Hello! I'm Marika (muh-RYE-kuh). I grew up in Alaska and have a pretty eclectic background, I suppose.
Got the mind of a scientist and the heart of an artist 🍁 Volunteered as a science educator for four years when I was a teenager, worked in a comic shop for a couple years, worked on a train in Alaska for a summer, studied music in college, and am currently a web developer in Portland, Oregon (if the census asks). Lately I've been mustering up the courage to start actually pursuing the things that I love, and I don't have any answers yet, but I have a lot of promising ideas (puppeteers, get @ me). Pretty much everything is interesting, and I'm doing my darndest to learn about it all. Teach me something new :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I really enjoy learning about the minutia and everyday of different cultures and meeting interesting people, and couch surfing is by far the best way to do both of those things. When I visit a new place I usually make a point to visit the cemetery, grocery store, and library, get a feel for the local flora and fauna, and spend time with locals. Let's have weird and profound conversations over tea at two in the morning and show each other extraordinary things~

As a host, I'll cook with you, go on hikes or out to bars or museums or the movies or anything, really. Let's hang out!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Spent two weeks in Amsterdam with a wonderful man, modeled for an artist in Bruxelles, got a last-minute host in Antwerp when there was an emergency, barbecued bananas in München and fed eggplant to a hedgehog, played volleyball in Vien, and crashed with a bunch of hippies (some of the coolest people I've ever met.) Sprained my ankles in south america but my host in Lima was an oriental healer and he fixed them for me :3 Plus a bunch of couch surfing meetings.

Interests

I play the BAAAsoon and I make stuff. Knitting, interior design, yoga, programming, cooking, comics, plants, biology, art, philosophy, history, music, math, space, yoga, etc.. Tell me why you like something and I'll probably like it too

I'd *love* to learn to weld, machine, weave, make installation art, draw better, and pretty much every other way you could make things

• pets
• arts
• books
• design
• interior design
• fashion
• cooking
• bbq
• exercise
• yoga
• meditation
• anime
• movies
• reading
• knitting
• fishing
• hiking
• camping
• skiing
• philosophy
• science
• last minute travel
• nature
• tea
• spirituality
• plants
• film
• outdoors
• space
• libraries
• art museums
• textiles
• interior decorating
• cemeteries

Music, Movies, and Books

Oh man, there are too many to list.

They Might Be Giants, Leonard Cohen, Dan Deacon, Moses Sumney, St. Vincent, David Byrne

Favorite Authors (the abridged list):
Mary Roach
Terry Pratchett
Alan Moore
Douglas Adams
Winston Rowntree
Bill Willingham

I'm just gonna lump actors, directors, movies and TV together:
Robin Williams
Terry Gilliam
Muppets
Hayoa Miyazaki
Anime (shoot-em-ups, comedy, sci-fi)
Cowboy Bebop
Futurama
Steven Universe
Bravest Warriors
Adventure Time
Arrested Development
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Monty Python
Venture Brothers
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Fullmetal Alchemist
Soul Eater
etc.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Gosh, all kinds of things. Trekked in Patagonia, went to the Nebula Awards (Peter S Beagle sang a song 😭), saw the original Dragon capsule and control room at SpaceX, went midnight skinny dipping under the milky way in a volcanic lake, watched the Gemenids meteor shower with a bunch of sea lions on a beach in the Galápagos, grew up in a state with the friggin' aurora borealis (I've seen it from a plane twice!), and one time I got peed on by a baby alligator. I hear it's good luck!

Oh! One time, a political mucky-muck from the Prince of the United Emirates' posse gave me his phone number and asked me to call him when visit the United Emirates some day. Sadly, I sat on my phone and deleted his phone number.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach me to play the harmonica! Or dance! Or how to cook your favorite dish. Whatever!

I can teach you to crochet, knit, embroider, cook a killer peanut miso udon, loads of esoteric science facts, and how to make the best hot toddy you'll ever have.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My charming sense of humor :D also lots of stories, weird science facts, good art/music/museum/documentary recommendations, meditation, yoga, philosophical discussion

Also I cook!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Ecuador, England, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Peru, United Kingdom, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States