CURRENT MISSION

Helping old ladies across the road, rescuing cute kittens from tall trees, fighting crime and not niceness wherever i find it, and changing public opinion about men who wear their underwear on the outside.

ABOUT ME

Hello Couch surfer. Thanks for browsing my goodies. I am a Russian born Australia who a few years ago decided that getting up a 6am and wearing a suit to the office was a crappy way to live, and became a photographer. I then decided that getting up at the crack of noon, doing lunch, working for 2 hours and then getting drunk was also a crappy way to live so I gave up commercial photography and decided to travel the world instead.

In short I'm in my late 30's on the outside and my mid 20's on the inside, I love new places,cultures, people,and food. I generally find that my level of affinity for a destination is directly related to the people I meet. I love going for dinner or sipping good coffe, beer, wine of a Martini in a bar or Cafe and talking about anything and everything. I like good live music, theater, stand-up comedy and cinema, but am not a fan of nightclubs or sports. My greatest joy n life is learning about other cultures and experiencing things most people would never dream of.

As a guest I believe in respecting the cleanliness and privacy of my hosts and will do everything in my power not to be a burden. While I love having company exploring a new place, I'm happy with my own company and like going on photo safaris by myself. If you are so inclined I would love to meet some of your friends and learn about life in your country. I am also very happy to share my broad experience with you.

OK so whats my plan? I have lived in China for the past 1.5 years but I'm leaving soon. I have decided that I will live in Berlin next (becoming a starving artist)and will travel there via Japan and Turkey in July and August 2011. I can't wait!!!

PHILOSOPHY

I believe the best way to get to know a person is to find their passions and beliefs, so here are mine.

Passions in no particular order: Seeing amazing new places, meeting amazing people, eating amazing food, learning amazing things, taking photos of all of the above, writing about all of the above, art, music, amazing conversations and ending each day feeling that I have experienced something wonderful.

My beliefs in no particular order: Everyone should be treated with respect, everyone has something to teach you, help people in need if you can, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, never judge a box of donuts by it's cover (I like donuts)and lastly go with the flow, life is too short to stress.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I am very new to CS. Several good friends have told me about it for a while, but only recently have I started to listen. It suddenly occurred to me that this community offered me exactly what I love. The chance to meet people from all over the world with similar passions and outlooks. I fully intend to offer my couch as soon as I'm settled in Berlin, and will do my best to spread the CS gospel.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

No formal experience with CS yet, however I have guested with friends who are active Couch Surfers and as you will read from the references I am not an axe murderer and have no ambitions on that front :-)Also please note that I am as yet not address verified as I am leaving in 2 weeks and will not have time to do it.

Interests

I am a passionate photographer (have a look at my photos here and on my website). I love to write about my experiences (website again), but in a very non politically correct way. I love talking to people about interesting things. Discussing religion, philosophy, nerdy stuff, technical stuff, arty stuff any stuff really except sports is a great way to learn about our world. I love art, Cinema, theater, comedy, music and pretty much anything that involves human creativity. I want to make film and photo documentaries. And most of all I love experiencing new places and cultures.

• arts
• writing
• theater
• photography
• documentaries
• film making
• dining
• cooking
• wine
• beer
• partying
• movies
• tv
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• live music
• sports
• boxing
• business
• religion

Music, Movies, and Books

Music- currently can't get enough Morcheeba, Balkan Beatbox, and Faithless. Anything ambient, rythmic, gypsy or clever.

Books - currently loving nonfiction pulp science stuff like freakonomics, and everything by Malcom Gladwell. Also reading some pulpscifi and fantasy.Also just loved Loved My year of meat.

Movies - On a travel documentary kick with BBC films on russia and india. Good docos are hard to find in China. Favorite films (and also coincidental books) include american psycho and fight club

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Latest cool thing was chatting to the French Consul General, in Russian at a swanky party in China while dressed in shorts and a tshirt and filmed by TV cameras. Not something that happens to me every day.

Teach, Learn, Share

I love teaching. I can teach you about photography, any of the countries in which I have lived, the basics of personal finance and small business, mental wellbeing and personal development. I love to learn about food and cooking, film making and philosophy.

Countries I’ve Visited

China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, China, Japan