Who am I?
I am a happy, creative, Dutch-by-blood, Swedish-by-heart, openminded, curious, food-loving, girl/young woman who loves film!

Right now I am trying to get my foot in the door in the documentary industry as a producer, researcher and director, but because I am also a firm believer in 'it's not about what you do, it's about who you are', here's some random facts about me:

- I'm probably one of the few people in the world who doesn't really think anything special about beaches or the sea/ocean. For me they have something of a 'until here and no further' feeling. I prefer lakes, rivers or a big bathtub (especially if it has bubbles!)
- I love to cook and learn new recipes, have you ever had Halloumi cheese?
- My eyes seem to be both blue, green and brown at the same time.
- I can spot a 'Wilhem's Scream' easily when I hear it in a film
- I am positively obsessed with anything Swedish, which is why I moved to Stockholm on my own for a year after high school, and why I was a student at the almost non-existing Scandinavian Studies Department at University afterwards. (From which I transferred to film school after two years)
- One of the places that is very high on my bucket list is the Thai Restaurant in the arctic town of Longyearbyen in Svalbard.... so is my own 90th birthday... in bed with three puppies!
- I am the saddest excuse for a gamer, since I installed a Windows partition on my iMac - such a traitor to both hipsterdoms!
- I am absolutely a hipster, which therefore does make... a non-hipster... Is that correct?
- I am probably the record holder in my street, maybe even Amsterdam of projects started, and then never finished
- I made a short documentary on gender neutral youth policy in both the Netherlands and Sweden. Yes that sounds cool and sophisticated, and no you are not allowed to see it, because I am also very insecure and picky about my work! :P
- I once spent the entire evening laughing my ass off (on my own), because I was putting goggly eyes stickers on all the boxes of food in our cupboard. And yes, I was sober.
- I have a weakness for men with blonde beards in cable-knit-sweaters..

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Couchsurfing for me is a tool that allows me to meet people from around the world a lot more easily! Cultural exchange is crucial in this world I believe, and I love learning about it all. I really think there would be a decrease in wars and conflicts if people travel more.

As a host, I've been told by people that I am kind and welcoming. I like to make my guests feel comfortable and want to show them a lot about the Dutch culture! It sort of became a tradition that I make Dutch pancakes for anyone staying at our house.

However... (there's always a catch isn't there?). I don't like what Couchsurfing has become in the last years. When I became a member in 2008, it was all about personal experiences and sharing your cultures with your host or surfer. I really dislike the attitude that people on this platform seem to have nowadays, where they just send you a message asking for a place to stay. Whenever I open up my profile I get about five messages a day, some of them not even calling me by name.

So sorry guys, I only have people over anymore who are genuinely interested in meeting me and my flatmate. I don't have the time anymore to offer free couches to anyone who is not willing to invest in that. :( If you are serious about staying in our house, please use the codeword WHALE somewhere in your request so that I know you have read this profile. (this is one of those techniques that I saw the 'old' couchsurf community use a lot, so please don't feel offended).

I would still love to host! I just have to be a bit more efficient in replying these days. :)

Interests

Reading, writing, movies, filmmaking, editing, traveling, internet, cooking, creative crafts and performances, learning new things, meeting new people, Scandinavian things, languages, snow, impulsiveness, basil plants in windows, decorating houses, rollercoasters, vintage prints, autumn-weather or spring-rain, Playing Nintendo Wii with friends, learning how to do something by watching Youtube clips.

• arts
• culture
• writing
• folklore
• documentaries
• film making
• concerts
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• coffee
• drinking
• crafts
• flying
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• investing
• guitar
• piano
• communications
• geography
• languages
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

I don't have favorites because I'm so into film and reading as a whole, but I can tell you which I currently like when you meet me :)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

- Sleeping alone in a hammock in a forest when a deer suddenly approaches you at night
- Riding a shaky old wooden roller coaster in New York during an earthquake
- Leaving everything behind after high school and moving to Stockholm alone.
- Skinny dipping after saunaing nearby a lake in Sweden
- Actually earning money by doing what I love most
- Flying a helicopter over the Grand Canyon
- Falling in love
- Going to a bar alone and having converations about Nietzsche with ten strangers around a table 30 minutes later.
- Breaking my toe in Athens while jumping off the Acropolis
- Breaking my arm in such an interesting way that 10 interns were called in to study my rare double breakage before they hung two bags of sand on either side to break it through all the way (Not amazing, intensly painful, but we all need our battle stories right?)

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands, Sweden