I would love to meet any of you, but if you are not open-minded, not feeling like having a conversation, probably I am not the best for you. I do not respond to generic messages. Thank you.

Hi there stranger on the Internet, thank you for checking my profile. I want to hear your story. I want to glory in your victories; I want to suffer in your defeats, I want to know what you have learned on the way, I want to experience your life.

A very unimportant little man who is doing the best he could with an idea. My name is Ilian, and most people call me Tank. I am born 28 years ago in Bulgaria, but I roamed quite a bit. I have also lived and worked in Greece, Spain, and Ireland. Currently, I'm back in Bulgaria.

I prefer connecting with people in the old fashioned way - talking in person.

My last job was at ATT Cybersecurity (formerly startup called AlienVault), I managed 3 teams of Engineers and I ran Operations. In January I quit my job because I had always wanted to be a teacher. Recently, I have earned a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate.

Short and Medium-term goals change over time to better serve the Ultimate Long-term goal, my mission in life - be the change you want to see in the world.

The current short-midterm goal is to get my website "iteachenglish.net" rocking. I saw that there is a void in the language teaching world and decided to act.

One of my longer-term goals is to wisely invest my money to give me a decent income of €2000 a month that will require less than 10 hours a week to manage. I will travel the world and spend the rest of my days teaching, learning, and volunteering as whatever needed for cause(s) I deem worthy. My talents shall not go to waste and all that I am given I will give back.

My solemn dream is to work with orphans to help them grow better humans with brighter future. The reality is that once they reach legal age, they are released on their own and just blend in the corners of society. I also desire to work with problematic children that will grow up to be dangerous for society and will inevitably end up in jail. I want to solve this problem proactively. I want to give them the skills to adapt in the world and make an honest living.

I push hard in the gym and workout 3 days a week to meet my ultra-marathon goals. Time ago I got inspired that some of the most gifted minds of all time (Alan Turing, Wernher von Braun, Niels Bohr, Ernest Rutherford, Edwin Hubble, Enrico Fermi to name a few) were dedicated athletes with extraordinary physical strength and endurance.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I am here to meet new people, extend my views and build friendships.

One of my superpowers is that I enter every conversation with the mindset that I will learn something new because every person I ever met knew something I didn't. And I am never disappointed.

In my experience, the questions of life are always the same, but the answers change over time. For me, it is essential to be able to reality-check my views, and the best way is to keep exposing myself to ideas.

Here I see a great opportunity to interact with open-minded people of different religions, believes, cultures, views, genders, sexual orientations, etc.
No matter which of the listed above applies to you, you are very welcome to join me to have a conversation. I will make it happen, don't worry about that.

Interests

I like books and technology, and animals, and nature.
I am interested in how humans behave. Currently, I am mastering the language of life, nonviolent vocabulary and compassionate communication.

I am a nature admirer, mountains especially. However, If I have to choose between a breathtaking scenery and talking to an interesting person, I choose the latter 10 out of 10 times.

• animals
• books
• chocolate
• technology
• traveling
• cycling
• hiking
• camping
• sports
• religion
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

So many of them:

I like books, movies and music that touches you. That makes you think, think about the things of life and the life of things.

Books:
Grapes of wrath by Steinbeck.
East of Eden by Jack London.
Robinson Crusoe by Defoe.
The little prince by Exupery.
Nothing better than the bad weather by Bogomil Raynov.
Mistress of the snake by Petar Bobev.
Physics of the sorrow by Gospodinov.
Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo.
How the steel was tempered by Ostrovsky.

Also, there are novels dear to my heart like:
Once there was a war by Steinbeck.
1984 by Orwell.
Animal farm by Orwell.
Lord of the flies by Golding.
Farewell to arms by Hemingway.
One flew over the cuckoo's nest by Kesey.
The hunt for the Red October 1 and 2 by Clancy.
Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury.

I like poems too. One quite precious to my heart is The Raven by Poe...
Once upon a midnight dreary... Ah, poetry.

Movies:
The iron giant.
Princess Mononoke.
Such a beautiful day.
When the wind blows.
Howl's moving castle.
Castle in the sky.
Nausicaa of the valley of the wind.
Spirited away.

Music:
This is difficult one.
I won't list names, because... Well, you know, it depends on the mood.
I like rock, both classic and hard, metal, classical music. I die for piano and violin.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In Madrid I ate a giant burger with 1kg meatball.

Teach, Learn, Share

I like to share my chocolate passion with other people.
Sharing-giving turned to living.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I have a nice, comfortable couch in my living room.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Laos, Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Bulgaria, Greece, Ireland, Spain