Hello! I'm Iiris.
Argh how to describe myself without sounding like I don't really want to...

In short: I'm 23 years old, from Finland and interested in learning. I recently recovered from severe depression (of course it still affects me, but I'm doing pretty nicely!), and so basically I'm now interested in a lot of stuff since I have the energy to finally do stuff. That includes: reading, making new friends (human and other animals), drawing, studying all sorts of stuff, exercising, growing plants, playing games (board and video), going to the theatre and whatnot! So basically, I'm up for a lot of things! My newest love is sauna + winter swimming. :)

So, then, maybe I'll tell a little more about some of those things:

Books. That's been a big thing lately. Last three books I've read are Pride & Prejudice by Austen, Steppenwolf by Hesse and a Finnish translation of Sappho's poetry. Currently I'm reading The Idiot by Dostoevsky. So I have this suspicious classics patch with literature that I just can't seem to stop. It might have a lot to do with the fact that I lost my ability focus on reading for some while due to depression, and got it back just last year so I couldn't be happier to be reading again!!!

Also horses. I've made some new horse friends at my friend's place in the countryside. They are rescues and my next big goal is to help in "taming" them a little with positive reinforcement. When they are feeling safe and calm they can teach so much about connection and being present and just quietly enjoying our little herd. I hope this way I will learn to be more confident, and get experiences of succeeding, and just to enjoy the company of friends that are of different species.

I love my human friends and my sister a lot as well and they pretty much are my family, so a lot of my time is spent with them. We have a boardgame / dnd group that is quite active, I also have a tv-series group where we last watched Twin Peaks, with some friends I go climbing, swimming or to the gym. I love writing snail mail letters to my friends with proper ink pen, I think it's romantic! Also what's really invaluable is the time spent on reflecting on each other and helping each other grow as people.

Hurrah!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I felt like, now that I have more time to spend with good stuff like meeting new people and helping out those who need it, this would be the logical next place to go:) I also thought of taking up fostering kittens but that's a lot of responsibility so I should probably make my own travels before that. So that's what I'm planning on doing, I'm planning on going on a few trips to Europe actually!

I'd like to travel by bus and train only since, well, the climate change and also my ears hurt when flying so feels like an easy choise. That would also make things more adventurous since, instead of going from one (probably more or less repugnant) airport to another, I would get to see the sights and stay in more places along the way! Also I wish to welcome people to stay at my place:) So! Looking forward to both of those to happen!

Interests

• horses
• books
• movies
• reading
• painting
• snorkeling
• history
• philosophy
• forests
• plants
• film
• feminism
• climbing
• solidarity
• classic literature
• writing letters

Music, Movies, and Books

Ok this will be a list of the first few that pop in to my mind

Music: AnnenMayKantereit, Aino Venna, Tori Amos, Death Hawks, Tom Waits, Beirut

Movies: Mononoke Hime, Casablanca, Spirited Away, Stalker, Microcosmos

Books: Modesty Blaise, Siddhartha, Pride and Prejudice, Sandman, Corto Maltese, Sappho's poetry
(a lot of comics!! tho with modesty blaise i definitely prefer the books and blame teenage nostalgy with most of these)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Taught a horse that being with people doesn't have to mean suffering! it can mean also just kindness and fun!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I would gladly share stories and get to know new people (quite obvious if i'm using couchfurfing but wanted to say it anyway), I also would gladly help with any chores like dishes and of course welcome you to stay at my place if you ever happened to travel to Finland:)

Countries I’ve Visited

Estonia, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Finland