CURRENT MISSION

"drop my anchor in Brussels"

ABOUT ME

TO BE UPDATED

In random order:

I grew up by the sea. So I love sea and hope to spend my old age in a rocking chair by the sea.

I love early mornings. I think this is the best part of a day. Strolling in early sunny mornings around a city. Brewing coffee in early mornings-that's my daily ritual.

Sometimes I really enjoy being around people in a loud place, whether it's a house party, a bar or a music festival. Sometimes I enjoy quiet evenings at serene and cozy places with close friends. just talking or keeping silent.

I like watching and "reading" people. It's hard to explain. But I look at a person and try to guess their personal story, watch their gestures, facial expressions. I see a lonely old lady in the street or a young and seemingly successful woman on the bus and think to myself that a painter/photographer could make a perfect portrait of this or that person..Or they could become main heroes of some novel.

I like listening to people's stories. I enjoy deep and genuine conversations.
BUT don't think I am always serious: I LOVE laughing and teasing and making jokes (laughter is the shortest distance between two people, right?..And between three, four..five..).

I easily trust people and always ready to help.

I love looking at good photographs. I can easily spend hours doing this.

I enjoy reading about/dealing with/debating about international affairs, especially when it comes to security/energy security issues issues.

Until very recently, I was moving around: studying here, living there, travelling everywhere (I wish) - trying to understand what I really want to do (still in process) and where I want to live (more or less decided on the latter one, better say love forces decided for me:)).
In childhood I dreamt of becoming an astronomer, later a teacher of Russian to foreigners and interior designer. Ended up studying International Relations and aspiring to become a diplomat someday..then did MA in Public Policy focusing on energy issues. So..we will see where I'll end up with this all:)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

TO BE UPDATED
In terms of hosting/surfing, I may be not the most experienced CS'fer. We host from time to time and were hosted a few times. It's simply because before coming to study in Europe, Budapest, I didn't have a chance to travel like this or host people.
But since I came to Brussels, I became passionately involved in couchsurfing life: I'm regularly meeting CouchSurfers for different type of activities, help with the organization of events (the most outstanding event that I am part of is the 3d Brussels Summer Event's organization team (want to attend it? ask me for details!). I am also one of the moderators of the Brussels group.
By doing what I am doing on CS, be it simply welcoming, talking and giving advice to new members, I feel I am filling some void in my "do good to, help people" mission - and this makes me happier.
CouchSurfing goes beyond the borders of a social network, it indeed connects people; for me it has become a tool of making friends in real life.

Interests

• books
• design
• interior design
• photography
• festivals
• dining
• coffee
• partying
• reading
• traveling
• music
• surfing
• astronomy
• teaching
• international relations
• languages
• public policy

Music, Movies, and Books

TO BE UPDATED
MOVIES

• In general, I enjoy arthouse movies: for me not the budget of a movie, "celebrities" featured are important but how actors convey characters; the more original/the quirkier a character and a story are - the better:)

• In general, these are my all-time favorites: Everything is Illuminated, movies by Emir Kusturica (most beloved are Black Cat White Cat and Arizona Dream),Love Actually, Little Miss Sunshine, Goodbye Lenin, Tim Burton (the Big Fish, Edward Scissorhands),Coffee and Cigarettes, Chocolat, The Island (not the American one, but it's an English translation for the Russian movie "Ostrov"), Window to Paris (Okno v Parizh), A Touch of Spice, Running with Scissors, The Cranes are Flying (Letyat Zhuravli in original).

• Recently, I've been addicted to festival movies Future Shorts.To give an example, I find the following shorts absolutely fascinating:
Maybe One Day
Tricko (The T-Shirt)
To Build a Home

MUSIC

• I sang for 8 years in a folk band, so music virtually made me, it means a lot to me, as for many people on earth, I believe. Speaking of my favorite singers and bands, I'm afraid to miss somebody, so I'd better just name my favorite styles: Blues,Rock, Jazz, Indie, Folk, Reggae, Female Vocalists,Trip-Hop, Downtempo, Ambient..

• I like when people introduce me to new music. So, please feel free to share your favorite music with me (it is particularly relevant since I've lost all the music stored on my computer recently)! Also, if I happen to hear a song which touches me but I never heard it before (can catch it anywhere-from a random bar to a tv ad), I immediately try to find it.

• I truly enjoy spontaneous jam sessions, music festivals of any kind.

BOOKS

• Speaking of books, I get a bit ashamed. I love when my best friend excitedly tells me what she've read, I do enjoy reading myself,..but I can't claim I've read quite enough myself to have a right to single favorites out. Also, until recently, while I was studying, I basically had time to read only required readings.

• For quite some time already, I've been feeling the urge to re-read some classical novels (like "Crime and Punishment", "100 Years of Solitude") and to read Russian and world classics I haven't read.

• Now I am trying to juggle the following books at the same time:
"The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power" by Daniel Yergin (history of the global oil industry)

"Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" by John Gray

"Life of a European Mandarin: Inside the Commission" by Derk Jan Eppink (witty insight on what the E.U. and its profound institutions largely are)

"The Photography Bible" by Daniel Lezano

• I don't like reading online books-there is something about a feeling of holding a book in hands.

Teach, Learn, Share

How about the Russian Gas sector? I can teach you this (since I wrote my thesis on the reform of the Russian Gas Sector). If this doesn't sound exciting to you, I will teach/share sth else:)

or..to name a few other things:
maybe i can teach you some authentic folk songs or show how to make Russian blini (i.e. pancakes). And not only show but will feed you them! My friends love my pancakes with cinnamon:)

***
Oh, there are so much I want to learn. And I'm bad at prioritizing, so I want everything at once:)These are just the first things coming to my mind:

1)I became passionate about professional photography and would like to maybe take special courses or would like somebody to teach me to work with a camera and photo processing.

2)This may sound very banal especially in the framework of CS project, but I consider myself to be compassionate and caring and I genuinly enjoy helping People. I want to do more than simply live my life for my own, want to give what I can and do good for people in need. Therefore would like to partake in some voluntary work. Any ideas? Advice? Opportunities?

3)Nothing extraordinary but I want and need to learn new languages! Dutch/French for the start (can teach you English (I used to teach English to adults at some private language school for 2 years:)Or can try to teach you some Russian)

4) Set up/become part of some music project. I don't play any instruments (just basic tambourine and balalaika:P) but I was a folk singer for a long time and now crave for this "food for soul". Don't know how I should classify it-teach/learn or share? It's a combination of them all.

5) Learn to dive!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, China, Czech Republic, Finland, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belarus, Belgium, Hungary, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States

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