*** PLEASE NOTICE *** I AM NOT ABLE TO HOST ANYONE APART FROM THE OCCATIONAL WEEKEND. MY COUCH STATUS IS SET TO YES IF I HAVE OPENINGS.
HAVE WE MET BEFORE? ARE WE FRIENDS ALREADY? ARE YOU FRIENDS OF MY FRIENDS? Send me a request anyways. I might have an opening.
I DO NOT HAVE OPENINGS ON REGULAR WEEKDAYS (Maybe thurs to monday or wed to sunday, but not apart from that)
ADVANCE REQUESTS ARE APPRECIATED (I NEVER HOST LAST MINUTE COUCH), but I rarely know what I will be doing 2 weeks from now and I wont be able to book you sooner than 2-4 weeks prior to your arrival.
Before requesting a couch, please check availability in my calendar - NOTE THAT JUST BECAUSE YOUR DATES ARE NOT BOOKED DOES NOT MEAN I AUTOMATICALLY CAN HOST YOU.
Check my to see where I am supposed to be and what I am doing!
About my place
I live in a nice apartment 10 minutes from Oslo downtown by train.
It has two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and the living room. From September I have a flatmate that will occupy the guestroom.
- I sleep in the bed. You on the couch in the living room.
- You can store your food in the fridge and use my kitchen for preparing your food.
- My apartment has Wifi access free of use.
Pets
1 cat (persian - long hair).
You better not be allergic, or bring your allergy medicine.
I DO NOT smoke .
My couch has a strict no-smoking policy ... sorry!
How to get into town
10 minutes in train.
It takes 1 minute to walk to the train station from my place.
You will need to take the train, it takes about 2 hours to walk to the city - Daypasses (24 hour tickets) are the best option and they are sold on any metro station (please note I do not live close to any metro station), at most Narvesen kiosks downtown and at the Trafikanten centre at the main station.
About me and my time
I love hosting and I'll do my best to help you have a nice stay at my place.
However please note: I prefer quality over quantity and I only host when I feel I really want to get to know you. This means you have to make me want to know you from your couchrequest.
- I work on weekdays and I may or may not have evenings off because of my work schedule.
- Usually I go to bed around 22:30-23:30 on weekdays, and later in the weekends ;).
- I can help you with advices on what to see in Oslo.
- I can not help you with advices on night clubs as I RARELY go to these.
- Sometimes I can be your tour guide - But sometimes means that i will choose when I will be able to join you.
(F.ex: IF raining it is likely that I will NOT join you. If sunny I will join you if I can).
- Personal cash point, we share cost. I will chip in on a round or buy food with surfers, but I am not there to subsidise a budget trip (which sometimes its felt this way)
About You and your time
- We will agree on the time you can stay.
What to bring:
You and your good mood
I do have blankets and covers, but it you have a sleeping bag and travel with it, please use it.IF you cant bring such - contact me Prior to coming, about other options.
Food
We share buying and making. I love learning to make/trying new food and I love making food.
I'M A DEDICATED COUCHSURFER NOT A HOSTEL ;)
-I DONT EXPECT GIFTS AND CERTAINLY NOT PAYMENTS TO STAY AT MY COUCH, but I do hope to get to know you and mabe parts of your culture as well.
That means that I will let you stay for free, but we share costs of the food we eat while you are here.
I might also ask you to bring me wine from tax free (prices are ridiculous in Norway) or stuff from your country.
I will pay for all expences for this if I ask you.
Do NOT forget reciets.
INFORMATION ABOUT REFERENCES and VOUCHES
References and Vouches are 2 of our most used Safety features on CS and you can find more information about them here.
REFERENCES
I dont always leave references unless I feel I got to know you well and can say something meaningfull about you as a member on CouchSurfing.
I want to keep Couchsurfing a safe place and I want my references to reflect this.
See our Reference Guidelines for more information on how to write good references.
VOUCHES
I only vouch for people I trust 100%. If you vouch for me and I dont vouch back for you immediately, its either because I didnt have time to take action or because I need more time to get to know you before I feel its Ok to vouch for you. When I vouch it is fully to show I trust you as a member of our Community.
