Hope springs eternal et l'espoir fait vivre
Who's to say you can't meet some of your best friends across a computer screen?
I love writing but somehow I still find it incredibly frustrating to write about myself on sites like this. You basically have to get a person's attention in the first couple of sentences, by being witty, charming and funny, but not to the extent that you end up getting messages from people who are completely inappropriate.
Let's see what I can say... I've lived in 5 different countries, I speak three languages fluently, one language rather badly (German - though I've been told my French accent in it is charming).
I relish both intellectual and physical activities and am happiest when I devote much time to both. I love being in situations in which people take pleasure in engaging or being engaged by others and love imparting knowledge, as well as learning from others.
I might scare lots of people away here but seriously if you're not sure when to use your and when to use you're, then don't bother trying with me. If your idea of witty conversation is to talk about the latest soap, then we're unlikely to get on either...
This is still not finished - so I will come back to it...

I guess the same as everyone else, just trying to find a way to be happy without making others unhappy in the process.

I'm multitalented!
I'm fantastic at languages, being enthusiastic about what I care about, drawing beautiful tables in excel (yes, it's to do with work and I already know I'm a geek)

My smile or my vivaciousness

I'm terrible at picking favourites - I'm always afraid that after the fact I'll realize that I missed out something really important... but I guess I'd better put something.

Books - I read a lot, almost only fiction and mostly fairly literary stuff (this is what happens when you study English literature for years... you turn into a snob who does not feel comfortable reading anything else, oops), a few authors that I can think of right now that I really like - John Irving, Margaret Atwood, Jhumpa Lahiri, Jasper Fforde. [and okay I do have what probably is a favourite book, but who wants to have to admit it's Anne of Green Gables??]

Movies - erm, eclectic tastes again. I think I like most things except for horror movies... I'd probably go see anything by Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Pedro Almodovar, Woody Allen that was out...

Music - I've joked occasionally that I just listen to girls on a piano... Tori Amos and Regina Spektor are my favourites. I like Soul Asylum quite a lot too though and that's certainly not girls or pianos

Food - I'm not particularly fussy and if it's put in front of me I probably would eat it whatever it was to be polite. I like lots of foods - I tend to cook mostly Italian or French dishes I guess, but Thai and Japanese food is yummy. I love lemonade (still lemonade if you're British), watermelons, olives and gazpacho and I probably am a sugar addict - strange when you consider how bouncy I am naturally - even without it.

My ability to find the positive side of everything (I think I might be related to Pollyanna sometimes)
My amazing family and friends, who despite the miles that separate us most of the time, never cease to amaze me with their love and affection and ability to make me laugh hysterically
My laptop - because it connects me to the internet, and let's face it, I'm a tiny bit of an addict... all that knowledge at my fingertips!
The ability to breakfall (literally and metaphorically) - because being able to pick yourself up relatively unscathed from whatever the universe throws at you is vital
My sense of humour - much better to be able to laugh at things than to have to cry!
Stories - as books, fairy tales, film plots, plays, whatever...

everything - well I tend to try and analyze everything and anything, I just want to figure out how the world (and mostly people) work.

Not really private since I tend to point it out fairly quickly, but I don't actually live in Edinburgh but vaguely nearby-ish