CURRENT MISSION

Peace and well-being.

ABOUT ME

I love movement and change and to experience new things in life, new places, new people, new ideas. The reason for that might be that I grew up in Ukraine at the time when Soviet Union was transforming into new multiple countries and the system was changing in front of my eyes. I am very adaptive and thrive in the changing environment.

I also like to dream, and work on my dreams. Growing up in an industrial town in Ukraine, I never thought I will be able to travel, but I was blessed with opportunities that came up in my life, first studying in the US and then immigrating here all by myself with nothing but my huge suitcases in 2008.

My next dream is to find a way to travel and enjoy nature more by exploring beautiful places around our precious planet. Life in the United States is a lot about working, but work is only part of our life, I would like to have a more balanced life.

PHILOSOPHY

It is important for me to follow my own path. My mission is to greet life as it comes. I love life through travel, nature, work, and art.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I participate in local CS activities. I am open to meet and welcome travelers in Salt Lake City where I now live. As well as meet CouchSurfers on my future travels.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I developed friendships with local couchsurfing community in Salt lake City. When I was in Brazil I met some local CouchSurfers and it was an amazing experience, a great way to learn about culture of the country where you travel. It is a great way to get to know people!

Interests

I love interesting people. I also love to learn and being able to share what I know. Traveling is an integral part of my life.

I enjoy reading, dancing, jogging, cross country skiing, kayaking, hiking and just doing some sort of exercise outside. I really like to feel connected to nature.

I also enjoy my work when I try make a difference. I believe in public service and be part of positive change. I define my profession as public affairs specialist, I work on making public institutions better. I love to express my creativity in various parts of my life.

• arts
• culture
• dancing
• environment
• cooking
• exercise
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• drawing
• music
• hiking
• skiing
• rock climbing

Music, Movies, and Books

In my teens read most of the classic Russian literature, my favorites are Bunin, Tolstoy, Dostoevskiy, Bulgakov, Kuprin, Nabokov. English - Iris Murdoch and John Fawles. American - Hemingway, Mark Twain, Jack London, Scott Fitzgerald. I love Garcia Marquez.

Music can be different and my taste changes, now listening to bossa nova as I recently returned from Brazil. But I love to dance, be it salsa, samba or even house music. I enjoy a good rock music, folk rock, can tolerate country sometimes.

Movies. Really love independent films and I am lucky that here in Utah we have an large international independent film festival - Sundance!

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Trusting the unknown.

In 2015 I took a sabbatical and fulfilled my dream of living in Argentina. Aside from exploring I did independent comparative research that I recently presented at a conference in Washington DC and now implement this new knowledge at my work locally in Utah.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to draw a picture, how to cook Ukrainian Borsh, how to dance to the music, some Russian and many other things, but most importantly I can share how to be yourself and overcome fear in life and take risks.

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russian Federation, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, Uruguay

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina, Ukraine, United States

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