ABOUT ME

I'm an Austrian student, living together with my longtime partner in lovely Vienna. Traveling is very high up on my list of favorite things in the world and I've been to many places within and some outside Europe. I love Italy for the wonderful food and the totally relaxed way of life (in fact, there has never been a year for me without at least one visit to Italy - a cup of coffee alone is worth the journey...), I'm absolutely amazed by Iceland's beauty and magic atmosphere, I'm a fan of charming little towns in France like Strassbourg, .... I also enjoy my life in Vienna very much, and I never stop to discover new ways to do that.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Like everyone around here, I'm looking for great traveling experiences including new acquaintances. I love to get a feeling of every place I visit and according to my experiences this happens a lot faster when you stay with someone who is living at this place, who knows it and is just pursuing their everyday routine.

I would also love to offer accommodation myself, but unfortunately this is not possible at the moment. However, I will do so as soon as possible ;-)

Interests

I love trying out new things, new sports and hobbies!
Among many other interests, I particularly like reading, designing and making cloths and photography, I love my lovely dog, I enjoy learning languages, I'm interested in all kinds of art, ....... My strengths generally lie with diversity more than with perseverance and perfection ;-)

Some things, however, will never change: I value time spent with the people I love more than anything, I always need some other activities to balance purely mental work, and I need to get out of the city and into the mountains from time to time.

My professional/academical interest lies with migration and asylum which I believe to be one of the most important political matters of our time, and the current European policies one of the gravest challenges to our human rights regime(s).

What occupies my time, mind and heart most is the school project for young refugees in Austria that I have been working/volunteering in for some two years now (mainly in my function as member of managing board, but also as teacher, legal assistant for our housing project, and in some other ways). I absolutely love our students with all their immense strengths and potentials and experiences both good and bad, with their optimism that never fails to amaze me. And I marvel at what my colleagues have managed to build up in the last few years, from having the idea to the school with almost 100 students that we are now. Check out our website (English version coming soon): http://www.prosa-schule.org/

• dogs
• arts
• singing
• photography
• beauty
• human rights
• dining
• coffee
• reading
• traveling
• magic
• cycling
• sports
• teaching
• languages
• law
• volunteering
• beaches
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

I'm not that much into music (oh no, probably something you shouldn't say alound), but I love lindy hop swing dancing, and swing music including electro swing for that reason ;-)

Movies and, possibly even more, books I do really love! With movies I like everything unusual, with books I like EVERYTHING, from simplest fantasy to complicated literature. To name just a few random novel amongst my (many) favorites: Le petit prince, The Kite Runner, Les vaisseaux du cœur, Der Zauberberg.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Listening to the whales singing underwater at Kauai's beaches. Seeing the sun set over the Alps. Cycling from Austria to Rome with my recumbent trike.

Teach, Learn, Share

Learn: I absolutely love to pick up new languages, so I'll expect you to speak to me in your native tongue if there's any chance I'll understand it. I can understand Italian, French, Danish, Romanian and some other languages if you'll just speak nice and slow ;-)

Teach: I can offer expertise on sewing and teaching dogs useless tricks using positive reinforcement :D

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Austria, Denmark