CURRENT MISSION

To sample local food and drink across the world!

ABOUT ME

I'm pretty easy going and relaxed, I like to go out to a pub to have a drink with my friends, but nothing really crazy. I do physics/engineering research, so if you think that makes me crazy, look out...

Currently doing a Postdoc in Berlin in Physics. For the 10% science/techy geeks out there who care for the details, I work on LEDs and laser diodes - for the rest of you, I sit in a lab and do physicsy things, which are *nothing* at all like on the Big Bang Theory. Really. ;-)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

A couple years ago I went couchsurfing all across Europe - from Scotland to eastern Slovakia! I found couches to surf in most major destinations, and I had a really great time wtih everyone I met! I really love the variety of types of people in the CS community, and I hope to do some more couchsurf-travel as soon as I get the chance!

I didn't have too many opportunities to host or surf while living in California, but I hope in Berlin I can help out all those backpackers of the world!

Interests

Hiking, lying outside in the sun, eating good food (especially anything involving chocolate), reading, making the world a better place, enjoying a glass of beer or wine, watching grass grow, swimming and snorkeling and most other things involving the water... I like fantasy and sci-fi, and I will happily study history, philosophy, literature and physics (but physics won out as an actual major/career path)

• literature
• dining
• breakfast
• chocolate
• wine
• beer
• drinking
• pub crawls
• reading
• traveling
• hiking
• snorkeling
• paragliding
• swimming
• engineering
• history
• physics
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

I'll listen to most music, but mainly alternative, some rock, some hip hop (but only some!).

I am or have been addicted to a number of tv shows, mostly geeky ones: Currently, I'm being introduced to reruns of my favorite shows with German dubbing :-D
In the past, I've enjoyed shows such as Buffy, Babylon5, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica and Farscape. If you want something more obscure, try Wonderfalls.
Also the Daily Show and Colbert Report!

I read a lot of books, particularly fantasy. Now that I'm no longer a student I'm endeavoring to find time for reading again!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Snorkeling at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia.
Paragliding near Vancouver in Canada.
White water rafting on the Kaweah in California.
Favourite place in the world: Garabaldi Lake in BC.
Defending my PhD thesis (haha, no, not really)

Teach, Learn, Share

Things I learned from Europe:
There's nothing wrong with a breakfast beer.
After all, beer is cheaper than any other liquid (including water)
Every nation in central and western Europe claims the name Ingrid is theirs.
It always rains, or hails, and especially thunders, whenever we get off a train and have to walk somewhere. Particularly if we are carrying heavy things.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Slovakia, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Canada, Germany, United States

•