What's up! I'm currently a third year uni student studying Plant Bio and Slavic Languages and Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, go Bears

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I've always wanted to travel and I feel finally free enough and enabled to do so. I'm learning Polish especially because I'm seriously considering moving there when I'm graduated, so to travel about and meet great people would be a dream. Also I've always wanted to be that guy who knows a million people just so I can share about them to everyone else. also so I can go to as many thrift stores in as many places as possible )

Interests

• birds
• arts
• books
• literature
• graphic design
• thrifting
• flowers
• hiking
• art history
• history
• parks
• relaxing
• people watching
• indie rock
• horror movies
• sitting in cafes

Music, Movies, and Books

I love indie rock, some favorites are: Grandaddy, Stephen Malkmus, Rilo Kiley, Elliot Smith, Slothrust, Built to Spill. Russian rock and pop are also great: nochnye snaipery, zemfira, monetochka, valentin strykalo to name a few. Ukrainian rock is surprisingly a jam: okean elzi, gudimov, druga rika.

I love slavic lit and through my studies some of my favorites are: The Petty Demon, The Foundation Pit, any Chekhov, Who Killed David Weiser, Czeslaw Milosz is great, Pushkin is great, Fathers and Children, House on the Embankment. To name a few

I love horror movies a lot, but I also generally watch a lot of tv shows and other genres of film. Recently I saw Hereditary (amazing), the Florida Project (amazing), 12 Monkeys (crazy), to name a few. Some of my favorite TV series are the Killing (english version), Skam (Norwegian!), House of Cards (before it turned sour), Gossip Girl, Peep Show, Penny Dreadful, and so on

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I thought I needed to study abroad so I'm living in Daugavpils, Latvia currently. Half the pop. speaks Russian, it's on the border of three countries, and it's currently colder than I've ever felt in my entire life (California native), but it's something

Teach, Learn, Share

I can help in English in any way
I know some chemistry and bio (don't quote me on anything though)
I know my eye around a piece of design

I'd love to have a conversation in Russian or Polish or Spanish (it's slowly dissolving from my brain)
Take me to the best museums restaurants parks bookstores and thrift stores (!!!) you know and would like to share! Local haunts are the best

What I Can Share with Hosts

Friendship and appreciation and great conversations and someone to watch a movie with

Countries I’ve Visited

England, Germany, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine

Countries I’ve Lived In

Latvia, Poland, United States