Hi everybody, I'm Merle from Germany.
I'm currently studying physics in Hamburg.
I live in a small town near Hamburg with my cat Stevie. I have got a Schrebergarten which is a rented garden (typically German) that I maintain with a friend of mine. We are growing our own fresh vegetables and fruits.

The first six months after graduation from highschool I spent near San Francisco. Working in a music program for underserved children.

At the moment I'm trying to travel green without blowing so many emissions into the air. So now after years of flying way too much, it's now Europe that wants to be discovered by bus and train.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I think Couchsurfing offers the wonderful possibility to travel the world
in a great uncomplicated way. Which is especially for me who is usually short of money a great opportunity.

Interests

I have been playing violin and piano since I was a little child and since that time I'm really into music. I love to visit concerts and it doesn't matter if it's classical, rock, pop or something else.
Two amazing concerts I went to was Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones in Hamburg. I didn't have enough money for the rolling stones so I stayed outside the area with my friends. It was an open air concert so it didn't really matter but outside the official area it was like a festival for free. People came and played cards and ball and between the trees in the park people installed their hammocks.
I discovered hiking some years ago when I went hiking with my French hostfamily near Mont Blanc. That was really inspiring. In 2016 I was able to make it to Yesemite and Sequoia National Parc and to Pinnacles National parc in California. Last year I hiked the lagavegur trail in Iceland which was an incredible experience. My dream is to make it to one of the big hiking trails like the Pacific Crest Trail.

• photography
• cooking
• gardening
• live music
• hiking
• physics
• playing music

Music, Movies, and Books

I like every kind of music. Classical, Rock, Pop, Rap, Punk,
Ska, elecrto swing, as long as I can recognize a melody everything is great. Some bands and musicians I really like are Queen, the dead south, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan Annenmaykantereit, Antilopen Gang, Skap, Tschaikowski and Wieniawski.
It's so hard to pick favourites because there are so many great artists.
My favorite books are written by Walter Moers a German Fantasy Author, Andreas Eschbach, Athur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), Astrid Lindgren...
My favourite movie is Hidden Figures. But I also like the Tim Burton movies a lot. In my opinion the best series are Doctor Who, Designated Survivor, the big bang theory and Sherlock

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

A six days hike on Laugavegur Trail in Iceland having everything I needed on my back. I'll never forget those views....

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm interested in many things so whatever you want to teach me, go ahead. I love to talk about gardening, physics, music and politics and I can make a good meal out of mostly everything. In summer I can share the vegetables from my garden, in winter self made jams, juices and pickled stuff (sounds weird? You'll get addicted to pickled beetroots)

What I Can Share with Hosts

I like good conversations, sharing stories and going out for dinner or cooking at home. I also love to go to concerts. Less the really big ones but the small ones in nice bars with good cocktails. I tend to be not very talkative in the beginning and I'm more comfortable in one to one situations than in big groups but as soon as I get to know people I start to talk.
I'm always happy to be in good company but also independent if you don't have much time.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Germany, United States