CURRENT MISSION

Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero

ABOUT ME

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DEAR COUCHSURFER,
I ONLY ACCEPT/CONSIDER PERSONAL REQUESTS!!!
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-I now prefer French-speaking couch surfers (I want to improve my French)- But others are welcome as well:)

You can call me Benjamin or Jelle (my Dutch name), whatever is more easy to pronounce... Currently, I am working as a doctor in the Academic Medical Centre (Amsterdam) and I am a PhD student in Tropical Medicine .. nl.linkedin.com/in/jellevisser

PHILOSOPHY

More than one philosophy;
1) Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.
2)It's better to regret something you did than to regret something you didn't do.
3) Never stop exploring
4)Happiness is the only thing that is doubled when you share it.
5)Hava Nagila!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I experienced a lot of hospitality during my travels in the Middle East and South East Asia, and this is my way to do something back. I want to show you Dutch hospitality and let you experience "Gezelligheid", as we, Dutch people, call it. There is not English translation for the word, but once you understand the meaning, you will love it too, because you cannot escape it.

More about Dutch "Gezelligheid":
http://stuffdutchpeoplelike.com/2011/09/23/gezelligheid-gezellig/

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Hosted in total 30 people (14 guys, 15 girls of which 4 guys were playing in a band (and brought their instrument with them to play in Amsterdam), 3 were christians, 1 Muslim & 10 atheists, 3 were vegetarians, 2 people surfed more than 50 couches in their life and 1 Father which was travelling with his daughter). They came from:
Malaysia (Ipoy/ Kuala Lumpur)
United Kingdom (Cardiff)
United Kingdom (London)
Italy (Rome)
Spain (Sevilla)
Germany (Freiburg) (2x)
Belgium (Antwerp)
Israel (Jeruzalem)
United States (New York)
Singapore (2x)
France (Lille)
Slovenia

Interests

sailing
cycling
ice-skating
hiking of the beaten track
travelling to rural areas
cooking & and eating:), especially Italian & Asian

• cats
• concerts
• festivals
• dining
• cooking
• indian food
• coffee
• walking
• drinking
• clubbing
• boating
• shopping
• traveling
• music
• classical music
• cycling
• hiking
• surfing
• sailing
• track and field
• swimming
• medicine

Music, Movies, and Books

Best book: Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine... :)

Movies; lawrence of Arabia; A clockwork Orange; Ben-Hur
bienvenue chez les ch'tis; Micmacs à tire-larigot;
the good the bad and the ugly; shawshank redemption
casablanca;

Documentaries: BBC Life, Human Planet, Earth, etc...

Music: Acda & de Munnik, Sting, Micheal Jackson, le trois coups, The Tunes

and the song so you know how to pronounce my dutch name: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCx_xO7VSOA&feature=player_embedded

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Doing a jungle trip for 4 weeks in the deep inlands of kalimantan (borneo, indonesia) and experiencing real basic life
swimming surounded by 25 see turtles in Palau Derawan, Indonesia
visited 33 states (14.6%)Create your own visited map of The World or jurisdische veraling duits?

Teach, Learn, Share

Are you surfing in Amsterdam? Do you like to have some advice? Allright than, here is some inside information:

1) Rent a bike (http://www.macbike.nl -> close to central station) and just cycle through the city as much as you can (and prevent it from being stolen). it's a very nice experience, compared to walking or taking the public transport. and when you cycle, you always bump into interesting things that are happening on the streets. be careful though, don't get stuck in the tram tracks! Prices around 7 euro’s a day.

2) go on a boat trip (canal tour) and see the city from a whole new perspective! Around 9 euro for a trip

3) visit the neighbourhood jordaan with all its lovely canals, little shops, bars and restaurants!

