I'm a college student from Kazakhstan, who is currently traveling through US.
I grew up in a poor neighborhood and studied in high-school which was the best one in my city, but turned out to be part of religious sect that is considered to be affiliated with terroristic activities (which I'm not sure about, since I couldn't find anything about their "terroristic" activities). But the awful thing they were doing was that's they were teaching students about religion and making them do prayers without telling their parents, and thus making them join a thing, which is referred to as a "System". I have no idea how, but I managed to dodg all of those dudes that tried to turn me into a Muslim, and graduated from this high-school. After that, I went to study engineering in Turkey, where this religious sect was based and originated. I studied there for a year, witnessed two terrorist attacks (was actually lucky to escape from one), again dodged this religious dudes, was threatened that police will arrest me and my friends for drugs and guns that we didn't have,because we lived in a house that was owned buy a "System", travelled through Turkey and met a lot of people from various backgrounds from Azerbaijani millionaires grandson to Syrian refugees. After studying one year in Turkey, I decided to transfer back to Kazakhstan because parents worried that I might die in a terrorist attack. In Kazakhstan I helped to found IEEE (biggest professional society in the world's section in Kazakhstan) and a social cafe "Kunde", that employed people with disabilities.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm traveling through US and am willing to share some knowledge i have about my culture, and culture of the countries I lived in if someone could help me out with housing.

Interests

• politics
• socializing
• hip-hop music
• social work
• volunteering
• turkish language
• finance
• turkish food
• russian literature

Music, Movies, and Books

Well, I can't tell which is book my favorite, because I don't remember how much of them I read throughout my life, but I have love for Russian classic literature, especially Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Gogol, Kuprin and a lot of others. Recently, I got into Sigmund Freud books, and I just finished "Totem and Taboo" and "Introduction to Psychoanalysis".
Big fan of hip-hop music and hip-hop culture in general. Also, listen to few swing artists like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Some of my favorite movies are "Tokyo Story", "Human", "Hate", "Big Short", and most of the Tarantino movies ("Pulp Fiction", "Hateful Eight", "Reservoir Dogs").

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Travelled and lived in Istanbul for a week for less than 25$.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can tell a bit of how people in war zones, like Syria, or in poor conditions, like Egypt, live. Also, I can tell a lot about Kazakh culture, our traditions, lifestyle, and corrupted government (I can tell a lot about this one). I also can fluently speak in Russian, Kazakh and not so fluently in Turkish languages.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I don't have much to share, except my stories and few books in Russian language. But I am ready to help them with their household, if they need to.

Countries I’ve Visited

Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Kazakhstan, Turkey