Hi, I am Jan! A 26 year old visual artist from Amsterdam. I work as an arts teacher on the side, and dive into art projects like my recent Petrov Memorial Newspaper. See also more at jan-van-egmond.com

Personally, I enjoy cooking, exploring cities and hiking, a good conversation and a beer. Pretty standard I guess, because most of the time I'm working, haha! For my art projects I dive into history, physics, social and economic system theory, you name it.

PS: all good and well but I'm not paying Couchsurfing just to get verified. They've become a bit hawkish about their services...

Perché sono iscritto su Couchsurfing

I've heard of this system via friends and I'd like to travel more often; seeing more of the world and I would love to make friends abroad. The same goes for people who'd like to visit Groningen; my academy is mostly foreign students, who make for an exciting mixture of cultures, tastes, lifestyles and communal dinners!

Interessi

(Art) museums, healthy & hearty food, trying new stuff (food & others), exploring towns with local's tips, never using a map. And staying up late / getting up early (pick one ;)

Three things I'm good at:
- Walk into a bar and offering a stranger a beer & a chat
- Cooking with whatever ingredients I can find. (Really, you can make anything with anything)
- Witty jokes and puns

• arts
• humanities
• education
• dining
• cooking
• beer
• partying
• traveling
• painting
• art history
• teaching
• history
• discover

Musica, film e libri

Books: art books, mostly, haha! Such as Futurism: An Anthology, David Batchelor's Colour, Nul = 0. But also stuff like Lemon Andersen (great poet), Up From Slavery and others. Very few non-fiction, actually.

Movies: Avatar; Last Airbender/ Legend of Korra (all time favourite), any kind of animation film (Pixar, DWs, Aardman, Gibli, etc), Marvel series, some HBO series.

Music: I have a hard time choosing what to listen.. I usually pick podcasts like Welcome to Nightvale or just put on the radio (News / Chamber music / 80's / Rock). For party music, mostly electronic (DnB, techno) or straight-on folk (Omnia, Rapalje). Shantel, Fever Ray and Rone are favourites too.

Una cosa incredibile che ho fatto

The hostess of our Hoi An (Vietnam) home stay hosted a party for her son's birthday. I've never felt so welcome in a stranger's home; singing & dancing after dinner, freshly grilled cod & all kinds of meat- or veggie dishes going around. She would not allow your plate or glass empty and her family was incredibly kind.
Most grateful for such an experience!

Insegna, impara, condividi

I make art and I teach, so I like to keep an open mind and allow the experiences to come to me. Perhaps wisdom is not the being-of-wise, it is the will to become wise. For that you need to be humble, unprejudiced and most of all kind. With that spirit I also teach and try to help people when I feel I can contribute.

Cosa posso offrire ai padroni di casa

My room, dinner and chats, hospitality and a city guide! If you're looking for someone to show you around, feel free to ask. On the other side, if you prefer to explore on your own then that's okay too!

Paesi che ho visitato

Belgium, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Paesi in cui ho vissuto

United States