4) although it sounds boring, visit the amsterdam public library.. it’s uber hip & modern, close to the central station. brilliant view from the top floor! there’s a nice and affordable restaurant as well. (http://www.oba.nl)

5) for more nice views: Climb the westerkerk (church)! the highest church tower of the city. it’s open from april until november (monday – saturday 10-17:30). guided tour every half hour, 6 euro. http://www.westerkerk.nl

6) go to the museumplein (museum square). you can check out the beautiful buildings of the rijksmuseum, van gogh museum and the concert hall. and don't forget to visit them if you want to (all quite expensive)

7) go to the biggest park of amsterdam: the vondelpark. have a drink in the blue teahouse! http://www.iamsterdam.com/en/placestogo/t-blauwe-theehuis-blue-tea-house/96ab2ad1-b441-473f-b9e1-05160cb3d39f

8) check out the concerts at paradiso and the melkweg, located very close to the leidseplein. they're the best places to see wicked music and go completely crazy. http://www.paradiso.nl and http://www.melkweg.nl

9) one of the nicest laid back bars we have is called 'basis'. they only serve (cheap) drinks and bites, but you can bring your own food and heat it in their microwave, or use their old school phone to order something delicious. they have plates & cutlery and will even do your dishes! how awesome is that. located at vijzelstraat 66, in the centre. http://basisamsterdam.nl/

10) the nicest night club has changed to....

11) good places to eat:
* my personal favorite is not too expensive: http://www.cafefestinalente.nl nice atmosphere of a living room, including a house cat and a lot of games, situated right at the heart of the jordaan (truely the nicest area of amsterdam). there's an english menu on their website, address: looiersgracht 40b.
*This is a THE restaurant to eat typical Dutch food: “Hap-Hmm”. (http://www.hap-hmm.nl) only open from Monday to Friday, kitchen closed at 20.00). Find yourself eating real Dutch food among older Dutch people. You will not meet other tourists, nor meet other students. The food is as good as my grandmother makes it!!!
* hannekes boom - a great new (summer) spot in the heart of the city, next to the public library you also need to see! http://www.hannekesboom.nl
* latei - cute little place where you can buy everything you see, from the furniture to the lamps - they serve nice coffee and pies & from thursday till saturday indian food as well, zeedijk 143 ->http://www.latei.net
* wilhelmina dok.. next to the water, nice cosy place, easily reachable by the ferry that departs every few minutes from the water side of the central station.. (the ferry doesn't cost anything.. take the one on the far right) website: http://www.wilhelmina-dok.nl (dutch only i guess.. hmpf)
* restaurant @ the lloyd hotel, used to be a prison, they serve good food and it's a very interesting building :) website: http://www.lloydhotel.com/article-241-en.html?lang=en
* thai snackbar bird, zeedijk 77 ->http://www.thai-bird.nl/

12) try to see if your prejudices match reality: go and visit a coffee shop and walk through the red light district. please behave, but don't be shy :)

13) waterlooplein: a nice market everyday // noordermarkt: even nicer market, on mondays and saturdays. // the best flea market of all: every month, we have the biggest flea market in the country with hundreds of people selling nice stuff (check http://www.ij-hallen.nl for upcoming markets). it's easily reachable by the ndsm ferry that departs every half hour from the back of the central station to the ndsm wharf (the ferry doesn't cost anything.. take the one on the far left). after you've strolled around, go for drinks at cafe noorderlicht (meaning northern light, http://www.noorderlichtcafe.nl) From okt-march not open on mondays!. the ndsm wharf is an experimental area: lots of artists, festivals and underground events happening here.

15) For the couchsurfers that are in Amsterdam on Wednesday: Certainly go the the concerthall(museumplein) where a free lunch concert starts every Wednesday at 12:30. Be there at 12:00, otherwise you will not come in (because it is very populair). www.concertgebouw.nl If you would like to visit the concert gebouw another day, it is possible to buy discount tickets (10 euro, including all drinks), 45 minutes before the start of the concert. (Normal prices 45 euro-90 euro). Enjoy the classical music!

16) the best advice is not listed above… I’ll show you the hidden pearls of Amsterdam if you surf my couch…

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Laos, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Palestine, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands