CURRENT MISSION

Experience as many different things as possible!

ABOUT ME

I'm a philosophy student (occasionally a philosophy teacher). I am half-Russian and half-Lebanese, which has me bouncing between countries a lot. I'm shy, but love to meet new people neverthless; I am good with kids, who seem to love me; I am even better with cats who love me even more than kids. I also love dogs, but hasn't been in close company with them for a while. Now that I think of it, I love most living things. People say I am a good listener, a good teacher, and generally a cool person. I have no reason not to believe them :)

PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy as my job, major and passion aside (because it involves complex occasionaly boring stuff) - I think that we are made of different little "selves" that we have to develop to become better, richer people. So, I seek to develop these little selves within me, and become someone more intresting. That's why I live - to develop! Recently, it's in that phase where I became a very happy touchy-feely person, and I am enjoying that while it lasts.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Why not?

Interests

I am a bit of a bookworm, but that doesn't mean I don't know what fun means. I love exploring new places and meeting people, because I think life is about discovering new things. I also love learning languages (last fetish - ancient Greek), baking stuff, knitting, and taking long aimless walks in cities I know nothing about. I absolutely love literature, of almost all times and all ages, visual art and theatre.

• cats
• dogs
• arts
• literature
• dining
• cooking
• baking
• socializing
• knitting
• teaching
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: any and all of Wim Wenders, Ingmar Bergman, Andrey Tarkovsky. Soviet film, too. Special mentions: La Vie d'Adele and Dogville.

Books: Anything, really. If it's printed, I'm interested in it. Particularly Cortazar's Hopscotch, Hesse's Steppenwolf, Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment and Notes from the Underground, Bulgakov's Master and Margarita and White Guard, Sokolov's School for Fools, Chekhov and (obviously) Plato. I also love poetry, especially Mayakovsky, Mandelshtam and Bachmann.

Music: I am completely omnivorous. I especially like Einstuerzende Neubauten, David Bowie and Pink Floyd, but listen to German metal, Russian rock and things like Magma.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've been a very happy person!

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach people philosophy, Russian and Arabic. I also know a thing or two about cats, knitting, baking, loving others, and who-knows-what-else, really.

I also have plenty of stories to share, because of all the travels and all the cool people I've met!

I would love to learn anything really, especially some language I'm not familiar with or cooking some food I'm not familiar with.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Russian Federation, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Lebanon, Netherlands, Russian Federation