CURRENT MISSION

My current mission is to complete my PhD on time and then take the Trans-Siberian railway to China and then nip across to Japan.

ABOUT ME

I am a full-time student of French history. I like different things at different times but most of my ideal days involve movies, drinking, music and reading in no particular order.

PHILOSOPHY

I love spending time with the people I like, and occasionally grabbing some time for myself. I don't have a philosophy, just do what makes you and those around you happy and travel as often as money and time permit.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Currently I have no couch to offer but may go in search of a place to stay with some kind person when I get some time to travel.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I have had one very encouraging couch surfing experience and hope for many more.

Interests

I like 19th century fiction (and some 20th century if it's up to scratch), I do enjoy association football (soccer for my American friends), baseball (watching as i've never played), going to the cinema to watch something loud or somthing arty depending on my mood. I play tennis, badminton and squash and love long walks or bike rides if the weather is right. I am also relatively interested in politics but am continuously disappointed by what passes for political parties. I watch a lot of comedy from Seinfeld to Arrested Development. And I truly love history in all its wonderful variety, for it as at root a study of people and their experience of life.

• partying
• drinking
• politics
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• music
• cycling
• surfing
• baseball
• soccer
• tennis
• racquetball
• badminton
• history
• squash

Music, Movies, and Books

Err, Big Lebowski, Radiohead and Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens are the best exemplars of those three cultural categories.

Bands i've listened to recently and enjoyed are Sunset Rubdown, Interpol, Aesop Rock, Why?, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Bloc Party, Modern Lovers, Bon Iver, Modest Mouse, Feist.

I've read a lot of history books that would be of little interest to most outside (or inside) the discipline but I think anything by Michel Foucault, especially History of Sexuality could potentially change how you view the world. I loved reading Norweigian Wood by Murakami and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick. A Sentimental Education by Flaubert is also an exceptional read and one can never grow tired of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs de Mal or Animal Farm by Orwell.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Yosemite National Park was the most beautiful place i've ever been. The redwoods (or maybe sequoias) were unbelievable.

Teach, Learn, Share

Erm, the only thing I could possibly teach anyone is the importance of French caricature. Seriously, look up Honore Daumier on the internet now, it may change your life, or at the very least make you smile.

Countries I’ve Visited

France, Germany, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

United Kingdom

•