CURRENT MISSION

Move from Amsterdam to Vancouver

ABOUT ME

I'm Berend, at the time of writing 24 years old and as you might have seen in my profile I currently live in Amsterdam. I studied Physics at the Universtiy of Amsterdam, fisnished the experimental MSc program in October 2013. Currently I'm doing some in-between-research while I'm waiting to go abroad. My next mission is to get to Vancouver, where I will be doing a PhD, also in Physics. I don't know what my life will look like over there, but I can tell you what it was like here. I spend a lot of my time on physics, experimental physics is not something you do for 4 hours and then go home. At the scarce times you can measure, you do, during night weekend holidays or whatever. It really consumes you, but to be honest I kind of like that. The spare time I have I like to spend on meeting my friends and girlfriend, having a beer once in a while. If I don't get home to late I like to cook something nice, together or alone. I also have a lot of hobbies: I just like to do stuff in my free time. I love to make things, try things. Recent things include: growing oyster mushrooms, brewing my own beer, growing vegetables on my balcony, making timelapse video's, all kind of electronics projects, the list is virtually endless. Putting it all together you could say I hate to sit around and do nothing, because the world just has too many nice things to discover.

PHILOSOPHY

Be curious about everything! Never stop asking until you know all there is to know about something.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I started this profile to get to know some people on a short holiday in San Francisco. I found out that I like the principle quite a lot! For me couchsurfing is about meeting people you would normally not meet, talking to people you would normally not talk to. I like to host guests, but my busy schdule does not always allow it I'm affraid but I will always try!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I went couchsurfing a couple of days in San Francisco and met a lot of nice people! Since then I hosted a couple of people here in Amsterdam.

Interests

Like I stated in my personal description: Everything! If anyone has something interesting to tell me and he can talk about that with passion I'll listen. To name a few things I would bring up myself: music, politics, science, technology, film, photography, food, art and probably some more that I can't think of now. But don't forget that the first always applies! If you have something interesting to say about knitting in Dijon in 1875 I'd love to hear about it.

• fish
• arts
• writing
• photography
• dining
• cooking
• beer
• electronics
• politics
• technology
• cars
• socializing
• knitting
• music
• fishing
• hiking
• scuba diving
• snorkeling
• physics
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Lateley I've been discovering elecronic music (techno to be precise) as a musical genre that has a lot more to it then there is at first sight. Aside from that I'm a huge fan of sixties and seventies rock! Everything from Pink Floyd to the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Beatles, you name it! As a matter of fact I like most kinds of music, as long as it is of good quality. Musical genre comes after quality for me.

As of movies, to name some directors: Quentin Tarantino, the Coen brothers, Robert Rodriguez, Guy Ritchie, but actually all that is not to sweet and soft :).

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Snorkeling in Bali, diving down to check out some weird fish. Then it turns dark. You look up and realize a 4 meter wide Manta swims over your head!

Hitch-hike 500 kilometers in 5 hours in three different cars!

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands