ABOUT ME

I'm pretty outgoing, without being a bigmouth and I love meeting new people
I can be very serious but a sense of humour is one of the things I value most
I'm easygoing, but can also be very stubborn sometimes; though in the end I always take other people and opinions into account
I'm open-minded and tolerant, at least most of the time... :)
I'm a bit of a dreamer
I'm a lot of other things too, up to you to discover

There are a lot of things I like, such as museums and their atmosphere; singing along with the radio; coffee flavoured ice-cream; sleeping under a starry sky; taking a long hot bath with a stack of books by my side; walking into a bookshop whilst trying to decide which book(s) I'll by; small movie theatres; dictionaries, the feeling I get when I travel to some place I've never been before, but also the feeling I get when I go back to some of my favorite places (Paris!!); bananas; tea shops; riding my bike in the sun; sauna's and skinny-dipping; places near the sea or the ocean; plane take-offs; poetry; dimples and twinkly eyes; weeping willows; swings; cheese cake (well, deserts in general); hammocks; warm colors; caipirinha's and mojito's; tasting something new; bus/trainrides; black-white photography; the Mediterranean; lightning; the smell of rain

And some I really don't like: waiting for people who are late or being late myself; people unwilling to think about their views and principles (not always easy, I admit); forgetting something important; cold rainy days; hypocrisy; cigarette smoke when I'm barely awake; know-it-alls; too loud music while trying to have a conversation; hurt someone's feelings unvolontarily; doubt

In the past couple of years I worked as a volunteer: first in a local Oxfam shop, after that in a palliative care unit in one of Ghent's hospitals. I temporarily quit last year but I'd like to pick it up again after graduating. Volunteering is important to me, for me it's something evident and I'm amazed by how the smallest things can mean so much to someone. I get a lot out of it myself, though it is not the main reason for doing it, and I've learned not to expect too much (however, saying it wouldn't be a reason at all, would be lying, in my opinion, nothing can be done exclusively for some one else)
I think I'm an idealist, at least my decision to study nursing is an idealistic one. Which may be naive, but so be it. I find it hard not to be a pessimist sometimes, but I do think we need to keep on dreaming (otherwise, what is left to live?) and working to make this world a better place. Not necessarily through big initiaves, just start around you.

PHILOSOPHY

Follow your bliss... Two years ago, while feeling thoroughly unhappy with the way my life was going, I decided to take a break and go traveling to figure out what I wanted to do. At the time the idea of leaving on my own was both scary and exciting. The idea of studying nursing grew little by little and when I came back home I knew I had to at least try it. And I've learned so much over the past year, I figured out what I want to make out of life, do with it, for now. And if some day I'll feel the need to explore other domains, I'll be - I think, hope - less afraid to try.

Live to love

L'important c'est pas la chute, c'est l'atterrissage (La Haine)

Le seul véritable voyage n'est pas d'aller vers d'autres paysages mais d'avoir d'autres yeux (Proust)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

My studies take a lot of my time and energy, so I'm not always free to have guests. However, when I do reply positively, I try to really spend time with people. I hope to be more active later on, because I really do think this is a great opportunity to meet new people.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

When I'm visiting friends abroad I usually stay at their place for a couple of days, so that was my CS experience before CS, if you can put it that way. By now, I've surfed/hosted a couple of times, and it has always been a pleasant experience.

Interests

music, books, movies, sports, cooking, travel... I also just started an african dance class which I think is absolutely great, it gives me heaps of energy, and I love the feeling of being nothing but dance, and just let go completely.

• books
• poetry
• singing
• photography
• dancing
• cooking
• cheese
• coffee
• sauna
• walking
• shopping
• movies
• traveling
• music
• cycling
• scuba diving
• sports
• swimming
• languages
• nursing
• sign language
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

Lots of music: rock, world (latin music ALWAYS makes me happy) classical, jazz... Some names maybe: Smiths, Kinks, Beatles, Crowded House, Suzanne Vega, Cesaria Evora, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Ben Harper, Tom McRae, Noir Désir, Mano Solo, Tous les matins du monde soundtrack, Bach's Cello Suites, Janis Ian, Patti Smith, Buena Vista Social Club, John Frusciante (Curtains!!)... and many more.
Books are very important to me, I'm always reading at least one book. I have a slight addiction for detectives and thrillers, but I like fiction in general. One of my all time favourite books: L'Ecume des Jours, written by Boris Vian. I also loved Catcher in the Rye, Le Roi des Aulnes; books by Isabel Allende, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Guy de Maupassant, Anne Provoost, Bart Moeyaert...
A couple of my favourite movies: Requiem for a dream, Les enfants du Paradis, The nightmare before Christmas(and pretty much anything Burton makes), Thelma and Louise, It's a wonderful life,Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Vietnam-movies, David Lynch movies, Black Cat White Cat
In a way books and movies are another way of traveling, of fleeing sometimes, into a world different from ours.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

My trip to Central America: working in a children's unit at Antigua Hospital, driving through miles and miles of stunning landscape, swimming/diving in the ocean...
The strength of people I met there, but also here in the hospital, for ex
The quiet of the desert

Teach, Learn, Share

Languages! Teach them if you will (Dutch, even French) but mostly learn them (I'd love to learn sign language)... I will never get tired of that, even though I'm doing something different... then again, nursing is about people, and so are languages...
Photography is another thing I'd really like to learn, I'd love to take some classes, someday and learn how to develop my own pictures. So, all of you photographers, I'm all ears (or should I say "eyes"?)
But, like I said, I'm curious, and eager to learn about anything that seems interesting to me. Which means a lot of things.

Countries I’ve Visited

Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium, France

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