CURRENT MISSION

Learning new stories

ABOUT ME

Hi! My name is Aike. Last year, I finished my studies, and in December, I left for Southeast Asia. After travelling in Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia, I decided to stay in Vietnam. First, I lived in Hoi An for about 6 months. Recently, I moved to Hanoi.

PHILOSOPHY

Life's about finding meaning, meaning is constructed through stories. We all tell stories, all the time. To ourselves, to others... There's no absolute truth we can know for sure, there's only the multiple truths of our own experience. But we can share these by listening to each other's stories, thereby learning more about the other, and about the world we live in. I strongly believe that the more people actually listen to other people's stories, and learn from them - while remaining critical - there will be more mutual understanding and acceptance. That's why I like the idea of couchsurfing.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I went to Japan for the first time when I was 15. I stayed with a family in Fukuoka, and experienced their great hospitality. I learned how wonderful it can be to stay with local people, how much this adds to travelling experience. Afterwards, I have had friends from abroad staying at my place in Holland (and Dutch friends staying with me while I was living in the UK) many times. Since I came to Vietnam, I met some wonderful people via CS.

Interests

I am interested in religion, philosophy, politics, art, theatre... But I also like nice food and drinks, long mountain and beach walks, talking about football, dancing, singing while cycling... And meeting new people while travelling or studying!

• arts
• singing
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• drinking
• politics
• traveling
• cycling
• rock climbing
• soccer
• history
• languages
• religion
• beaches
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies I like include The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Dolls, Amélie, Into the Wild, Babel, Spirited Away and many others.
Music I like includes Pink Floyd, Cat Stevens, Dire Straits, Jacques Brel, Arab music, classical music and much more.
Books I like include Silence (Endo), East of Eden (Steinbeck), Siddharta (Hesse), Norwegian Wood (Murakami), The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Hamid), Harry Potter (Rowling) and many others.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Staying in the amazing Mar Mousa monastery in the Syrian desert, watching the clouds disappear slowly in a stunningly beautiful Icelandic fjord, climbing the majestic Mount Fuji and other great Japanese mountains... I am blessed with a few wonderful experiences!

Teach, Learn, Share

I've studied religion, and might be able to tell something about beliefs and rituals of some religions. I can also share some knowledge of the history of philosophy. And I have some experience teaching language (Dutch, English, Japanese).
I'd like to learn new languages... (Vietnamese, Spanish, Arabic, Bahasa Indonesia, Korean, Turkish, Hebrew, Swedish, anything). And, as I like to cook, new recipes! :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Cambodia, France, Germany, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malaysia, South Korea, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Turkey, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

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