UPDATE - OCTOBER 2019
My mom and I will be traveling together to St Louis this October to consult with a specialist about her rare cancer... so I'm dusting off my couchsurfing account in the hopes that we might find somebody to stay with. :) I'm 32, my mom is 59, and (aside from the cancer) she's in good health and doesn't need any special assistance - she can climb stairs easily, etc.

This will be our first visit to St. Louis and we are hoping to meet somebody we could stay with for a few days while we get to know the city and do any tests that the doctors require.

She's also a teacher and we both love reading, watching endless BBC shows, and taking photographs of architecture at every opportunity. Looking forward to meeting you :)

(The rest of my profile is from when I was still in Europe, so not really up-to-date, sorry...)

ABOUT ME
I was born in San Diego, grew up in the Las Vegas desert, went to university in snowy Massachusetts, and taught in Kyoto, Paris, and Spain. Basically, my goal is to meet people from all over the world! I like learning about different cultures and customs, and I like sharing stories and ideas with new friends. :)

Hola, soy Miranda y vengo de Estados Unidos. Me gusta viajar, aprender nuevos idiomas, y conocer gente nueva de diferentes países, con diferentes culturas. El año pasado vivía en Santander, donde trabajaba en la EOI, y ¡me encantó! He aprendido un poco de la lengua castellana y he disfrutado de las playas y montañas hermosas de Cantabria.

Salut tout le monde ! Je suis américaine ; j'adore la langue française et j'adore voyager ; je commence à voyager un peu en Europe. J'aime bien voir de beaux endroits, de rencontrer des gens des autres pays et d'apprendre des autres cultures.

PHILOSOPHY

Live and let live, dare to dream. :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

UPDATE OCTOBER 2019 - Looking for a place to stay for a few days in St Louis!

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING
Right now I'm looking for a place to stay with a friend for a few days. Pretty please! We're more interested in seeing "real life" than just "touristy" things, so we like to spend time together talking and hanging out with our hosts if they have time.

I love history, art, languages, and I like learning a little about the culture of the places I visit. :) I'm not so interested in night-life or crazy parties; I prefer a glass of wine together and talking comfortably. I prefer to stay with women or families, no single guys, sorry.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE
I couch-surfed once in Brussels and LOVED it, but got busy with life and didn't have another opportunity. I just rediscovered the site and am hoping to try again.

Interests

Novels, libraries, poetry, and books of all shapes and sizes! I also like learning foreign languages, hiking, climbing around in caves, photography, getting lost in museums and old buildings, frowning at guidebooks...

• books
• poetry
• photography
• socializing
• origami
• hiking
• rock climbing
• languages
• tourism

Music, Movies, and Books

Older: Hugo, Dumas, Dickens and Eliot, every play by Shakespeare except Love's Labor's Lost, all kinds of poetry (T.S. Eliot, Yeats, Wallace Stevens, Wordsworth and Keats, Herbert, Emily Dickinson), Dostoyevsky, Siddhartha, Great Gatsby

Modern: Ursula K. Le Guin, Haruki Murakami, Tom Stoppard, SPQR historical mysteries set in ancient Rome, fantasy and sci-fi (Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Hunger Games, Fahrenheit 451), almost every musical ever performed (including Disney), and all the Miyazaki movies.

En français: "Correspondances" (Baudelaire), Chevaliers d'Émeraude, Chroniques du monde émergé (traduit de l'italien), Celine Dion, chansons de comédies musicales (Le temps des cathédrales, Les rois du monde, Un monde à changer...)

En español: "Caminante, no hay camino" (Antonio Machado), Memorias de Idhún (y otros libros de Laura Gallego Garcia), todos los libros que puedo entender, canciones de La Oreja de Van Gogh y de Sueño de Morfeo

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

- Climbed Mt. Fuji and seen the sunrise from the summit.
- Listened to the silence in the pitch-black caverns of Wind Cave, over 3,000 feet underground.
- Made apple cider on a farm in the Japanese Alps.
- Worked at a bed-and-breakfast in the beautiful Tuscany countryside.
- Watched the tide come in around the abbey of Mont St-Michel, and heard the Latin Mass at Notre-Dame de Paris.
- Been a "groundling" next to the stage for a Shakespeare production at the Globe Theatre in London.

Teach, Learn, Share

I teach English - and I LOVE teaching English - so if you're learning and want some help, don't be shy - ask me! I can help you with any kind of question.

I know a lot of people want to improve their English conversation and speaking skills. Many people ask me to correct their errors when we speak in English. I can also give you advice on the Cambridge exams (First Certificate, CAE) or Spain's EOI exams if you want. Just ask!

I love languages and I'm always trying to learn from the people I meet. I can teach you basic French and Japanese, though I'm far from an expert.

That's all I can think of right now... maybe I should acquire some origami-skills.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Netherlands, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Japan, Spain, United States

•