CURRENT MISSION

Learning to love, myself and others, sounds about right

ABOUT ME

I'm an Aquarius with a moon in Cancer which explains why I'm exceedingly nice to strangers, and somewhat paradoxically, more a loner than not. If you stripped my personality down to its very core, you'd find that I love (vegetarian) food and engaging in the kind of conversations that keeps us hoping we're not all quite as alone as we think sometimes.

My post-college life has shown me that what I want changes every day, and most days you'll find me chasing my more intriguing whims. So far I've spent two years living in the Russian Far East, a year working on farms in Greece, Germany and Maine, six months waiting tables in rural Georgia (USA), and one year volunteering in a Japanese guesthouse. I've also become enamored with the state of Vermont by doing a summer grad school program there in Russian Studies.

I've been in Charlottesville for five years now and am working toward becoming a teacher of meditation, Alexander Technique and a facilitator for white people who are looking to becoming more racially aware and educated about racial inequity and our country's history of racial hierarchy.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I surfed my way across the US during the summer of 2010, which was an excellent CS introduction.

Since then I've done some surfing in Europe and Asia and some hosting from my former apartment in Vladivostok.

Interests

Meditation, Alexander Technique, yoga, racial justice, writing letters, journaling, reading, farmers' markets, picking and eating fresh fruit in the summer, browsing in foreign grocery stores, cooking and reading food blogs, being among trees, educating myself constantly, swinging, hanging clothes out to dry, swimming, buying myself flowers, climbing trees.

• writing
• dining
• cooking
• baking
• vegetarian
• farmers' market
• yoga
• meditation
• clothing
• flowers
• reading
• surfing
• rock climbing
• swimming
• anthropology
• volunteering

Music, Movies, and Books

I wish I had another life I could devote just to reading. That said: MURAKAMI.

I watch the movies that come to artsy cinemas and the music I liked in high school mostly.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

In 2011, I found a mama and baby starfish in the Sea of Japan off the coast of Russia. Definitely a highlight of my life thus far.

And I saw a clear day at Lake Masshu in Hokkaido, Japan in 2016.

Teach, Learn, Share

Russia(n), yoga, meditation, Alexander Technique, racism in the USA, astrology, bread baking, anthropology and a little about farming and growing things.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Norway, Peru, Poland, Rwanda, Slovakia, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, Ukraine

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Greece, Japan, Russian Federation, Tanzania, United States

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