Hello!
My name is Lewis, I'm a 26 year old, British linguist. I was born in the North of England, but currently am based in Berlin.

Learning languages and experiencing life abroad is a major part of my life. I studied Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Southampton from 2012 - 2016 and as part of my course I lived in Lisbon, Portugal, working as a volunteer at a charity involved with the Erasmus+ scheme as part of my own study abroad period. After graduating from University I moved to Madrid, Spain where I lived for two very happy years, both teaching English and working for an airline.

Since September 2018 I have been living in Berlin, which will be my base hopefully for the foreseeable future.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm looking to learn what it means to really travel and get to know other cities, countries and cultures. Throughout my time in Spain, I came to recognise the value of local knowledge and how important it is as someone inexperienced in a new country to connect with people who call that place their home.

Couchsurfing, for me, is a way of facilitating this and ultimately, of sharing passions, information and different ways of life.

Interests

My main passion I would say is definitely travelling (slightly obvious).

Aside from this I definitely enjoy being creative and channeling this through writing. I'm currently running a queer culture blog (wearequeerative.com), where I write about queer literature, music, art, TV and cinema.

As well as this, a big interest of mine is learning languages. I am currently learning German and hope to be able to keep up my Spanish and Portuguese skills while learning this new one.

• culture
• writing
• vegetarian
• running
• traveling
• languages
• study abroad
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: l*tend* to lean heavily towards something sung by a lead female vocalist (unapologetically).... I also like giving recommendations for lesser known artists.

Movies: my favourite film of all time is Mrs Doubtfire. Last film I watched was the Sound of Music (in German).

Books: Non-fiction wise: mostly queer theory, trans* studies-based books; Fiction: Oscar Wilde, Carlos Ruiz Zafón are my favourites. I just finished reading "The Woman in the Window" and loved it.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Hiked to the top of Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park, California and seen the view of the park from the top.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: I'm currently living as a vegan so I would love to teach you a bit about this way of life and how positive it can be.

Learn: I would love to learn about your stories, why you live where you do and what has led you to where you are. It may be SUPER cliché but people really do make a place rather than the other way around.

Share: Definitely share stories about our travels, our experiences and where we currently "are" in life right now. Sometimes talking to new people can give us fresh perspectives on our own positions.

What I Can Share with Hosts

This, I think, is a tough question as it depends on what the hosts wants. I think I could definitely share with him/her stories about my experiences of living, working and studying away from home in the UK and also in Spain and Portugal. Some of these stories have a slight comedic element to them, as, of course, adventuring off on your own often involves a few mishaps, but they do make for great stories to share!

Although I have spent most of the past year and most of my vacations away from the UK, it is my homeland and talking about it with others is a great way of maintaining that connection. So I can share with hosts a very realistic perspective on British culture, our language and life in the UK.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Brazil, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom