(InterPals restored my account after kicking me for absolutely no reason)

Bonjour
Hello
السلام عليكم

Born and raised in Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium. My native language is French, with English a close second.

For the last 3 years I have been living in Bahrain. Bahrain is a small island kingdom in the Persian Gulf, between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Send me a message if you want to learn more about it.

During the work week, I am a software development manager in the financial sector. Our company builds services and applications for financial advisors and investment funds.

In parallel with my day job, I currently have 2 projects advancing at a variable pace depending on my free time and opportunities:
- An expatriation service to help IT workers from high-tax countries relocate and work remotely from the Gulf (Bahrain and Dubai).
- A tea business, to source and import quality teas and tea blends to the Gulf countries at acceptable prices.

I also do mentoring for young people who study IT (usually on their own to become freelance). The goal is to help them orient their studies, build a learning plan and explore future careers opportunities.

A little bit of an organization junkie. With a passion for lists, check-lists and maps.

✅ Yes

- Learning languages
- Food (including spicy)
- Gym, weightlifting
- Culture, history, religion, politics
- Technology, science
- Economics, finance, investment (no crypto)

❌ No

- Bars, clubs, lounges, gambling
- Alcohol, smoking
- Binge watching series
- Social media doomscrolling
- Video games (fun but too time-consuming)

Some important principles:

- The product of your work is your most important political freedom.
- Countries are like hotels, checking out is faster than arguing with management.
- Women should obey their husband, and children should obey their parents.
- Gender equality is a social construct.
- Have all the sex you are allowed but only the children you can afford.
- Victim mentality is contagious, stay away from the infected.
- Lack of personal responsibility is never an excuse.
- Sightseeing around tourist spots for your Instagram account is not traveling.

Conservative.
INTJ-A (Architect).

InterPals friends met in real life: 6 (so far).

Cool conversations and language exchange.

I will be happy to help you with French and English.
For English, if you're already C1 or above, you might prefer a (true) native speaker.

Travel
Geopolitics
Finance
Programming

Joe Satriani
Andy James
John Petrucci
Plini
Intervals

Falling Down
Brazil
12 Angry Men

Battlestar Galactica
Hercule Poirot
The Twilight Zone (the old ones)
The Sopranos

Neuromancer
Atlas Shrugged
The Lord of the Rings
Dune
Thus Spake Zarathustra

The strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must.
- Thucydides

Love well, whip well.
- Benjamin Franklin

The problem with quotes on the Internet is that you can't always be sure of their authenticity.
- Abraham Lincoln

I am not a bloody little frog, I am a bloody little Belgian!
- Hercules Poirot