CouchSurfing - Bringing the World To Your Living Room

When I first got involved with CouchSurfing, I figured it would be a great way to save money when I travel for fencing or for anything else for that matter. I was always a little hestitant to host, but so far it has been a pretty good experience.

While hanging out with the professional hobo was a bit surreal, that experience didn't prepare me for the two girls that hung out with me last night and today. My only regret was that they weren't 21 - I think they would have gotten a kick out of the bar scene. Both chicks were British students who were traveling between high school and college, and they were still quoting Latin questions that were on their A Levels. One girl, a decent looking redhead, was coming from an extended stay in Mongolia where she milked yaks, ate mutton head, and took many pictures of the absolute nothingness of the Gobi desert. The other, a nice looking Scottish-Tibetan mix, was traveling from her new home in Dubai, and she never let me forget it.

The girls wanted a taste of Atlanta - so I took them to the Margeret Mitchell musuem (by request), a Braves Game, and then we drove around Peachtree Road this morning so they could see the city. British girls, especially well traveled British girls are completely different from my experience with most girls in a lot of ways.

• They make jokes in English and Latin. Nati would probably get them because he was a classics major... I was a bit lost.
• The redhead spoke at a near inaudible level in open conversation, yet her friend heard her perfectly. I was asking her to repeat herself or completely ignoring her for much of the time, and I felt really bad about it. Especially since it probably looked like I favored her Scottish-Tibetan friend with the big rack. No wonder the British call Americans loud.
• Most British students travel around the world between high school and college/university. That I didn't know. If Americans could afford it, we should do the same thing.
  
• Their comfort zone is smaller, yet they are slow to show physical affection. At the Indy 500 a cute blonde friend of a friend shot me down like a clay pigeon when I laid some game - but she still hugged me before she took off for home. These two girls stayed in my house and had an awesome time - but I felt obscene asking for a handshake.
• They don't act girly. It was interesting seeing the contrast between these two and the girls at the baseball game. Andre 3000 (of Outkast you losers) was sitting in our section, and most of the girls were all a flutter over him. The redhead was pining for an autograph, but her reaction didn't seem feminine at all - even though it was enthusiastic.
• They are completely level-headed. They are navigating all over the world with a guidebook and asking for directions - and I literally needed a fucking GPS to find my house when I moved to Atlanta.

Just hanging in the living room listening to their stories last night and this morning was awesome. I would have preferred to be doing jello shots or something, but this was fun too.