CURRENT MISSION

Finish this way overdue PhD, be a good husband, just found I'm going to be a father, very excited!

ABOUT ME
Born and partly raised in Romania, immigrated to Canada (GTA) with my family, then to the US (upstate NY) for graduate school.

My wife and I got married a couple of months ago, and shortly after she got pregnant so now we're getting ready for the next massive step of our lives.

I speak a number of languages, love singing, drumming, and being vegan. I research politics (especially parliaments), quantitative methods, and philosophy of science.

I've travelled all of North and Central America, most of Europe, and a good chunk of China, plus a number of Arab countries. I'm a convert to Orthodox Christianity.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Initially wanted

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I've couchsurfed through the US which: a) improved my chess game, b) made me the recipient of free, professional-grade massages, and c) taught me how to cook really good rice.

Couchsurfing in Europe showed me that young Irish throw rowdy parties.

I've also been fortunate to host a couple of people in Ithaca back when roommates were more welcoming of such activity.

Interests

I want to know about you! If you want to get me talking however, try

- music
- theology
- philosophy of science
- sociology
- church history
- politics
- veganism
- marriage
- parenthood!

• arts
• writing
• singing
• cooking
• vegan
• partying
• chess
• music
• hiking
• martial arts
• divinity
• history
• languages
• science
• social science
• sociology

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: I'm getting quite tired of US-made movies, just because I've been oversaturated. If you have recommendations from not-America, I'll take them very gladly!

Music: my preference is for something new, and I'm always on the prowl for things I haven't heard. My long-term tastes are for music deep enough that I'll like it 5-10 years from now.

Books: at this point in my life I'm so used to reading dry, academic stuff that anything written with heart and an attention to actually write good prose (but not too long, I still have to finish this PhD) is a welcome breath of fresh air.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One time while hiking in China I found a dead guy. The bones were picked clean and I couldn't find a skull, but the rural Chinese CSI guy said that the femur had definitely belonged to a human.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: I can try and communicate my knowledge in
- martial arts
- how universities function
- English, French, Romanian, Spanish, and Arabic
- drumming and writing (in English)
- various topics in the social sciences

Learn: anything you'll teach!

Share: -ing is caring.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Travel tips for the Americas and Europe (except the High North) and some Arabic countries. I'm decent at cooking across a wide variety of cuisines, all of it vegan, and I'm a convert to an organised religion whose head is called a "patriarch", while typically holding lefty sympathies on the political spectrum, which I gather is somewhat rare these days.

Above all, I have no problem broaching any topic, and love to talk while cooking and walking. I'm also a BIG fan of local history, wherever I go, and can share tidbits from my travels (such as the story behind Belize's backwater capital, Belmopan)

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belize, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macao, Mexico, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Palestine, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, Romania, United States