I am currently a PhD student in Heidelberg, Germany. Originally I come from Saint Petersburg, Russia. There I studied physics and later got interested in biology, which is now a topic of my PhD project.

I like to explore new cities. There I prefer to walk around, look at the architecture, visit museums and try to stick with locals to get the true experience. Besides city-traveling, I also went for a multi-day hiking trips to places like Kamchatka, Caucasus and Alps with a tent.

My facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/kaydanych

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

For me, Couchsurfing is more than a cheap way to travel. Mainly it is the way to find local people in the city or area I would like to explore. Couchsurfing hosts can show you places you would never know about when traveling alone. I had great experience with some hosts, who taught me new cooking recipes, showed me unusual places and with whom I had great long discussions on various topics.

Interests

Besides my geek and scientific interests, I like to explore. I mean that I am not looking for popular touristic places, I'm looking for new experience, for the atmosphere, for something that represents the nation of the country I visit.

I also like various activities. Either it is hiking, cycling, playing frisbee or swimming.

My hobby is photographing. I shoot on an old Canon film camera. I like taking photos on film because of its naturalistic colors which make the photo so alive.

• photography
• traveling
• cycling
• hiking
• physics
• film photography
• frisbee
• biotechnology

Music, Movies, and Books

Okay, this one is hard. I have really broad interests. I will list only a few films and artists which I can remember.
Arctic Monkeys, Black Keys, Radiohead, Hiatus Kaiyote, Bonobo, Alt-J, Son Lux, Foals, Parov Stelar, Antonio Sanchez, Maccabees, the XX, Ron Carter, Nina Simone, RHCP, Eminem, Rachmaninov, АукцЫон...

Films: I really enjoyed recently seen film "Youth" by Sorrentino. Lastly I didn't have much time for films, but I try to stick to "art" cinema both of the previous century and recently presented pictures.

Books: The Luzhin Defence, Master, and Margarita, The source, Atlas Shrugged, Milan Kundera, Antonio Molina, etc.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

4 of us – me and my friends were traveling on cruise Helsinki–Stockholm–Helsinki. In Stockholm we left our stuff in the cabin and went for a walk. When we came back to the ferry — well there was no ferry. We forgot about time difference between Helsinki and Saint-Petersburg and the ferry was gone. So we were chasing the ship with 20eur in our pockets to get our belongings and get home!

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you some Russian, talk about my scientific field and share my traveling experience.
I would like to know more about art, photography and cinematography and I would like to learn Italian at some point in life...

What I Can Share with Hosts

Currently I live in Heidelberg, so I can bring you something from Germany! It might be something very local, like a bottle of wine from the wine yards near our house or more broad like a bavarian beer:) Just let me know!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, England, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Russian Federation, United States