CURRENT MISSION

ABOUT ME

Though I often suggest reading my references to get a better picture of me, I guess that they don't tell the full story. Not that I will, either - possibly if we meet one day and become good friends. Over the years that I have used Couchsurfing, the long-lasting friendships I have made here is what I value the most. My life inside and outside couchsurfing is fairly abnormal, you'll find out more about it if we ever meet.

I was born into a Swedish-Polish family, grew up being bilingual and with a great curiosity for music since an early age. I've been stuck at the piano since age of 6 or so. Became a freelancing musician after finishing studies, and am now pursuing a doctoral degree. One of the great joys of being a performing musician is that it has given me so many opportunities to travel around the world.

Does it seem as if my life revolves around music, perhaps? 😊🎶 Some videos of mine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVm0PsRbg4E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUWtk81q7Eo

A friend of mine who ran a record label used to call himself a "sound archeologist". That's a term I very much like, and it fits with what I have done a lot in my life as a musician - rediscovered interesting but forgotten music. The concert here is an example of that sort of work, which was the result of a lot of digging, archival work, etc etc: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpZii-mcekSYpTdia1hQdNifJMETxAi0r

I´m also involved in a klezmer/balkan band - we started playing together when we were about 12 or so, and later we produced our own CD's, performed at folk music festivals, etc.

I´ve been a vegetarian since I was 12, but I started to eat fish again a few years ago. I´m mainly against the animal industry, but not against the killing of animals in itself.

PHILOSOPHY

CS tells me that I should write something here.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I've participated in CS mainly by hosting, and I lost count on my guests ages ago - some 2-300 people must have passed by our place since 2010 by now...These days, I'm not able to host much, but I still try to meet up couchsurfers when I can.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I´ve hosted plenty, especially in the summertime, with up to 8 guests simultaneously in my flat. As I´m bilingual and not able to speak polish so much in my daily life here in Finland, I´ve really enjoyed hosting and meeting Polish travellers, keeping the language alive and making new polish friends.

Interests

Well, I´m a freelancing musician, a classical pianist most of the time but I play other stuff as well. Art in all its forms is a big part of my life, and music in particular.

Apart from music? I´m interested in photography, languages/linguistics, having (late) movie nights with friends, hanging out in parks, biking, visiting flea markets, visiting second hand-stores, discovering the city I´m currently living in, going to festivals, reading, thinking, sleeping, drinking good finnish teas, eating karjalan piirakka, sometimes I even like to cook...

I´m rather geeky, especially about movies and music. I go to movie festivals frequently, most recently I attended the Sodankylä Midnight Sun Film Festival with other couchsurfers, which was great! I can warmly recommend it!

• literature
• festivals
• movies
• traveling
• music
• piano
• swimming
• history
• art
• nature

Music, Movies, and Books

I need to update this list - I probably wrote it over ten years ago!

Books - I don´t have time to read as much fiction as I´d like to. Some authors I like: Paul Auster, I.B. Singer, Gombrowicz, slawomir mrozek, ryszard kapuscinski, tove jansson, karin boye, astrid lindgren,

Movies - Too many to make a list of...

Bach, Brahms, BARTOK, Beethoven, The Smiths, Morrissey, Miles Davis, Smashing pumpkins, bob hund, alban berg, messiaen, chopin, schumann, bill evans, keith jarrett, jose gonzales, richter, kroke,

Teach, Learn, Share

I guess I could teach you something about music, or tell you about the abnormal life of a musician...

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Russian Federation, Serbia, Spain, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Finland, Poland, Sweden

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