CURRENT MISSION

I want to explore Northern Europe

ABOUT ME

...actually I was born in Harrogate, but my Mum, sister and I moved to the U.A.E. for a few years, before moving to Switzerland for another handful of years, and eventually settling in Dublin. I finished up secondary school there, and then went to work in Germany for a year. After that, I decided ah needed to get back to mah roots, and went back to Yorkshire (Sheffield) to study French. After a good year in Chartres, and having completed my degree, I thought it'd be good to come back to France, and so....voila. Here I am! I must admit though, I have a bad case of itchy feet (I've tried the sprays, nothing gets rid of it), and so now I'm looking at doing a Masters in translation, and then moving to Amsterdam. I fell in love with the city, and would really like to be able to go back fairly often (where I live at the moment is ideal for visiting, we're right next to Belgium).

PHILOSOPHY

My Dad once said to me: ''don't sweat the small stuff, Hank'' (he's a bit of an americanophile, and calls me by a pseudo-cowboy name. He calls coffee 'a cup of joe' and asks whether we want our eggs 'sunny-side up or over easy?'. ''Our'' song is The Gambler by Kenny Rogers. We've gotten used to it, in my family).

Anyway - don't sweat the small stuff is something I try to live by, even if it's not always that easy. Look at the bigger picture, and if your life is headed in a direction you're generally happy with, then just sit back, relax, and wait to see where it takes you. I don't believe in changing myself or the way I act to please the people I'm around. I try to be kind and respectful to people, and hope to get the same back.

My family mean the world to me (same for a lot of people), and despite all the complications and pain, I think everyone has pulled through, and if I'm honest, although I haven't lived in the same country as them for 6 years now, they are my raison d'etre :)

Warum ich bei Couchsurfing bin

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

OK, hands up, actually at the moment I don't participate. But that's because although I signed up a while ago, I've only just started to create my profile and try and navigate the site (you know at the beginning, when all the acronyms just sound like....well...acronyms? I'm at that stage). But once I get into the swing of it, hopefully I can start ''participating'' more. Sounds like a war effort!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

To be honest, none! I did go to a CS party thing that was organised by one of the Valenciennes members (Emilie) which was a great time, but I've never actually couchsurfed or hosted before. Yep, I'm a noob.

Interessen

I have a lot of those interests that many people do: reading, writing, at the moment I'm going through a cooking phase, I like to play poker, I'm interested in the arcane as well, unfortunately all my ''stuff'' is at home, but I do birth charts and tarot readings. I developped an unhealthy interest in McDonalds about a month or so ago - I think it's due to having been a vegetarian for 12 years. One morning, about 4 months ago, I woke up at my aunts house in Leeds, and smelled the juicy, sizzling odour of her Sunday roast lamb, and that was it. I had my first meat meal in over a decade. Which is a positive thing! But after years of fast food deprivation (they never have interesting veggie options), I fell for the Cheese Royale. I fell hard. And I can't seem to wean myself off the habit. Other things I'm interested in...trawling for men in seedy salsa bars, watching day-time TV, chain-smoking, going for walks through cities, being on my own sometimes and just listening to music or staring out the window, a cuppa tea and a good book when it's raining outside, and that old, world-wide cliché: meeting new people.
Things I don't care about:

Musik, Filme und Bücher

OK, movies. This is difficult, you know how your mind always goes blank when you're asked ''what's your favorite band''? I like films, but a lot of the time I just don't have the attention span to want to watch them all the way through. Obviously I have films I've like OMG totally HEARTED, but I wouldn't say cinema is neccessarily a passion.
Reading on the other hand, I LOVE. I read fiction, mostly contemporary - I'm always happy when people can recommend a good book. At the moment I'm reading ''Super Sad True Love Story'', which I've nearly finished and turned out to be really interesting. I've just finished ''The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'', which was lent to me by a colleague and friend, and which was brilliant in terms of making social history accessible. On my table right now is ''The Unnamed'' by Joshua Ferris, which is next in line to be read. This is why my heart is so set on becoming a literary translator, hopefully one day: to combine my passion for books and language.
Music - a bit of a mix, really. Lou Reed, the Clash, Alkaline Trio, Arcade Fire, Eminem (cringe), Renaud, the Specials, it's difficult to say. My iTunes has a lot of old stuff, a lot of embarrassing stuff, and sometimes good stuff.

Eine tolle Erfahrung, die ich gemacht habe

I remember when I was very young, living in the U.A.E. At that time, Abu Dhabi wasn't the disgustingly wealthy sprawl you know today, and there were a lot of abandonned houses and sandy roads, you were basically driving through desert to get anywhere. Once we were walking the dog very early in the morning, in this dusty, deserted grove of trees. I ran ahead, and pushed through some trees, and when I looked up, I was just a few feet away from a camel. It was strange I think because of the dawn light, but also because for just one small moment, I looked at it, and it looked at me, then turned and walked off. I'll never forget those few seconds. It felt eerie, and now when I remember it, it feels sad and nostalgic, but also sort of soothing: we are part of the earth.

Lehren, lernen, teilen

I can teach French or English, I can do a tarot reading, and I can teach you to roll (cigarettes, etc). Over and out.

Länder, die ich besucht habe

Macedonia, Netherlands, Poland, United States

Länder, in denen ich gelebt habe

France, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom