Hi, I’m Kristina and I am 19 years old. I live in Hagen on a big hill. Hagen is a part of North Rhine Westphalia and is called “The Gate to Sauerland”, which is a very green area in the surroundings. I live here with my mother and my father. My bigger sister moved house to Dortmund to study there. I miss her a lot!
In winter I love skiing and in summer I love to ride bicycle. So if you see a girl riding a bike- it might be me!
My grandpartens do have a caravan and every spring and autumn we make a trip to Cuxhaven. A beautiful city at the German sea. By the way: I LOVE the smell of the sea. And if you know somebody who does not love it… slap him!
I love swimming and meeting my friends. I am a very open person and I will tell you a lot! No matter if you have time or not! But also, I am a very good listener. Last week a friend called me suggestion box.
2014 I did my Abitur (German graduation from high school) and then I started my year as a volunteer at a school for mentally disabled children. It was one of the best decisions in my life! I love those children, no matter if they are disabled or not. They always make me smile and that is the most important thing in life. I love watching them becoming stronger and stronger in every day situations. Let me tell you this: Those kids are amazing! They are more honest than other children, because you will never see them lie.
Later I want to study and become a teacher for those children.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Actually I haven’t seen a lot of the world. I have been to some countries in Europe and to a small part of Asia. But now things are about to change! I want to travel the world with the people I love the most: my beautiful friends and my lovely family.
I want to start my journey in America and be honest: how boring is a small hotel room? You are on your own and you will not meet new people. Meeting people is one of the biggest parts of traveling to me. I want to get to know how they live and what they cook. I want to get to know them and maybe they got some special information about their hometown for me. This is why I decided to be a part of the Couchsurfing community. It’s gonna be so much fun!

Interests

• dining
• cooking
• baking
• traveling
• socializing
• cycling
• camping
• skiing
• boxing
• swimming
• teaching
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

What kind of music do I hear? Honestly, there is no specific music genre I like the most. I love turning on the radio and I love to hear all those mainstream songs. And if there is a song I do not like, I just… shake it off
My favorite movies are: Gladiator (I cried like a little baby), blind side, love-rosie and the German movie “Honig im Kopf” (honey in the head). I watched it with two male friends. Usually they are machos. Both of them cried.
I have to admit that my imagination is not that good. This is why I prefer watching movies instead of reading books. I hope that’s okay!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Since I have been three years old I do a bicycle trip with my family every summer. At day we ride through whole Germany and at night we camp on a camping side.
Since 2011 my sister Katharina and I go on our own bicycle trip. Just her and me. On a tandem! Our biggest dream was to make a trip from our hometown to Venice.
To practice this we rided from Augsburg to Venice(900 kilometers) in 2010. It's half the way. 2014 we rided from Augsburg to our hometown Hagen (800 kilometers).
Now we are able to say: we rided our bicycles from Hagen to Venice! (No one has to know that we did a 4 year break when we made half the way haha!)

To everyone who wants to go on a tandem trip with a loved one one day I only have two words: DO IT.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I love cooking and baking! Since 2011 I am ill. It’s celiac Disease, a disease which doesn’t allow you do eat food with gluten. This is why I had to start cooking and baking gluten-free( without rye, spelled, wheat, oats and barley). As you can imagine it is very hard, but I practised a lot and if you want to, I will give you a cooking lesson for gluten-free food. You really should give it a try!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom