Hey Everyone! My name is Jay and I am a 21 year old Mechanical Engineering Student studying at the University of Bath.

I love learning about other cultures and languages. I find it fascinating how many languages there are and how each one is amazing in its own way.
I also really like learning new things and setting myself challenges, such as learning German and running a Marathon; a few things I done recently.
I love to read, watch movies and TV programmes, and do various sports. I really enjoy playing touch Rugby and football, as well as tennis, squash, badminton and I also like going to the gym. I consider myself a jack of all trades at sport, not amazing at any particular one, but just a decent level all round.
I really enjoy the outdoors, hiking, and just being outside in the fresh air.

In the summer of 2018 with a friend from home I travelled around Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. I had an amazing experience and met some brilliant people along the way.

In 2019 I will be studying in Grenoble until the summer. I can't wait to live in a new country with a different culture and hopefully learn the language along the way.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

When I was 19 I had the pleasure of inter-railing around Europe for a month. It was an absolutely amazing experience that I'll never forget! It made me realise how big the world really is, and that there is so much more to experience in life than what is in my immediate surroundings.

Coming originally from a small town in Northern Ireland I never really had the opportunity to meet people from other countries or experience other cultures. My hometown, and Northern Ireland as a whole, are not very multicultural and much less diverse than mainland UK. Bath, were I live and attend University, is completely different! The city and University are very diverse and people from all over the globe live, work, and study here. It's also a major tourist city in England due to its beautiful sandstone architecture and Roman thermal baths. When I walk down the high-street or around the university I hear many different languages and see people who look unlike myself. I often wonder what their story is and what life is was like growing up in another country.

Living in Bath and having got the travel bug from Inter-Railing has given me the desire to meet new people and learn about their culture. I think it's great that people will give up their time, and a spot in their house/apartment, to host a complete stranger for free.

Interests

• books
• running
• cycling
• hiking
• rugby
• languages
• tv shows
• film
• ireland
• german language
• touch rugby

Music, Movies, and Books

I love all kinds of music, from house, pop, to old school mowtown.

Books: When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari, A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, If this is a Man/The Truce by Primo Levi, The Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larrson, Harry Potter Series by J.K Rowling. 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northop. Homicide: A Year on the Killing Steets, by David Simon. To name but a few...

Podcasts: No Such Thing as a Fish, The Bugle, I will teach you a language, Oh No Ross and Carry, The Europeans, The Curious case of Rutherford and Fry, The Infinite Monkey Cage, Those Conspiracy Guys, This American Life, Today Explained, Work Life-with Adam Grant, The Joe Rogan Experience.

Movies: Hot Fuzz, Get Out, Baby driver, Arrival, Spotlight, Django Unchained, Inglourious B*asterds, The Big Short, Saving Private Ryan, Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire, Forest Gump, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Dark Knight, Skyfall, Inception, The Prestige, Se7en, Good Will Hunting, Lord of the rings Trilogy, Snatch, Gladiator, In Bruges

TV Show: Manhunt: Unibomber, Daredevil, Silicon Valley, Rick and Morty, Stranger Things, Master of None, The Bridge, True Detective, Broadchurch, Breaking Bad, Narcos, Luther, Brooklyn nine-nine, Sherlock, the Mitchel and Webb Show, Dark, Peaky Blinders.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I set myself the goal during Summer 2017 of learning German to a B1 Level in just over six months. I have always been fascinated by languages. However, being your stereotypical english person I never bothered to learn a foreign language. Instead, like most native english speakers, I was under the impression that I never had to learn a foreign language, because 'everyone would speak english.' However, upon starting university I realised how much of a mistake this was. I attend a university were around a third of the students are international and speak 2+ languages. I thought this was amazing, but it also made me feel kind of useless that all of these students had spent time learning english, and I hadn't bothered to learn a foreign language myself.

Hence I decided that I would learn German. Admittedly not from scratch, but with the basics of GCSE German under my belt. Anyone that has done their education in England will realise how useless foreign language education is. Not really at the fault of the teachers, but through the lack of effort of the students. Unfortunately I put little effort in and learnt only the very basics. Enough to already have a foundation, but without the ability to string a single coherent sentence together. Except for maybe "Ich heiße Jay und ich bin 20 Jahre alt".

After months of hard work I managed to pass the Goethe Institut B1 Exam at the end of January 2018. My German is still pretty basic and I can only have simple conversations, but its a platform that I can build upon and it was (and still is) an enjoyable experience. It opens up your life to a new culture,new media, films, and books that were previously unavailable.

Teach, Learn, Share

I could help you with your English if its your second language.

I can teach you some Northern Irish slang or common, funny words that we use in Northern Ireland that aren't used elsewhere. E.g "What's the Craic?" Have a guess at what that means...

I can also teach you about the Troubles in Northern Ireland that have take place over the last few decades.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Hopefully happy memories. Good experiences. Fun chats in English and German.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belize, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, England, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain, United States, Vatican City State, Wales

Countries I’ve Lived In

England, Northern Ireland