CURRENT MISSION

Eastern Europe and Balkan

ABOUT ME

Hi I'm Karen - hoping to meet you in the near future.
Currently I'm about to embark on travels to South Eastern Europe for the summer along with a close friend of mine, Stine. I hope to experience some of the historical+cultural sights I read about, and get a real glimpse of Eastern Europe, which I only know very little of.

I live my every day life in the second largest city in Denmark, Aarhus, which is a university city foremost. I've taken my time to decide on a career and started Teaching College only last year. I will be ready to teach English and Danish to teens in 3 yrs time. Also, I strive to add an international side to my education.

In my pass time I'm in an Ice Hockey team in Aarhus, which I absolutely love - It fills and drains me of energy at the same time =)

I've got both feet on the ground, very down to earth and easy to get on with. I smile a lot and generally I am a happy person therefore difficult to upset or stress out. I like to be surrounded by people (I'm the second child out of 5). I see my friends and family a lot, and have always shared a flat with somebody, but at the same time I'm a very private person who enjoys my own company from time to time. Traveling, however, is for me about meeting people and through them a different culture.

PHILOSOPHY

Learning to live is living to learn.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I participate because I find that the best way to explore a country is through its people - the locals. I don't just want to experience the polished postcard side of things, I want to get a preview of every day life around the world. Talk to the people about their lives, opinions etc. to broaden my own horizon and thereby learn something about my own country too.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

None so far, but I'm very keen to give it a go - surf and host.
I was brought up by parents, who have always welcomed "unorganized" couch surfing - there has always been foreigners coming and going in my home, whom we have had the benifit of visiting later on in our lives. When you are abroad distant family soon becomes close family in the most positive way! I have met rather a few people, who are friends of friends or even further out. Start out with an email adress and come home with a life long friendship. This summer for instance, I'm planning to meet up with a sister of a Polish colleage of mine from my summer job last year! I'm looking forward to it.

Interests

Nature
Icehockey
Horseriding
Sewing/apparel design
Anything artistic/creative
Languages
Photography
Traveling
People
Culture
History
Cooking
Gardening
Philosofy
Psychology

• culture
• design
• photography
• education
• cooking
• gardening
• traveling
• socializing
• surfing
• hockey
• teaching
• history
• languages
• psychology

Music, Movies, and Books

BOOKS, All time favourite book: A 900p sort of historical sci-fi action and romantic novel by Daniella Gabaldon - the only book that massive I've ever started and finished. It kept me busy on the roads in Australia 4 yrs ago. I was completely absorbed and must admit to being a bit of a romantic.
Other than that I like to read travel diaries to get inspiration. Tend to pick up a bit of everything and loose concentration half way through
Go to the library to "read" magazines, listen to music.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I went to school in Latvia for four months, when I was ten and haven't been able to shake off that experience since = ) Other than that, the sunset on top of Table Mountain, Cape Town is hard to beat.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Bulgaria, China, Estonia, France, Germany, Lithuania, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Denmark, Latvia, United Kingdom