This page describes my major projects, or what I would call my "work" (for a proper CV, go here).

Ukraine-related websites

I created these projects between 2003 and 2006 when I was living in Ukraine. These are by far my most commercially oriented projects and have become my main source of income. They have taken advantage of the dearth of decent information on Ukraine to be found in English.

TryUkraine.com
TryUkraine.com is a portal about Ukraine for foreigners interested in traveling, living, and working in Ukraine. It is a prominent website and gets many hundreds of visitors a day. The design and content is my own, and I maintain the site. In addition to innumerable articles and photographs, the site offers a range of different services for foreigners. I usually do not provide these services myself, but have commission-based arrangements with different people and businesses.

SkiUkraine.info
SkiUkraine.info is the only English-language website about ski resorts in Ukraine. It has articles on the different ski locations around Ukraine, and visitors can request hotel rooms through the site.

Linguistic activities

I have frequently used my knowledge of languages to earn money. My written and spoken Russian is near-native, and I have an advanced knowledge of Ukrainian and Spanish. Having studied many languages, I have a keen sense of what is involved in learning a foreign language and have been able to help quite a few other people do so more effectively. In fact, I have a whole philosophy of language acquisition that I plan to write about at this site. My clients have been very pleased with my work.

Teaching English
I taught English in Ukraine for three years, primarily in a business setting. I worked with a single language teaching company for the entire period. I started off teaching groups, but over time gravitated more and more to teaching individual students, especially business owners and managers. These were my most interesting teaching situations. I generally enjoy teaching, but am hesitant about continuing to teach English in the future because I am not passionate about the subject. I would rather teach something else that is more important and interesting to me, and would like to have more organizational control over the teaching process. As a teacher, my diction is very clear and easy for foreigners to understand.

Teaching Russian
I have a bit of experience teaching Russian to both small groups and individuals. My advantage as a Russian teacher is a near-native command of the language combined with a conscious awareness of the countless grammatical and idiomatic nuances -- things that native speakers rarely reflect upon. Extrapolating from my experience teaching a five-lesson course of 1.5 hours each, I believe that after 10 class hours I can have my students at a very basic conversation level.

Translating
I have translated large numbers of health questionnaires, exhibition descriptions and contracts, and technical descriptions from Russian and Ukrainian to English. I have also translated texts for use in TV programs, and also scientific articles. I'm good at this.

Interpreting
I can interpret effectively both from Russian (and sometimes Ukrainian) to English and from English to Russian. My forte is two-way interpreting in business or informal situations, as I can switch rapidly between the languages and speak both English and Russian with complete fluency. If there were more official events in Russian in Ukraine, I would have done a lot more interpreting work. I have done two-way interpreting at small business meetings, informal gatherings, and very occasionally, at public presentations of up to 100 or more visitors. I would like to do more interpreting.

Socionics-related projects

Socionics is a theory of interpersonal interaction developed in the former Soviet Union. I learned of socionics in Ukraine in 2000 and have been actively developing socionics projects in the English-speaking world since 2006. When I began, there was hardly any decent information on socionics in English; now there is quite a large body of informative articles for readers to draw upon. Many of my articles examine social phenomena, relationships, and personal development, so the subject matter is actually quite broad.

Socionics.us
Socionics.us is the first socionics website I started. It has general articles on socionics, but is not yet a comprehensive introduction to the field. For over a year I have been focusing on developing other socionics projects, and Socionics.us will eventually be revamped, especially if I am able to complete a book on socionics as planned.

Wikisocion.org
Wikisocion is a noncommercial, collaborative socionics project based on WikiMedia software (which Wikipedia uses). Readers with differing levels of knowledgeability and experience contribute to articles and collaborative projects, and present their own ideas on their user pages. Wikisocion has proved highly successful, and hardly a day goes by without dozens of contributions. The platform encourages serious discussion, and the project has attracted some of the brightest people in the socionics community. The ease of discussion has prompted me to transfer some content from Socionics.us to Wikisocion (namely, my typings of famous people).

