2025

For work, I’m finishing up my PhD, teaching at the university, looking for jobs, and going to conferences — living an "academic life" full of strict deadlines and competition. Yet much of this feels at odds with my values: freedom, non-productivity, rest-as-resistance, and an overall non-utilitarian approach to human life. While I try (not very successfully) to fit into the system and do what’s required, I keep thinking about how to resolve this tension and live more in harmony. I draw inspiration from feminist theory, speculative realism, autonomist Marxism, and the commons.

ARCHIVE 2019:
PLEASE NOTE THAT I HOST IN A TENT! :-)

I am interested in many different things: books, hiking, anthropology, fun games, conversations, culture, music, poetry, kayaking, independent films, cooking, cycling, etc.

Oh I also found there is an old profile link: https://www.couchsurfing.com/users/2195921/profile/legacy

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

See above — the principle of the commons is why I am on Couchsurfing, even though the platform has turned B2B, unfortunately. I see it as part of the commons and a small way to support reciprocity.

I registered in 2010 and started hosting people, and you know what happens next: you catch a "travel" bug. After about a year moved to China and started traveling a lot in SEA and surf and host people.

Interests

My Destination (by Franz Kafka)

I called for my horse to be brought from the stable. The servant did not understand me. I myself went into the stable, saddled my horse and mounted. In the distance I heard a trumpet blast. I asked him what it meant but he did not know and had not heard it. By the gate he stopped me and asked "where are you riding to sir?" I answered "away from here, away from here, always away from here. Only by doing so can I reach my destination." "Then you know your destination" he asked. "Yes" I said "I have already said so, Away-From-Here' that is my destination." "You have no provisions with you" he said. "I don't need any" I said. "The journey is so long that I will die of hunger if I do not get something along the way. It is, fortunately, a truly immense journey."

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies:

David Lynch "Inland Empire", "Blue Velvet", "Twin Peaks", "Mulholland Drive", "Straight Story",......(I am DL's fan)
Wim Wenders: "The Sky Over Berlin" (Wings of Desire), "Until the End of the World", "Alice in the Cities";
Jim Jarmusch: "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai", "Dead Man", "Stranger Than Paradise", “Coffee and cigarettes”, "Stranger Than Paradise", "Only Lovers Stay Alive" (almost everything of Jarmusch!)
Bela Tarr: "Werckmeister Harmonies", "Satantango", "Turin Horse";
Jos Stelling - "The Flying Dutchman", "The Illusionist", "The Pointsman ", "No Trains No Planes";
Kim Ki-Duk "The Bow", "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring", "Empty House";
Wong Kar-Wai - "In the Mood for Love", "Chungking Express"; "Happy Together", "2024",
Akira Kurosawa “Rashomon”, “Dreams”, “The Idiot”.
Zhang Yimou “To live”, “The story of Qiu Ju”;
Chen Kaige “Farewell my concubine”
Gaspar Noé - “Love” (2015); 'We Fuck Alone"
Shane Carruth “Upstream color”;
“Hitchhiking guide to the galaxy” of course!
Fassbinder almost all.
etc etc etc. I love movies and love to talk about them.

Music: a lot! classical music, jazz, electronic music, sometimes post-rock, rock, punk, ambient ....

Books: Samuel Beckett "Trilogy", "Murphy"; Robert Pirsig "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"; George Orwell "1984", Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Laozi, Zhuangzi... etc. Classics mostly. I love poetry.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The most amazing thing I've done is I gave a birth to the most amazing person in the world!

Teach, Learn, Share

teach: Russian, Chinese languages, tea, raw cooking,
learn: languages, photography, yoga
share: moments of life, spontaneous trips, cooking, films, music, long conversations

Countries I’ve Visited

Cambodia, China, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Macao, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, Russian Federation, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, Hong Kong, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan

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