CURRENT MISSION

To somehow arrive in Tampere on the 27th of August.

ABOUT ME

I'm a linguistics student from the "bread basket" of the United States (olen amerikalainen), and have been living in Germany for the past year or so (asun saksassa). Soon I will be going to Tampere, Finland (ajan Suomeen, Tampereen) because I got a scholarship to study a semester there. I'm really excited, except for two things. First, I really don't speak Finnish (en puhu suomea!), although I had a class at the university both semesters this year. And second, I hear beer in Finland is pretty expensive; this will hit hard since I'm so used to my Oettinger Pils (das billigste bier deutschlands) that costs â

PHILOSOPHY

mach party... aber sei mal a bissl leiser

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I couchsurfed in Austria and three times in Spain.

Interests

Music, languages, history, geography, schreien

• architecture
• wine
• beer
• walking
• partying
• music
• geography
• history
• languages
• tours

Music, Movies, and Books

Seeed, Manu Chao, Fanta Vier, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, the Grateful Dead, Chuck Berry, Woody Guthrie, Aggro Berlin, Goran Bregovic

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The Way of St. James (Spanish Camino de Santiago, German Jakobsweg) was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. It consists of ancient pilgrimage routes from all over Europe to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, northwest Spain. There is one main route starting in France and going through northern Spain, as well as slightly less established routes along the northern coast, going north from Sevilla, through Portugal, and others. While it is in a way sponsored by the Catholic Church, you by no means have to be Catholic or even religious to walk it. About a day's walk apart (usually 15-30 km or so) there are hostels for two to five euros that cater specifically and only to pilgrims on the camino. It was one of the most amazing revelations of my life to realize I could just walk out of a big city and into the countryside, and after a couple days' more walk into another big city. It was also amazing after a couple days when I thought my blistered and sore feet wouldn't carry me any further but I just made myself keep walking and the pain disappeared and I walked even faster than before. And the most amazing part was surrendering my fate totally to my trust that the signs and arrows marking the path would continue, and that they would lead me to a place to stay that night. Unfortunately I haven't yet walked the whole camino -- it takes at least a month -- but I have spent time walking on both the Camino del Norte along the coast of the Bay of Biscay and on the Vía de la Plata going north from Sevilla. They were both beautiful in vastly different ways. If you want more information about the Camino, please tell me, I would love to help you out.

Teach, Learn, Share

There is so much more to the Czech Republic than Prague. I was there for two weeks but only two days in Prague, and honestly, it was low on my list of favorite things in the country. Just an hour or two north of Prague there is a natural protection area called Český Raj (meaning Czech Paradise or Bohemian Paradise) that is one of the most amazing forest/mountain areas I have ever hiked through. If you like beer, the brewery tours in both Pilsen/Plzeň (Pilsner Urquell) and České Budějovice (Budweiser Budvar) are a must: Czech beer is already the best in the world, and the beer I had straight out of the casks in the cellars of those breweries puts any other beer to shame. And if you like wine, some of the best wines in the world are produced in Moravia. Český Krumlov, just a half-hour bus ride from České Budějovice, is a beautiful medieval city with an amazing castle, and if you go there check out Hostel 99; they're really great people. And while you're there, make sure to get to one of the spa towns in western Bohemia, like Carlsbad, Franzisbad, or Marienbad. They are beautiful cities full of history and amazing architecture, and the hot mineral spring water is a one-of-a-kind experience.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Finland, Germany, United States