Click this link to read more about Vouches.
CaliforniaMark 38, Male Los Angeles, California United States Friends since January 2008 "LOVE MACHITA SO MUCH ITS CRAZY" Friendship Type: Best Friend I vouched for MACHITA75 5
Flapic 40, Male Rome, Lazio Italy Friends since August 2007 "After a lot of chatting we finally met in Oslo, Summer 2007, and then many more times." Friendship Type: Best Friend I vouched for MACHITA75 37
Anick-Marie Bouchard 30, Female Montreal, Quebec Canada Friends since February 2008 "Working in same CS team & met in Oslo at last !!! She is the one that listens to me and that I listen to. She's an angel to me and I love her just as she is !" Friendship Type: Best Friend I vouched for MACHITA75 92
Carisita 27, Female Culiacan Rosales, Sinaloa Mexico Friends since June 2009 "Countless online interactions...oh and like 10 days together too!" Friendship Type: Friend
Claudio Quintana 36, Male Punta Arenas, Magallanes y de la Antartica Chilena (XII) Chile Friends since February 1994 "We first met at a common friend 's house back in Aas while I was an exchange student with AFS in Norway" Friendship Type: Best Friend
Sam Loxton 28, Male Sydney, New South Wales Australia Friends since July 2007 "Met at a couchsurfing meeting in Norway" Friendship Type: Good Friend I vouched for MACHITA75 30+
Céline Gaudinat 28, Female Oslo, Oslo Norway Friends since April 2007 "We met over a typpical Norwegian day ..." Friendship Type: Close Friend I vouched for MACHITA75
rachel 34, Female San Francisco, California United States Friends since November 2007 "After a year, and hours on end spent working on the same team, the wonderful M came to visit for the weekend! I can't wait to meet again & connect more :)" Friendship Type: Good Friend 3
Ricard Salevik 33, Male Oslo, Oslo Norway Friends since March 2007 "We met at Asylet pub on a CS-meeting. She's openminded, curious and I envy her as she has already fulfilled one of my dreams :)" Friendship Type: Close Friend I vouched for MACHITA75
PS: MY name is NOT Machita or Machita75. If you do not post my real name - your couch request will be rejected.
When you request my couch, Please be specific regarding dates - if you don't know your dates - you're likely too early to send a couch request!
I arrive "Sometimes in July" is NOT good enough.
I need to arrival and departure date and time before I will accept.
ABOUT ME: I LOVE to travel, I host when I can and I have travelled the AFS and Couchsurfing way ever since I was 17 (however my family started hosting AFS exchange students already when I was 16).
I love to meet other like-minded people and I love the opportunities that the Couchsurfing network gives to meet people like you!
Personality:
I am a person that puts a big effort into spending time with my friends whom i care deeply for. I like people to feel comfortable around me and I often spend a lot of energy to make sure they do. This said, I also need my space alone to recharge the batteries.
Im a social butterfly and I love getting to know new people, but because I put lots of energy into being there for others, I also have periods where I like to be alone and need time for my non-CS friends.
I love animals and I have a beautiful cat, Saffi, a longhaired persian.
How I Participate in CS
I am really passionate about Couchsurfing and all the friends i have found through this community. I have recieved so much during the time I have been a member of CS and I love giving back and trying to help out others to enjoy the Couchsurfing community as much as I do.
Therefore I volunteer to help YOU in several teams on CS: -The member Dispute and Safety Team. If you experience problems with another member, you can report this to us by sending us an email via the Contact us page and mark it as Problem with another member to assure member privacy.
Other Tasks I do when I have the time for it: -Update Couchsurfing wiki pages.
Remember Couchsurfing Ambassadors cannot help you with VISA's or government information. Please consult the government embassy for the country you wish to visit. A couchsurfing ambassador can only help you with Couchsurfing information.
