CURRENT MISSION

Contribute to the future by exploring the present and preserving the past

ABOUT ME

I'm a sociable person and an avid traveller. I love to meet people from different cultures and speak their languages. In fact, my passion for foreign languages has shaped my career – I’m now working as a translator and interpreter from three European languages, and I’m keen to further expand my linguistic skills.

As part of my long-time fascination with history (my first degree was in Oriental History), I’m now into architecture – both in my home city, where I am actively involved in a local preservationist group protecting old buildings from demolition, and elsewhere around the world, where I can spend hours exploring local historic areas and architectural delights – preferably in the company of local friends.

Finally, I’m fond of Russian singer-songwriter songs (often referred to as ‘bard songs’), and I do a bit of singing to guitar accompaniment.

PHILOSOPHY

Much of it is too personal to make it public. Among other things, I try to focus on the underlying nature of life and exploring the striking and meaningful coincidences in which it abounds. For instance, I believe that there is a profound correlation between developments in our life and the books we read, even if they are chosen at random.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I'm looking forward to making new friends during my upcoming trip to Spain in late May - early June this year.

Interests

Languages, History, Art of War, Architecture, Architectural Preservation, Archaeology, Art Nouveau, Singing/Songwriting, Guitar, Canoeing, Skiing, Hiking, Chess

• arts
• books
• singing
• architecture
• cooking
• chess
• socializing
• guitar
• hiking
• canoeing
• skiing
• history
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: Paul Auster, Don DeLillo, Robert Warren, Nick Hornby, Virginia Woolf, John Updike, J.L. Borges, Robert Frost, Eliot, William Blake, Dostoyevsky, Dovlatov, Mandelshtam, Pasternak, Bulgakov, Brodsky

Music: classical (Bach, Vivaldi, Puccini, Beethoven, Tchaykovsky), singers/songwriters (Susanne Vega, Elliott Smith, Tori Amos), instrumental (Yann Tiersen), Russian rock (Venya Drkin, Kirill Komarov, Zimovye Zverey, DDT, Night Snipers), Russian singers/songwriters (Igor Bely, Nikita Dorofeyev, Vladimir Lanzberg, Olga Makeyeva, Oleg Medvedev, Sergey Truhanov, Yury Vizbor, Nikolay Yakimov) - to mention only a few of my musical interests

Movies: by Jim Jarmush, Julio Medem, Andrey Tarkovsky, Ilya Averbach, Alexey German, and many others

Teach, Learn, Share

Languages, cooking, chess

Countries I’ve Visited

Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Germany, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States