CURRENT MISSION

I'm highly sensitive to social justice and human rights, and a supporter of leaderless movements and horizontal structures which allow and recognize everyone's significance and meaning.

ABOUT ME

I’m an independent researcher on social empowerment. I trained myself into psychology, with a hotspot on existential and transformative psychology (both my MAs are related with these topics). I've been immersed into the study of shared economy and altruistic social behavior (as a PHd student) and I deeply believe in generative politics which locate the pillars of a better world into freedom, personal consciousness and universalism. I'm currently an associate teacher at "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University, guiding junior students into narrative journalism. For more than 5 years I've also worked in community building in order t act on m principles.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I believe in direct communication and coordination, in offering help and receiving direct support via non-institutionalized networks. I believe these networks restore social trust and connection between strangers who are simply friends who didn't meet yet. As a trained listener, I find meeting persons of different cultural and social backgrounds as an intrinsic rewarding experience.

Interests

• human rights
• journalism
• psychology
• freedom
• democracy
• freedom of speech

Music, Movies, and Books

I first fell in love with reading when I discovered philosophy and I use to escape through fantasy literature. I generally listen to classical music, jazz and metal.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I once had to write a feature on the bankruptcy of one of the last Romanian uranium mine. The story got complicated, as they usually get when people are bounded by toxic work-environments to earn their daily living. However, I had less than 12 hours to reach the mine, talk to various people and trying to figure out all dominant perspectives over the issue. And no means of traveling by public transportation. So here I was, in a railway station, asking for a miracle to come when I stepped on a man's toes. "Who are you", he asked me. In less than 15 minutes, he gave me the keys from his car. "Take it and let it here when you're back".

I took the keys. I had a driving licence, after all. And it was indeed a miracle for a stranger to entrust you with his car. But I knew I was a terrible driver. So I ran back to him. "Excuse me, mister. You know, I'm not actually able to drive your car...." He agreed to drive me to the mine. On our way through the mountains I learned he's a trickster. He pretended to be a corrupt police agent and he was asking for protection payment from people living in the rural area.

He provided me with the sharpest experience of human complexity. If I were a better driver, I would've thought that he must be a sort of angel on earth. If I were to meet him as a pretender, taking advantage of naive people, I would've thought he's a complete bastard. He provided me with a memorable lesson on how many contradictions human nature can accommodate and how limited is general categorization for understanding those around us.

Teach, Learn, Share

I always find joy in guiding and letting myself be guided into narrative journalism, self discovery and trust building.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I have a cozy room with a large sofa which can accommodate two persons and all facilities a personal home may offer. I value trust and I offer trust to travelers, and I don't have sharp expectations from others apart from that. If conversations naturally build, I find it rewarding, but I don't expect someone to mold his or her experience to meet my needs in social discovery.

Countries I’ve Visited

Georgia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Norway

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