Hi there, my name's Arne and I'm a 30 year old entrepreneur from the wonderful town of Leiden, the Netherlands. I live together with my girlfriend in a cute house in the center of town.

In Leiden I studied Japanese language and culture at the University, and I've been to Japan on a scholarship several times. I'm a laid-back person and I think I can make friends easily, no matter what culture you're from as long as you're cool!

Right now I am traveling the world with my girlfriend, we both quit our jobs a while ago. At the moment we are touring New Zealand and having a great time.

PHILOSOPHY

Someone once told me that it was Bruce Lee who said you have to continually push your personal boundaries and experience new things, if not then you're not alive. I'd agree with that!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I'm on CouchSurfing because I love meeting new people from all parts of the world. It can really add cool experiences to your life, and helps you to see things in a different perspective too. I think realizing there's a lot of ways you can look at the world is very important.

I've had several surfers over in Holland as well as Japan, it's always fun.

Interests

Drumming, tennis, (indoor) football, rowing. Also music in general like going to concerts, festivals and stuff. I'm very interested in anything related to Japan, although I'm not quite an anime nerd. Professionally I'm very much into entrepreneurship, start-ups, website development and all that.

• culture
• interior design
• concerts
• festivals
• dining
• anime
• traveling
• music
• soccer
• tennis
• rowing
• entrepreneurship
• plants
• house plants

Music, Movies, and Books

As far as movies go, I like lots of stuff, not specifically a genre as long as the stuff's good. A few examples of my favorite films are Seven Samurai, Harold & Kumar, Brick, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, American Beauty etc.

I can enjoy lots of music. Not limited to indie, jazz, blues, ambient, electro, rockabilly etc. A few of my favorite artists are Foals, Sigur Rós, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, The Glitch Mob, Queens of the Stone Age.

Lastly, I read a massive amount of books. My favorite genre is the detective/thriller, especially from Scandinavian writers such as the Wallander series or the books by Icelandic writer Indridason. My favourite Japanese writer is Haruki Murakami, almost all of his books I can recommend. But I still think Harry Potter's cool as well. :)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Travelling solo through Myanmar for a month. The scenery was stunning and the food great, but the people were absolutely amazing. The level of friendliness and hospitality you experience everywhere is unique. It stands out as one of my all-time favourite trips.

I'd recommend Myanmar to anyone interested in Asian culture and travelling off the beaten path.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you Japanese. I can share with you a host of weird stories about my experiences abroad and the people I've met.

I'm open-minded so I'll try to soak up any knowledge you wish to impart. Although that one time when a French theoretical mathematician came to stay, I had a bit of a hard time understanding. :)

What I Can Share with Hosts

Fun times and live-changing experiences. All for the price of your soul.

Countries I’ve Visited

Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Myanmar, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Japan, Netherlands