BASIC INFO IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES

ENGLISH:
My name is Julian but I mostly go by Jules. I'm a student just finishing my sophomore year of college. I enjoy playing music, amateur photography, and learning languages, among many other things, and if I stay with you will likely try to speak to you in your native language. If you offer me an instrument I will probably play you a song. English is my first language. I list French, German and Russian as both "fluent" and "learning" because I can hold a conversation pretty well in them, but I personally don't consider myself fluent. When I say I'm learning Swedish, I mainly mean that I know a few basic phrases and want to learn more.

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FRANÇAIS:
Mon prénom est Julian, mais appelez-moi Jules. Je suis un étudiant, et je finirai bientôt ma deuxième année dans l'université. J'aime beaucoup jouer de la musique, la photographie, et apprendre des langues, et si je reste avec vous, je probablement parlerai (aussi bien que je peut) avec vous dans votre langue maternelle, et peut-être je pourrais jouer quelques chansons pour vous (en anglais) sur la guitare ou le piano si vous me le permettez. J'ai étudié le français pour 6 années pendant l'école, mais je n'ai pas parler depuis quelques années. Je connais la langue quand même assez bien que je peut parler avec vous si vous ne parlez pas d'Anglais. Je veux traduire le reste de mon profil en français et plus tard en allemande, mais maintenant je n'ai pas le temps, donc il faut que je vous diriger à Google Translate si vous ne parlez pas anglais. N'hesitez pas à me demander si vous ne comprennez pas quelque chose très importante.

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DEUTSCH:
Meine Name ist Julian, aber ich heiße gewöhnlich Jules. Ich bin ein Student, und ich komme jetzt zum Schluss meines zweiten Jahres in der Hochschule. Ich spiele gern Musik, fotografiere gern, und lerne sehr gern die Sprachen, zusammen mit einige andere Dingen. Wenn ich mit Ihnen wohne werde ich wahrscheinlich in Ihrer Muttersprache sprechen, mindestens so viel wie ich kann. Ich kann auch für Sie auf Gitarre oder Klavier ein paar lieder spielen, wenn Sie es möchten. Ich habe in der Schule 5 Ebenen Deutsch gelernt, aber ich lernte sie in 2 Jahren, deshalb kenne ich ziemlich wohl die Sprache, aber weiß ich nicht so viele Wörtern, wie ich möchte wissen. Ich kann ja ein Gespräche führen, aber ich habe wenig geübt mit echten Deutschen Leuten, also bin ich oft nervös. Vielleicht habe ich aber besser darin geworden, während ich die letzen 2 Monaten in Russland gewesen habe, weil hier spreche ich jeden Tag mit Muttersprachlern einer Sprache, die ich schlechter aus Deutsch spreche.

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РУССКИЙ:
Мое имя Джулиан, но обычно меня зовут "Jules" (произносится "Джулз" по-английски, но для русских, французские произношение, "Жуль", обычно легче). Русский мой 4-й язык. Я начал изучать в октябре 2014, но в моём институте мы учимся 1 субъект за раз очень быстро, и начаем новые субъекты каждый месяц. Я 4 месяця русский учился, 2 в России, и поэтому я говорю как я бы 2 года языка в институте учился. Сейчас я не хочу найти хозяины в России, но может быть в будущее. Я хочу всё описание тоже на русский переводить, но сейчас нет времени.

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SVENSKA:
Mitt namn är Julian men jag brukar heter Jules. Jag talar inte väl svenska. Jag vet bara fraser (som "jag är hungrig" och "jag talar inte svenska"), men jag vill lära mig mer!! (Min vän hjälpte mig att skriva.)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am traveling Western Europe with a rail pass on a low budget this summer (2015), following taking classes abroad in Russia for 2 months. The idea behind this whole trip is that I don't know when the next time I'm going to be able to afford a transatlantic plane ticket is (the plane ticket to Russia was paid for by my school), and so I should try to make the most I can of it while I'm over here. I'm generally looking for low-budget options, because I've faced some unexpected costs in Russia and most of my remaining money needs to go towards food and travel expenses. I would prefer to stay places where I am either within walking distance (i.e. a few kilometers) of the city center or main attractions of the city, or a metro station if there is a metro, so that I don't have to take a taxi into the city. I can afford a small gift like an inexpensive bottle of wine for hosts, and if you want to cook something for me I can pay you back for it if you want me to (also, if you do, please know that I'm a vegetarian), but I can only really afford to pay for lodging for a few nights on this trip, which I'd like to save for emergencies, i.e. if the only other option is a park bench.

