I got involved in Couch Surfing when I lived in Warsaw in 2011-2012. It was an amazing time with such a vibrant and active community. There were so many cool meetings and events and made some great friends.

I lived in Poland for 8 years in Krakow and Warsaw. I grew up and currently live in Portland, Oregon, but have lived in Maryland and southern California in the interim. I grew up before the internet and my parents limited my access to TV and video games, so I spent countless hours as child looking at Atlases and imagining what things and people were like in distant parts of the globe.

In case it's an issue: those of you with issues and serious concerns about the actions of the current American government, I completely understand. Please keep in mind that, practically speaking, I have about as much control over American elections results as you do - virtually none.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I often sometimes travel on my own and would to meet people in those place. In the past, people have shown me around their city.

I don't need, and am not necessarily looking, for a place to stay. I'm hoping to find some good company and good conversation and get some insights from people who live in the places I'm going.

Interests

This is space where I'm supposed to write something eccentric or esoteric like 'composing music in gamelan scales' or something that makes me sound cool like 'skydiving'. I guess I'm interested in history, world events and politics.

I really enjoy learning amusing differences in culture and language. For example, the Hungarian word for shoes 'cipo' is very similar to a vulgar Polish word referring to the female anatomy. An innocent word in Polish 'kurcze', the equivalent to 'oh shoot' or 'oh crap' in English, in Croatian is a vulgar world referring to the male anatomy.

Music, Movies, and Books

Again, I guess I'm supposed to put something cool like 'David Lynch movies' or 'Hemingway novels'. I read mostly non-fiction. In the last couple years reading about neurophysiology has been a hobby of mine. I generally prefer the episodic nature of TV programs to the limits of movies. In recent years, I'm a big fan of the sci-fi tv shows The Expanse and Foundation.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I've eaten Polish Wigilia food multiple times and lived to tell about it.

Teach, Learn, Share

My current job is working in quality management systems, which most of you won't need or find interesting. However, I did teach English as a foreign language for eight years.

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Poland, United States

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