I'm 26, from the UK. I currently live with my boyfriend in West London, in a house full of books and plants, and pet rats!! I really enjoy reading, watching movies, walking through forests, cycling, playing badminton, and SCIENCE. I'm a massive geek when it comes to topics like computers/internet/science/mathematics. I'm currently studying for a PhD in neuroscience which means I need to teach myself a fair amount of maths/biology. It can be quite difficult and stressful but I don't think I would do anything else.

I identify as gay, although I think my sexuality is a bit more fluid. I'm interested in LGBT/Queer rights. I feel that gender roles are quite restrictive/oppressive and I would be happy to see them gone! Sexism wouldn't exist if we didn't partition humanity into 'men' and 'not men'

I very much value sincerity and kindness in people. I think sincerity even includes telling 'hard' truths if they need to be said, because often this is still a loving thing to do.

My sense of humour is very 'silly'.. I think it's important to keep a child-like curiosity about the world around me, without behaving childish if you know what I mean. I like being playful and being with others who feel playful. We are all still children :)

I don't often go out to parties or clubs. I find the loudness kind of stressful. I think I'm more built for forests and underground tunnels. Maybe I'm actually a forest animal or some kind of rodent.

PHILOSOPHY

-I love learning new things, and so I value knowledge quite a lot. One of the greatest pleasures in life for me are those moments when something you didn't understand suddenly becomes clear. When ideas 'click' - that's pure dopamine for me..
-I think morality is relative. The rules we hold important are just as arbitrary as the values held hundreds of years ago. I try to adopt this philosophy in general because it means it's impossible to elevate your own culture above any other.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I thought it would be best to start off by donating a couch for people to surf, before I start surfing myself. I have hosted several people, mostly from Europe. Every experience has been great and it has taught me a lot about other cultures and my place in them.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've hosted a number of people a few years ago. My situation at university limits me with how many people I can host now, and for how often, but I hope to increase this once I get my own place to live

Interests

-Walking in dense forests while it's raining hard
-Neuroscience.. actually a lot of science and mathematics
-Plants. I live in a house filled with plants
-Feminism and related topics on gender/LGBT communities
-Anarchism and non-hierarchical forms of society
-Old gothic architecture
-Reading (hard sci-fi!)
-Independent cinema
-Sports (badminton, swimming, table tennis...)

• books
• badminton
• mathematics
• neuroscience
• science
• lgbt

Music, Movies, and Books

BOOKS:
Existentialism/Science fiction/.
The Dice Man, Natsuo Kirino, Haruki Murakami, Cory Doctorow, Iain M Banks, Philip K Dick, Kurt Vonnegut, ... my goodreads account: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5974654-peter

MUSIC:
I really love cello music, rock cello, classical cello, anything...! Rasputina is one of my favourite groups. Aphex Twin, Amadou & Mariam, Baaba Maal, Beirut, Benoit Pioulard, Burial, Cro, Monteverdi, David Lynch, Emancipator, Detektivbyrån, Fennesz, Fleet Foxes, Grimes,.... and too many other letters of the alphabet

FILMS:
Anything by Terry Gilliam, Paprika, Eraserhead, Harold and Maude, Being John Malkovich, Ghost In The Shell *, Perfume, Inception, Lorenzo's oil. I also really enjoy sci fi.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Travelled around half the world by train and ferry (Eurostar and Trans-siberian, then ferry to Japan). Most amazing thing in Japan were the Awa Odori and Aomori festivals.

[Also: Climbed ~2500 steps to a temple at the top of a (very humid) japanese mountain. Ran through the many Torii gates of Fushimi Inari-taisha in Kyoto.]

Teach, Learn, Share

I am studying for a PhD in London at the moment. My focus is on the neural circuitry/mechanisms which facilitate decision making. It sounds like a simple task but we still know very little about how the brain works. I'm happy to talk to people about it if they are interested. I find the brain fascinating. A lot of my procrastination is spent reading about philosophy of neuroscience, so I'm pretty into it...

I'm not very good at learning other languages (I wasn't taught a second language during my childhood) but I'm very willing to try! I'm also happy to help people out with their English. I have some experience with tutoring children in mathematics as well so I could help with that :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, Morocco, Netherlands, Russian Federation, South Korea, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom

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