In short words:
I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't tolerate rudeness and impoliteness.
I respect intelligent people, I like positive and open-minded souls, I admire well-educated and deep persons.

In other words: I admire and respect the world I'm living in. And the world gives me back - unique family (my wife is a painter - she paints batik), unbelievable friends (a choirmaster of the best Moscow theater, a culturology professor, a prominent journalist, an Indian prince), a fantastic aquaintices (British Lord, Japanese Sensei 8th Dan Aikido, a person who translated from Russian to Italian for the Pope).
I'm in love with Russian culture (Chekhov, Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chaikovsky, Nuriev, Plisetskaya). All my foreign friends say that I am really a man of the world. I can't agree with that, because I don't know so well Shakespeare's plays and still haven't read "Moby-Dick", but I'm working on that. )

My Instagram: http://instagram.com/konoplevevgeniy/
My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/konoplevformulasochi

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I have a lot of friends from all over the world and they've widened my cultural and professional horizons so much.
That's why I plan to open my home for adequate guests in summers (when my family lives at our dacha near Moscow and I have a free room at our Moscow flat).
I think that standard tourism (plane-bus-hotel-museums-hotel-bus-plane) doesn't give you a real understanding of the country you visit. The best way I think is to connect with a real life of its real citizens.
That's why I chose this way of travelling the world. And I hope to meet interesting people and to be interesting for them as well.

Interests

Exploring culture - Russian and European.
For example, our dacha is 15 km from Melikhovo (the place where Chekhov wrote his famous play "Seagull") and we take all our friends and guests there.
In every city I get I try to visit its art gallery, its philarmony and its jazz-club (if they have one). I definitely not a club person (with all their noise, loud music, beer and smoke). )))
I like to go to meaningful places where history took place and a great people left their imprints.
I also like very much theaters and live music.
I've been learning Aikido for 15 years. And now I have a black belt in this only martial art in the world where there's no attack technique and you're not asked to hit anyone. )))
I like nature - sea beaches, forests, mountains. But when I travel abroad I prefer to immerse in the society to better understand the country.
My work is connected with mass media, and it interests me too. I think that journalists are one of the most interesting people in the world. As well as artists or musicians.
I like modern American TV-shows because they simultaneously teach me a good contemporary English and let me understand the modern humanitarian problems and interests.
I like films - the recent joy was "The Grand Budapest Hotel".
Even though I'm a Christian (Orthodox, but not crazy about the rules and rituals) I deeply respect Indian and Japanese culture, tradition and religion, and I've visited mosques twice with my Muslim friends and I was impressed by its beauty.

• arts
• culture
• theater
• folklore
• beauty
• ballet dancing
• beer
• drinking
• clubbing
• movies
• chess
• tv
• traveling
• music
• live music
• jazz
• communications
• teaching
• history
• journalism
• religion
• tourism
• beaches
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:
classic: Mozart, Bach, Chaikovsky, Chopin, Shubert, Shuman.
jazz: Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Chuck Berry, Chik Corea, Bobby McFerrin
pop: Jamiroquiai, modern jazz, RnB and soul, Sade.
world music: Enya.

Movies:
almost all of Woodie Allen Films
pop: Forrest Gump, The Fifth Element, The Matrix
almost all of Tarkovsky's films
all of Zvyagintsev's films
smart, not depressing modern films
classic films like "Breakfast at Tiffany's" or "The Pigmallion"

TV-shows: the Big Bang Theory, the Good Wife, Newsroom, the House of Cards, Alpha House, Mad Men, House MD and Boston Legal

Books (mostly Russian classics):
Pushkin, Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Bulgakov

Favorite magazine and paper are: The Newyorker and The New York Times.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Stand on the stage of Chaikovsky's hall (one of the most famous in Moscow) in the role of God in the children ballet "The Creation of the Word". It was a "small" role and and I was just a big tall guy in the white robe (I was a friend of the choreographers, they asked me), but it's an unforgettable experience. )))

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach Russian.
I can teach the profession of PR-liaison or press-secretary.
I can teach Aikido (classical, Hombu Dojo school)
I can teach Russian culture and history (on amateur level).

I'd like to learn English (mine is quite all right for normal communication but I have so much to work on).
I'd like to explore European cultures, history, arts and modern life.
I'd like to immerse in cultural life (meeting, talks, backstage, etc.)

I can host guests in my Moscow flat (usually in summers, on very rare occasions in other times - write and we will think)
I can help with questions about Moscow, Moscow region and about Russia. Where to go? What to see? Where to eat? What to be cautious about?
I can professionally consult on the subject of Russian media. Who is who and so on.
I can drive you in my car if I have a free time and it's not a rush season.
I can accompany you to interesting Moscow places and help you with the translation (Russian-English).
My wife can be a useful source for batik artists - she is a professional in that field. Here is her Instagram. http://instagram.com/bahratovamarina/

What I Can Share with Hosts

I would be glad to help you any way which is appropriate and convenient for you.
To move your furniture ))), to glue your wallpaper, to change your light bulbs )))

I was taught Japanese healing system Reiki.
Some people say they feel its help: be it reliefed headache or a rise of energy and happiness. ))) If it sounds interesting to you, no problem.

Other than that... Not a prominent chess player, not a great babysitter. ))) But everything is discussable. )))

Countries I’ve Visited

Bulgaria, England, Germany

Countries I’ve Lived In

Russian Federation