Hi! I'm a former MA student at Leiden University, living in Leiden since 2008 and currently working in IT.
At our university, I studied Russian and Eurasian Studies, with a major focus on Slavic linguistics and literature, so it goes without saying that I am really fond of the languages of the Slavic region! I graduated in 2015 and afterwards went on to learn how to teach. Most recently I taught Dutch at Moscow State University. Currently I work as an IT trainee at Nationale Nederlanden.
Though I am a bit shy, I am always eager to get to meet new people!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

To meet new people from all around the world!

Interests

Travelling, reading, linguistics, history, music, culture.

• culture
• literature
• reading
• traveling
• music
• history
• languages
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Well, mostly rock music, but I can enjoy some nice electronic music as well.
As for movies, I enjoy any movie, regardless of genre.
Books: well, as long as it's not some pulp fiction, I can enjoy it. Favorite writers: Orwell, Chekhov, Turgenev, Ilf & Petrov, Mulisch, Verhulst. (Don't know them? Look 'em up!)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

With two friends we went to Georgia and rented a car. Though I did not have not that much driving experience, we managed to cross the Caucasian mountains on roads that had never seen asphalt. That was pretty awesome! The next year I pretty much repeated this by driving through mountainous Armenia.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I know a great deal about the city I live in and have already given quite some tours of the place. Besides that, I can always help you if you want to learn some Dutch (and I am always interested in learning new languages as well, so... language exchange? ;) )

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands, Russian Federation