I come originally from the Czech Republic - I lived there until I was 19 and then came, all excited and wide-eyed, to Britain to study Computer Science at Cambridge. I stuck around and have lived in London and then Scotland - until I came there I would never believe I miss sun so much! Now I quit my job and will be doing an MBA at INSEAD in France and Singapore starting in January, so I have 3 months to travel...

These days I don't really know where I belong because I don't really feel at home in Britain yet after spending all of my 20s in Britain I don't feel like coming back to Czech Republic. But I am still proud of my country :)

I've worked as a derivatives trader in London and the last 2 years I was a software development engineer for Amazon.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've never done it before but would like to meet with people from other cultures and share experiences with them to understand how their cultures and make new friends in places radically different from Europe. I think the most important thing you can learn about a place is its people, not the touristic landmarks!

Interests

I love ice skating!!!! If you have an ice skating stadium somewhere near and are at least curious, then I will teach you how to skate :) I've skated since I was 3 because where I grew up we just went onto a frozen lake and that's all you need to get going.

I like outdoors and never stay a day inside, even if it's raining all day (as it is in Scotland sometimes!), so hiking is also really exciting for me... I like how you can make it a challenge - you can feel like you've really achieved something when you are on top of that big hill that looked crazy 5 hours ago.

For dancing, I like simple EDM, but I also know reasonably well salsa and can do a bit of a bachata.

Music, Movies, and Books

My favourite song is Chan Chan by Buena Vista Social Club...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Well... To me the most amazing thing was coming to Cambridge when I was 19. Imagine you are in a small town where literally everyone is Czech and then one day you turn up in a place far away where you know no one, where everything costs like 3x what it costs in your home and when you hardly speak English properly...

It was a real shock but I am really happy for it - it really widened my horizons and thinking, as I've had the chance to meet people from so many amazing countries during my time in Britain.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I am really into hiking so if you want a partner to go hike somewhere I'd likely be up to John you :)

I am happy to teach:
-ice skating
-languages: English (fluent), French (basic), Czech (OK I understand you don't want to learn this :) )
-dancing: basic salsa

Other than that I can share my stories and experiences :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Croatia, Cuba, France, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Czech Republic, England, Scotland