I was born and spent the first 21 years of my life in Saransk. It is a dull provincial Russian town with no particular beauty, no jobs and no big water. The area around it is famous mainly for its potato crops and champion racewalkers.

After graduating from the Uni I packed all my warm clothes and moved to the North - to Saint-Petersburg, known as "the cultural and intellectual capital of Russia". I spent the next six years living in this 5-million city where wind usually blows from all four sides at once and where it rains constantly in summer as well as in winter. It was lovely!

By now you might have gathered my obsession with the cities whose names start with "S".
(Stockholm is my all-time favorite)

Three years ago I left Russia to its fate and moved to San Francisco - city of fogs, hills and and eucalyptus trees. This is my home now. (Thank you, green card lottery!) I enjoy living here tremendously. I love Californian nature, and there is a lot in Californian lifestyle I can relate to: eco-friendliness, gender equality and social justice mean a lot to me. Yoga, mindfulness and avocadoes too.

I like libraries, bookstores, long walks and hikes, silence, sunshine, boardgames, cats, earl grey tea, being at home and being on my own (but not all the time).

I think I like reading more than any other activity. My two most favorite genres are literary fiction and popular science.

I avoid noisy places and big crowds (hence 'no thanks' to the bars, nightclubs, festivals, parties with loud music, big concerts and stadiums). Not on principle, they just make me uncomfortable.

I work full-time as a web developer and like crafting beautiful websites that don't make you pull your hair out and are easy to use and accessible.

I like riding my bike, playing tennis, taking photos and watching old black-and-white movies (or modern french movies) on my projector.

Learning foreign languages is another passion of mine: currently I am trying to reduce my accent in English, to improve my Swedish and not to lose my French completely.

I really like traveling and planning trips, small and big. I visited 15 countries on 4 continents so far and don't want to stop. My next trip will be to Sweden which is my spirit country and quite probably the best country in the world.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Russian Federation, United States