My name is Khalil. I am currently a PhD student in Literature and Cultural Studies, at the University of Montreal, where I am also a lecturer. I like to describe myself as a nomad. I am linked to three countries/continents simultaneously: Canada, which is my current hometown; France, where I spent a great part of my twenties (and where I often go back); and North Africa, where I was born and grew up—so I must see the Mediterranean at least twice a year.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I usually travel for work (conferences, etc.) so I book Airbnb rooms, which is not the best opportunity to meet up with locals and experience a city's everyday life. But, from now on, I am definitely willing to manage extra-scholar trips and to enjoy travelling outside my comfort zone, which is the best way to make new experiences and the most unexpected encounters.
I like reading and writing (no kidding?) and, recently, I went back to painting. Good wine, good food (I cook a lot, especially for others), good talks with good people.

Interests

Politics, philosophy, democracy, literature, cinema, imagination, dreams, wandering, etc.

• writing
• literature
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• politics
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• painting
• cultural studies
• teaching

Music, Movies, and Books

It's not easy for a PhD student in Literature to list his favorite books—it's a bit like making a list of all my friends, my loves and my family members. But I have a quite eclectic selection of books from world literature (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Henry Bauchau, William S. Burroughs, Brion Gysin, Sadegh Hedayat, Ibrahim al-Koni, Elias Khoury, Margaret Atwood, Réjean Ducharme, Anne Hébert, José Saramago, Boris Vian, J.D. Salinger, Patrick Suskind, Bernhard Schlink, Richard Yates...).

Movies: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Reader, Mr Nobody, Vénus Noire, Lemon Trees, Le déclin de l'empire américain, I am Love, Two Lovers, Osage County, Sophie's Choice, Cloud Atlas, The Hours, The Tree of Life, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, L'Écume des jours, Atonement, Anna Karenina, Volver, Babel, Little Children, The Revolutionary Road, etc., etc., never-ending etc.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In June 2014, I managed to go back to Casablanca (Morocco), that I'd left 19 years ago after spending there five years of my early childhood, with my family. I had no address, no phone contact, only my suitcase, vague memories, some old faces and faint names. I recognized the main street where my primary school was located, the building where I lived, the balcony, the erased garden, and the family next door who then kidnapped me for the rest of the day, covering me with gifts and feeding me up. A lost part of me came back to life. It was a wonderful day, a wonderful evening, a wonderful night that lived like a dream and which changed my life for ever, and also the way I was considering myself and negotiating with the past.

Teach, Learn, Share

Everything is to be shared, everything is to be learned and taught.

What I Can Share with Hosts

A couch, a meal, a glass of wine, long walks through the city trying to reshape the world.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Greece, Lebanon, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, France, Morocco, Tunisia