CURRENT MISSION

Get the hell out of my country

ABOUT ME

25 years old, A J.D from California, a member of the California State Bar. If you feel like asking me what the hell am I doing here, we have to be face-to-face. It's too much of a secret to reveal it otherwise.

I like music. Started with the guitar, changed to piano. And I am really serious about it. But it kind of sucks if you are a piano player and you also want to travel to other places, and meet new people. Because you cannot carry your instrument. And music is a tough man's game; got to practice daily otherwise you'll be swallowed by the beast. So whereever I go, I'd like a piano with me. So I wish there was a site called pianosurfing....

PHILOSOPHY

Well I am convinced that you come to this world once. So we have to make the most of it. Whatever makes you happy, keep doing it 'till you croak.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I just started, and kind of excited about it.

Interests

Music and everything Russian- except Chess and advanced math that you ruskies do. I'm too dumb for that stuff.

• chess
• traveling
• music
• guitar
• piano
• mathematics

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Ooooooh man. This is a tough question. Well funny as it is, the first thought of me playing an instrument came thanks to Yngwie Malmsteen. Yngwie, for those of you who do not know him, was this swedish electric guitar virtuoso who was relatively big thru mid eighties to mid nineties. But now he is completely off the mainstream music scene. I liked him a lot because at the time I started listening to him (this was when I was 15) I thought he was very original and genuine. I think at the same time I was hooked to oldies: mainly Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole (when he sang; you got to listen to that guy play the piano...hooooly shit!), Bing Crosby... Then I started playing guitar, but quickly discovered a new type of music that competely captivated my attention: Gypsy Jazz. Gypsy Jazz is a dominantly European type of music and it originated, as the name suggests, when a bunch of French and Belgian gypsies picked up their guitars and started playing Jazz Standards and composed some of their own. I think the first movie that of Gypsy Jazzers I ever saw was Stochelo Rosenberg playing ''For Sephora'' live in Vienna. That was 2006. Then I got hooked to him, Angelo Debarre, Dorado Schmitt, Bireli Lagrene, Moreno Winterstein, Wawau Adler, Jimmy Rosenberg, Paulus Schafer, Andreas Oberg, Stephane Wrembel, Yorgui Loeffler and of course the old beasts Django and Tchan Tchou... All fantastic musicians man- seriously the music they do is one of the best types of music there is.

Then I started playing piano, now piano got me into a different planet because I started to learn notes with it. I had seen Oscar Peterson (Prophet),Art Tatum (God) before and Fats Waller (Holy spirit) before so I knew I had to play jazz. But I've been following Ahmad Jamal's way and getting really involved in the classics as well because we all know, the jazz piano player has to play EVERYTHING!!!! Anyway I am still as rookie as one can be. Anytime I learn something I realize that I know absolutely nothing. But it has definitely been a very rewarding experience...

Teach, Learn, Share

Well like I said, I can teach English, Turkish and Russian to whomever.
And I can teach people to play Piano.

Countries I’ve Visited

Brazil, Georgia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Italy, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States