COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE Until now I've hosted travelers from UK, France, Japan, Poland, Czech, Netherlands, Germany, China, Hungary, Turkey, Spain and Slovenia. I hosted most of my guests even before joining Couch Surfing community. I like the idea of couch-surfing. I've also been hosted by CS members in Turkey, Austria, Slovenia, China and Hungary. It has become a serious hobby for me, because it’s a great way to learn about other cultures and people. The main reason I host travelers is that it gives me the opportunity to meet, know and talk to people from other countries and cultures, seeing whom is not that easy otherwise. Also when traveling in another country (or even inside your own country), it’s great to get in contact with or hosted (ideal) by someone who knows this CS language. You don’t feel alone in a strange country. Through CS, I have made great friendships with people (now friends) from different countries. Some of these friendships are 15-16 years old. I believe Couch Surfing is about communicating, exchanging ideas, and building trust and friendships. When staying with your host, please spend time with him/her, instead of getting engaged with your personal things. Concentrate on your CS activity (host, communicating with him/her, knowing him/her). It’s not only about being given a place to stay and saying goodbye tomorrow morning. Please do not change your stay plan in the middle of your stay, unless in urgent cases. When you have requested for a stay of 3 nights, and you turn to your host with “my plan changed” or “I want to stay with another friend tonight” on the second day, it shows that you are not concentrated on your host, or at least more concentrated on other things. It’s not a good feeling for the host.

Movie: Documentaries about political and social issues. Music: Azeri classic, Turkish pop; Iranian classic, Iranian pop Book: Persian poems; Azeri literature, English classic literature, Turkish novels,