CURRENT MISSION

To live life with a smile, know there is a solution to every problem, always strive to have new experiences!

ABOUT ME

I am a Silicon Valley computer geek who has relocated to Ukraine since 2013. Before living in Ukraine (and getting married, I traveled to 31 countries, including Russia, Ukraine, UK, Iceland, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Belgium, France and many others.

I am currently an IT freelancer and have a small company doing managed services.

I come from a big Italian family, with 10 aunts and uncles by blood, plus their spouses, with 2 brothers, a sister, 2 nieces, a nephew, and 24 cousins. I grew up in the kitchen helping my grandma and aunts cook while they watched me as my mom worked, so I got a love of cooking early on in life, but somehow never developed a love of washing dishes... strange... :-)

I can do internet security and full meshed VPNs, setup web servers, email servers, fast networks, but can't organize my desk to save my life.

I can read, write, speak, and blind type in Russian, but only at basic levels. In some topics I am almost conversational, and in other areas I can just get by. I start every conversation in russian with "Izvinete pojualsta, moi russki ochen' plohoi", which translates to, "I am very sorry, but my russian is very bad" :) It helps.

My personality type is ENFJ / ESFJ (split 50/50 between the N and the S). If you are not familiar with these personality types, you can check a pretty good definition here:

http://www.typelogic.com/enfj.html
http://www.typelogic.com/esfj.html

I recently added a vkontakte profile also - http://vkontakte.ru/id50293776

Also, I am trying to improve my Russian and learn some Ukrainian. There is a free site for learning languages called LiveMocha.com. If you want to join using this link, we can be connected there as friends, and you will get an extra free travel crash course lesson, since I have referred so many people. This is just to help people out (I don't get any money from this, just sharing the extra travel course) :)
http://www.livemocha.com/invite/r:kULzWV9S

PHILOSOPHY

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and learn to accept things you can not change.

Smile, be positive, help people where you can, and you will acquire loyal friends that will treat you the same way back, and occasionally meet some very kind strangers as well. People gravitate to smiling, positive people.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

When I lived in San Jose, California, I hosted around 90 people I think. Now that I am married and living in Ukraine, it is difficult to host, but I try to help people find a host when I can, or meet for coffee or supply information to make their trip easier.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I joined in 2008 or 2009, and was introduced to Couchsurfing by a guy from Netherlands that I was doing a rideshare with to Portland over Thanksgiving weekend. I have both hosted (a lot) and surfed some (both alone and with my ex-girlfriends). I have made friends both directly and indirectly through CouchSurfing, some which will last a lifetime! I got to do my first Surfing in Vegas and Kiev, Ukraine, and it was great! I also surfed in Paris, Moscow, New Zealand, Budapest, Prage. I was able to meet many CouchSurfing friends all over the world, and 99.9% of which were very friendly people, who both kept me company and were there when I needed a little help. The kindness of strangers to each other, through this site, is amazing. I love being a part of it! It has been very cool experience. I think CouchSurfing is a unique personal type that Scientists have yet to discover :)

Interests

I like traveling, cooking, learning new computer technology, or helping someone see how they can use technology to make their life more comfortable.

I like sharing experiences from people from around the world, and seeing how people are more the same, than different. Everyone has a nagging, over protective mom that worries too much, but at the same time would usually do anything for you :-) From this core similarity, its fun to explore other things that are the same, and laugh and lament about them together.

Here is an example of my love of cooking. If you need someone to handle the BBQ, I'm your man! My record is cooking 5 chickens and 5 tri-tip steaks, on 2 BBQ's at the same time:

• chickens
• cooking
• breakfast
• bbq
• technology
• traveling
• survival
• surfing
• languages
• weekend break

Music, Movies, and Books

I like all music except country and classical, and extreme rap that is just noise or hate.

I like rock ballads most, but most types of popular music, modern and classic rock (but the Doors is a little too "classic" for me, sorry).

Groups like Nickleback, 3Doors down, Van Halen, 38 Special, Lifehouse, Journey, Breaking Benjamin, Hither - are all types of music I could listen to non-stop all day. Through in some Scorpions, AC/DC, and then maybe some Michelle Branch and Colby Calley, and that pretty much covers the range of music I like :)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I think one of the most amazing things I have done, was my first trip to Russia, when I didn't know any of the language, and I had never met anyone I was visiting face-to-face. I was purely trusting in relationships I had made over the internet, and references from friends. It was absolutely fantastic trip, the best in my life. I have been 13 times now, and have seen more of russia than most russians, and I have "survival" level russian language skills now :) I never imagined I would take up such an interest, and have such adventures, but it really changed my life.

Teach, Learn, Share

I have been working with computers for 24 years, and never gone to college or a university. I am near expert level on Mac's, Windows and Linux, as well as Firewalls and Internet security. Everything I know has mostly been from someone taking the time to show me, and giving me a chance to explore my potential. My ultimate validation of my skills was my time working at Microsoft in the Hotmail group.

I am happy to explain and share what I know with people, weather it is about computers, cooking or travel experiences. My life I have today is only because of people taking the time to teach me something and give me a chance, and I am happy to try to help others where I can.

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Romania, Russian Federation, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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