Hi, there! It`s me, Kate - a passionate Ukrainian volunteer and traveller. Originally, I`m from Mykolayiv, which is a small city near Black Sea. Currently, I live in Kyiv and study at Kyiv Polytchnic Institute. But, probably, the word "science" is not about me, because I`m a linguist. I`m studying French and English technical interpreting there.

Besides, I can`t live without volunteering, travelling, singing and meeting new people. In 2016, I was at United World Colleges Short Course "Re-thinking Identities" in Finland. For now, I`m an active member of NGO "Community ACTion Ukrainian Style - CACTUS" and that is why I like cacti ;) But this NGO is not about plants, but about non-formal education, project management and community activism for Ukrainian youngsters. You probably gonna hear a lot about CACTUS is you`ll be my host ;)

Apart from that, I participate in various projects in different roles, so I definitely will have a story for your taste.

Moreover, I try to combine my hobbies, so I started to learn Sign language and discover deaf culture. For me, that`s a perfect combination of my language career and social impact.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I think that people come to this world to discover its diversity. It`s not only about places, but about people as well. That`s why I`m here. I want to meet people, to discover their stories and to see the world from their perspectives.

Interests

• singing
• coffee
• music
• teaching
• languages
• sign language
• volunteering
• english
• french
• netflix
• deaf culture
• project management
• dystopia
• non-formal education
• black mirror
• uwc

Music, Movies, and Books

Music in my headphones depends on my mood, but some things never change - Alt-J, Placebo, Twenty One Pilots, Imagine Dragons.

What about books, I`m really keen on dystopian literature. My favourite books are "1984" by G. Orwell and "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

- organized my first social project at the age of 15
- travelled 20 regions of Ukraine with volunteering
- made a huge mistake while ordering tickets, and spend a night in unknown town with no place to sleep (that was a great adventure, by the way)
- volunteered at Parafest in Joensuu, Finland - an art-festival for people with disabilities
- collecting blueberries in Finnish forest
- visited blind-cafe
- missed 2 trains in one day
- organised a super-budget trip to Europe for my little sister and my mum

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to sing "Imagine" by John Lennon in Sign language or just some basics of Ukrainian, Russian or French :)

What I Can Share with Hosts

I have a huge pack of stories about volunteering and travelling, which may help me to make you volunteering-addicted ;)

If you want, I can also teach you some basics of Ukranian cuisine, so that it will become a part of your daily life.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium, Finland, Netherlands, Ukraine