Hi! I'm Mike. People say that I bring them good luck. I like friends, getting to know people, listening, teaching, helping out. Open-air activities and sightseeing. When abroad, I prefer to get a feel of the place's atmosphere and go to spots which the locals frequent rather than queue where tourists flock. I attempt to cook (or, when that's impossible, at least taste) the local specialities, try out new foods and their combinations. I like good white and green tea, blue cheese, dark chocolate, and vine-ripened tomatoes drizzled with good olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt and herbs. Organic produce. Sweet Polish plums and apricots and Italian amaretti morbidi di Sassello. Greek grapes and German Pulsnitzer gingerbread. Taiwanese dried mango and premium Turkish hazelnut-rich lokum. Moist baked cheesecake and crumbly apple pie. The smell of rain, sea breeze and white snow. The aroma of conifer needles heated up by the sun and of freshly baked cake from the remoska. The clanking of cutlery on the veranda in the morning and live piano music at dinner. The chirping of birds at dusk. Paperback belles-lettres, hardback cookbooks, and long hand-written letters. Weeklies, feuilletons and interviews. British, dry, sarcastic and quick-witted humour. Trains and double-deckers. Mountain peaks and valleys. Forest tracks and clearings. English-style gardens. Pristine islands. Day and night. Learning new things and life wisdom. Acting on stage and teaching in class. Languages and linguistics. A good conversation. Silence. My friends say that I am a good listener. I can fix many things. I am more than the sum of my parts.