Hi, I'm Gaelle! After having successfully gone from Paris to Tokyo by train/boat, I'm settling in Japan for a bit. Currently living in Hyogo and working at a Kobe beef restaurant where I present the menu to the francophones/sinophones/anglophones who wander through our doors. It's fun! I can say "filet mignon" in four languages now.

Before that, I grew up in France then moved to Canada where I lived for six years. I also stayed in Taiwan to do research for a year (I was in Daoist Studies). I love meeting new people and sharing stories, roaming around, chill, etc.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

So far couch surfing has been a great opportunity to meet new people and share about our lives. I'll take that over a hotel room any day.

Interests

• culture
• reading
• hiking
• martial arts
• history
• climbing

Music, Movies, and Books

Tough questions...
Favorite book must be The Once And Future King because of how beautifully it's written, though I also loved A Trip to The Stars. Have been reading a lot recently, awards go to: Red Poppies, Ali and Nino, Abai's road, Legend of the Condor Heroes, White Teeth.
As for music, it changes all the time, one part of me likes the classic Indi rock and pop, the other part is very much into glitch pop, Hyper pop and electro (or anything with a nice bass + synth + cool rhythm)
Movies, I watch a bit of everything though fantasy movies or movies with a lot of action are a favorite of mine.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Went on a boat expedition in the North of Québec. It. Was. Cold. Had some beautiful moments, and some misadventures, including 27h in a pretty bad storm.

The newest adventure has been the train trip from Paris to Tokyo, January 2025-July 2025, with my sister. It took us a while, we followed the silk road through Turkey, Georgia, a bit of Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan again, China, then roamed around a bit more before taking the ferry to Korea, then Japan. An amazing experience, I think about it often.

Now I want to complete the trip: go back to France through the Pacific then the Atlantic. We'll see how it goes.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you some slang in French from both France and Québec! I also did my master's thesis on anthropology and religious systems if that's a thing you're interested in. Otherwise, I did a fair bit of martial arts, so I can show (or trade) some techniques, I know a few card games, love drawing and painting, would love to learn some magic tricks.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can share bits and pieces of the places I have lived!

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, England, Georgia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malta, Netherlands, Philippines, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United States, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, France, Japan, Taiwan