CURRENT MISSION

To learn, learn and learn

ABOUT ME

A cheerful intelligent person with a lot of topics to talk about. I am a programmer working in finance. My current hobbies and interests include board games, classic movies, math, science fiction, history.

I am a Ukrainian living in London. I moved here not so long ago so do not expect me to know everything about London. However I certainly like the city and try to explore it in depth :)

I like when visitors ask questions about places they are visiting and value their genuine interest quite highly. I believe that one should try to learn as much as possible about places being visited (their history, culture, local habits, etc.) This makes the travel deeper and more meaningful and also promotes the countries among other would-be travellers.

I like when people are interested in what they are doing (be it their job, their travels or hobbies, whatever), then they tend to share it and can tell interesting stories. Please share if you have something interesting in you, it will be appreciated! :)

You can check photos from my longest trip to South America in my blog: http://dying-sphynx.livejournal.com (unfortunately, the text is in Russian only)

I am an avid chess player, don't hesitate to ask me for a game! ;) My chess rating is ~1700 at the moment. I used to play on FICS, ICC, ChessCube chess servers, but over-the-board game is usually much more pleasant than Internet games.

I also like board games of different styles (usually preferring strategic Euro games). Currently my favourites are Carcassonne, Dominion, Troyes and Splendor.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I surf, I host, as usual :)

Interests

Programming (especially functional programming, e.g. Haskell language and all related), some mathematics, independent traveling, geography, history, chess, board games, finance.

• culture
• movies
• board games
• chess
• traveling
• blogging
• hiking
• computer science
• geography
• history
• mathematics
• science
• software
• hitchhiking

Music, Movies, and Books

I like different styles of music: from ambient to death metal, from old rock to dark electro. My favourite ones are: Nirvana, My Dying Bride, Death, Burzum, Кино, Led Zeppelin, Forseti, Ugress, The Cranberries, Suicide Commando.

More musical details here: http://last.fm/user/dying_sphynx

My favourite directors: Reiner Werner Fassbinder, Luis Bunuel, Alfred Hitchcock, Milos Forman, Terry Gilliam, Krzysztof Kieslowski (they tend to change from time to time).

I like to read classics, science-fiction, math and computer science books.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I think that was my jump with a parachute :) At least, I recalled it first when I was asked.

Also, I hitch-hiked around 23.000 km in total. That's not too much, given the timespan it took, but still might be impressive for some people.

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach: computer science, algorithms, hitch-hiking, board games, chess, all about Kyiv and Ukraine.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Georgia, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Myanmar, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Singapore, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Moldova, Russian Federation, Ukraine, United Kingdom

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