Hey there, reader. You got curious and hit the ‘about’ page, which means you are genuinely interested in who I am, or you’re just very bored. Either way, I am here to serve.  Let’s start with this:

See that train wreck there? That’s me. Specifically, that’s me in the middle of Nanjing, China, all red-faced because it’s late August and I’m slowly dying from heat exhaustion. Great fun. Seriously though, China’s pretty rad.

I am a self-professed nomad, with no home to call my own except for perhaps my mother’s spare bedroom. I have a disturbingly close relationship with my backpack and take it with me everywhere I go between semesters at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. I come from an area called the Okanagan in the interior of British Columbia, and grew up in a small valley, constantly wondering what was over those hills. I eventually found out that it was absolutely nothing, but it was enough that I wanted to see more.

I have always enjoyed traveling and discovering new cultures, which led me to study anthropology at UBC. As of September 2016, I am doing a year abroad at Sophia University in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. I have studied Japanese since I was twelve years-old, starting out with a dictionary and a little work book. I didn’t have many friends.

Along with being Canadian, I am also Greek, which means my entire life is like one big, fat, comparative ethnography. We have fun. I also speak some rudimentary Greek, as well as fluent English, French, and Japanese. I am also currently working on learning Dutch.

I will be making an effort to update this blog weekly. If you have any comments or questions, leave ’em on the blog or email me at thebasilrose@gmail.com. I’ll answer you pretty quick. The friend situation hasn’t really improved over the years… ;P

If you want to learn more about Sophia University, please click here, which will take you to the main webpage of their English site.

If you wish to learn more about the University of British Columbia, click here.