The Socionist blog
This blog of mine has been active since late 2006 and represents an effort to find a more informal platform for socionics-related writings. It has a steady readership and gets about 30 visitors a day, and most articles have received comments. An innovative aspect of the blog is a page with a catalogue of all topics and articles, which is linked to in the upper right menu. At some point, if I figure out how to do this, I may try to integrate the blog into Socionics.us, possibly through the use of WordPress software or something similar.

Socionics book
I am currently working on a book on socionics that ties together all the things in socionics that make sense and work. I have not yet settled on the book concept -- whether it will be a sort of handbook for beginners or a complete introduction to the subject. I am writing the book in a chaotic way, starting with the most critical aspects of the book and gradually working backwards from them. The book will have a lot of innovative aspects, such as a different kind of type description and a careful progression of information from general to specific. The book is evolving and will not be a summary of the field as I originally planned, but actually my own formulation thereof. In addition, I am working on making the book interesting to a scientifically minded audience, and not just the existing socionics community. I hope to self-publish the book by the end of spring 2009, but I'm not sure I will make it on time.

Socionics meetings and presentations
I have initiated a number of socionics meetings in Europe and the United States in London, New York City, Dusseldorf (Germany), and Ann Arbor (Michigan). In addition, I was invited to give a presentation on socionics at Boston University, where there is a socionics club. I expect to have at least one more meeting in Michigan, and one more in New York City and possibly London, within the next year. I have enjoyed the meetings, but I don't like to feel like I am in charge (unless I am being paid). Thus, the past few meetings have not been as exciting for me as the first. Since these meetings began, a few others have been held around the English speaking world without me, which means that the ball has begun rolling.

Type identification services
It can sometimes be difficult to identify one's own socionic type, and there is demand for people who can help with this. The service I offer (for pay) is currently based on photographs, videos, and video chats. Modern technology makes it much easier to interact with people far away and examine them more objectively.

Study of famous people
Through socionics, I have developed an interest in famous people -- understanding their work and what they're all about. My efforts are presented at Wikisocion.

Outdoor adventure projects

I have always been an avid nature lover and have enjoyed backpacking, cycling, and other outdoor activities. An integral part of my lifestyle, nature and the outdoors have also found their way into my "work" activities.

Legkohod.com
Legkohod.com is the only Russian-language site on lightweight backpacking. I discovered ultralight backpacking in the summer of 2007 and quickly became fascinated with it. I began the site in early 2008, and it has gained a steady audience in Russia and Ukraine. It has articles, trip reports, and a mildly active and very friendly and constructive forum. Notably, readers have been enough inspired by the website to submit trip reports of their own where they made efforts to minimize weight carried. Here is a site summary in English.

Hiking the PCT on a Budget blog
This blog describes the proces of planning and executing my hike of the 2660-mile-long Pacific Crest Trail. It has a ton of useful information for people who are planning to hike the PCT and describes the adventure itself for a general audience. The blog is meant to be both a useful resource and a log of my travels.

Other writing

I have been writing an increasing amount over the past five years or so on topics unrelated to the others mentioned on this page. Common themes include: religion, philosophy, personal development, autobiography, society and politics, and healthy lifestyles. One of the purposes of this website is to give me a place to put these writings.

Past activities

Some of my projects have been discontinued. Generally, these have not focused enough on my main strengths to hold my interest for many years, or I had to phase them out in order to invest more energy in other things.

Internships in Ukraine
For nearly three years I offered internships in Ukraine through my TryUkraine.com website. I gathered contacts among Ukrainian organizations (primarily NGOs), summarized internship possibilities on my websites, accepted applications from prospective interns, and negotiated internship terms with organizations. This project was largely successful, and I enjoyed meeting new people and organizations, but it required more commitment and supervision on my end in order for the project to be successful in the long run. Also, there were some legal difficulties with having paid internships in Ukraine, and I was basically limited to working with NGOs. I have explained why I discontinued the service here.

Currency trading (Forex)
I spent a year learning about currency trading and trying to be a successful trader. Although I had some great ideas for developing automated trading systems, I was ultimately unable to master the difficult psychological aspects of trading, and dropped this activity.