CouchSurfing Experience
Hosted "101" / Surfed "46"
2012 Been hosted by: Anni (27) in Aberdeen, Scotland Hosted Tarek(100) from Egypt Travelled with: Magnus from Sweden in Costa Rica Been hosted by: Melanie in Houston, Texas (45) Hosted: Maikel (75) & Angelique (101) from Netherlands Hosted: Randall(38) from Costa Rica & Tarek(100) from Egypt
2011 Hosted: Randall(38) from Costa Rica Been hosted by: Martin (43) and Ellie (44) in Finland Been hosted by: Øyvind (10) and Madeleine (42) in Norway Hosted: Øyvind (35) and Madeleine (99) from Norway Hosted: Arthur (98) from Brazil and Øyvind (35) from Norway Hosted: David (97) from France Hosted: João Pedro (96) from Portugal Hosted: Eduardo (94) & Carmen(95) from Argentina / Spain Hosted: Ashley (93) from USA Hosted: Antoine (91) & Laure (92) from France Hosted: Harlem (90) from USA Hosted: Sergio (89) from Italy Hosted: Steven (66) & Katrien (88) from Belgium Hosted: Diana (87) from Mexico Hosted: Åse (86) from Norway Been hosted by Chris (24) and Sarah (41) in London Hosted: Luiz (84) from Costa Rica and Maui (85) from Mexico Hosted Øyvind (35) from Norway Hosted: Maikel (75) from Netherlands Hosted: Chang min Chu (82) and Yunlian (83) from Singapore Hosted: Anni (81) from Finland Hosted: Florian (80) from Switzwerland Hosted: Wendy (79) from Netherlands Been hosted by: Wendy (39) and Tom (40) in Tromsø, Norway
2010
Been hosted by: Simon (37) and Tirsa (38) in Copenhagen, Denmark Been hosted by: Roberta (9) in Rome, Italy Been hosted by: Bjørn (36) in Bremen, Germany Hosted: Oscar (77) and Laura (78) from Mexico Hosted Daniel (76) from Germany Been hosted by Daniel (35) from Germany Hosted Jon (41) from Norway Hosted Maikel (75) from Netherlands Been hosted by Carissa (32), Cindy (33) and Zach (34) in California, USA Been hosted by Alexandra (29) in California, USA Been hosted by Marco (19) in California, USA Been hosted by Denise (31) in Arizona, USA Been hosted by Amanda (30) in Arizona, USA Been hosted by Linda (1) in Oslo, Norway Hosted Christiano (73) & Simona (74) from Italy
2009
Hosted Randall (38) from Costa Rica Hosted Clement (72) from France Hosted Sylvain (71) from France Hosted Thomas (54) from Germany Hosted Anick-Marie (49) from Canada Been hosted by Marco (19) in Los Angeles, CA, USA Been hosted by Alexandra (29) in Fullerton, CA, USA Hosted Alexandra (70) from CA, USA Hosted PapaSteed (69) from Switzerland / USA Hosted Ludwig (67) and Philip (68) from Germany Hosted Steven (66) from Belgium Hosted Øyvind (35) from Norway Hosted Tim (64) and Jeroen (65) from Netherlands Been hosted by Kalliope (29) in Greece Been hosted by Vince (18) and Anni (27) in Switzerland Been hosted by Lisa (25) and Fabian (26) in Switzerland Hosted Giampiero (17) and Alessandro (18) from Italy (June) Hosted Mariann (64) from Norway / UK Hosted Chee (62) and Noralina (63) from Malaysia Hosted Peter (61) from Germany Been hosted by Chris (24) in London, UK Hosted Steffi (60) from Germany Been hosted by Chris (24) in London, UK Been hosted by Alfredo (7) in Rome, Italy Been hosted by Chris (24) in London, UK Hosted Gelzi (DE) (54), Brie (DE) (55), Joris (56) & Liesbeth (BE) (57), Xavier (FR) (58) and Carolina (NL) (59)
