Hi! My name is Michelle, I am 19 years old and I'm from Budapest, Hungary. I graduated from high school this summer and I will continue my studies at the University of Warwick, England. I am very social and communicative, I love meeting new people and travelling to new places. I can easily adapt to any circumstances.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Two of my friends and I are planning to visit London on October 1st before we all go to university the next day.

Interests

• culture
• literature
• street art
• education
• partying
• politics
• traveling
• music
• philosophy
• meeting new people
• traditions
• buildings

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: The Doors, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Iggy Pop, Sonic Youth, Nirvana, Fidlar, Wavves, The Growlers
+Trap, Drum & Bass

Movies: The Dreamers, A Clockwork Orange, Manhattan, Adam's Apples, Fight Club, Pulp Fiction, Amélie, Star Wars, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, La Vita é Bella, The Silence of the Lambs, Zabriskie Point, Christiane F., Requiem for a Dream, Trainspotting, The Shining, Donnie Darko, The Machinist, American Beauty, The Big Lebowski, Dallas Buyers Club, The Imitation Game

Books: 1984, Brave New World, Crime and Punishment, When Nietzsche Wept, On the Road

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Due to Budapest’s significant role in the refugee crisis, I decided to get personally involved early on. Prior to the refugee wave I had volunteered on a weekly basis at a temporary shelter to tutor the children of families who remained without a home. Starting in spring many families from conflict areas have joined, and teaching their children I learnt how much discrimination they had to face due to prejudices. They told me about public attitudes in their motherland and how more people were expected to arrive. As the crisis unfolded, anti-immigrant sentiments could not stop me from helping those arriving get food, clothing and hygiene products.

Teach, Learn, Share

As I have mentioned before I will study at the University of Warwick on the course Politics and International Relations. As we can see today many countries suffer the negative social and economic consequences of increasing international inequality. For example through the 2015 refugee crisis in Hungary I could experience that when living standards drop, religious or ethnic differences tend to become emphasized. In classes of International Studies I intend to further explore how different cultural blocks can successfully coexist. My wish to analyse and understand these issues better has motivated me to study this field.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I'd love to get to know my hosts and to find out about their culture and what it is like living in their country. I enjoy having conversations and debates, I like telling and hearing funny stories. To me travelling is not only seeing cities and monuments, but also meeting all kinds of people around the world to help me become an even more open-minded person and have fun at the same time.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Hungary