Hey! My name is Alexander! I am 28 and I live in Yerevan, Armenia with my wife Armina. We both grew up in United States/Israel, but our grandparents and so on are Armenian by heritage, so it was important to us learn what that means! We both moved to Armenia about 7 years ago and met just 3 years ago! :)

I learned Armenian from 0 to near fluent in about 8 months, which I'm pretty proud of! I think if you love a language you will have an easy time learning it. It was also important for me to understand what my culture is and all about Armenia and Armenians. Now after 7 years of living there, I have a pretty good idea and I'd love to share it with you!

In Armenia we have a bubble tea business called Lupin boba, also a house near the center. We are settling down little by little in Armenia and would like to have our family there. We have no plans to return to USA/Israel, but to visit in the future every now and then on the agenda!

Also! I am very passionate about fencing. To me it is not a hobby, I plan on reaching the level to compete in Olympics. So far I'm about halfway there, but slowly and surely I am getting there! I dream to represent Armenia, not my childhood country USA, in competition. This is to be an ambassador of what the true Armenian culture is, extremely nice hospitality and kindness. I believe when you represent a country, you should be what that local person would be. After living in Armenia for so long and understanding the culture, I believe it is my responsibility to show the world who Armenians are.

Me and Armina have a large interest in learning other cultures, their history and so on. We think it is very beautiful to have something different. You should not have a world where everything is the same and everyone is the same. You need to appreciate the differences in every culture and language. We believe that is the beauty in differences!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

We are on couchsurfing for two reasons. One is to host people in our home in Armenia, which is about a 3 story house, with plenty of room, after all we are only 2 people! The second reason is to find a place to stay while we are traveling in Europe. My wife is on tours going to ballet auditions for dance companies, so we have been to many countries! Right now we are in between Czech republic and Romania.

We really want to learn about other cultures and meet other people. This whole trip around Europe is great, but the people we met are amazing. We would like more interaction with people other than going to the stores and such. When we talk about our time in Italy and the people, we would remember the exact people we met and the places, these memories will always be with us. However in some countries, like Spain, despite being there for 2 weeks we did not interact with many people. We believe couchsurfing brings these essences together, so you get to meet the actual people from the area and learn so much. Nowadays random blogs has so much misinformation, it is really hard to understand what something is until you actually go there.

We want to host someone, to really understand their culture and where they come from. We want to show them what Armenian hospitality is and help them with whatever questions they have. That is a huge reward for us because we know at the end of the day, at least one person in the world is more understanding of what Armenia is, rather than seeing things like Kim Kardashian or some random media outlet giving the wrong information. We believe it is our duty and couchsurfing lets us do that!

Also we would like to stay with a local to our next destination. We have tons of questions and we really want to learn about their culture. It is just so interesting for us! We have been staying in hotels and airbnbs, so we are eager to try couchsurfing cause it really fills the gap between the person and country!

Interests

• culture
• fitness
• triathlon
• running
• cycling
• sports
• fencing
• swimming
• history
• ballet
• teaching english

Music, Movies, and Books

I usually read fencing books and biographies. Sadly I do not have the discipline to read as much as I want to, but where I can I try to get in some chapters.
My wife hates this, but I listen to j-pop and anime soundtracks. They really get me moving and although she enjoys rock and hits of most years, I prefer my genre over hers. On a middle ground we both like lo-fi chill music! :)
I really like thriller, action, fantasy, sci-fi, my wife the opposite.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I became the #1 Rogue in the World of Warcraft in 2009. Extremely nerdy but it's something!

Teach, Learn, Share

Not sure what to write in this one, already said most of what I wanted to say above.

What I Can Share with Hosts

We have tons of stuff to share!

So if you want to try fencing I can definitely teach you the basics and tell you all about it! It is never too late to start and it is an amazing sport.

My wife is a ballet teacher, so if you want lessons about ballet, dancing or just fitness look no further! She can teach classical and contemporary, all ages and all levels!

Also I am an online English teacher. I have a TEFL certificate and can help you with pronunciation, grammar, or maybe just regular conversation. I really enjoy teaching so please don't hesitate to ask! :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

Armenia, United States