2008 Been hosted by Menno (21) in Amsterdam, NL Been hosted by Nicolas S (22) and Tomek (23) in Rotterdam, NL Been hosted by Menno (21) in Amsterdam, NL Been hosted by Rachel (20) in Berkeley, CA, USA Been hosted by Marco (19) in Los Angeles, CA, USA Hosted Francesco (53) from Italy Hosted Brenda (52) from Australia Been hosted by Vince (18) in Gossau, Switzerland Been hosted by Jasper (16) and Liza (17) in Utrecht, NL Been hosted by Sanna (15) in Bremen, DE Been hosted by Gunilla (14) in Stockholm, SWE Been hosted by Fernando (13) in Bremen, DE Hosted Fernando (51) from Mexico Hosted Jenn (9), Dominikys (50) and Karolis (10) from Lithuania Hosted Anick-Marie (49) from Canada Been hosted by Jenn (11) and Peter (12) in Vilnius, Lithuania Hosted Sven (48) from Norway Hosted Giampiero (17) and Simona (47) from Italy
2007 Hosted Flavio (45) and Luca (46) from Italy Been hosted by Bente and Pål (4 + 5) from Norway Hosted Jenn (9) and Anze (44) from Lithuania Been hosted by: Øyvind (10) Norway Travelled with Øyvind in Italy and Norway Been hosted by Roberta (9) in Rome, Italy Been hosted by Fulvio (8) in Rome, Italy Been hosted by Alfredo (7) in Bologna, Italy Been hosted by Giampiero (6) in Ascoli Piceno, Italy Hosted Lina Mata (43) from Costa Rica Hosted Rob O'Connor (42) from USA Hosted Jon (41) from Norway Hosted Susanne (40) from Germany Hosted Dave (39) from England/Finland Co-surfed Bentes and Påls place with Flavio & Carlo, Aimee & Jessica, Liewe & Lien, Ricard, Celine & Sam Been hosted by Bente and Pål (4 + 5) in Norway Hosted Randall (38) from Costa Rica Hosted Joy (36) and Chen (37) from China Hosted Øyvind (35) from Norway Hosted Eva (33) and Fabio (34) from Italy Hosted Elisabeth (32) from Austria Hosted Judith (31) from USA Hosted Sam (30) from Australia Hosted Evita (28) and Karlis (29) from Latvia Hosted Joanna (26) and Justine (27) from Poland Hosted Marco (25) from France Hosted Roberta (23) from Italy and Rachel (24) from HK Hosted Allison (21) and Andrin (22) from USA Hosted Marianne (19) and Dimitry (20) from Belgium Hosted Giampiero (17) and Alessandro (18) from Italy Hosted Elisabete (16) from Portugal Hosted Kerryn (15) from Australia Hosted Laura (14) from Spain Hosted Jen (12) and Amanda (13) from USA Hosted Klemens (11) from Austria Hosted Jenn (9) and Dominykus (10) from Lituania Hosted Karen (7) and Janice (8) from Hong Kong Hosted Claudio (5) and Maurizio (6) from Italy Hosted Will (4) from USA Hosted Jeff (2) and Myriam (3) from France Travelled with Barbara from Holland in CR Been hosted by Cyril (3) in San Jose, Costa Rica Been hosted by Jeniffer (2) in David, Panama
Previous: Been hosted by Linda (1) in Oslo, Norway
Travelled with Andy from USA in Costa Rica, 1999 Travelled with Eve from New Zealand and Oneshi from USA in Costa Rica, 1993 for 11 months.
I have also done loads of offline Couchsurfing Partied with and met for sightseeing: Many more ...
Interests
Travelling I love to travel to warm, tropical places like the jungle and the beaches and deserts, but I also enjoy cities and city life with culture and night life.
Other Interests Meeting friends and family,
Reading, Drawing, Watching movies, Listening to music, Dance, Swimming, Hiking, Nature, All kinds of animals; Especially Felines and tropical animals (thereamongst amphibians and reptiles). Being at the beach or in the rainforest. Organizing CS Parties.
Philosophy
"To realize one's destiny is a persons only obligation."
- From "The Alquemist" - by Paolo Coelho
Life is about embracing each others imperfections instead of complaining about them.
I also loved these short words of wisdom:
"My Favorite Thing About Gummy Bears Is Knowing That They Can't Fight Back When You Bite Their Heads Off =)"
Everything will be ok in the end, if it's not OK, its not the end!
Books: I love reading. I read a lot and some of the books that has marked me lately are: The Hunger Games, The Inheritance Cycle, The Vampire Academy, Bloodlines, The House of Night Series, The Twilight Saga and 1000s of others.
Music- First let me tell you something about me and music. I love music and my taste of music is very varied. This is because I listen to music that match the mood Im in and I also attach music to memories.
One day I can listen to new age music while the next day Ill listen to hard Rock music, another day again Ill prefer classical or romantic music. For the happy mood Latin american (all genres) and reggae are amongst my favourites. I cant list fav. artists here. I would never finish. However Indie, Rock and that kind of music are my favourites. :D
Movies - Speaking of that. I LOVE movies. Im a daydreamer and I have quite a good fantasy. I also can totally live myself into a story I watch and read, SOME (not all listed) of my favourite movies are:
The Twilight Saga (Yeah, Im one of THEM), LEON, LOTR, PS, I love you!, (now genre) Comedy, Thriller, Facts, Documentaries etc. LOADS of others. I also love Star Trek and series like this.
TV shows:
The Simpsons, House, The Big Bang Theory, Game of Thrones, Supernatural, How I met your mother, That 70s show, One Tree Hill, CSI, NCIS, Dexter and several others.
I also love National Geographic shows about volcanoes and other major forces of nature.
Types of People I enjoy
I enjoy most people !
Its easier for me to communicate with open-minded, down to earth people, but I can sometimes myself also use some time to warm up amongst others and I like people not to be to straight-foreward with me until we have established a certain level of trust.
I love Warm, charming, nice, fun and relaxed people, people with the guts to belive in themselves and live their story.
Easy people that just by being themselves make other feel easy too.
Teach, Learn, Share
We can all learn from each other !
Being open-minded, respectful, polite and treat each other in a good way we can make the world a better place. The intercultural exchanges between people from different cultures gives us the opportunity to make new friends amongst people we would have never have met in other ways.
Making friends from all the world is a fantastic way to fight for world peace.
In case you are interested, I have added a few links to helpful information on CS
I have done and experienced so many amazing things in my life, and I am so glad there is much more to come!
Amazing thing done The most important thing I did in my life was what woke me up as an explorer and also thought me so much about my own personality.
- I travelled to Costa Rica as an exchange student in 1993 and was hosted by a local family and attended public school for 1 year. It was a genuinely marvelous experience and the meeting with a so different and fascinating culture from my own has made me love the warm and friendly people of Costa Rica as well as the gorgeous nature in Costa Rica.
It tought me so many things about myself and people around me and opened up my mind to so many new impulses. I have later always been drawn to this ambient of travelling and openminded people :)
It is really addictive.
Amazing things seen Nature:
Sun set over the desert/beaches. Listening to the dripping from the rain on the leafs in the in the cloudforest.
Felt the wingstrokes from hummingbirds swarming around my head (like small motor engines).
Photographing poisonous frogs the size of my thumb finger nail (at 5am) surrounded by howler monkeys.
Standing by the foot of a very much alive rumbling volcano watching the lava stream down from the perfect cone while listening to the gas explotions from it. Beautiful view over the snowy alps.
Sun shining on recently fallen crystalized snow in the forest.
People: A smile from a stranger becoming your friend. The bonds with the people that opened their hearts and home for me when I lived in Costa Rica, that made my 1 year stay into a safe place, that showed a stranger love and treated me like family.
LOVE - from Family and Friends that encourage you and support you, no matter what you go through.
A pets unconditional love. My cat is so wonderful
Other than that, I have done and seen quite a bit wonderful things in my life.
I once did outdoor bbq in -17C during winter with a friend of mine. Food almost froze before we could eat it, even straight from bbq.
Opinion on the CouchSurfing.org Project
Sept. 25, 2006 I was bored at work and surfed the local online newspapers where I stumbled over an article about Couchsurfing, Around the earth on a couch that spoke of the project and great experiences and I got so fascinated I immediately signed up. I love this project!
