traveling, taking photos, and learning languages. I have a big interest in Eastern and Northern European cultures, languages, history and politics.

And last but not least, I love (home-made) food! I try to innovate as much as possible to (re)invent recipes more in line with my values.

• culture
• writing
• books
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• wine
• coffee
• baking
• vegan
• fitness
• marathon
• running
• drinking
• politics
• technology
• reading
• traveling
• drawing
• cycling
• hiking
• surfing
• sports
• swimming
• business
• history
• languages
• vegan food
• vegan cooking

Music, Movies, and Books

I am fond of indie, folk, acoustic, and classical music, but always open to things I don't know. I also like jazz a lot.

I am interested by many books types: novels, fiction, biography, poetry, history books (especially those ones related to WWII), travel stories. I mostly read in French. My favorite authors include Sylvain Tesson, Cédric Gras, Julia Kerninon, Maylis de Kerangal, Michèle Lesbre.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Surfing on Irish waves (in october!)
... And surfing on Australian waves without being eaten by a shark!
Running the Brisbane Twilight Half Marathon in 2h
Going from Brussels to Vladivostok by train

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: French language, where to get the best coffee and breakfasts in the city I live in, how to make the best hummus

Learn: my hosts' language basics, how to open a bottle of wine (don't laugh at me, I really can't)

Share: latte/cappuccino (yeah, I need milk in my coffee - sorry for the purists); long night talks about outer space and meaning of human life

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am a smiling and very open-minded person, willing to learn about my hosts' culture and way of living, but also to talk about mine. Let's get in touch :)!

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Australia, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania