CURRENT MISSION

Transform through Exposure to New Ideas and New People

ABOUT ME

My identity is ever-evolving. I am a thinker, a feeler, a worker, a friend and confidant, a nomad, and a free spirit- often confined by expectations of society. This is why travel is so important to me. To experience the freedom of a bird, rising above the stagnant pressures of convention and social expectations to soar away, even if for a moment. That and I get antsy often. Gotta stay on the move!

I am a 37-year old Americanized Russian. I float. I think. I believe in hard work, matched with equally hard play. I have had an array of customer service jobs in the past, but they have not satisfied me. I have, however, found my calling in teaching, counseling, language exchange, and bringing diverse kinds of people together. I have interned as a psycho-educational group facilitator for children and adolescents living in a domestic violence shelter, and I also worked as a case manager for some of their mothers. I have also taught anger management classes, for adults.

I am looking to learn something from everyone I meet, so I want to meet as many different people as I possibly can.

UPDATE as of 2024: I have been living in Colombia for the last ten years where I started a teaching business, and also work remote for a non-profit called Friendship Force International that helps bring people together across cultures.

PHILOSOPHY

I believe that we create our own reality. I also believe that satisfaction comes from reaching one's own potential, in whatever arena feels intuitively right to that individual.

Some other words I live by:

~one can not succeed beyond their wildest expectations if they don't begin with some wild expecations!

~grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference

~service is the rent we pay for room on this earth

~treat others the way you want to be treated

"...and those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music" - Nietze
...

"...and this too shall pass..."

"The further we entend our care and communion outside ourselves, the more realistic we become about our own life, tiny yet glistening within the cosmos. Authentic humility, or egolessness, leads us to value our capacities and potentials while viewing them in perspective of the great atmosphere of wisdom in which we breathe" (Paul R. Flesichman, M.D.)

"The more fundamentally we can learn, the more we realize our debt to our teachers" (Paul R. Flesichman, M.D.)

"If you want to find inner peace, you will need a new criterion for all your life choices, and that is the criterion of emotional tone. You will need to initiate decisions based not upon convenience, success, or conformity, but upon how the outcome will affect your peace of mind. Inner peace will have to become the rudder by which you navigate the straits of great and small decisions" (Paul R. Flesichman, M.D.)

"The distant horizon and the foreground both contribute to the picture of your life [what's hardest to determine is] how to keep all of the components of the picture harmoniously related within the same frame" (Paul R. Flesichman, M.D.)

"We humman mammals are caughts with two agendas we must unfold into one: maintenance of our earthly life, and realization of its true proportion. Inner peace is the product of competance illuminated by ultimate reality" (Paul R. Flesichman, M.D.)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I have couch-surfed, traveled, and shared rented accommodations with other CS-ers, gone to a few meetings, and signed up for some of the groups. Unfortunately, I cannot host visitors at this time due to my living arrangement... but... I am always happy to meet for lunch or a coffee, or to meet up and travel somewhere cool!! If I am free, I will be happy to explore with anyone who isn't a grouch :)

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Wonderful :)

Interests

I love to have fun. I love music, especially live music. I love to dance, and sing (albeit badly...). I play the flute a little, and am learning a bit of harmonica. I write lyrics and poverty sometimes too...I would love to start a band at some point in my life...

I love reading and wish I read more books that didn't have to do with work.

I love languages and want to learn at least 7 in my life.

Currently, I speak Russian, English, Spanish, and I understand Brazilian Portuguese (and years ago I was intermediate at Bahasa Indonesia but it's all gone at the moment).

I love to hackeysack (with sack or soccer ball), and to play basketball and volleyball. I also recently discovered the thrill and excitement of snowboarding- and I'm hooked! I love to swim, and enjoy surfing too- but I'm not very good at it, and have never had a very good board to practice with. I love acroyoga too.

Ultimately, I am multifaceted and love life!!!!

• arts
• books
• literature
• singing
• documentaries
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• coffee
• yoga
• meditation
• walking
• crafts
• gardening
• traveling
• music
• live music
• guitar
• surfing
• snowboarding
• basketball
• volleyball
• swimming
• business
• teaching
• languages
• language exchange

Music, Movies, and Books

I love almost all music- but don't name too album/song/artist titles since I have always received burned CDs with no labels. Some favorites: Opeth, Pearl Jam, Artic Monkeys, Porcupine Tree, Beatles, Bob Marley, Buddha Bar (awesome lounge music), Thievery Corporatiion, Offspring, La Bouche, anything 80's, NAS, Led Zepplin, the USED, AFI...soundtrack to Boondock Saints, Mermaids, and Grease 1 and 2...and more...too many to list!!!!!

favorite genres: Flamenco Guitar, Jazz, Reggae, Funk, Classical, Rock, Metal, Latin..anything! Would love to see live music or go dancing anytime!

Books recently read- Confessions of an Economic Hitmani (John Perkins), 4hr Workweek (Timothy Ferriss), Smile When You're Lying (Chuck Thompson), Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance (Howard Becker)...

Movies- Peaceful Warrior, Requiem for a Dream, The Little Mermaid, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Grease...and more (I haven't seen too too many movies, though, in comparison to your average person)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

*jumped off a 75 foot cliff at the Devil's Punchbowl in Julian, CA

*participated in a fire-walking session in Kaliandra, East Java, Indonesia

*traveled to Papua solo, and used my beginner's Indonesian to get around :)

*Hiked Ciudad Perdida (the Lost City) & Machu Picchu

Teach, Learn, Share

What I can Share/Contribute:
-life experience
-positive energy
-language skills
-a helping hand in projects in and around the home
-advice and a shoulder to lean on
-I can wash dishes and help clean stuff
-I can help with community development or raising environmental awareness
- I can help with English teaching

What I'd like to learn:
-languages
-music
-philosophy
-construction
-gardening
- UX design

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can lend a hand around the house, chat about experiences, teach you the few acroyoga poses I have learned, teach you how to teach, jam out on the flute with you, play hackey sack with you, do some arts and crafts- or make you some food (80% edibility guarantee)!

Countries I’ve Visited

Argentina, Belgium, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Russian Federation, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Indonesia, Mexico, Russian Federation, United States