CURRENT MISSION

Look up!

ABOUT ME

The great passions of my life are the study and learning of languages (my major is psycholinguistics), archery, beekeeping, bookbinding, and going on adventures. I'm ridiculously excited about seeing the world, hearing and learning the languages, and having fun talking and adventuring with other people. I love to wonder and look for beauty in everyday events and experiences. I am also a big fan of Apfelschorle (bubbly apple juice), bees, Deutsche Bahn, sunsets, and Nutella.

"New sun, new air, new sky. A whole universe teeming with life. Why stand still when there's all that life out there?" ~The Doctor

PHILOSOPHY

If you're wondering what my motto means, I'll explain a bit here. :)
When we were in Prague in for New Year's, our walking-tour guide was always pointing out the beautiful architectural designs of churches and buildings that you would never notice if you just kept your eyes at street level. He said that you haven't really experienced Prague unless you leave the city with a crick in your neck from looking up. I'm especially guilty of walking around lost in thought, staring at my feet, so I started to wonder--how much am I missing?
So, my current mission is a challenge to myself: to keep my eyes open, to appreciate and admire the good that's right in front of me, and keep looking forward.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've surfed in a couple different places, and the vast majority of experiences have been absolutely brilliant. I've been trying to recruit friends to join me in couchsurfing, since I always enjoy company and I really think that honest, interesting, adventurous people will benefit wonderfully from this project. I haven't had much of a chance to host, but I hope to do so in the near future.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I went on a trip to several countries in Europe during New Year's 2009 with a friend. We couchsurfed with a lovely Ukrainian couple in Zurich, who were having a dinner party at their home the night we arrived. They made us feel very welcome to be there, and that evening, we had a party with two Americans, two Ukrainians, a Swiss, a Frenchman, and a Chinese woman, while we listened to Spanish music and speaking English, Spanish, and German. It was great fun and I was honored to be there. That is what I understand the goal of couchsurfing to be: to share culture, language, and life with other people from all over the world.

Interests

Languages, linguistics, music, guitar, traveling, Christianity, Batman, bookbinding, classic literature, music, writing systems, conlangs, coffee, Doctor Who, Top Gear, Shakespeare, movies, flowers

• culture
• writing
• books
• literature
• beauty
• coffee
• walking
• partying
• flowers
• movies
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• christian
• archery
• languages
• medicine
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Dark Knight, Batman Begins, LotR, Up, How to Train Your Dragon, Equilibrium, Memento, Sky High, Peter Pan, Tokyo Drift, Tangled, the Avengers, Frozen, the Lego Movie
Books: Fahrenheit 451, LotR, Hamlet, Othello, Sherlock Holmes, Hitchhiker's, Oliver Twist, Lord of the Flies, 1984, Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Agatha Christie, etc
Music: Skillet, Switchfoot, Jars of Clay, Ikimonogakari, Hawk Nelson, Demon Hunter, Relient K, the Supertones, the Wise Guys
TV shows: Doctor Who, Top Gear, House, Bones, Castle

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In high school, I went with some of my Spanish classmates and their family members on a field trip to Mexico. We were exploring Tenochtitlan when a thunderstorm rolled in. In the downpour, there was no chance of staying dry, so instead of trying, I sat with my friends at the top of one of the pyramids and looked out into the jungle as the thunder boomed and the warm rain drenched us to the bone. I'll never forget seeing that curtain of rain deluging the forest illuminated by the lightning and the sense of helpless awe.

Teach, Learn, Share

I am quite enchanted by grammar and I love to discuss, learn about, and teach language. I would really like to learn to play the guitar from someone who knows how, instead of awkwardly trying to teach myself from a decades-old book! :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, United Kingdom, United States

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