Marquis Synnifrid el sueco

food I love smörgåstårtan, a sort of Swedish "poor man's" dish that is simple and delicious. I absolutely adore Italian food, every dish has satisfied my food palette. Pretzel from Germany's Baden-Württemberg region are the quintessential snack for me. /

europe_is It may sound silly, but Europe for me is the confluence of old world and modern sophistication, culture and sensible ideals. There's something absolutely charming about dwelling the streets of Stockholm, Paris, Munich or any other European city and to see so many buildings intact and in full use from centuries ago. I am a sucker for history, and therefore this feeling of living in an "old world" has kept me fascinated with Europe. Being an American, the closeness and variety of languages, cultures and peoples found in Europe astounds me. I remember driving through Luxembourg, the East Cantons, Germany and Switzerland and seeing so many different cultures represented in such a short area of land. This sort of presentation still awes me immensely. Like many fellow Americans of mine, most of my ancestors came from Europe. Although my relatives left Spain at the beginning of the 20th century, many of the customs of my predecessors live on today in my family's traditions. With this comes a natural curiosity about, for example, where our foods that we eat originated, or where the songs we sing at Christmas came from, amongst other things. Being intrigued with the past, there's a natural desire to find out where I came from. But for the most part, Europe is a gathering of intellectual minds, progressive attitudes and a system (the EU) that is a force to be reckoned with to put the world on a better, safer path. Of course, I know there are flaws to Europe as well. I don't live in a romantic fairy tale notion of the continent! But from what I've seen and experienced, and with the set of beliefs I have, they match with the ideals and beliefs that are European in every way. Europe is the future. /

preferred_website Café Babel (of course!) BBC News http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ www.katebush.com (my favorite singer ever) /

why_participate I participate because I care about the future of humanity's well-being and intellectual growth. I also want to stay informed with what is happening in Europe while I'm away. I want to see what young Europeans are reading, doing, listening to, voicing and espousing on blogs, forums, etc. I want to be well-informed. /

living_places I was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, USA and lived minutes from the beach, Hollywood and the ghettos and the affluent neighborhoods of the city. I traded the big city life for the forest-rich, rainy Pacific Northwest hidden cultural gem of Portland, OR, USA to attend university. I also spent 4 years in what is arguably the hippy mecca of the States, Eugene, OR. I moved to Uppsala, Sweden in the summer of 2008 to attend university at the prestigious Uppsala University where I studied Swedish history and furthered my studies of Swedish language. My year in Sweden had a profound impact on me. I even wrote an article on my time in Sweden for Café Babel. I returned to the States in 2009 to finish my education and now I am preparing to return to Europe, this time in Lugo, Spain, to become an English teacher and to continue my pursuit of European journalism. /