I am a dual US/German citizen who was born and raised in Southeastern Pennsylvania, USA. I spent the last seven years living in Philadelphia (the coolest city you've never heard of except for Fresh Prince and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: FYI, it's not always sunny, not even metaphorically) where myself and several of my closest friends went to college. I moved to Finland in June of 2014 and am currently publishing some research and trying to find steady work researching Finnish nature, while my boyfriend Samu finishes school. I miss Philadelphia but I love to travel and am learning a lot living in a different country. Samu and I both love to learn and experience new things, and some time soon we hope to travel together.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We'd be happy to host those who make it this far north. The Nordic countries are worth a visit: the sun never sets in the summer!
We will also definitely be looking for places to couch surf around the world; after moving abroad I know I will be traveling a lot, so now is a good time to start building a network.

The last house I lived at in Philadelphia was a couchsurfer house, so we occasionally had surfers stay with us and it was great fun. I loved to meet new people and tell them about the city. Since then I knew I had to join!

Interests

I love so many things! In no particular order:
Nature - ALL the nature, but trees, water bodies, amphibians, and mountains are pretty high up on my list; big cities; small towns; foraging; cooking; cultural differences; science; astronomy; beer; wine; cartoons; trekking; running; dancing; taking care of my plants; reading; maintaining a state of political and socioeconomic awareness; boys with long hair/girls with short hair/general weirdness; bar trivia; sports (kind of in order: Philadelphia Flyers, FC Bayern München, die Deutsche Nationalmannschaft, TEAM USA soccer, Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Union). Also: Lionel Messi.
If you are a fan of a rival team - it's cool, we can still hang ^___^

• amphibians
• culture
• dancing
• cooking
• wine
• beer
• running
• walking
• cartoons
• trivia
• reading
• traveling
• sports
• soccer
• astronomy
• forestry
• science
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

My favorite bands of all time are Pink Floyd, Cream, Jimi Hendrix & Band of Gypsys but I also love Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, Nirvana, old Foo Fighters, My Morning Jacket, Washed Out, The Beatles, The Doors, Sunset Rubdown, Rage Against the Machine, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Black Sabbath, Bassnectar, Animal Collective, Panda Bear, Deadmau5, Alt J, Cat Empire, The Cure, A Tribe Called Quest, LCD Soundsystem, Miles Davis, Moby, Neil Young/CSNY, The Prodigy, Sublime, Eastern-influenced music (think citar), Lots of Classical music (Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, etc. ),Offensive rappers that I can't relate to but enjoy nonetheless....all kinds of stuff. Without diversity life would be pretty boring.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I studied abroad in Bhutan for 6 weeks: a few favorite happenings were planting cypress trees with young monks on National Forestry Day, trekking to ancient Buddhist monasteries to take part in sacred religious ceremonies, and teaching an entire school of children the hokey pokey on stage.

Samu studied abroad in Shanghai and immediately afterward backpacked throughout Asia for 6 months, topping it off with the Annapurna trek in Nepal.

The list of countries visited below is our combined list.

Teach, Learn, Share

My all time favorite fun fact: The seven major ions in seawater that are required for life are in our blood in the same relative proportions - we are walking ocean packets!

What I Can Share with Hosts

I love to hostess and try to maintain a general working knowledge of all my surroundings, so whether you're into city life or nature walks - I can help out. My boyfriend Samu is a native Finn so you'd get a proper introduction to Finnish culture.

If your visit happens to coincide with a solar storm and an appropriate amount of night time hours - you may just get to see the Northern Lights!

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Denmark, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Finland, United States