CURRENT MISSION

Learning about how music and culture interact.

ABOUT ME

All about me? It's like when you're in class and you thought you knew the answer, but when the professor calls on you, your mind is blank.

I'm a very curious person, and love learning all sorts of things, from school work to new recipes and languages. I love to cook and knit, and am a huge Trekie. I study music, and someday I'd like to be a choir director at a university.

PHILOSOPHY

Learn as much as possible from books, people, and life.

Try not to be a douchebag, even to people who like the New York Yankees (baseball rivals of the beloved Boston Red Sox, for those who don't follow the sport).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Right now I'm surfing, but when I have a place of my own, I'd love to host as much as possible.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Just starting out with Couchsurfing, so far it has worked out great! I look forward to becoming a bigger part of the community.

Interests

I like to keep active, dancing, judo, swimming and hiking in the gorges in Ithaca. I love good conversation and good books. I'm currently working on a music degree at Cornell University, and traveling to do research on my thesis on Gregorian chant. I am also very interested in politics- I love to argue about them ;).

My favorite hobby (other than music, which is what I study, so I do/think about it all the time) is cooking. I love to try new recipes, though I usually just make it up as I go along. I'd love to cook with you and learn some new flavor combinations or techniques.

I also love to knit, especially complicated lace patterns, though I am notorious for getting half way through one project and starting a new one instead of finishing the first.

I've been variously successful in brewing my own alcohol . . . more experimentation necessary, I think. And some proper equipment. Mmmmmmmmm, meade.

• culture
• books
• dancing
• cooking
• recipes
• politics
• traveling
• knitting
• music
• hiking
• surfing
• sports
• baseball
• swimming
• teaching
• history
• languages
• au-pair

Music, Movies, and Books

I love really cheesy movies like Braveheart and the Mummy, but also lots of SciFi: Startrek, Stargate, Starwars, etc.

I listen to lots of music, depending on the context; everything from classic rock to Beethoven and Brahms to irish punk to medieval chant.

Books- all of them. All the time. Conrad is my favorite author of all time, not just because of his books, but because I have so much respect for him writing such good quality in a language that is not his native one (he was a Polish sailor!). I also love Tolstoy, especially the short stories, and have recently gotten into Orhan Pamuk thanks to my sister.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've been in a thunderstorm on top of the Presidential Ridge in the White Mountain National Park. I've seen the northern lights on the shore of Lake Michigan in St. Ignace, Michigan. I've sung Durufle's requiem in the Muenster Dom while I was living there as an au pair.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach people all about Gregorian chant! Probably waaaaaaaaaaaay more than most people would ever want to know. ;)

Hmmm, music history? Music theory?

Cooking, though I don't really have a method, as I explained earlier. Just follow your nose, as the saying goes.

Knitting! Lots of knitting!

Countries I’ve Visited

Germany, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, United States