CURRENT MISSION

Get to know a new country and a new language

ABOUT ME

Thoughtful|Independent|Books|Languages|Vegetarian|

After university and working for a while in London, Russian language led me to Kiev, more than 6 years ago. Having somehow got from being able to read street signs to being able to read a book in Russian, I realised how much opens up when you have another language. (A late realisation, I know, but then again, I'm English.)

Now I'm going back to the difficult part by moving to Austria and seeing if I can go the same way with German.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've met some people through cs who have become important to me. It opened up some chances to meet like-minded people, which isn't always easy in a new or even not very new city.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Without cs I would probably have met far fewer good people in Kiev, given up trying to learn German after about a month and never met my girlfriend (through German language exchange meetings!), so I've a lot to be thankful for.

Interests

Walking, literature, music I haven't heard before and sometimes music that I have (for example, Bach, Jimmy Reed, Ride, King Tubby, Spacemen 3, if you're interested), questions about how you should live if you care about other people and animals.

• animals
• books
• literature
• poetry
• vegetarian
• walking
• music
• languages
• language exchange

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Subtle moments often mean more than amazing ones, but I still remember a proto-couchsurf when I wandered into a village in Zimbabwe one evening with no way of getting home and communicated enough to some boys, who didn't speak English, for them to let me share the floor they slept on for that night. It was many years ago - what has become of them now?

Teach, Learn, Share

Languages - I'd love to find people to practice my German, test my Russian and share my English.

Literature - I've led some groups on drama and poetry, and learned a lot through them. I hope I can carry on, and find new ways of doing it.