ABOUT ME

I'm 25C years old and have recently finished my Master's degree (Applied cognitive psychology) at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Now I am looking for work here in the Netherlands in the Usability/ human factors sector. I'm tall enough for random Vietnamese people to run up to me and compare heights, giggling. I don't feel offended anymore when people ID me for wine. And I dare you to find the rest out for yourself :)

PHILOSOPHY

I haven't quite figured out one 'key' philosophy that would stick out enough to single it out, but I found thatThere's always a truth behind "Just kidding",A little emotion behind "I don't care",A little pain behind "It's okay",A little "I need you" behind "Leave me alone",And a lot of words behind the silence.(I don't know who this is from, but I would totally sign it).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I mainly go to CS events, but I did the occasional surfing and hosting, which were always positively unique experiences (no, I'm not talking about the awkward 'unique, interesting and different' experience here). I recently moved to Zwolle and can now host again!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

The coolest experience I had was, I guess, when I was in Sweden and my potential host couldn't be contacted. While searching for the hostel in Nykoeping, we asked a girl for directions, and, after she drove us to hostel which was booked out, she offered us to sleep at her place - although she was no couchsurfer. Thumbs up to Cecilia!The most random 'couch' was probably a tree house in the forests of Edinborough, in winter. We shared a bottle of whisky with some old scottish men at the campfire, shared stories and got told that a girl was burnt alive in one of the houses by accident (fallen candle), before we spent the night in the most awesome treehouses I've ever seen, built out of carpets, wood, shopping trolleys - you name it. A very interesting experience, and probably completely different during summer.In general, people keep surprising me with their kindness and helpfulness towards strangers.I've met people, who drove others to cities over an hour away and back, in the middle of the night, because there was no other way to get there - after knowing them for around 24h.I've met people who would call several people to ask for a couch, direction, number, because they themselves couldn't help - for someone they did not know.I've met people who spontaneously offered couches, and organised couches without being asked, people who spent an enourmous amount of time to organise events, barbeques, meetings, brunches, game nights, cooking evenings, city tours... Without expecting anything in return, except having a good time. I truly believe that Couchsurfing makes people happier, and, as a friend of mine, who is not a couchsurfer, once said when I explained the concept of CS to her"it's like a big cycle of friendliness".

Interests

I like College. Books, Exams, Assignments, the library is my favourite place in the world - ugh. Just kidding. I guess I complain far too much about the workload at college, which is not that big, but I am probably one of the biggest procrastinators in the world.When I'm not busy complaining about college work, I like to go to markets and fun fairs - I adore flee markets, they are like a wonderland - saunas - I love going for coffee, preferably in snuggly little places with millions of pillows and couches. Oh, talking about coffee, I like baking also. And cooking. Especially experimental :)I also like game evenings, with friends or family, or both (yes, that IS possible :P). ATM I especially like activity, and I'm always in for a good game of Rommee - if it's Raeuber - Rommee.I do like going for a pint, although I grew a little bored of overly crowded student-priced pubs - although I love the student-priced part, when it's too loud to talk the night usually ends with too much drink and regret on the next day when I have to sit in class being hungover. Oh, Dublin people - yes, I'm talking about Dicey's.

• books
• cooking
• wine
• coffee
• baking
• running
• drinking
• pub crawls
• shopping
• cycling
• surfing
• scuba diving
• hockey
• psychology
• tours

Music, Movies, and Books

Movies: Life of Brian is my all-time favorite, Harold and Maude, and when I need cheering up Bridget Jones always does the trick. I love love LOVE The Lion King.
I'm addicted to Desperate Housewives and House MD.

Can't stand Family Guy and Futurama, and yes, I've never watched more than 10 minutes of neither. I like The Simpsons. A lot.

Tim Minchin is hilarious, and Jon Lajoie too.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Difficult to pick one thing. I did elephant diving in Thailand which was pretty amazing. I also helped to deliver a calf by emergency cesarean once, and had to give it a heart massage to keep it alive until the vet saved the mother cow. Really intense, scary experience. Both made it, luckily. :)

Teach, Learn, Share

I play unicycle hockey and can teach you how to ride a unicycle, or try to. ;) I have unicycles in Germany and the Netherlands. If you already know how to cycle I know a couple of tricks that I'm happy to share :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Cambodia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Ireland, Netherlands

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