Hi I'm Ben from England!

I'm travelling to Japan for a second time to visit friends and see some of the summer festivals.

I love meeting people from different cultures because I always feel like I learn something new. I'm pretty easy-going, I like cracking jokes even if I'm the only one who finds them funny. I always aim to be polite and friendly towards hosts for their generosity.

I study electrical engineering at university but I spend most of my time making films, performing comedy and finding new ways to avoid my coursework.

Despite spending 5 months in Japan in 2016, my Japanese is awful so I'm hoping to get better this summer!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm currently on summer break from university and I'm in Japan for all of August. I came to Japan two years ago to travel and teach English in Sendai for a few months, but I still feel like there's so much more to see! I'm planning to stay in Tokyo for while to see friends but I also want to explore the Tohoku region and see the summer festivals.

Interests

Film-making is definitely my favourite hobby, I love making films of all kinds: short films, documentaries, animations. I like making weird, funny films that often make my family concerned about me. I fell in love with photography last time I came to Japan and I'm looking forward to picking up my camera again.

I'm involved with a comedy club at my university . I've been on stage and behind the scenes in a lot of fun shows, including performing improv at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and writing/directing a comedy musical. At the weekends I teach comedy and drama to kids at a performing arts school.

I enjoy drawing a lot, though I mostly do it on a computer now for graphic design projects. I have designed a lot of posters for comedy shows and films, and I breifly designed graphics for a clothing company.

I co-host a weekly radio show at uni. It's terrible and nobody listens to it but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Music has always been an on-off hobby for me. I currently play the piano, but I've played the guitar and the oboe in the past. I'm not great, to be honest.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Being born was pretty wild.

What I Can Share with Hosts

If you want, I can bring you some English tea or famous British snacks (e.g. Jaffa Cakes - they are incredible).

Other than that, I'm TEFL qualified so I can always give you a free English lesson, especially if you want to learn rude words.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Egypt, France, Germany, Japan, Morocco, Netherlands, Oman, South Africa, Spain, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom