CURRENT MISSION

Pratiquer le français!

ABOUT ME

{instagram]: @clintatron

Graduate student at the University of Washington who enjoys traveling, reading books, musing, comic books, and adventuring into unknown territories! I'm also very spontaneous which can be frustrating for those who need clear schedules and such. I've somewhat adapted myself to spontaneous scheduling. Somehow I manage it. I finished my Bachelor's at The Evergreen State College in Olympia--€maybe you'll want to read my thesis on how the police identified and arrested gay/trans people in Paris in the 1860's? (Who am I kidding, no one reads those things! haha!). Now I'm in grad school studying information sciences. Je veut parler français avec toi :)

PHILOSOPHY

The only ism I believe in is Abstract Expressionism ;) But really, Philosophy is something best discussed over a glass of wine late at night :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I just moved into a studio apartment and am not set-up to host people at the moment. But! I really love going to couchsurfing events!:)

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I couchsurfed for one month in France in 2009 where I met some of the most amazing people. Some of my best experiences were the couchsurfing events, such as one event where a group of us got together to bake bread in Melun - it was so much fun!

In Spring 2010, I studied in France and couchsurfed in Rennes, Paris, and Lyon outside of class.

And I went back Spring 2011 to conduct historical research in police archives in Paris, seeing how police arrested what I guess we'd now call "gay and transgender" people in the 19th century. Just can't get enough of teh France. Also couchsurfed/hosteled in Grenoble, Geneva, Vienna, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Berlin.

I traveled back to Copenhagen in 2012 where I interned at UNICEF Supply Division in their Knowledge Management Unit. I quickly learned quite a lot about the history of devices and supplies manufactured for children. A truly amazing experience!

And more recently, I traveled to India and South Africa on a work-related projects to visit regional health clinics and document feedback on different vaccine and pharmaceutical devices. After Europe, India, and South Africa, I can't wait for the next adventure. There's so much to see in this world!

Interests

I love to go running barefoot in the grass as the sun rises (corny I know!!), getting lost, and planning adventures so crazy I might actually do them one day. I also love wakeboarding and warm days on the beach - who doesn't? :) And reeeading, exploring, public transportation, devouring [food ...among other things]

• books
• dining
• wine
• running
• clubbing
• reading
• traveling
• wakeboarding
• emergency services
• history
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Books:
The Brother's Karamazov, The Portrait of a Lady, Madame Bovary, Sorrows of Young Werther, La Peste, Walden, Moby Dick, Light in August, Franny and Zooey, Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Rings, among many, many others.

Film: Were the World Mine, La vie en rose, Bande à part

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

There's was this rundown peep-show club at place Pigalle called "Le Cupidon" that had been shut down for years. When I was studying in Paris I lived not far down the street and I walked past it everyday on my way to work. Well, as I was doing research, I found an old photo of lesbians in a bar called "Le rat mort," dating from the 1870's and 80's—so I thought I'd look up the old address and see what happened to this old gay bar. After a bit of book reading, I realized it was right there at 7 Place Pigalle and 16 Rue Frochot--the same building as Le Cupidon. I got off at the metro and looked in awe at the boarded-up clubhouse: old florescent signs hanging outside the windows, club event advertisements glued to the walls, graffiti on the dull metallic paneling. I came back a year later, and the building had been converted into a bank. This bar was once the center of a community and now people walk by it like any other building and no one remembers.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belize, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Nepal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Denmark, France, United States