Hey there!

My name is Tija and by now, I have lived in England for over two years (although Couchsurfing still insists that I live in Estonia).

I came here as an au pair and stayed as a nanny. My initial plan was to stay long enough to earn some money and get used to the culture - and then audition for the dance colleges here in London as well as all over the world. Although there were some bumps on the road, I have been accepted to a professional dance school in Winnipeg, Canada, and I have never been more excited for something!

I absolutely love reading fiction, especially fantasy - I started with Harry Potter when I was 8 and then never stopped. Harry Potter as a starting point is pretty typical, I'd imagine. I am not as big on writing as I used to be, and that makes me sad. I would eventually like to make my way back to it. Other than that, I keep myself busy by going to musicals - I have seen nearly every one in London - my current favourites are Matilda and the Book of Mormon.

(Instersectional) feminism isn't a swear word and it frustrates me that a lot of people think so.

Yoga makes me happy and so I make an effort to take a class in it nearly every day - or if not, practice at home on my own. Maybe I will eventually work towards qualifying as a teacher, myself... (:

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm extremely interested in travelling and various languages (unfortunately have started learning more of them than I can actually take on...). However, I have found "normal" travelling to be pretty plain and boring. It can be fun to live in hotels and see typical tourist traps a few times, but after a while... it just doesn't justify flying into a completely new country with it's own culture - culture that you will only glimpse if you go the convenient way.
My time with hosts from Couchsurfing has always been extremely rewarding: I have had tons of fun seeing parts of their country that only locals would know about, we got to cook together, we got to share stories and discuss differences between our cultures... by now, I honestly couldn't imagine travelling any other way.

Interests

• animals
• culture
• writing
• dancing
• lgbt rights
• yoga
• reading
• hiking
• history
• languages
• archaeology
• musicals
• fantasy books
• historical costuming

Music, Movies, and Books

Books - SO much fantasy (my favourite author being Robin Hobb). I also try to read anything YA LGBT I can find, even though the portrayals of the characters are often somewhat disappointing.

Movies - Zootopia, Moana, Tallulah, Tomboy, Mr. Nobody, Big Fish, Salaam Namaste

Shows - sense8, Age of Youth, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Äkta Människor, The Crown, Planet Earth 1 & 2, Black Mirror, Stranger Things, The IT Crowd, Black Books, Game of Thrones, Modern Family

Music - Hayley Kiyoko, Sia, Princess Chelsea, Melanie Martinez, Ed Sheeran, Stromae, Hozier

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I fought my way out of a difficult situation and became independent. Still continuing on that road, but I am closer to my end goal than I have ever been before (:

Teach, Learn, Share

I could tell you about Estonian culture (and how it compares to English culture that I have seen so far) and discuss the early history of it (about how our culture was shaped by the pagan religion we had going on up until we were first forced to become Christian. It's pretty fascinating). I must admit I am not as well versed with our history past 11th century, but I can try!

We could do yoga together! Or dance, or improvise. Or bake. Baking is great fun.

Countries I’ve Visited

Germany, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, Sweden

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, England, Estonia