I'm fairly well-traveled in America (although this is my first time in Europe), and have been hosted by people here and there, but most of my trips have been backpacking trips where I've carried a tent, which I don't think is as much of an option in Europe if I'm hoping to spend of my time in/near big cities. I'm okay with ANY sort of sleeping arrangements. That includes couches, reclining chairs, corners on the floor, and even sleeping outside if you have a tent and a blanket I can borrow, just as long as there's somewhere dry for me to leave my things. I will be traveling with 2 backpacks, one small and one medium, and a small camera bag to give you an idea of how much stuff I have. I also have a larger suitcase which I've needed in Russia since I needed cold-weather clothes and things like that, but I am trying to mail it back to the US early in my trip (preferably in Paris, because it's looking like mailing it from Russia won't be possible).

As a student, I'm currently not able to host anyone, but when I have my own house or apartment I definitely plan to do so. I've been hosted by too many wonderful people in various contexts at various times to not want to give back.

(I'll try to write this and everything else in other languages later but I can't now because I have homework)

Interests

I really love learning above anything else. That pervades everything I do; if I have a chance to learn a new skill or to get better at something I only know a little bit about I will almost always take it, which means I'm always trying new things.

I like learning languages quite a bit, and am at least somewhat conversational in French, German and Russian. In the future I'd like to learn Hindi, Arabic and Mandarin, although if I had an opportunity to learn another language other than those I wouldn't pass it up.

I am an amateur photographer. I have never taken a class, but I read a decent amount, and I've been shooting for about half of my life. I try to mostly go by intuition and just use rules when it's convenient. I really like to shoot abstract/geometric, macro, landscapes and nature/wildlife, but I don't limit myself to those styles at all.

I've been running for most of my life. At home I try to run at least 2-3 times a week, sometimes more. While I'm in Europe I'm only running as often as I can, because (at least so far) I'm too busy most days and often there isn't a lot open space near where I'm living. I also have some interest in triathlons, although I haven't had a good bike to ride most of the time since I started college, and I don't swim as often as I would like to even when I do have a pool available. Hiking is also a passion of mine, and I have a lot of stories from the various backpacking trips I've been on.

I love playing music and singing. I know a few songs on piano and a bunch on guitar, and I play several instruments but don't know any songs that I could play in a solo setting. I also love listening to music of all sorts, and may try to see a couple of small concerts here and there if I can afford it.

• wildlife
• singing
• photography
• concerts
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• vegetarian
• running
• walking
• clothing
• traveling
• billiards
• music
• guitar
• piano
• cycling
• hiking
• backpacking
• camping
• hunting
• swimming
• languages
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Big fan of a lot of bands from a lot of different genres and am constantly looking for new music. Some of my favorite bands include Pearl Jam, Rise Against, Polar Bear Club, The Grateful Dead, Phish, Railroad Earth, Gregory Alan Isakov, Iron and Wine, Yes, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the list goes on and on. I also like classical and jazz, with my favorite composers being Debussy, Liszt, Mozart, and Tchaikovsky, and my favorite jazz artists being Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, Jon Batiste, and The Bad Plus.

I'm not a huge movie watcher, but some movies that I've seen and really liked are Memento, American Beauty, 21 Grams, The King's Speech, The Silence of the Lambs, and A Beautiful Mind.

In the past I've really enjoyed Hemingway, as well as dystopian fictions and modernism (Bradbury, Huxley, Kafka). I haven't been doing as much reading as I'd like to since I started college because there's always too much homework. I love non-English literature as a method of practicing languages, so I may ask hosts for book recommendations.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Umm I don't know? I ran my first 50km race when I was 17 and my first half-ironman when I was 18. I really like camping/backpacking. I climbed the 14,000ft/4000m mountain close to my school 5 times in my first year of living there and plan on attempting a couple similar mountains (in America) this summer. I rode my bike 800mi/1300km alone in the course of 15 days once.

Teach, Learn, Share

Could somebody tell me what's supposed to go in this section?

What I Can Share with Hosts

Mostly music, language, and travel stories (I have a lot of travel stories, and trying to tell them in a non-native language is always fun). I'm more than willing to help out with cleaning or housework a little bit, and I would love to go for jogs if my host is looking for somebody to run with. I tend to bring a couple bags of good loose-leaf tea with me wherever I go and I love sharing that too.

Countries I’ve Visited

Martinique, Russian Federation

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States