CURRENT MISSION

Maximizing happiness and disfrutar

ABOUT ME

I am known for my sense of humour and enthousiasm, typical Dutch according to my foreign friends :p I'm generally a huge optimist and really a dreamer, I can even be a bit naive. In a group I can be dominant if I feel comfortable, if I don't that much I can be quiet. I like to plan and organise things, and to make other people enthousiastic about things.

I'm an active volleybal andc squash player and play the saxophone, sports and music are important to me, as well as my friends. I really like meeting people from other countries and share ideas and culture.

When I'm travelling I love to just wander around a city, explore the street randomly or with a map in my hand, and just feel the city atmosphere. Then take a break on square, eat or drink something local and just observe. Eating and drinking is an important part of the travel feeling!

PHILOSOPHY

Take every opportunity to explore the world around you!
Be to others like you also would like others to be to you.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I try to host as much as possible, but mostly I really like organising events for the CS community when I have time. As a surfer, I try to make hosting fun :)

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Couchsurfing in summer 2007 in Middle-Europe was great fun! Surfing in Norway this summer was another great experience! Meeting and being part of the Warsaw CS-community has been marvellous! The whole CS-experience in Portugal with Magda was even more fun than expected!

Interests

Music (playing and listening, going to concerts), sports (volleyball and squash mainly), movies, travelling, (board) games, partying, reading.

• culture
• concerts
• partying
• drinking
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• surfing
• sports
• racquetball
• track and field
• volleyball
• teaching
• squash

Music, Movies, and Books

Lynch (Inland Empire!), Iñárritu (Amores Perros!), Dardenne brothers, Leone, Bier, Boe, Coen Brothers, Kubrick, Bergman, Kim Di-Duk, Leigh, Angelopoulos, so mostly Arthouse/independent cinema.

For music mostly indie: Interpol, The Decemberists, Johan, Camera Obscura, Belle&Sebastian, Of Montreal, Myslovitz, Voxtrot, Metric, The Shins, The Arcade Fire, Alamo Race Track, Sufjan Stevens, Nick Drake and because I am playing the saxophone myself I like jazz/fusion a lot as well.

For books fantasy like Tolkien, Martin (Game of Thrones!) Feist, Pratchett, Hobb, Jordan, Eddings, Sapkowski, but also Murakami, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Follett, Grisham and Brown.
And also many reads on developing issues, like Wolf, Reinert, Stiglitz and Easterly.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Mexico was a beautiful country to explore! My tour in Middle-Europe was also great!Performing with my bigband and one of the most famous professional Dutch orchestras was great as well.The Summer School in Bergen, with 42 nationalities was amazing!Really off the beaten track in the East of Turkey was an onforgettable experience with unconditional hospitality.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach you how to cope with Dutch humour :p
I can teach you a bit to play the saxophone, but I'm not a good teacher though, sometimes I can have a lack of patience. :P
I can teach you lots of board and card games.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Laos, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Montenegro, Norway, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Netherlands, Poland

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