I've worked as a teacher of English as a Foreign Language and as a multimedia developer, and now I am working on an extension for Google Chrome that helps you to learn a new language. I enjoy playing music, but have no pretensions of being a musician. I write; I have published short stories, poems, technical articles and the official user's guide for a now obsolete Adobe product, and I have a novel in progress.

My partner teaches Russian as a foreign language. She enjoys discovering new places in Moscow that visitors will find interesting, and using these locations as an opportunity for you to learn about the Russian language and culture. She is an illustrator, and is working on comic books, pop-up books and animations.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I really enjoy meeting people from all cultural backgrounds and all walks of life, and discovering what makes you unique.

Interests

Children are naturally creative and disruptive. I'm fascinated by all the forms that creativity can take, how it is channelled by culture, how certain individuals find ways to stand out, and the personal toll it takes to dare to be different.

I'm fascinated by how the human brain evolved, and how modern humans struggle against the limits it imposes on the ways we can think, so that "reality" and our perception of it are often incompatible.

I'm fascinated by the spaces between words; meaning only exists in the tensions between words, not in words themselves. Different languages create different spaces and tensions, and create meanings that other languages cannot fully express.

I am fascinated that there is no clear distinction between living matter and matter that is not living, and by the processes by which one becomes the other.

And I'm sure that there is something that fascinates you, something that I have never thought of, and I am looking forward to discovering it with you.

• coding
• psychology
• nature
• escape rooms
• jazz music
• creative writing
• cooking and baking
• problem solving
• human evolution

Music, Movies, and Books

Fable of Faubus, Charles Mingus,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SmjnK9iTZY

One Hour Photo, with Robin Williams
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265459/

Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I collaborated on a computer application to help people learn to speak again after a stroke.

Teach, Learn, Share

Recipes, stories, songs and games gain value the wider they are shared. When you come and stay, I hope to learn something new from you. Perhaps we can explore the local market for ingredients that you are familiar with but that I have never used before, and then each time I visit that place in the market, I will be reminded of your visit.

Countries I’ve Visited

Algeria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Madagascar, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

Canada, France, Russian Federation, Thailand, Uganda, United Kingdom