I'm Bea, my parents are Dutch and Danish, and I grew up travelling between different countries, which always makes the question 'where are you from?' a tricky one (one time while trying to figure out how to answer my sister said: 'I'm like scrambled eggs', which is probably the best description).

I studied Chinese and Chinese literature in the UK, at Leeds and in London, and spent some fantastic time in both Beijing and Taipei. I keep dreaming of spending more time in Taiwan! I'm fascinated by different languages and their literatures and how they can show you different worlds, and writing, including travel writing, is something I love.
I worked in a literary agency focussed on world literature and I want to keep learning Mandarin, and hopefully more languages besides, but I can't stop drawing, so at the moment I'm going for my dream of being a freelance illustrator.
My drawing blog can be found at: https://beastlyworlds.wordpress.com/

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm just starting to take part in Couchsurfing - I'd like to find places to stay and people to meet while travelling in Japan for 5 weeks on an illustration inspiration tour!

Interests

I'm at my happiest drawing, and my sketchbooks are home to both anything that strikes me as fun, beautiful or intriguing in my surroundings, as well as more fantastical things that suddenly appear in my mind's eye. Any dogs, cats and birds passing by are definite sketch subject candidates; if you have pets, I would love to draw them!
I also love talking about books, stories, films, comics and graphic novels. I play cello and am teaching myself guitar, and recently I've been getting into lindyhop / swing dancing. Swimming, hiking and beautiful nature spots make me happy.

• pets
• cats
• dogs
• birds
• writing
• books
• literature
• illustrations
• dancing
• swing dancing
• comics
• movies
• traveling
• blogging
• painting
• drawing
• guitar
• hiking
• swimming
• animation
• freelancing
• languages

Teach, Learn, Share

I love talking to people about languages, books and travelling!
I taught English for a while, and love discussing Chinese (Mandarin) and Chinese literature. I would love to learn some Japanese language and tips about what to see, where to go, and what to do while in Japan!

I am happy to help around the house, and, if you are busy, am very good at going off and entertaining myself.
I can share travel stories, terrible puns, books and film interests, and my sketchbooks. I would be very happy to paint a small portrait of you and/or your pets : )

Countries I’ve Visited

Denmark, France, Italy, Singapore

Countries I’ve Lived In

Burkina Faso, China, England, Greece, Indonesia, Netherlands, Taiwan