CURRENT MISSION

Taking advantage of my last month in Italy!

ABOUT ME

I am a student currently studying abroad in Padova, Italy

PHILOSOPHY

It's hard to define a personal philosophy but for those of you movie buffs who have seen Harold & Maude I can't resist quoting some lines of Maude's infinite wisdom:
"Everyone has the right to make an ass out of themselves. You just can't let the world judge you too much"
"Vice, Virtue. It's best not to be too moral. You cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality. If you apply that to life, then you're bound to live life fully"
"Much of the world's sorrow come from people who are this yet allow themselves to be treated as that"
"A lot of people enjoy being dead. But they are not dead, really. They're just backing away from life. Reach out. Take a chance. Get hurt even. But play as well as you can"
I'm also a big Bueller fan.
"The question isn't "what are we going to do," the question is "what aren't we going to do?"
"Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it"

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I'm a CouchSurfing newbie but looking forward to what I hear can be a great experience!

Interests

I love music - mostly an odd combination of indie/alternative and hip-hop. Some of my favorite artists are the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Belle & Sebastian, MGMT, The Smiths, Fleet Foxes, The Postal Service, Cat Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, RJD2, The Roots, Common, Lauryn Hill, & KiD CuDi.
I watch a fair number of movies. I kind of have a thing for 80's movies, in particular anything with John Candy in it or by John Hughes (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Uncle Buck, The Breakfast Club, etc). I also love action/heist movies (Bond, Bourne, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Italian Job, etc). Some other favorites are Harold & Maude, Love Actually, Crash, Burn After Reading, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Boy's Don't Cry, (500) Days of Summer, and The Departed.
I like to read and also enjoy writing which led me to decide to major in English.
I'm a huge foodie and absolutely love Italian food. My favorite food is probably pasta - pretty much any kind. I enjoy cooking and baking and can make an awesome pie, carrot cake or whatever else satisfies your sweet tooth :)
I don't consider myself much of an athlete but I love sports and played soccer, volleyball, swimming, and golf in high school. During the summer my family spends a lot of time at the lake and so I've grown up around water. We do a lot of biking, boating, water-sports and just hanging out and enjoying the sun! However much I love the sun though I think my favorite activity is skiing. I started skiing at an early age and have loved it ever since.
I'm also passionate about art. I enjoy taking pictures and was a design editor for my college newspaper.
I have a soft spot for cats (and most animals) and have two at home (whom I miss terribly).
Basically I have a wide range of interests but above all am open to new experiences!

• animals
• pets
• cats
• arts
• writing
• design
• oktoberfest
• dining
• italian food
• cooking
• breakfast
• baking
• athlete
• clubbing
• boating
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• music
• cycling
• scuba diving
• skiing
• sports
• soccer
• volleyball
• swimming
• golf

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I love to travel and have been very fortunate in being able to see many different parts of the world (and hoping to see many more in the future!). Some of the most amazing things I've done or seen in my travels? I don't really know where to begin. Eating my way across Italy has been pretty fabulous. Oktoberfest in Germany was unforgettable. I once pet a wild river crocodile in Jamaica (yes, my hand is still intact). I also faced one of my worst fears (not being able to breathe) and went scuba diving (which was a pretty incredible experience).

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Jamaica, Mexico, Netherlands, Switzerland, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy, United States