CURRENT MISSION

To understand people through understanding the way they speak.

ABOUT ME

I'm a student from the USA that is currently a graduate student/French instructor in French Linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin. I spent a year abroad in Paris, France (dans le 5eme si tu connais bien).

I'm very interested in linguistics, specifically the English takeover of the world that has occurred in the past 50 years. Coinciding with those interests would be my constant reflection about what it means to be an American for me. I'm not very patriotic, okay I have a bunch of issues with my country, but I have a very strange love for the utopic mystery of the states, my wonderful wonderful homeland. I'd love to talk to you about your language, about my language (the northeastern variety of American English), about the French language (que je connais assez bien), or any linguistics topic.

I also dig sharing my experiences growing up in Truman Show, Epcot-like, tree-lined suburbia of the USA and I'd love to hear your perceptions of the American life and compare them with my actual experiences (okay I don't mean to be ethnocentric here but the world does have a tendency to look at the US rather closely what with hollywood and music and politics and such). And of course I want to hear about other lives because the fact that I was born when I was and where I was is so totally random! What if I was born where you were?

I also have recently become quite passionate about poker and its strategy/community. Let me know if you're interested in Austin's (minimal) poker scene and I might be able to give you some pointers.

PHILOSOPHY

Trying to be as open as possible and keep a genuine smile on my face.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I surfed around Europe during my year abroad now I'm trying to put my place out there for hosting.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Stayed in Hungary once and had an awesome time with George...Also had a few great hosts in Berlin. I'm looking to give back to the couchsurfing community by hosting.

Interests

Linguistics, Poker, English as a Lingua Franca, American culture, other cultures, Baseball, NY Sports Radio (for nostalgia), the New Wave (music and cinema), Steely Dan

Music, Movies, and Books

Music- Steely Dan, Kurt Vile, Mac DeMarco, Wild Nothing, Billy Joel, Elton John, Dire Straits, Smashing Pumpkins, Real Estate, Keep Shelly in Athens, Classic Rock, 80s synth pop (The Cars, Mister Mister, others)...music's a pretty big passion of mine and means a ton to me, I'd love to hear what you've got

Movies- Coen Brothers, Woody Allen, Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Bertrand Blier, Celine Sciamma, Wes Anderson, Tarantino...could go on

Books-David Crystal (English linguist), Jean Baudrillard (Amerique...let me know if you've read that one), Mark Twain, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, Derriere la vitre (Merle)...American classics and other random stuff

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Was on national television for being a Pokemon master...we can battle if you want!

Teach, Learn, Share

I can rant on and on about my thoughts about the USA and its culture of practicality, consumerism, utopia(nism), and the like! I can also teach you the rules of baseball and teach you how to throw a curveball, be it with any spherical object. Check out my about me for things I like to talk about.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, United States