CURRENT MISSION

Make the most of my time in Europe (however long it will be)

ABOUT ME

I have a hard time with this question. I'm often quite serious, I guess, at first, but I love to laugh and have fun as well. Traveling - meeting new people and seeing new places - is one of my favorite things to do. When at home I like to read, listen to music and watch TV and movies. As a politics student, I try to keep up on the news but I'm afraid I'm still catching up after taking a few years off between under- and post-grad. I try to be the best host I can (within reason) and I'd be happy to meet you for some conversation :) I usually surf with my best friend, Lauren (http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/mcclaur/).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

My flatmate and I decided to dive headfirst into CS about three years ago and it has been, to be trite, life-changing. CS has changed the way I travel, my knowledge of the world, how much I trust people and my faith in the ability of people to get along and communicate across cultural differences. I love it and I hope to continue doing it for a long time. Sadly, I can't host right now due to my living situation, but I'm trying to remain connected to surfing and meetings.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Hosted:
Jason from Singapore
Agni and Left from Greece
Tiago and Afonso from Portugal
Dario from Italy
Adriana from Spain
Josh from Australia
Vaclav, Vaclav, and Lukas from Czech Republic
Benjamin from France
Ilias from Greece
Leighton and Ansel from the USA
Rein from Estonia (our first repeat experience!)
Aleksandra, Marta, and Zbigniew from Poland with Mickey
from the USA
Dusan from Slovakia and Yu from Japan
Agnieszka and Natalia from Poland
Dagmara and Dominika from Poland
Karina, María Clara, and Laura from Argentina
Lysandra and Andrew from Australia
Katja and Natasha from Slovenia
Maud and Emilien from France
Elise and Manon from France
Michelle, Leo, and Pedro from Brazil with Stan from Poland
Nichole from the USA
Jane and Ari from the USA
Christy and Kris from the USA (a veritable streak of Americans!)
Paul from the UK
Carsten and Francoise from Germany (Francoise via Canada)
Scottie from the USA

Surfed:
Eva in Athens
Stefano in Athens
Spyros in Athens
Rein in Tallinn
Ragne in Tartu
Liga in Riga
Undina in Liepaja
Laura and Daiva in Vilnius
Dorota in Warsaw
Weronika in Gdynia
Kamila in Wroclaw
Agnieszka and Eliza in Krakow
Santiago and his brothers in Kiev
Maxym in Chernivtsi
Alexandru in Bucharest
Rocio in Madrid
Eduarda in Salamanca
Sucri in Salamanca
Marina in Belgrade
Alfie in London
Jim in Pecs
Margaret in Berlin
Michal in Prague
Viet in Paris
Line in Copenhagen
Blagoy and Valentina in Sofia

Interests

friends, novels, music, spreading and acquiring knowledge, mysteries, traveling, my family, Art Nouveau, photography, languages, scarves, food, quality sci fi, laughing, walking, French, sunshine, the sound of rain, Europe, Asian art, Scrabble, politics (academically interested, not professionally), fairness, British humor, logic, public transport, being an ex-pat

• arts
• photography
• dining
• cooking
• walking
• politics
• news
• movies
• tv
• traveling
• music
• surfing
• teaching
• languages
• logic

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: I skew toward dramas and movies that make me think, but I love a good comedy or musical, too.

Music: indie rock, 70s punk, dance, some singer-songwriters, jazz and blues, it is ever evolving.

Favorite authors include: Haruki Murakami, Oscar Wilde, Ian Rankin, Jonathan Safran Foer, Ian McEwan and Neal Stephenson, but I'm always reading something.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

- Walking along the Great Wall of China at age 12, completely awed
- Moving to Budapest at 22 to teach English for what turned out to be four fantastic years!
- Hosting 50 people in just over a year in Bp

Teach, Learn, Share

Well, I've been an English teacher for a couple years. I like to cook, although I wouldn't call myself an expert. A few years ago my French was at a high conversational level, after a few years of neglect my vocabulary is suffering but I'd love to try! I enjoying helping people and sharing what I know, so don't be afraid to ask and I'll see what I can do. :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Hungary, United Kingdom, United States

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