It has been said that a picture is worth 1000 words (in the world of UX, there is a slight variation of this proverb that goes '...and a prototype is worth 1000 meetings', but that's another topic.) With a few words, let me tell you a lot about my life.
<aside> 📍
Current base: Bratislava, Slovakia.
</aside>
Hi, I'm Boris.
In less than 5 minutes, you will get a well-rounded idea of who I am and, ultimately, what I stand for (and what I don't).
I was born in April 1997 in Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. (Note, please, that Slovakia is different from Slovenia, Serbia, Czechoslovakia, or Siberia. More on that here.) This picturesque country lies in the heart of Central Europe.
The very center of Bratislava — the city where I was born. In the picture you can see the castle and the Danube river.
October shades are spectacularly beautiful in Bratislava.
I've been an ardent reader ever since I can remember. This I owe to my mother, who read Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace twice while she was pregnant with me. My love of writing started even before I started.
I grew up in a family that deeply appreciated education and especially the written word.
Rehearsing my argument with Ivan Karamazov. He's winning, for now.
Studying 19th-century French history in Amsterdam. Napoleon never managed to stay this long.
Reading this way taught me the habits I still write with: focus, seeing a work in context, and the perseverance to stay when a book turns back breakingly difficult. (Ivan Karamazov rarely surrenders on the first read.) And I have never read only for myself: whatever a book gives me, I try to connect with what I already know and pass on to someone who can use it.
The more a writer carries, the more they can hand over.
I consider perseverance to be my strongest quality. Regardless of the challenges life has thrown at me, giving up was never an option.
Let me be personal here. This photo was taken during a very depressing period of my life. I will spare you the details; some seasons refuse an inventory. It was the kind of year that rearranges a person: sleep grows shallow, familiar streets stop answering, and mornings weigh more than they should. But that season ended, and it left behind the knowledge that I can stand in the middle of a ruin and still make plans.
Enjoying rainy May weather on a beach in Ostend, Belgium. Just 70km along the shore is Dunkirk, a place from which British troops were evacuated in 1940.
So I wiped my tears and laughed adversity out of the room.
And took off for Belgium.
I have always been fascinated by how the language we speak is shaped (and shapes) the culture and our minds. Thus, it was logical to study French and English Linguistics at Comenius University in Bratislava. It is the oldest university in Slovakia, with the oldest Department of Romance Studies in the country. Extensive studies of linguistics, culture, and the art of translation have prepared me for what I do today: living and working in this splendid, linguistic universe.
👈🏼 While still a student of French in Bratislava. This is a photo from the French poetry recital at the department rendezvous.