I am a PhD student, university lecturer and (sometimes) a translator. I am (or supposed to be) a specialist in modern Chinese literature but I also teach the Indonesian language. If you have been using Couchsurfing to look for people with whom to speak about complex literary theories, you needn't look any further. :) Otherwise, I am just a calm guy who enjoys meeting people from all over the globe and speaking with them about whatever we find interesting. All the better if it is accompanied by some good food.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

If I go to a place, meet someone from Couchsurfing in there, and do something together with them, it makes me feel like I am not a complete outsider in there. It is better than just going somewhere, looking at things from the outside and not knowing what is going on in the place.

And at times when I do not have time to travel, it is good to have people bringing pieces of the world to my home. Many people helped me and taught me a lot of things when I travelled somewhere, and hopefully I can also do something for travellers when they come to my country

Interests

As I am getting older I am finding out that what I like to do most in my free time is just to get out of the house and go hiking. But spending the time with a good novel and a pot of tea is fine too.

Music, Movies, and Books

Listening: John Surman, Thelonious Monk, Keith Jarrett, Johannes Brahms, Iva Bittova, Jacqueline du Pre, Edith Piaf, Radiohead, The Eels, Sigur Ros, Dimitri Shostakovich, Tetes Raides, Erik Truffaz, Os Mutantes, gamelan...
Reading: Vladimir Holan, Vladislav Vancura, Jiri Orten, Guillaume Appolinaire, Herman Hesse, Jose Jimenez Lozano, Robert Merle, Andre Breton, Ray Bradbury, Marcus Aurelius, The Bible, Gao Xingjian, Charles Dickens, Vitezslav Nezval, Michal Ajvaz, Juan Ramon Jimenez, Charles Baudelaire, Walt Whitman, Antonio Machado...
Watching: King Is Alive, Blow-up, Jules et Jim, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Sheltering Sky, Dances With Wolves, Dogme 95, Ingmar Bergman, Stanley Kubrick, Carlos Saura, Sam Peckinpah... etc.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

For example, a couple of weeks ago I went cross-country skiing and it snowed the whole day until all the paths through the mountains disappeared, then the night fell and the moon appeared... Well, I am not really able to name a single amazing thing because most of what I have done was amazing.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you some Chinese or Indonesian (or Czech, but I guess that is not useful for anything). I can also tell you a lot of things about Prague and walk you around a bit (I used to work as a tour guide). And if you host me, I would be happy to help you with some chores in your house, if you need, or cook something for you.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Andorra, Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Spain

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