Hello,

my name is Joe Ristimäki and I'm a young Finnish man who's a passionate traveller and learner. I'm studying philosophy as my major and international relations as my minor in the University of Tampere. In my university, I also work as an international tutor, which means that I help upcoming international students to get settled in Finland and help them get their studies a smooth start. Being an international tutor has helped me to better understand people from different cultures and backgrounds.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm keen to meet local people and other travellers and spend time with them. I want to experience the way of life of my host and I wish to do some cultural exchange, so to speak.

Interests

I love partying!! I can't help myself going out when there's a chance..

When sober, I enjoy chatting with people about whatever but especially politics, history, human nature, art, travelling and philosophy. However, any topic can be subject to a good conversation that is profound. This doesn't mean that I wasn't interested in more earthly topics!

As to physical activities, I used to be a scout and therefore love hiking. I also practice weight training in gym. I hate the phrase that "I go to gym": do you ever describe your habit of playing football with phrase such as "I go to the soccer field"?

Music, Movies, and Books

On my freetime is listen mostly metal and rock music but I sometimes listen to pop, rap, techno etc. I'm open-minded musicwise!

Some of my favorite bands:

Metallica
Tool
Mastodon
Judas Priest
Megadeth
Black Sabbath

I'm extremely fond of Quentin Tarantino's movies, horror, thriller and action.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Really difficult to pick one. Maybe the most amazing thing I did was to refrain from walking on Uluru. Uluru is a sacred site for local aboriginals and they ask all visitors not to walk on Uluru even though it's possible. I wanted to respect their customs and decided not to walk on Uluru.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach Finnish and maybe even English to my hosts and people whom I host. I wish to improve my French with you!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can do cultural exchange with my hosts, participate in costs of living etc.

By cultural exchange, I mean I can cook something Finnish, teach my language, tell about our way of life etc. On the road, I'm mostly interested about the local culture though

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, China, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russian Federation, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Finland