Hi! I am a linguist and a researcher, I have just received my PhD in linguistics in Hong Kong (2023). Before Hong Kong, I have lived (and hosted) in Java, Indonesia, and before that I have spent some time in Tunisia. I was studying various - mostly Asian - languages for a long time now, and I hope to continue this as a career. My field is somewhere around digital philology, a classical humanities area focusing on texts about language, literature, culture and religion, but with the help of modern computational tools.

I grew up in a small town in rural Hungary, did fencing for 9 years, and I played some music - from classical piano to playing the drums in a punk band. I am a calm, observant, and curious person, I like details and good stories.

P.S. My photos are very old, I will update them soon.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I have met my friend's couch-surfers from Singapore, and they all slept at my place and I decided to register. It was like a window to the world for my young self. Then, I tried couch-surfing in 2011 in Finland and my experience was so positive that I also started to host in Budapest, in my grandma's flat. Later I also hosted a bit in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

In short, I think it's a great way to meet new people and learn about other places, and it is an especially unique way to see a place through the eyes of the locals. I enjoy to both travel, and host people, although I don't do it often; the place I live is usually not mine to allow me to do this.

So far hosted from: Czechia, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan
So far have couch-surfed in: Finland, Thailand, Vietnam

Interests

I am passionate about languages, ancient stuff, architecture, food history, spices, distant cultures. I care about environmental issues, folk art, and the survival of indigenous peoples. I also really enjoy black metal and old school hip hop.

• metal music
• fencing
• anthropology
• archeology
• history
• languages
• linguistics
• cultures
• museums
• india
• arabic
• hip hop
• silk road
• spices
• futurism
• indonesia
• botany
• black metal
• ethnography
• balkans
• prehistory
• south east asia
• oriental studies
• maritime

Music, Movies, and Books

Thy Catafalque

Ex Machina

Robert Merle

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One year of kindergarten in Tunisia. Went back to study, learned to speak in Arabic.

Shared a whiskey with a Sherpa from Nepal in Ladakh, talked with him in Hindi.

Did a Balkan trip with childhood friends, talked to everyone in broken Macedonian.

Moved to Indonesia and learned to drive a motor. Did a driving license in Indonesian.

Noticed a bicycle with a sewing-machine mounted on the front. Complimented the owner in Javanese.

Listened to a Tibetan guy sing Titanic on a bus in the Himalayas. No talk.

Did a PhD in Hong Kong - which is not really amazing but it was long so I ended up forgetting all these languages…

Teach, Learn, Share

Languages, writing systems, basic python?

What I Can Share with Hosts

Info about living and traveling in Southeast Asia.

Knowledge about writing systems.

Fun facts about language, cultural contact, trade, and etymology.

I can also teach you how to build and host a website for free in an hour or so.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Croatia, England, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Lithuania, Macao, Macedonia, Malaysia, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Palestine, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Tunisia, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Macedonia, Tunisia