CURRENT MISSION

Break out of the darkness. Step away from the shadows. Dance in the sunlight. Revel in the beauty of today.

ABOUT ME

Hey! My name is Julianna and I am a 21 year old student living in Ottawa, ON. I am in my 4th year of my undergrad program at uOttawa, studying English literature and History.

I am a confident, fun loving, and independent girl lusting after excitement, spontaneity and adventure! I am open-minded and not quick to judge and I love to meet new people.

Hobbies that I enjoy include reading, cooking, playing volleyball and soccer, and spending time outside.

Excited to see the world, one couch at a time!

PHILOSOPHY

1. Be proud of who you are and remember your roots.
2. Dream big and take risks.
3. Know that you will fail ... take this failure in stride and learn from it. 4. Don't be afraid to get lost ... half the fun is in finding your way back. 5. Talk to strangers ... they may be some of the most interesting people you will ever meet.
6. Laughter is the best medicine.
7. Finally, as they say, "to love is to live". Love with all of your heart.

"Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live."
Mark Twain

“You have to risk going too far to discover just how far you can really go.” - T.S. Eliot

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Couchsurfing whenever my bank account allows me to travel!
In the meantime, I am happy to meet with surfers in Ottawa and I am hoping to start hosting!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Couchsurfed in Halifax in October, 2010. Couldn't have asked for a better first experience!

Interests

Singing in the shower, cooking, reading on rainy days, exploring new places, philosophizing about life, dancing, live music, volleyball and soccer, meteor showers ... and so on :)

• literature
• singing
• beauty
• dancing
• cooking
• reading
• traveling
• magic
• music
• live music
• guitar
• piano
• soccer
• volleyball
• history
• medicine
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

Books/Poetry:
Anything by Alice Munro, Ann-Marie MacDonald - Fall on Your Knees, Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveler's Wife, Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre, Charles Dickens - Great Expectations, William Golding - The Lord of the Flies, Lawrence Hill - The Book of Negroes, E.B. White - Charlotte's Web, Tolkien - The Hobbit, Jane Austen novels, Samuel Taylor Coleridge poetry, Dorothy Livesay poetry, Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird, Julian Barnes - A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters

Movies:
The Green Mile, Forrest Gump, The Kids Are All Right, Slumdog Millionaire, The Lion King, Conviction, Titanic, The Reader, Avatar, Schindler's List, Conspiracy Theory, Man on Fire, 500 Days of Summer, etc.

Music:
I appreciate almost all genres of music! I know ... sounds like a cop out ... but seriously! There are very few things that I won't listen to!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Went head to head with a barracuda while snorkelling in Akumal Bay in Punta Cana.
--> The guide told us that if we saw a barracuda we were supposed to stop moving and splashing and very gradually back up. I was so captivated looking at the sea turtles underneath me and the baby squid to my side, I literally swam within 3 inches of the barracuda while splashing and yelling at my mom and sister to come see the baby squid! Thankfully Mr. Barracuda wasn't hungry that day!

Teach, Learn, Share

I taught piano for five or six years, so I could definitely teach someone how to play!

I would love to learn how to play the guitar and I would love to learn how to speak French.