Interpreter.
Amateur French horn player.
Born and raised in the Golden State.

I'm a picker, I'm a grinner, I'm a lover, and I'm a sinner.

I sometimes sleep with my eyes half-open.

http://yearandahalf.blogspot.com/

PHILOSOPHY

To whom much is given, of him shall be much required

"L'essentiel et invisible pour les yeux."

Say what you mean, mean what you say.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

A little of this, a little of that.

Interests

Language, people, French horn.

live music, etymology, travel (duh), good food, education (not necessarily academia), coffee, Russian literature, good bread, the Solar System, minimalism, most things foreign to me, dinosaurs, linguistics, electronica, maps...

• literature
• education
• dining
• coffee
• traveling
• billiards
• minimalism
• music
• live music
• bungee jumping
• cartography
• teaching
• etymology
• languages
• translation
• interpretation

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies:

L'Auberge espagnole, De battre mon coe€œur s'est arrete, The Professional, Amores perros, Donnie Darko, Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amelie Poulain, The Edukators (Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei), The Fifth Element, Edward Scissorhands, Pan's Labyrinth, Clerks, Baraka, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Cashback, Drei, Run Lola Run, Je vais bien ne t'en fais pas, Y tu mamá también, (+ anything Almodovar, Inarritu, Alfonso Cuaron, Wes Anderson, Tim Burton, Luc Besson)

Music:

http://www.lastfm.de/user/amerlok

Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky, Sigur Ros, Ratatat, Manu Chao, Radiohead, Daft Punk, Crystal Castles, Devendra Banhart, O€œlafur Arnalds, The National Ludovico Einaudi, Broken Social Scene, Chopin, Beirut, Tarkan, Buena Vista Social Club, Elliott Smith, Sufjan Stevens, Juanes, Bonobo, The Shins, Yann Tiersen, Explosions in the Sky

Books:

L'Etranger, Siddhartha, Ou es-tu ?, Les Aventures de Tintin, Candide, The Chronicles of Narnia, Notes from the Underground, 1984, L'immoraliste, Crime and Punishment, Dead Souls,

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

-Standing alone on Karl Marx Street (usually the busiest street) in Irkutsk at 5:00a.m. in -40 degree weather. I was sure I was in a snow-globe in another person's dream, as it was definitely too surreal to be real life.

-Exchange year in Clermont-Ferrand, France. One of the best years of my life.

-Semester in Irkutsk, "The Paris of Siberia" (according to people from Irkutsk).

-Every single one of my travels (international and domestic alike) has been amazing in its own way.

Teach, Learn, Share

Always happy to exchange languages!

Teach me your ways!

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Oman, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Germany, Russian Federation, United States

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