BOOKS Jorge-Luis Borges, Ficciones J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye Heinrich Böll, Ansichten eines Clowns Венедикт Ерофеев, Москва - Петушки Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Elias Canetti, Die Blendung James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Thomas Mann, Der Zauberberg Boris Vian, L'Écume des Jours David Hume, An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding Søren Kierkegaard, Either/Or I like most modernist literature (although I am not a huge fan of Faulkner). I also admire Gustave Flaubert and Vladimir Nabokov for their ability to write clearly and to the point. MOVIES Sergio Caballero, Finisterrae Karen Shakhnazarov, Zero City Jim Jarmusch, Night on Earth Ingmar Bergman, Wild Strawberries Jean Pierre Jeunet, Amélie Norman Jewison, Jesus Christ Superstar Andrei Tarkovsky, Andrei Rublev Bernardo Bertolucci, 1900 Stanley Kubrick, A Clockwork Orange

I moved around quite a bit and had many strange experiences. Having hitchhiked over 10,000 km, I encountered people as diverse as an Italian mafioso and a German church choir conductor. I saw the Pope in St. Peters square, did the twist on stage with Chubby Checker, climbed in the Alps, swam in an Eisloch, watched the stars in Kathmandu during a nightly blackout and the midnight sun in Arctic Norway, slept on a bench in Central Park and was detained by police in Belarus for no reason. I experienced amazing artwork from all ages, the thoughts of great writers and philosophers. I wrote a couple novels, and learned much from doing it. I also recently learned unicycling! Yet, I never cease to be amazed - mostly, by small things. Who knows, maybe my next Couchsurfing host or guest will be my most amazing experience yet? ;)