CURRENT MISSION

Holding on to the capacity to dream, a certain degree of naivety and curiosity, the ability to discover everyday wonders, the strength of the (poetic) word to reach out to others

ABOUT ME

Hi. My name is Renée. I'm from Belgium. I haven't seen much more of the world than (nort-/south-western) part of Europe till now, but I can't wait to discover more. That is why I'm planning a trip to the USA in august/september. I'm a quite curious person who loves to discover new things, new people, other cultures... When I'm traveling I love to really get to know the country, the people, the habits and peculiarities, the food... of a region.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have no couchsurfing experience yet, but I can't way to discover this way of traveling. I hope I'll be able to stay with some hosts in september, while traveling the Southwestern area of the USA.

Interests

Reading and writing (I'm a writer (and book reviewer) in my spare time and I write for a living)
Baking, cooking and crafting
Theatre, music, opera, musical (spectator)
Traveling (I haven't visited that many countries yet, but I'm planning to make up for that the next couple of months and years)

• writing
• books
• make up
• dining
• cooking
• chocolate
• baking
• reading
• traveling
• music
• opera

Music, Movies, and Books

I've read quite some classical (Dutch and English) books while in college and I'm trying (without great succes till now) to make the list a bit longer. Further, I particularly like historical novels, proze books with well-crafted language, inspired by poetry, some poetry once in a while... As a volunteer reviewer of all kinds of books (fiction, non-fiction, feminist 'manifests', children's books, youth books, fantasy, chicklit...), I'm a happy to discover hidden gems once in a while.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I haven't seen that many places yet. But one unforgettable experience I do have, is a discovery of Ostia Antica (Rome, Italy), with my sister and me just wandering around between, in, over... the desterted (and sometimes half overgrown) ruins, far away from the main tourist roads. At one point it almost felt as if we were the first to discover the old city, bars, temples, bathing places, statues...

Teach, Learn, Share

I practiced a lot making macarons (not very easy), cupcakes, whoopies, scones, chocolate cake... Anyone who wants to share his/her experiences or learn, is welcome to ask.
As a PhD student I'm supposed to be a fluent speaker and writer of English. I'm not as good yet as I would like to be, so I would be happy to be put to the test by native speakers. Furthermore, I'm learning some Swedish (from a book and a cd), but some practice, speaking with a native, would be wonderful!