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Skopje, Grad Skopje, North Macedonia
@RJAARSMA
Member since 2011
Where to start? :) In the summer of 2011, I decided to halt my travels in the Mediterranean as I started to built up a new life in the Balkans, or more specifically, in Macedonia. I volunteered and studied there, and eventually even got involved in film acting. After a brief interlude in the United States, I returned to the region in 2016, only to leave it later to pick up a job with the EU in Brussels. These days I work as a consultant and a translator, and I have no idea where I will end up next. I am fond of learning new languages. In America I learned Serbo-Croatian, but later I changed to Russian, biggest mistake of my life. Lately I have also started brushing up my Macedonian. Out of sheer curiosity I also hope to be able to read Old Church Slavonic one day, but it's hard finding teachers for that :)
Interested in Books & Literature
Fluent in German
Learning Macedonian
Pioneer Badge
Why I'm on Couchsurfing
Couchsurfing has helped me in a lot of ways over the years, and I met some of my best friends on this platform.
Music, Movies, and Books
I used to teach literature so I'm fond of reading, though I lack the time to finish novels. I love short stories. Some of my favorites come from J.D. Salinger, Hemingway, J.L. Borges, Pushkin, and Gorky.
One Amazing Thing I've Done
Moving to Skopje is probably the best thing I could have ever done in my life. A close second would be my trip to Central Asia in 2016; would recommend everyone to visit Kazachstan and Kyrgyzstan!