I don't like filling out biographies, so I'm going to blast out a bunch of facts about me and hopefully that will do the job:
1) This is my second time filling out the about me because I definitely forgot to his 'save' the first time.
2) My legal name is Amber but I prefer Stein, which is short for Frankenstein because I was an ugly baby. Legend says my mom brought me home from the hospital and said 'Holy shit it looks like Frankenstein!' and then my mom started crying so they kept calling me Frankenstein. It sounds mean but I'm cool with it.
3) I got called out by a cashier in line at a grocery store for dancing by myself to background music three days ago.
4) I love avocados. While I care for the significant ecological consequences of the California drought, I am also legitimately afraid that it's going to reduce my access to avocados.
5) I am so accident prone that when growing up, multiple babysitters asked if they could babysit everyone BUT me because they didn't want to have to go the hospital again. When I was older I was forbidden from playing paintball or fun stuff until my parents could pay off my ambulance bills.
6) I have a dog and a husband who does not like couch surfing, so when he goes on business trips I like to do things he doesn't like couch surfing and skydiving.
7) I've never couch surfed before but am excited about doing something different and making great memories. Sightseeing is nice, but it's a bit stale.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I like to meet people. Why else would anyone couchsurf?

Interests

My biggest interest is in playing and coaching roller derby. A lot of my other hobbies, like running, kickboxing and writing revolve around that. Otherwise I like to garden and bake. If you let me crash at your place and help me find the ingredients, I can make some mean cheesecake tarts.

• dogs
• culture
• writing
• dancing
• cooking
• recipes
• running
• gardening
• paintball
• socializing
• music
• paintballing
• surfing
• skydiving
• business
• law
• sightseeing

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Really anything I can put on blast in the car and belt out as if I can sing. I can't, but why not pretend?
Movies: I really like the movie Big Fish. It's whimsical and fun without being cloying.
Books: I am a slut for Kathy Reichs books. My favorite books are Slaughterhouse-5 and Catch-22. I also really like Bart Ehrman, Reza Aslan and Noam Chomsky, even though I have to take mental breaks from Noam. He hits me so hard with his fast paced fact fests that I get sad and have to take some time away from his pessimism.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I walked the Paris catacombs on crutches. If I can do that I can do anything.

I also shaved my head once and raised 1.000,00 USD for kid's cancer research. I don't mean to brag but the shape of my head is beautiful. I can rock the bald look like you wouldn't believe.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'd like to cook for other people and get feedback on what I make. Also learning other recipes and cooking styles would be good. If anyone has a pair of roller skates I can show you how to hit other people really hard. I'd like to learn how to stay on a board while surfing, good surf spots and about other people's lives and cultures. If you want to know about my culture I can happily and somewhat shamefully tell you about all of the things Americans deep fry at our state fairs, or about the more stereotypical members of my family. I die a little on the inside every time they complain about a relative living in the gardening shed and running up their electricity bill with the heater. Because it's the dead of winter in Michigan and someone's living in an uninsulated shed in the backyard.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My awkwardness. And dancing, maybe. Definitely some baked stuff, though. I can bring bags of American candy, too. Reese's peanut butter cups seem hard to come by here.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Czech Republic, England, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, United States