As you can see above, my name is Étienne and I'm a 22 year-old French student who loves traveling and learning about other people's culture!
My family comes from all over France, and even though I grew up in Bordeaux, I always traveled a lot and I then moved to Paris for my studies. Therefore, I think I know quite a lot about my own country, and I sure saw lots of different cities there!
I also traveled a lot accross Europe, because my studies include lots of indo-european languages: my speciality used to be germanic languages, so that's why I learned English, German and Swedish. But nowadays I'm also really interested in Asian cultures, be it either Japanese, Chinese or Korean, so I've been a couple of times to Japan, and will maybe go to Korea next year!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I have always been really fond of trips, but because I'm always looking for something authentic and because I want to learn lots of languages, I actually always prefered meeting local people rather than going to hotels!

This year, because I had some time between my university semesters, I also decided to go to Japan on my own and meet as many local people as I can! It's a bit scary but so far it has been a great experience!

Interests

In France, I've studied a lot of different languages as a student, and I must say that with literature and drama, those have been my favorite subjects.
I also like playing sports: at school, I used to practise dancing and rugby, but what I really love is to go skiing in winter in the Alps, or the Pyrenees!
Finally, I think what I really love most is to learn and discover things you can't learn about at school, whether it is history, language, food, landscapes, or whatever!

• fish
• culture
• literature
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• desserts
• vegetarian
• traveling
• fishing
• skiing
• sports
• rugby
• history
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

I am quite eclectic about arts, but I must confess that I am a huge fan of Pink Floyd's music, Stanley Kubrick's movies and Anders Zorn's paintings. Those are definitely my number ones! As for literature, I am quite pickier and I am not sure that I have a favorite writer, except maybe Theodor Fontane for novels, and Rimbaud for poetry: I know those are old, but they sure are great!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Even though I'm usually a vegetarian, I have been to Sweden to see some old friends of mine, and together we went very very far north with the train and had typical northern swedish dishes: moose sausage (which was quite strong and tasted really weird), and much worse: surströmming, that is to say rotten fish! It was really amazing to discover this very local cuisine and the Saami one! We even had the amazing opportunity to ride bred mooses on a farm: this was amazing!

Teach, Learn, Share

The best thing I can share with hosts is, I guess, the French way of enjoying life. I know that we Frenchmen have the reputation of being narrow-minded and complaining all the time, but I'm sure I can show you how untrue this cliché actually is! Surely, I love to talk and if you are as interested in my culture as I am in yours, I promise we won't get bored anytime!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I love to cook traditional French dishes and desserts (which recipes I know form my grandmother) and tell people stories they don't know about my motherland. So, if the French way of enjoying did not convince you yet, I'm sure it will after a good dinner!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

France