CURRENT MISSION

My mission is to complete my bucket list before I run out of my time.

ABOUT ME

I am Emre, recently graduated from the department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Koc University in Turkey.

I've moved to Cape Town in July and started pursuing an MSc degree in Computational Science atthe University of Cape Town. Currently I cannot host anyone because I live in a shared apartment, but am very keen for meet-ups!!

When I was a child, my family didn't like travelling that much, so I had no idea what an awesome thing it was. For the last 3-4 years, travelling became an addiction for me as I visited 20 countries. To me, traveling is not about taking photos in front of Eiffel Tower or staying in 5 star hotels the entire time. It is about meeting new people, engaging in conversations with them, learning new cultures and exchanging ideas. That's why couchsurfing became a very good source for me during my travels.

My friends always say that I'm a very good listener, out-going, open-minded and fun to be around.

PHILOSOPHY

It changes depending on my mood. Right now, I am more into seizing the moment rather than trying to plan ahead my whole future. No matter how hard you try to construct a plan for yourself, those plans can be interrupted by unexpected events.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I stayed with a few hosts during my travel in Germany and Norway and got to meet some incredible people along the way! (Refer to the references for details).

The same goes for South Korea. Spent one month there and met very down to earth hosts!!

Interests

Music(both listening and playing-the clarinet since 2002-), figure ice skating, Latin Dance (Salsa, Bachata, etc), writing, tv shows, swimming, rock-climbing, hiking, badminton aaand traveling. I have a travel blog that became my addiction over the last year. I truly love sharing my experiences with other people. the website is http://haritakurdu.com/ . The entries are in Turkish, but I am willing to translate them into English when I have the chance.

• writing
• dancing
• bachata
• drinking
• tv
• traveling
• blogging
• music
• hiking
• rock climbing
• swimming
• badminton
• engineering
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: 1984, The Great Gatsby, Digital Fortress, Macbeth, Fahrenheit451, Brave new world, The Ruins, It, Crime and Punishment, My Sweet Orange Tree, Kürk Mantolu Madonna

Tv: Game of Thrones, Friends, The Big Bang Theory, The Walking Dead, Homeland, Shameless, Under the Dome, Modern Family, New Girl, The following, Community, Sherlock BBC,Chuck.

Movies: the King's Speech, V for Vendetta, Sweeney Todd, The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo, Oldboy, Inception, deep impact, se7en, devil's advocate, Gone Girl, Side Effects, The Illusionist, The Godfather, Titanic, A Clockwork Orange, Fight Club, The Avengers, Black Swan, Slumdog Millionaire, How the Grinch Stole the Christmas, Sunset Blvd, Vizontele, Hababam Sınıfı, 10 Cloverfield Lane, It follows, Chronicle, Soul Kitchen, Spring summer autumn winter and spring, Laurence Anyways

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Visiting the Baltic States (as well as St. Petersburg and Stockholm) in Winter, where it was minus 20 degrees Celcius, was both amazing and challenging for me, as a person who could catch a cold in summer by simply drinking cold water.

Swimming and sun-bathing naked at a nudist beach in Oslo (the feeling of being naked and not having to be ashamed of it was new and veeery strange in a good way)

Climbing the Preikestolen (even though it was much easier than I expected, the view was gorgeous!

Traveling to Sri Lanka was a whole different experience! Climbed Adam's Peak for 6 hours to catch the sunrise. The temples, the nature, the ocean...

Halloween in Tokyo (especially the Shibuya crossing ).

Everything about South Africa.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Russian Federation, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Sweden, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

South Africa, Turkey