Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you!

A bit about myself: I was born in St. Petersburg, Russia but my family promptly moved away from the cold to sunny Los Angeles, where I've lived for most of my life. I love to read, write, listen to podcasts and music, cook and bake, eat, hike, explore and play capoeira.

I recently graduated from UCLA with a degree in English. I'm an english tutor, a freelance writer and an intern at a local radio station. Radio is a new love, but one that I'm becoming steadily more and more obsessed with. Anything from All Things Considered to Radiolab or The Mystery Show - I love it! More generally, something I love about journalism is that it gives you permission to ask deep and meaningful questions of strangers. And that's something I try to carry with me in my personal life too. (Don't worry, I won't be too nosy.)

Philosophy:
Empathy, positivity and curiosity.

I'm clean, polite, easygoing, friendly and I love meeting new people and their cities! We can play music or talk over a bottle of something (my treat). Let's swap stories! Or I can stay out of your way - like I said, I'm easy going.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Taking advantage of my post-grad commitment free life to travel as much and as possible and to meet new people and their cities.

To meet people in this wonderful travel community and show them around LA.

Interests

Writing. Reading. Radio. Podcasts. Tea. Capoeira. Hiking. Music.

My interests are broad - and I'm down to learn about anything and everything.

Read anything good lately?

• arts
• writing
• capoeira
• cooking
• baking
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• podcasts
• music
• guitar
• hiking
• teaching
• freelancing
• journalism

Music, Movies, and Books

Books:
The Master and Margarita
Kafka on the Shore
Villette
Harry Potter
I'm always reading something new!

Music:
Gogol Bordello
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Florence and the Machine
The Devil Makes Three
Alabama Shakes

Movies:
Studio Ghibli
Coraline
Pan's Labyrinth
Many more...

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I jumped into the Orchid falls waterfall in Fiji. Cold, but worth it for sure.

What I Can Share with Hosts

-Russian
-English (reading, writing, language arts)
-basic classical guitar
-stories (fictional and non)
-my ever-bright curiosity and company
-baking skills (I make killer lemon cookies)
- I used to work as an editor so if you need something edited (in english) be it fiction or nonfiction, I can help you out

Countries I’ve Visited

China, Fiji, France, Italy, Netherlands

Countries I’ve Lived In

Russian Federation, United States