Hi there!

I'm Noora, 29, and I'm currently based in Helsinki, Finland. Before moving back to my home country, I first studied Politics and International Relations in the UK and then Middle Eastern Studies in the Netherlands.

Whenever I have some time off my work as a coordinator at a local NGO, I love to go on adventures - my favourite travel destinations so far have been Russia, the Balkans and the Middle East.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

When discovering new places, one can get so much more out of it in the company of locals showing you around and familiarizing you with their culture - that's why.

Interests

• literature
• photography
• hiking
• camping
• international relations
• film
• middle east
• vintage

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Alphaville, Leevi and the Leavings and Mumford and Sons must be my three ultimate favourites but, in general, I like folk and 80s-90s synth pop.

Movies: Due to my academic interests I mostly watch Arab cinema, other than that I really enjoy the Producers and some other Mel Brooks movies!

Books: A Land without Jasmine, A Little Piece of Ground, A Thousand Splendid Suns, De Niro's Game, Eighteen Days of Spring in Winter, For Bread Alone, Frankenstein in Baghdad, Girls of Riyadh, Last Train to Istanbul, Less than Zero, My Son's Story, No-No Boy, No Knives in the Kitchens of This City, One Thousand and One Nights, Sounder, The Alchemist, The President's Gardens, The Way to the Spring, The Yacoubian Building... I'm reading everywhere and all the time. Mostly Arab authors but also some others.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I feel like I've done quite a few cool things in my life so far but one of my best memories would definitely have to be my trip to Indonesia in summer 2018. I spent two weeks around Yogyakarta helping school kids with their English while staying with a local host family, which was an amazing experience as I got to learn so much about the culture there and to meet many great people!

What I Can Share with Hosts

Always happy to share my travel stories and my time with those who'd like to show me around!

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Armenia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kosovo, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Montenegro, Morocco, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium, Canada, Finland, Netherlands, Russian Federation, United Kingdom