CURRENT MISSION

Learning German!

ABOUT ME

Hi, I'm Manuel and I'm 21 years old.
I'm spanish, and I do English and French studies. Last year I was in erasmus in Toulouse, and I'm in Berlin during the summer, working as a Spanish teacher in Postdam University and learning german.

I'm an open-minded and cheerful person, especially when I'm travelling. I love meeting new people, discovering new places and cultures, and learning new languages.

PHILOSOPHY

I just try to be kind and understand everybody, even if we don't have the same tastes, beliefs, manners, etc. We all come from so many different places and personal situations, and I don't think it is fair to judge others and decide we don't like them. People are complex, and that's why I make efforts to try and get to know a little about everybody around me, or not being too quick to judge at least. It has helped me a bunch not to let myself be mislead by first impressions.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

With actual couchsurfing and meetings, everything went smoothly so far, I can't complain.
But I do complain about the attitude of many CS members. I seriously can't put up with:

1. GUYS who host ONLY GIRLS (openly or not) for reasons that are more than obvious; and consequently, girls who hint they'll have sex with you if you can host them. Couchsurfing is an altruistic site, and if you think your guest owes you sex, or you hope to hook up or get something in return, that's not altruistic anymore, and I don't think you belong to this community.
ATTENTION: I'm not saying that hosts and guests that feel a connection can't have sex if they feel like it, once they've met. What I'm against is: planning it ahead of time, using the site as a catalogue of people to fuck, sex discrimination, an accepting or rejecting people based on the chances of getting sex. If the reasons for accepting only one gender and not the other are sensible, I'm okay with that, but most of the times that isn't the case.

2. GUESTS that use copy-paste and won't even read your profile to verify you're not a psycho.

3. HOSTS that turn down couch requests using copy-paste. ESPECIALLY when what they got was a fully personalized request, and not a copy-paste message. And ESPECIALLY if it's them who are asking for those kind of requests, that I do all the time anyway.
Guess what: hosts are not the only ones who are annoyed when they get a copy-paste message. Looking for members that might interest you, reading profiles through and writing a personalized request takes A LOT of time. I know that hosts recieve a thousand requests, but it really sucks when you put your all in your request and get a copy-paste message. Is it not better to show that you appreciate the people who actually take that effort, and to send a short message, no matter how short, where you show you actually read or watched the thing?

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I'm completely new to the concept. It still shocks me that there's so much altruism out there, and I wasn't even aware of it. I've only couchsurfed twice, and it was reeeaally good, I enjoyed it all. At first I was afraid it might turn out badly during my first couchsurfing experience (having people receive you completely free is sure hard to believe at first!), but I can't complain. I absolutely love the idea.

Interests

When I travel, I'm specially interested in exploring the city and its culture: I love museums, monuments, architecture, walks, the food... I'm not a fan of big parties in nightclubs. I prefer to have small parties with friends or new people, where we can talk and get to know each other, if even a little.

I love reading, music, and cinema. And arts in general.

• arts
• culture
• writing
• architecture
• dining
• partying
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• music
• teaching
• languages
• study abroad

Music, Movies, and Books

French, Spanish, English literature, and African literatures. I discovered african literature not too long ago, but it really is fascinating. It's so diverse, so deep and so engaged, it really is worth reading.
I'm really interested in Asia, but I don't get the chance to read too much about it.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

My first long trip was in Canterbury (England) when I was 15, I was all by myself with an english family, and I liked it so much that I haven't been able to stop ever since. If i hadn't gone there I'd probably be a very different person. One hell of a life changing trip !

I've lived in France for a whole year, and managed to find my first job.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Germany, Spain