Hello! My name's Melissa: I'm a second year Linguistics student at Cambridge University - a lover of languages, bookworm, martial arts enthusiast, adventure-seeker, teacher (qualified to teach English as a foreign language).

In my year between school and university, I volunteered in a home for socially disadvantaged children in Germany for five months. I then travelled to Tianjin, China, where I lived for six months teaching English. I trained in a kung fu school in Shandong province for a month, where I met my best friend and travelling buddy Robert! Last summer I went back to China again to direct a camp, and then travelled around with my friend to Amdo Tibetan areas in Sichuan.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I love travel, meeting new people, forming new connections, practicing different languages (at both proficient and slightly suspect levels!), learning about cultures new and familiar, seeing through other people's eyes - oh, and I'm a broke student!! I imagine most of this is intimately familiar to the rest of this community. Ultimately, I want to have adventures and laugh and swim in the sea at night - and I want to share these moments with other people, not sit in some soulless hotel room scrolling through Facebook. I want to discover.

Interests

• culture
• writing
• books
• environment
• exercise
• yoga
• reading
• music
• live music
• cycling
• hiking
• philosophy
• religion
• adventure travel
• cultural immersion
• linguistics
• adventure
• laughing
• learning languages
• people watching
• meeting new people
• game of thrones
• foreign languages
• lord of the rings
• chatting
• cycle touring
• fantasy books
• conlanging
• green travel

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: since I'm the sort of person who, if they didn't have a Kindle, would take 10-15 books on a week-long trip, I have many, but primarily Tolkien (particularly The Silmarillion), Game of Thrones, sci-fi (Solaris, The Fifth Season, Ubik etc) Night Train to Lisbon, My Name is Red, grammar/language books, The Song of Achilles, The Name of the Wind, books on mythology and linguistics.

Music: I love film scores - Michael Giacchino, Bruno Coulais, Howard Shore etc. I also like Scandinavian folk and listen to a lot of Icelandic music.

Series: Game of Thrones, Hannibal, Vikings.
I love films about different cultures, about journeys, about discovery, as well as films that make you think. Under this list I'd put Babel, The Theory of Everything, Solaris, Another Earth, Almanya - Willkommen in Deutschland, The Lives of Others, The Weeping Camel etc. And of course, Lord of the Rings.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I trained in a Shaolin kung fu academy for a month in Shandong province, China, where we got up every morning at 5:30 and ended the day exhausted and exhilarated as the sun went down. I am a huge fan of martial arts, and after I have finished my degree want to go back and train for a much longer period of 1-2 years in the Wudang mountains. In this school I met my best friend and travelling buddy, Robert, who is travelling with me to Japan this Easter!!

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm a qualified teacher of English (CELTA) and have experience giving one-to-one tuition: if you're interested, I can help you out with your English informally (or formally, if you want to pay!!) If that's not really your thang but English still isn't your first language, I know how to communicate well and clearly across language barriers according to your level. (Helps occasionally!) I also have two years experience tutoring German: my German isn't native, but it is fluent.

I'm learning French, Spanish (French C1, Spanish B2) and just started learning Dutch, which I can read (because of German) but not speak very well. I can also read quite well in Norwegian, Swedish and Danish, plus other Romance languages like Italian and Portuguese, but my speaking abilities in these are practically non-existent! I speak some Chinese.

If you speak any of these languages, amazing!! (or if you want to learn German/English/basic French or Spanish) We can help each other out, be patient with one another, and share our knowledge. Any other languages are amazing too - my enthusiasm for foreign languages is matched only by my serial infidelity to any of them.

I also practice yoga and can gladly show you a basic practice, or particular sequences that I like.

Apart from languages: I am a firm believer that everybody, no matter our background in life, has something to share and give. What that might be for you personally, I can't yet know, but I look forward to finding out.

What I Can Share with Hosts

As above: experiences, laughs, language exchange, English lessons, heated discussions on very random topics (philosophy, politics, whatever), karaoke, a large amount of enthusiasm, but also quiet time where needed for us to watch something, or read our books in companionable silence. I practice yoga and would gladly practice with somebody else, either experienced or simply wanting to know a little more. I have an open mind and an open ear to listen, and am a respectful guest; I'll clean up after myself and as far as possible try to avoid making the mess in the first place!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Germany, United Kingdom