1 year after I joined (October 2007) I was in Aftenposten (with guests Sam and Susanne) in an article called A couch in each city.
New Years Eve 2007 I organized a HUGE New Year Party at Årvoll Gård for 85-100 guests. It was the first of a series of New Year parties.
In November 2008 I was interviewed by VG while in Amsterdam surfing Menno's couch: Article in Norwegian.
May 2009 I was in an online talkshow about Couchsurfing.
Read the article and listen to the interview here:.
Couchsurfing is a great way to get to know more people, get new friends from all over the world, helping out to make the world a better place to be, getting around the world at low cost AND helping others to get around at a low cost.
It is also a way better way to travel! To see the world in a warmer way, from the locals, your new friends, point of view. It makes the journey a warmer experience where you get friends while travelling.
I have been hosted around the world by many fantastic people that some knew me from before and others did not. They have all been fantastic and Ive had so many great experiences. All of them has thought me that you dont need to pay back in any otehr way than paying it forward.
One time you will show someone else the same hospitality that I showed you. What more can I ask for?
This summary is not a replacement for reading references; it's a quick summary to help you get started. At a glance, you can see how many references a member has, and how many of them are positive, neutral, and negative.
In the second line, you'll see how many references came from people who hosted this member, surfed with them, and traveled with them. These numbers won't always add up to the total: some references are not categorized, and some may be categorized as more than one thing.
When viewing this summary, don't jump to conclusions! Things that are negative for one person may be positive for another, and vice versa. It's important to read references carefully and evaluate what that information means to you.
i have seen marianne the first time in january. we visit her for the weekend and i like it a lot. it was really nice that she was hosting us, i think marianne is a great person with a big warm personality. i felt really welcome to be at you're place. specialy the hoomer clock is really awesome!! if you are grumpy in the morning than there is hoomer to give you a good day.
I just have met an excellent person, that opens her house to unknown people and is very,very kind. I was there for dinner in NYE 2011-2012 in her house(not hosted) she´s good cooker and creative!! She has a nice cat too :-) Hope I can see you again.
Marianita and I became partners in crime while volunteering for CouchSurfing. After many great interactions online, we finally managed to meed in person in Costa Rica, and we were already like old friends. She's incredibly warm and witty. Be prepared for laughs and funny moments one right after the other.
For my first experience with CS, i was lucky to meet Marianne. I was feeling well in his sweety house. She's funny, intelligent and a good cake cooker.
Take care to you Marianne and have a good trip to Costa Rica! You're welcome in south of France. I love your Canadian imitation. Bise.
I met this amazing girl four times all in all... and at risk of writing a cliche, it was like we knew each other for a long time already including two very amusing mushroom tours and making a wedding cake together (she did most of the work) for a mutual friend of ours. It was great to share that with you. Lots of love
Marianne is a dream host, and I can barely believe my luck for having such a nice, funny and interesting host. I absolutely loved all the good moments we spent together, and hope to meet her again in the future :)
Have you ever tasted whale meat?? I have, thanks to Marianne and her fantastic skill for cooking. Yes, she´s what this great world of couchsurfing represents. We´ve shared very good moments and delicious dishes with this authentic CS. Two unforgetable days in Oslo with the best of the companies. Thanks and have a lovely time in Costa Rica.
A very positive experience to be hosted by "Machita". She represents what couchsurfing thought is. We have shared nice moments talking about the places we have visited, the different cultures and people we´ve known...She has shown me how beautiful and great a sommer evening can be, just with a barbacue, good food, better chat and an amazing background like Vigelandspark. Thank you very much for all and have a good time in Costa Rica.
From SUSHIFILLE Birmingham, United States Jun 20, 2011
Positive
I am so glad Marianne was available to host me in Oslo. She took me on a walking tour of her neighborhood (which is so easy to access by rail) and we cooked dinner together. She loves to laugh and is extremely open-minded and independent. All around a great gal.
Marianne is a really fantastic woman easy going and ingenious. She has always good ideas and is a really good cooker! She always gave us good advice to visit Oslo. Thank you for everything!!