CURRENT MISSION

Finding a place to stay for the academic year 2011-12

ABOUT ME

All about me would hardly fit into this format. I must be experienced in person. But here's a very short introduction, starting with the facts:

Female. Born in 1985. Non-smoker. I like pets, but I won't bring any. I'm from Denmark. Born in a town in the country side, moved to Copenhagen in 2006, originally to study civil engineering, because of a love of math and physics. I finished one semester on that shelf, only to discover that I was completely misplaced. Dropping out I sought comfort in books. I had never stopped reading, but now books became a sort of life line in my grand existential crises. (This part of the story is to be followed by the part of the Symphony of Destiny by Beethoven played in minor --and a great deal of irony. Talking of a life crisis at 21 - bahh! But really I had no clue of what to do with my life.) Being from the countryside where everyone's a teacher, a plummer, an engineer I never knew that one could make a living by being interested in books. But then I ran into my old Danish teacher who told me about comparative literature. I'm still not sure how to make a living being a comparative literature graduate, but I know that this way I'm LIVING. Books make the world come alive to me. They allow me to dream and to be more than my own existence.
Rediscovering literature was quite a revelation to me. It felt like coming home. As if something inside me suddenly was uncovered. Something which I never knew I needed to explore. Precisely what happened is still a mystery to me. And that's how it should be. The more the mystery the more left to discover. I try to write a little myself. The process of writing more than the process of reading makes me consider alternate perspectives on the world. Since my writings are in Danish, and thus very dependent on the linguistic material from which they are created I have not translated anything into English, so a taste will have to wait. I'm not really sure they are worth reading anyway. The most interesting part of them is the part dealing with what fiction so to speak "does". And that's a discussion which is easily approached in any language.

Though I sometimes forget it, I am other things than my field of studies. I do have other interests. I try to be the good and loyal friend who always shows up whenever people need me. I like to move out from the center stage and give room to whoever wishes to be center of attention. I like listening to other people's stories.

I like to go out. I'm not a big fan of clubs, as I usually find myself desperately seeking for a way out, but I do like to sit at a café of a bar and chat.

I recently picked up drawing and painting. I put some examples in the photo folder. I draw and paint what I see or from imagination. I started out oil painting, but the mess scared me off so I switched to acrylics which works a lot better for me and leaves no mess at all. I promise to do a portrait of you if you let me live in your house:-)

I consider myself an easy roommate. I don't get offended easily, and I always want to clear out misunderstandings by talking about it. In Copenhagen I live in an old dormitory (The oldest in Northern Europe) with 21 other students. I am the head of the dorm, and administrating the house and dealing with whatever conflicts that arise when 22 young people live together has taught me a great deal. I don't hold grudges after a discussion. Once I'm done talking the issues are resolved and part of the past.
I'm pretty tidy. I don't mind doing the dishes and cleaning. I'm a terrible cook. Food is one of the few things that really doesn't interest me at all. I do however bake some really good Danish pastry. So let me move in, and I'll make you Danishes the Danish way. (Alright, admitted. Cheap points making my awful cooking skills digestible by throwing the cake card...)

I have lived in the US before. Ten years ago I stayed a year in Florida as a foreign exchange student. Though moving back will still be a culture shock this time I think I'm pretty well prepared.

Mhh, what else? I like to stay active. I run every now and then, and I am a member of a fitness center which I frequently visit. ---Sometimes more frequently than other times;-)

I like always to have a project. At the moment the project is painting and learning Arabic. Just for fun. I was thinking of reading Al Aswaani in Arabic. I don't know if I am ever going to get that far. We'll see. So far I can talk about hotels, train stations, food, houses, etc. so I figure that there still is some way to go...!

So. WAAAAYY TOO MUCH talking about me for one day. I hope to have sparked some kind of interest. I'm looking forward to meeting you!

PHILOSOPHY

Hmm, I haven't really considered this. However, on my way discovering literature as being my path in life I have thought a great deal about finding myself. I don't want this to sound all "Finding your true self and getting inner peace"-ish. But I believe that there is something that draws in each of us. Some of us spend a lifetime running away from it. I spent 6 years trying to fight the urge for fiction. Trying to follow the ought tos, musts and shoulds of my childhood's upbringing. But one can only run so far when running from who one really is. I guess that's how close I get to a personal philosophy. (I wanted to put it this way: You can only run so far when running from who you really are. But that sounded a bit too corny...)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Been a member since 2009. Couch surfed my way through the Pacific North West. It was WONDERFUL!

Interests

Traveling! Concerts, meeting new people, writing, reading, art, painting, music, friends, working out, cooking, philosophy, rain, sunshine(the weather in general. It's a Danish thing), politics, pubs, and lots more.

• pets
• arts
• culture
• writing
• books
• literature
• concerts
• dining
• cooking
• fitness
• running
• working out
• clubbing
• pub crawls
• politics
• reading
• traveling
• painting
• drawing
• music
• teaching
• engineering
• mathematics
• physics

Music, Movies, and Books

Too much to list! And always interested in anything people throw at me.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Life

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cuba, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Denmark, United States