I'm a student currently on a year abroad in Malaysia studying International Relations, although I major in Biochemistry in the UK. I chose Malaysia as my year abroad destination because of its ideal location in South-East Asia for travelling, and so far I've tried to take advantage of that as much as possible, whilst also learning a lot about Malaysia itself and its people. I hadn't really travelled to SE Asia before I came out here, but after 4 months I already feel like I understand the region so much better than just reading about it in books or online in the UK, and that's highlighted to me how important it is to live somewhere in order to really grasp how that people live and the way the country works. I think this year will give me the confidence to move abroad in the future and carry on exploring the world through my work, instead of predominantly as a hobby.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I did a roadtrip around the UK with my friend a couple of years ago and she introduced me to Couchsurfing - we stayed with a few different people/families during our travels. One family in particular stood out to me because of how they incorporated surfers into their everyday lives, and used their guests as a form of education about the world for their children. It made me realise how valuable and influential the people you meet on your travels are, and what a fantastic community CS is to be a part of for all the varieties of people you get the opportunity to meet. Whilst I'm not currently in the position to host anyone, I hope that in the future I will be in a position to do so, and in the meantime I would love to take the opportunity to meet as many people as possible to further challenge my own beliefs and assumptions about the world, many of which I don't always realise I hold until someone brings up the conversation!

Interests

• culture
• environment
• international relations
• theatre
• international development
• biochemistry
• musical theatre

Music, Movies, and Books

I'm a fan of most types of music except for heavy rock, grime, and rap (I'm not hugely knowledgeable of music genres so that's not an extensive list!) and some of my favourite artists would be Bear's Den, James Blunt, Tom Grennan, and CHVRCHES.
My favourite films would include the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Forrest Gump, Argo, Hot Fuzz, and Good Bye, Lenin!.
My favourite books include The Underground Railway (Colson Whitehead), A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry), Night Road (Kristin Hannah) and 1984 (George Orwell).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Last year at University I organised a charity music and arts festival and we managed to raise around £40,000 for two mental health charities - BasicNeeds (the only international mental health charity) and RSVP (Rape & Sexual Violence Project, Birmingham). It took our committee of students a whole year to organise, and I was so proud to have played such a key role in bringing everything together to not only raise so much money for charity, but also to create such an amazing festival for people to attend, and an event which all the committee could be so proud of being a part of too.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Stimulating discussion of international politics, philosophy, climate change, or anything else of interest! As long as you're open-minded I'm sure we can find plenty of things to talk about. I love nature so can provide my company on outdoor adventures, or any other adventures you might be interested to go on. I also enjoy going to the theatre and museums, so I can also provide my company for any cultural trips. My cooking isn't great (although I do possess a more extensive repertoire than the typical student meals of beans on toast and pasta with tomato sauce!) but I can cook some quite tasty vegetarian dishes.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Malaysia, Nepal, Portugal, Serbia, Singapore, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

Malaysia, United Kingdom