CURRENT MISSION

Help someone, Learn to be, Ride a Camel, Do 20 pull-ups in a row, Build a Robot, Get married, Write a book, Work for charity, Raise a child, Build a house, Act in a movie, Train a six-pack, Teach, ..

ABOUT ME

I'm a fun-loving, openminded guy from Finland. Being the son of a Finnish dad and French mom, I've been taught to appreciate the difference between all of us and our cultures. I've lived my whole life in Finland, so although my looks aren't typically Finnish, my personality sure is. If you don't know what that means, I challenge you to surf with me or host me and find out ;)

Currently I'm working as a Software Consultant.

I personally think that couchsurfing is not about a free place to stay, but rather about inviting the whole world to your place and learning from these people. That being said, I might still host you just for the night if you ask nicely :-)

---------------------------------------
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE SENDING A COUCH REQUEST!

If you're new to couchsurfing, please read these tips: http://www.couchsurfing.org/tips.html Especially http://www.couchsurfing.org/make_profile_tips.html and http://www.couchsurfing.org/couchrequest_tips.html

I'm taking the time and effort to offer my hospitality, please take the time to write a proper profile and request.

Please write a separate profile for each of the persons in your group and link them in your request.

Please send your couch requests via the "CouchSurf with Marek Miettinen" button. Requests sent via a normal message might not get answered at all!

PHILOSOPHY

I try to do in my life more things that I want to, and less those that I need to.

I feel that whenever I'm not moving, my world gets smaller and smaller all the time, to the point where irrelevant everyday things and problems blow out of proportion. That's why I need to travel from time to time, to expand my horizon, make the world big again.

Children should be taught from early on not to be afraid of strangers. It is this fear that leads to prejudice, hate,..

Just so you know:
-------------------
FOOD: I'm not allergic to anything. I eat everything, including meat, but can respect it if you don't and won't bring it to your home. I enjoy new culinary experiences!

SMOKING: I don't smoke.

DRUGS & ALCOHOL: I don't do drugs, but I won't judge you if you do, just don't bring them to my home. I drink alcohol in moderation, enjoy good wines and beers but am no connoisseur.

PETS: I'm not allergic to any animals and love cats :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I host and surf whenever possible.
I also have a profile on Hospitality Club: http://secure.hospitalityclub.org/hc/travel.php?cid=hraapina and BeWelcome: http://www.bewelcome.org/members/marikka

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I started out of curiosity by hosting some people. Their stories and the great energy I got from them made me decide to try to surf as much as possible when travelling!

A turning point for me was surfing at Giannis' crazy couchsurfing house in Athens with over ten surfers from all over the world at the house all the time and guests showing each other around. That great experience made me love couchsurfing even more!

Surfing "The Place" with the yurt near Budapest was very inspiring. David has set up a home that is about the equivalent of a wiki.. only it's a home. :)

Interests

yoga, photography, making movies, acting, improv, music, running, marathons, painting, food, meeting new people, travelling, singing, reading, philosophy, making funny faces, SCUBA diving, slacklining..

• animals
• pets
• cats
• books
• singing
• photography
• acting
• dining
• beer
• yoga
• marathon
• running
• drinking
• clubbing
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• painting
• music
• guitar
• hunting
• surfing
• scuba diving
• software

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies I enjoyed:
Black Swan, Delicatessen, V For Vendetta, Shopgirl, I Heart Huckabees, Memento, Le fabuleux destin d'amélie poulain, Children of Men, Tillsammans, Zingo, Lilja 4 Ever, Requiem for a Dream, The Mark of Zorro, Shrek, Into The Wild, American Beauty, A Beautiful Mind, Closer, Lucky Number Slevin..

Music: check my last.fm-profile: http://www.last.fm/user/marikka/

Books I enjoyed:
Stanislaw Lem's whole bibliography
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Crime and Punishement
Milan Kundera - The Unbearable Lightness of Being
John Irving - The Water-Method man
Joe Sacco - Palestine
Haruki Murakami - A Wild Sheep Chase
Franz Kafka - The Metamorphosis
Hermann Hesse - Steppenwolf
Daniel Kahneman - Thinking, Fast and Slow

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I can move my ears. Separately. Diving in the Dos Ojos caves in Mexico was unbelievable. Also running a marathon was great :) We surprised friends by taking them around the city with a bus and shooting an improvised short film, edited it and had a premiere. :)

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to make a Finnish Vasta!

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Åland Islands

Countries I’ve Lived In

Finland, United States

• 

•