Hello everyone,
I'm 23 years old and have finished my Bachelor's degree of Biochemistry and also just finished the first year of medical school at the university of british columbia (UBC) here in Vancouver.

I was born in Esfahan, Iran, and have been raised here in Vancouver since I was 8. Entering medical school was always a dream of mine since my young years and have now finished the first year of this tough program. Soccer/Football (as they call it in Europe) is a great passion of mine. I am a huge Juventus fan, and also a big fan of English teams.

I am spontaneous and easy going and love adventure. I get bored easily so I am always on the move exploring, talking and listening to what other people have to say! And more importantly, I love to experience new things in life and am after constant change, which in my opinion is the key to happiness in every individual's life.

In summer 2015, I was fortunate enough to be able to backpack on my own across England, Holland, Italy, and Spain and was able to make some amazing friends throughout the journey and create some memorable experiences that will definitely stay with me for the rest of my life.

I continued this in summer 2016, travelling with a friend of mine as well as alone, over 2 months, travelling to Portugal, Denmark, Hungary, Greece, France, Spain, Italy, and Poland.

I am now planning on pursuing my exploration of Europe by backpacking on my own in summer 2017, which is something I'm super excited about.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

The main goal and objective behind my trip is to get to know more about different cultures and ways that people live in different parts of the world. In my opinion, a great way to achieve this is through Couchsurfing, which would allow me to directly live with people of different cultural backgrounds and get to know more about them and their culture, and hopefully be able to build long-lasting friendships, and maybe one day be able to host them at my home here in Vancouver.

Interests

Football (the real kind) football football. And travelling for sure. My life philosophy is to never adapt to the same circumstances and experiences, which is why travelling excites me so much -- it is constantly exposing you to new situations and experiences.

• culture
• cooking
• coach
• traveling
• backpacking
• sports
• soccer
• medicine

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Three things actually..

FIRST - Each year I organize annual charity soccer tournaments consisting of over 400 participants. These tournaments raise about $10,000 every year which is all donated to a local charity every year to benefit those in need. I started this when I was only 17 years old and it has grown and expanded every year. This is something I'm extremely proud of.

SECOND - Being able to live on my own and away from my parents since the age of 16 and until this very day. Just like everyone else, I'm sure I have many weakness that I hope to work on, but being independent and be able to stand on my two feet is definitely a strength of mine that I'm quite proud of. This is also why I love travelling solo and think I'm capable of pulling it off.

THIRD - Playing a year of professional soccer in Iran at the age of 19 and being able to go through that experience to help me determine whether I want to pursue a career in soccer or whether to become a doctor. After going through that experience, I decided to go with the second and it's a decision I made that I'm quite proud of, knowing that I could have possible had many years of professional soccer career ahead of me.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm a soccer academy coach so teaching you basic soccer skills is something I can hopefully share with you.

Also, having lived on my own since the age of 16, I can cook Iranian meals, which is something I can definitely teach my hosts. However, I must admit that I might have to cheat off my recipe notes at times.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My life experiences, Canadian and Iranian culture, Persian Sweets!! anything..

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Iran, Netherlands