*FEMALES OR COUPLES ONLY, SEE BELOW FOR EXPLANATION*

Hello friends! I'm Julia, I'm Canadian, and I've been teaching English and living in a small town in Kumamoto Prefecture since 2014. I love exploring the many mountains and forests around me and am always eager to meet new people and learn about life in different countries. I am accepting guests whenever I'm able to, but unfortunately in my current living situation there are a few limitations:

1) I don't live in Kumamoto City, I live in Ashikita, which is about an hour and a half outside of the city. Trains do run to it, but south of Yatsushiro you need to transfer onto the Orange Hitotsu Line, which won't be covered if you're using the JR rail pass. However, the cost of the train from where you'd transfer and my place is only about 500 yen.

2) The town I live in is wonderful and filled with great people. However, since everyone knows each other and I stand out as a foreigner, gossip is rampant. Most people who live here are quite old and have very conservative ideas, and I've been scolded in the past for having males stay at my place. While I'd love to just ignore the haters, as part of my job I do have to maintain my reputation so unfortunately I won't host exclusively male guests. Mixed couples seem to raise less eyebrows so that's okay, and females are no problem. However, if any males are just looking for someone to meet up with in Kumamoto City, feel free to give me a shout!

Happy surfing!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love to meet new people, hear their stories, and make new friends. Plus, it can get a little lonely out here in the middle of the Japanese countryside, so I love visitors!

Interests

Hiking, running, knitting, rollerblading, friendship bracelets, reading, Nihon Buyo, anything related to journalism, learning foreign languages, human rights and social justice, origami.

• books
• human rights
• running
• drinking
• reading
• knitting
• origami
• podcasts
• hiking
• surfing
• journalism
• languages
• mountains

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I am awestruck at what I see every single day...however, if you want to grab a drink I would love to tell you all about watching the Northern Lights during my two summers in Canada's Northwest Territories, sleeping in the French alps, and a few of the spontaneous trips I've taken around Japan in the past few months. Also, I was struck by lightning one time.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I read a lot of books and listen to loads of podcasts, so I'm always full of recommendations.

Countries I’ve Visited

Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, Japan, Myanmar, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, France, Japan