CURRENT MISSION

Exploring the US and American culture

ABOUT ME

Hi, I'm Ben, I thank you for browsing my profile and being interested in my personality and my background.

My latest entry into my CV states that I am currently doing an internship in the US capital, Washington DC. (International) Politics fascinates me. For my internship I probably could not have come to a more exciting place.

I am born in 1987, and in my young life I could already enjoy living in different foreign countries. I did my undergraduate studies in the Netherlands. I enjoyed living in this very friendly country for three years, and am thankful to the many friendships I made there. Also, I lived in Brussels and Glasgow for some months. Originally, I am from Germany, and will return to Dresden in the fall of 2013 for finishing my Master's degree. For most of my life I have lived in a small town near the Swiss border, and near the Black Forest.

In my future job, I will probably be involved with international politics in one way or the other. Due to participations in conferences and events, I have already met a great share of people from around the world. I remember how I felt excited the first time I was attending an event where people from more than 30 nationalities came together.

Warum ich bei Couchsurfing bin

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I like couchsurfing for the fact that it connects people with different cultural backgrounds and mentalities. A person told me once that he was grateful to his girlfriend that encouraged him to go travelling together. Before he spent most of his time within his countries' borders. It is my conviction that the people of this world are very diverse, and that everybody can learn a lot and be inspired by meeting people with very different experiences and perspectives.

When I travel and meet people from different places, I want to share my perspective with them and engage in a friendly and fruitful dialogue. I am very interested in knowing more about the cultures and beliefs of people from other countries, and especially from continents other than Europe. I am glad that this internship in the US allows me to experience this wonderful country. And it is great that couchsurfing.org exists and helps me and people around the world connect with local people.
Visiting a city, town or region while being able to meet people who live there has for me greatly enriched my experience of travelling!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My greatest experience was when I couchsurfed in Cambridge (England). I enjoyed the company of my host, and had a great time when he gave a party and invited many of his friends over. The next day on a lovely summer day in 2010 we watched the World Cup match between Germany and England. For me it was great to watch this match together with the people from England.

Apart from that I had some more couchsurfing experience that I all have in good memory. I am glad that couchsurfing made it possible for me to hook up with these people.

Interessen

Music: House, Minimal, RnB, Pop, Black;
Languages: Getting to know other languages; practicing languages
Sports: Soccer, Tennis, Squash and done a lot more of sports now and then.
Studying: A great affinity towards the study of International Relations

• culture
• performing arts
• concerts
• dancing
• partying
• clothing
• politics
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• jazz
• muslim
• sports
• soccer
• tennis
• racquetball
• world cup
• international relations
• languages
• squash

Musik, Filme und Bücher

Some classics:
J.W. von Goethe: Faust
Kafka: Die Verwandlung

Also like the books of George Orwell very much,e.g. 1984, Animal Farm.
Aldous Huxley: Brave New World

Others:
Patrick Sueskind, Das Parfum

Eine tolle Erfahrung, die ich gemacht habe

Most recently, I was quite stunned by the amazing dancing performance of a senior lady. I was at a unique Jazz concert that took place in a church in Washington DC. At the end I couldn't keep my eyes off this lady, well in her seventies, who got off her chair and started dancing pretty well to the nice Jazz tunes.
The whole evening was very nice, and is a reminder of the joys of travelling.

Lehren, lernen, teilen

Here s a funny paragraph I d like to share with you.
It was written by a fellow intern when I was interning in Washington DC. At the end of my internship I went for a trip in the US, and as I was couchsurfing I asked my friends whether any of them was on Couchsurfing and could write a review for me. Here is what I got:

"Having had the pleasure of Ben's company for one week I can claim with great certainty that he is one of the nicest naturists I know. Ben's care free attitude to life and clothing was a complete breath of fresh air. A converted Islamic fundamentalist, Ben "Achmed" L***r was certainly an explosive influence on my life and will no doubt continue to be so on all couches across the world that he surfs."

Länder, die ich besucht habe

Cambodia

Länder, in denen ich gelebt habe

Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States

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