CURRENT MISSION

Working as an intern at a free school in France. Learning how to deal with children. Improving my French.

ABOUT ME

I think I am an open-minded, empathetic and sensitive person who can adapt well to different circumstances and people. I am interested in having a connection to the people that I am with. That doesn't mean I have to be friends with everybody, but I do like to appreciate other people even if I don't agree with their view and I think I'm not bad at mediating between people.

I'm also a student of educational science at Lüneburg and I have a BA in social science. In my studies I have been exploring what it means to lead a good life, individually and collectively. I am interested in how the foundation for such a life is or is not laid in school, so I'm dealing with alternative education and free schools.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've surfed couches mainly in Germany, Ecuador and France and my experiences were great! I think it's a great opportunity to get in contact with people who actually live at the place you visit, to get an impression of their life and of what this place means to them. When travelling you can spend all your time with other travelers, backpackers etc. That can also be nice sometimes, but I don't like to be closed up in my little traveler bubble. Instead, I want to get in contact with people who have a different relationship to the place, because they live there, maybe have grown up there, or know the place in a way, that I, as a traveler, don't know.

Interests

I love seeing and making different forms of art, mainly drawing, painting and photography. I practice yoga and meditation and like to read about the underlying philosophies of these practices, so my interest in philosophy definitely includes eastern philosophies. I enjoy spending time in nature, hiking or running, especially in the forest.

I also have an interest in alternative education and free schools, actually that's why I'm studying educational science. I'm fascinated by school projects that give children and youth freedom to explore who they are, what they love and what they want to do in life. I'm exploring this practically by working as an intern in a free school in Dijon, France.

What I like about traveling is having conversations with people from different places about all kinds of things, also hearing things that might sound unusual to me or that I don't agree with, because then you learn to communicate between different points of views, look at things differently, question yourself. I'm still trying to learn this, not only when I'm traveling, because I think you don't have to go far away to have this kind of experience.

• arts
• photography
• education
• yoga
• running
• meditation
• reading
• traveling
• drawing
• music
• philosophy
• nature
• outdoors
• free schools

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I think one of the greatest things I did was on Christmas eve in 2010. On a trip throug Central America I rented a scooter and spent all day cruising around Lake Atitlán in Guatemala. The sun was shining as I went up and down the hills around this fantastic lake and the view was just amazing!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belize, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, England, France, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Nicaragua, Turkey