CURRENT MISSION

Branch out.

ABOUT ME

Let's see... in no particular order... I love traveling and do as much as my vacation time and bank account allow, when I'm in new places/cities I always love to find the highest vantage point and study my surroundings, I've lived/studied abroad in three countries and would like to live abroad again, I'm a pesco-vegetarian (I eat fish and seafood), I drink lots of coffee, politically and socially pretty liberal, not religious but I guess you could call me spiritual because I think there must be some sort of higher power or meaning in this life, I can be pretty spontaneous (especially when it comes to travel) and love it when I have the freedom to act on whims, I'm trusting of people by nature, I love being around people but I am more of an introvert than an extrovert, personality-wise I think I strike a pretty even balance between artsy and logical (which might explain my draw to music and languages), if you know anything about Myers-Briggs I'm an INFP, I'm a night owl, I would be much happier if days were made up of 30 hours rather than 24 because there is always more I want to cram in to the day, and... that's all I can think of now!

PHILOSOPHY

"Det ordnar sig" A good Swedish phrase, approx: "Things will work out." If you are patient and observant, the right things will happen at the right time in your life and you will know which opportunities to take when they present themselves.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I love traveling by myself and want to be able to expand my options for travel destinations beyond those places where I already know people (I have a fair amount of friends sprinkled throughout the world). I'm also trying to make time to become more involved in the Minneapolis/St. Paul CS community.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I joined in the summer of 2009 and stayed with Laura in Florence for three days during my August/September 2009 trip to Italy. Also went out on two Saturday nights in Florence then Rome with CSs and had such a fun time! Recently, I've been trying to get more involved with the local CS community - there are lots of great folks here in the Twin Cities!

visited 31 states (62%)Create your own visited map of The United States or Free android travel guide

visited 21 states (9.33%)Create your own visited map of The World or website vertaling duits?

Interests

Languages, travel, culture, history, music, reading, gardening (well, I try!), philosophy, politics, teaching...

• fish
• culture
• seafood
• coffee
• vegetarian
• working out
• drinking
• flying
• gardening
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• drawing
• music
• fishing
• teaching
• history
• languages
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

Books/authors: Paulo Coehlo (The Alchemist et al), Liza Marklund, Stieg Larsson, Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" series...
Music: 89.3 the Current - the new music station from Minnesota Public Radio. If you don't know it, check it out at thecurrent.org and stream it. Okay, okay... that's lazy. In no particular order, Cloud Cult, Frank Turner, Arcade Fire, Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Monsters and Men, Radiohead, Muse, Bright Eyes, The Decemberists, Wilco, The Hold Steady, The Rural Alberta Advantage, Kent, LCD Soundsystem, Jeremy Messersmith, Modest Mouse, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Metric, The Wombats, Romantica, and lots more.
Movies... I really enjoy indie films - movies that make you think about life in a new way. That said, I also enjoy a good comedy/romantic comedy as well. :) A few favorites that have really stuck with me: The Squid and the Whale, Amelie, Under the Tuscan Sun, Garden State, The Motorcycle Diaries.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Thinking along traveling lines... I once hopped on an overnight bus to Peru (from Ecuador, where I was living at the time) without knowing ANYTHING about the country. Arriving at the border at dawn, I made my way to a tourist info place, decided on a destination (Chiclayo - a wonderful little city about a 10 hour bus ride south of the border), hopped on a bus, found a hotel in Chiclayo late that evening, and spent three days exploring the city and surrounding area with the help of locals that I met there (it was rather blatantly obvious that I was a tourist...). There is a reason Chiclayo has the nickname "La ciudad de la amistad" (the city of friendship). All travel, accommodation, and other arrangements I made on the fly, finding my way simply by asking people (good thing my Spanish is decent!). Marvelous weekend! Thrilling to know I could survive and thrive in that situation.

I also hiked Cinque Terre on the Italian riviera. Awesome! It was also incredibly rewarding to be able to communicate with people in Italy who didn't speak English, just using my one year of Italian from high school that I painstakingly resurrected. And by people, I specifically mean the couple that owned the Agriturismo place that I stayed at in rural Tuscany in the summer of 2009 - being able to say "Hi, it's Jenn, I've reserved a room at your place for tonight, I'm at the train station and I need a ride now" in Italian - after hearing a very halting "eh... not much English" in the phone - was essential!

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm a language teacher by profession (at least, part-time). I'm a student of life. What have I to teach, learn, and share that I can put into words?
Learning a language is not just learning that x (word in language A) = y (word in language B) or a different grammar structure. Learning a language means learning a different culture. It exposes you to concepts that are foreign in your tongue. You learn a whole new way of thinking. You don't become a different you; you add to the person you are - you expand your identity.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Peru, Puerto Rico, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Ecuador, Germany, Sweden, United States

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