First, yes, I made the bear coat. My mom taught me to sew, and I have been disappointing her in creative ways ever since.

So there's also this project I do, which you can see in a few of my photos - "Small talk with an idiot - it's free!" Basically it's me sitting in the street and meeting everyone who comes to talk to me. I do this in foreign countries as a means to a) learn about the real people who live there and b) practice the language, when applicable. With this I have moved to a new city every year for the past 6 years, having previously lived in Québec, the arctic, France, Scotland, Japan, Italy Belgium, Denmark and now Germany.

It sounds a little strange I know, but it works pretty well! I have made many good friends this way, and have had some of the best experiences of my life that never would have happened otherwise.

Pourquoi je suis sur Couchsurfing

To learn about the places I'm staying in a more intimate way than I could know just from passing through hostels. People will teach you so much more about a country than guidebooks.

Centres d'intérêt

Travel has dominated my life for the past 9 years, so my interests have always been dependant upon where I am. Architecture, local events, festivals, churches, libraries, supermarkets, rivers.

• architecture
• exercise
• hiking
• sewing
• travel (obviously
• uhhh)

Morceaux de musique, films et livres

Movies:
the "Before" trilogy by Richard Linklater, The Lives of Others, Grizzly Man, Amadeus, Baraka, most Ghibli/Miyazaki.

Music:
everyone always says 'I listen to everything', but really, honestly... OK, I know this sounds super pretentious, but...
Canada: Stan Rogers, Leonard Cohen
France: Françoise Hardy, Yelle, Barbara
Italy: Calcutta
Corsica: Rifà i Passi
Ukraine: Mordecai Hershman
Belgium: Lavvi Ebbel, Laïs, Madou
Cambodia: Sinn Sisamouth
Hungary: Gabor Szabo
Mongolia: Hanggai
Sweden: Suburban Kids with Biblical Names
Japan: Shugo Tokumaru, Hiroshi Yoshimura, Soul Flower Mononoke Summit
Scotland: Ewan MacColl
Denmark: Svestar
India: Asha Bhosle
Ethiopia: Alèmayèhu Eshèté
England: Coope Boyes and Simpson
Greenland: Rasmus Lyberth
and etc.
More than anything I'd love to hear *your* suggestions for local artists.

Books:
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, basically all DFW (except his first 2, which were not that great, and which is what makes his later work so incredible), Underworld by Don Delillo, Slaughterhouse 5 and Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers, most David Sedaris, Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter.

Une aventure extraordinaire que j'ai vécue

I played a mutant in one of the X-Men movies - photo proof will be provided in the case of doubters. I was also the driving double for Shaggy in one of the Scooby-Doo movies. Truth!

Enseignez, apprenez, partagez

I lived in Japan for 7 months and have a ton of advice for anyone looking to travel there.
Currently learning German, which is thankfully a lot easier than Japanese. 日本語が難しいだね！

Ce que j'aimerais partager avec mes hôtes

I am reasonably tall, so can reach things up high. This is maybe the only reason my mom keeps me around when I come home.

Pays que j'ai visités

Australia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States

Pays dans lesquels j'ai vécu

Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Scotland