Hi! I'm Mimi,
I'm 21 and I'm currently in my 2nd year at university in London studying African Language and Culture. I guess I like to think I can be pretty fun, I really enjoy meeting new people and going to new places and generally 'running around' as I like to say - having a kind of simple child-like enjoyment of the things around me but at the same time I always strive to be respectful and aware of those close to me and try to be open and kind with new people as well as my old friends.
I really love reading and also like to think I am an aspiring writer. I also love playing and listening to all sorts of music, I play a little bit of piano, guitar, djembe, I love to sing (probably most of all) and I've also just started to learn the kora! I'm always happy to go out for a drink, I definitely love the pub but if you can get me in the mood I love to dance, be that at home, at an event or a festival.
I guess my other interests are mainly different circus skills, I'm not amazing at anything but I play around with juggling, poi, diablo, slacklining and also fire spinning. I don't really go anywhere without my juggling balls in my bag haha.
Although at the moment I can't speak any other languages fluently other than English, I am desperate to learn! French, Spanish and Swahili are my priorities but I'm also pretty interested in Japanese but that mainly comes from my obsession (it has calmed down a bit now) with anime and classic japanese cinema.
I have traveled to quite a few different places so I'm completely open to different ways of life and always ready to learn about other cultures: their language, the food and the way of life and I always hope to do this without being too much of a tourist. I love traveling but I don't want to force my unwanted presence on a people or a way of life in a way that is either un-ethical or insensitive.

I don't have a place in london right now but as soon as I do I will be happy to start hosting people :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I have definitely discovered that when travelling it is so much better to be hanging out with the locals, it is not only more fun than just being a tourist that skims the surface of a place but it also means you can get a deeper understanding of a place and its people as well as be shown around to all the good spots!

Interests

• arts
• literature
• cooking
• beer
• anime
• reading
• music
• live music
• languages
• slacklining
• creative writing

Music, Movies, and Books

Its pretty difficult for me to give official answers to any of these but I will try...

Favourite Music;
In general I really enjoy jazz (Herbie Hancock, Ahmed Jamal, Bill Evans, Miles, Monk, Jaco Pastorius, Coltrane, Chet Baker, Ella, Nina) anything from the 70s: disco, funk, folk, rock, psychedelic (emphasis on the folk disco and funk!) most specifically Joni Mitchell, there is some hip-hop that I really love but I can't say I have gone that deep into it as a genre, reggae is always great and makes me happy, but I also love dance music, I don't really listen to it but if I'm out dancing I love techno, psy-trance, D&B. I also LOVE African music - Miriam Makeba is my queen, Orchestra Baobab, Fela Kuti, basically anything out of West Africa.

Favourite Movies;
Most Japanese cinema anime stuff like studio ghibli: Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa Valley of the Wind but also classical cinema: Seven samurai, any Ozu film, Woman of the Dunes. Also kinda big nerd: Lord of the Rings, Star Wars. Bit of Wes Anderson: Grand Budapest Hotel, The Darjeeling Limited. Any Buster Keaton films. There's definitely more but I can't really think.

Favourite Books;
anything by George Orwell, a couple of Kurt Vonnegut: Galapogos and God Bless You Mr Rosewater (need to read more), Master and Margarita (maybe my favourite ever), A Scanner Darkly, Brave New World (definitely want to read more sci-fi) In recent years I have also been reading a lot more African literature which I also really really love like Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, No Longer at Ease, Ben Okri: The famished Road, Ayi Kwei Armah: The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, some Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and I have just started reading some Ngugi Wa Thiong'o (everyone should check out his stuff, not just novels but very cool political writing)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

When I was living in Martinique we went through the hurricane season, luckily we were fine but the next island over, Dominica, was completely destroyed. All the nature was dead, they had no water supply or electricity supply and most of the roads were rubble. We decided to go help out and hopped a ferry with our rucksacks filled with food supplies, nappies, tampons, medical supplies and water and went to deliver them and help out for a couple of days. We were expecting the people to be quite desperate (understandably) and therefore we thought it might be dangerous to turn up by ourselves without a charity or organisation but I have never met such strong, beautiful people. It was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life.

Teach, Learn, Share

I have a TEFL (Teach English as Foreign Language) qualification as well as being a native speaker so I can teach English to anyone who wants to learn. I really want to learn Spanish, so exchanging languages would be so great for me.
I also have a slack line with me that everyone can have a go on and I can teach how to do it, as well as give you some fire spinning lessons if you want to give it a try.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Hopefully a good time, talking and laughing, sharing stories and exchanging cultures because thats what its all about really. I'm a very relaxed person and a good house guest.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominica, France, Germany, Guadeloupe, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Martinique, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, United States, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

Martinique, United Kingdom