Astrophysics PhD student from Poland, living in Tokyo since late 2021

I'm temporarily out of Tokyo for doing a round the world trip, so I cannot host now, sorry

ABOUT HOSTING

Sorry to write it on the very top on my profile and very explicitely, but I think it's better to make it visible^^

Combining PhD studies with work, private tutoring and other activities makes me quite a busy person. It means it's possible that I will be simply unable to host you because of my duties. Nevertheless, if I decide to host you, I want to spend my free time with you and I will be happy to show you around Tokyo. On Saturday nights I'm usually occupied with other activities and unable to host. On Mondays and Tuesdays I usually do private tutoring until VERY late - please keep it in mind and if you want to sleep early it might be wise to bring earplugs (I can also provide you with them) :)

I live in Shibuya, 15 minutes walk from the famous scramble crossing - it's a very convenient base to explore Tokyo. My apartment is quite small, so I prefer hosting only one person at time. I might however do exception and host 2 people provided that they are aware that the space is gonna be limited:)

I'm getting a lot of requests recently and I'm not always checking Couchsurfing regularly - I'm sorry if I didn't reply to yours

Also sorry, but I'm not likely to respond to requests that are not personalized and to requests to stay at my place for a very long time (more than a week)^^

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I think that getting to know people from all around the world is a great idea to spend time and develop yourself. I might be a bit shy person at the beginning, but I travel mostly alone because I love to meet locals - I believe that it's necessary to understand the country and its culture. I also really enjoyed hosting people in Poland - as far it did not only lead to friendships, beautiful memories and taught me a lot about the world, but also made me much more aware about my own culture and know Warsaw better. Same applies to hosting in Tokyo now^^

Interests

I haven't chosen my studies out of nothing - I've always really been into science, but I actually liked astronomy the most, so after getting MSc in physics and chemistry I decided to do my PhD in astrophysics:) Since few years I'm getting more and more interested in travelling, especially via hitchhiking. Maybe I even got a bit addicted because I use every opportunity I have to explore a new place. I love geography and all the cultural stuff - especially everything connected to East Asia, South-east Asia and former Soviet Union countries. In fact, I feel like my interests are gradually shifting from science towards linguistics, ethnology, geography etc. I also aim to become amateur-expert of Japanese regional cuisine^^ I'm a big fan of long walks, especially in a good company! And though all above may sound a bit nerdy, I'm into some fun activities as well 🙃

• books
• traveling
• music
• hiking
• astronomy
• geography
• science
• hitchhiking
• street food
• china
• japan
• vietnam
• ping pong
• maps
• russia
• jewish culture
• local cuisine
• east asia
• southeast asia
• natural history museums

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, David Bowie, The Doors, Love, R.E.M, Radiohead, The Klezmatics, Steppeulvene, Archive, Arcade Fire, DDT and many other artists

My favourite books include: Lolita, Crime and Punishment, The Master and Margarita, Steppenwolf, Dune, The Woman in the Dunes, Kaidan Botan Dōrō, The Tale of Kieu, Ender's Game, everything by Witkacy

I don't really watch a lot of movies, but I love works of Stanley Kubrick and Jim Jarmusch. Rashōmon and other works by Akira Kurosawa also own a special place in my heart :)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I ate in every KFC in Moldova :p

UPDATE
I wrote it when I was 19 yo and I'm not 100% sure if it's still true, however, to my slight surprise, google maps suggests that it still is. For a few years I'm really avoiding eating fast foods though, so please don't treat this weird achievement as "he obviously loves KFC" :))

Teach, Learn, Share

I'd love to learn as much as I can about other countries and cultures. I also love learning languages. These days I'm quite focused on obtaining highest certificate in Japanese, what unfortunately makes my Chinese deterioriate - but it would be nice to fix it someday:) Besides obvious things like Polish language or some boring facts about Poland I can teach you to recognize star constellations or how to survive in Warsaw with the budget of 50€/month :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kosovo, Laos, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, Poland, South Korea