CURRENT MISSION

trying everything once. and then again just to be sure.

ABOUT ME

I'm Ivy, I'm 22, a student at the University of Edinburgh studying Sociology, and just got back from a year abroad in Helsinki, which pretty much opened up a whole new part of the world to me in terms of Nordic countries/Eastern Europe. After nine months of meeting people from all over the world and travelling all over the shop I'm really not ready to stop now I'm back in the Uk again. Couchsurfing seems like a great way to meet weird and wonderful people, and get an insiders view of brand new places. I like to think I'm friendly and open and good with new people, and generally I'm quite a typical lefty social sciencey sort of person. And I hate having to write these sorts of self-promotion things.

Perché sono iscritto su Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've just joined the site after numerous recommendations from travelly friends, and keen to get more involved. At the moment I'm still a bit all over the place location-wise so looking to surf more than host, but once I'm settled again (back to uni in Edinburgh in September) I'm sure to have a spare sofa for anyone heading to bonnie Scotland.

Interessi

Travel, but then that's a given. Cooking and eating nice food, particularly big on anything spicy. Live music (it helps if dancing is involved). Stand-up comedy like Eddie Izzard, Dylan Moran, Reginald D. Hunter, Ross Noble, Bill Bailey, Frankie Boyle. A pint of beer and a chat. Or a cup of tea will do just as nicely. Big into arty crafty things, dressmaking etc. Writing, I've done a fair bit of journalism in my time, during my gap year and now freelance. Books, art, film, foreign languages, photography, modern dance (again, watching not doing. I'm sounding a bit like a professional spectator here)

• arts
• writing
• books
• photography
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• beer
• shopping
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• live music
• hunting
• freelancing
• journalism
• languages
• sign language
• social science
• sociology
• beaches

Musica, film e libri

Off the top of my head,
directors like Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, Tim Burton, Michel Gondry, plus films like Breakfast at Tiffany's, Amelie, Goodfellas, the Godfather, L'Ultimo Bacio, il Divo, Afterlife, Amores Perros, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Blow, lots of things with Johnny Depp involved in them.
books,On The Road, Brave New World, the Grapes of Wrath, Beloved, authors like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Hunter S. Thompson, Louis de Bernieres, Margaret Atwood, Haruki Murakami
I know TV isn't down here, but I'm deep into an obsession with The Wire at the moment
And music...that's going to take a while. Probably a bit of everything except dancey/trancey/housey stuff. A lot of 60s and 70s Jamaican reggae and ska, plus some more recent stuff and dancehall. Hip hop like Roots Manuva, Ty, the Fugees, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common. Plus M.I.A, Santogold, the Pixies, Sonic Youth, the Rolling Stones, the White Stripes, Method Man, Cat Empire, Joy Division, Johnny Cash, Janis Joplin.
Soul and Motown like Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Aretha, Otis Redding. this list could get ridiculously long.

Una cosa incredibile che ho fatto

Watching a killer whale with her babies on a beach in Shetland was pretty amazing, it was so completely deserted and peaceful, and they were totally in the wild and just doing their whaley thing.

Insegna, impara, condividi

This bit is hard...I guess languages, English as a first language and then my Italian is decent, plus (pretty poor) French, Finnish and British Sign Language. I'm quite domestic-cooking, sewing, that sort of thing. I'm not quite sure what my special skills are...might have to get back to you here.