CURRENT MISSION

See the world and meet its inhabitants

ABOUT ME

Hi! My name is Lauren. I am from Seattle, Washington. I teach and study literature, and I am also a journalist.

PHILOSOPHY

I try to maintain an open mind, be generous with what I have, and help others when I can. I enjoy new and diverse experiences, and I like to see and learn as much as possible.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I had a great time CouchSurfing in Poland. I was with someone else who had a CouchSurfing account, and it was such a great experience that I decided to start up my own. I was blown away by the kindness and generosity of people whom I had never met before, and found out loads more information on areas I was visiting than I would have otherwise.

Interests

Music, Books, Film, Travel, Meeting People, the World.

• books
• literature
• dining
• cooking
• movies
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• teaching
• journalism

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Dark, strange, sad and sappy, I love them. Where to begin? Usually when I start to write lists like this, they take me forever to construct and then I end up erasing them, because it's impossible for me to say everything I want to...

I like movies that show me something completely unfamiliar to the context in which I was raised, but are at the same time familiar to some dimension of my own experience of the world -- Ousmane Sembène, Krystof Kieslowski, and Dusan Makavejev immediately come to mind as directors who have made me feel this way recently. I would probably say Agnes Varda and Roman Polanski are my top two living directors. I find most movies from the 1980s delightful to watch (I recently discovered About Last Night -- so good!), including anything and everything John Hughes touched. Movies that make me nostalgic for my childhood are quite special to me -- Hook, Troop Beverly Hills, A League of Their Own, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Wayne's World, Stealing Beauty to name a few. My favorite American directors are probably Woody Allen and Richard Linklater. I like small-release films by filmmakers who were passionate and driven enough to tell a story even though they knew that it wouldn't see much of an audience or make them any richer. I can also get into big-budget Hollywood blockbusters -- I enjoyed Inception, for example. I recently saw a few Ingmar Bergman films for the first time as part of the Berlin Film Festival, which blew me away. I want to watch more Japanese film from the middle of last century. I would love to meet someone who could introduce me to films from the Philippines.

I love to watch movies in a theater. I recognize movie-theater going to be both a treat and a privilege, and I can't always afford to do it as often as I would like. But I love the physical space of a movie theater. I love a huge screen, comfy seats, big sound, and most importantly, people in seats next to you, their noises, laughter, snide remarks, etc. I love how diverse and special many movie theaters are, especially the old ones -- for example, the historic theaters of Rue des Ecoles in Paris that the Nouvelle Vague haunted, where thoughtful individuals have for decades been and still are dedicated to the art of carefully designing series and retrospectives. I love that when a certain movie comes to town, an entire community may begin talking and thinking about a different part of the human experience, or of the world. The cinema is not a unique form of art in this aspect, but it is a particularly effective one. I hope that Netflix and Hulu don't spell out the end for movie theaters, but rather encourage a new era of cinemagoing, where people come more than ever to seek out the diverse, little movies that can't be found at McCinema.

Music: Love it. I try not to have too many expectations and preconceptions about what type of music I will enjoy, but I listen to it avidly.

Books: ... I will have to update this later!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

For the past year, I have taught film and literature courses in prison, which has been an incredible opportunity and experience. Movies and books offer a powerful tool to step outside of oneself and one's immediate set of circumstances to experience something quite different. In order to understand film and literature, one must imagine a life beyond one's own. This is a powerful form of escape in a prison.

I was one of millions of people gathered in Washington D.C. to watch Barack Obama be sworn in as President. I will never forget what it was like to be a part of that crowd.

Teach, Learn, Share

I am a student, teacher and lover of film and literature, so I am happy to share what I know, and I love learning about what others are interested in.

I can cook decently, and love to try all different types of food.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Guatemala, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Monaco, Nicaragua, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Costa Rica, Germany, United States

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