CURRENT MISSION

To live, laugh, love and grow

ABOUT ME

My name is Josie, but I don't mind nicknames. A lot of people in the U.S. have a hard time pronouncing my name when I meet them because of my accent.

I am from the UK, England, Devon. Devon is a pretty unknown place in the U.S., we are famous in the UK for sheep, beaches and clotted cream. I love my hometown, but want to travel the world more before returning.

At the moment I am in the United States studying for my BA at a liberal arts college. My concentration is International Studies, and the mission of my school is to "foster a steady stream of global citizens contributed to living a contributive life". Its something we take to heart at our school, hence the amazing opportunities I'm having to travel.

So far, I've been to South Korea, South Africa, Romania, and Germany. I'm hoping to visit Japan and India, but will for sure visit China in Feburary when I study abroad for a semester.

My religion is Buddhism (SGI) and I practice daily, morning and evening prayers. I'm tolerant of others religions though as I know how it feels to be outcasted based on your beliefs. A lot of people ask about my practice, and the main way to explain it is through the concept of human revolution- the means to revolutionizing your inner life to change your envrionment.

I have crazy curly hair, and although I am technically half South African- my dad was born in Cape Town- I'm ethnically white, so don't know where my hair came from- but I love it. ( In my profile picture I have straight hair).

I joined CS a while ago but haven't had the need to utilize it, or had any requests since leaving my parents house. But I think, we can't dwell on the past, just influence the present and future. Now is the time to utilize CS!!!

PHILOSOPHY

I live my life to be happy and make others happy, I hope this doesn't sound cliched but I don't mean a sentimental happiness, I mean a happiness forged out of living your life and never giving up on yourself, overcoming challenges and growing in the process- not a happiness from booze, drugs, sex etc. (although I'm not entirely against them)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My friend hosted a few people and had good experiences, and my brother stayed at a few places across Europe, but I've never had the initiative to organize one yet. Please ask me, and I will try and accomodate :)

Interests

At the moment I'm pretty interested in History. After studying the effects of history education for a few weeks in South Korea, I realized I have been lied to a lot through education- in the UK, I was taught all the "interesting", but really nationalistic stuff about history, e.g. how great the UK is, kings and queens, the second world war. But taught little about a big part of the UK as a global actor- colonialism, which shocked me as an undergrad.

Anyway, this and nuclear abolition are my big passion. This year I founded a club on campus and we are planning a conference about nuclear abolition in November 2012. Should be exciting and interesting...

• arts
• acting
• dancing
• education
• breakfast
• clubbing
• traveling
• piano
• skydiving
• buddhist
• teaching
• history
• religion
• study abroad
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Music- Beirut, Florence and the Machine, Foals, the Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, the Fratellis, Jamie T, Postal Service, MGMT.
Since being in the US, I've tried to expand my musical horizons and love people recommending me music. Be my guest and send me an email with your fave song.

Movies- I have a book called 101 things to do before you die, and it has a pretty extensive list of movies to watch, which I'm trying to make it through, here are a few personal faves from the list (and a few I just threw in there for fun): Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Memento, 12 Angry Men, Rear Window, Jules et Jim

Books- similar to films, a few of my faves are: New York Triology, the World according to Garp, Noughts and Crosses, the Portrait of Dorian Gray

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've met Orlando Bloom, I've been skydiving, I slept on the roof of a VERY tall building in the middle of Seoul, I tried Zulu dancing in South Africa, I wrote my name on a star on the walk of fame, I convinced my friend to buy a ticket to Canada at the airport, I had to drive 50 or so miles in Germany and sleep at an airport for 3 nights (not the most pleasant experience)

Teach, Learn, Share

I can definitely teach you a little bit about Buddhism, the sect I am from at least.

I can try and teach you how to speak in an English accent.

For sure I can make you a fulll English breakfast.

I can teach you a duet on piano.

I can share with you some pretty outrageous stories from my past.

I can also teach you how to drive stick shift if you don't already know :)

Countries I’ve Visited

France, Germany, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom, United States