CURRENT MISSION

Try not to burn out while living the busy life I'm living now

ABOUT ME

My alphabet:Agent Smith, Beer, Chill, Dreamer, Easy Going, Friend, Generous, Hectic mind, Initiative taker, Jovial, Kaleidoscopic mind, Loyal, Metal music addict, Never tired of talking, Open minded, Passionate, on a Quest for the unknown, Real, Social, Thrustworthy, Understanding, Vivacious, Waiting to win the lottery, eXplicit lyrics, Yawn, Zzzzzzz...My digital life:My personal website:Currently closed for a redesign. It might take some time for it to be online again.With the CS Belgium organisation, we share a photo website:http://www.flickr.com/photos/csbelgium/Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/stoempHow I participate in CS:CS changed my life so I want to try to give back as much as I can to the community. Especially by hosting people, helping out new couchsurfers and talking to new potential members I meet on the globe. Even though it's not always easy, I try to make the most out of my role as a city ambassador.

PHILOSOPHY

My personal philosophy is just to enjoy life. I try to avoid as many stress as I can and I try to make the best out of every day. As I live alone, it's not always easy to get all the bills paid and then save some money, but who cares? I want to take the best out of my life and enjoy life. Therefore I always try to be surrounded with the people I love.

"Don't be fooled by the notion of the 'real world'. When you're on the road or living in a different country, you're in the real world, and there's no rush to go back."- Michael Kohn

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Hosting:- January 2007: Martin (Bocholt, Germany)- April 2007: Mario (Puerto Rico)- May 2007: Jake (California, USA)- May 2007: Lindsay (Waterloo, Canada)- May 2007: Amrita (New York, USA)- September 2007: Katy Anna (Richmond VA, USA)- October 2007: Jean-François (St. Hyacynthe, Canada)- January 2008: Luke (Pittsburgh PA, USA)- February 2008: Rodrigo (Blumenau, Brazil)- October 2008: Daniel (Vienna, Austria)- November 2008: Mieke (Gent, Belgium)- November 2008: Niki (Melbourne, Australia)- January 2009: Dafni (Aargau, Switzerland)- March 2009: Jean-Gabriel (Quebec, Canada)- April 2009: Eva (Riga, Latvia)Surfing:- April 2007: Matilda (Stockholm, Sweden)- July 2007: Christine (Gatineau QC, Canada)- July 2007: Younes (Ottawa ON, Canada)- July 2007: Elli (Waterloo ON, Canada)- July 2007: Lindsay - no CS (Waterloo & Amberley ON, Canada)- July 2007: Ron (Toronto ON, Canada)- July 2007: Shawn (Buffalo NY, USA)- July 2008: Meg (New York, USA)- July 2008: Anne (Quebec City, Canada)- July 2008: Jean-Francois (Saint-Hyacinthe QC, Canada)- July 2007: Léticia and Maxime (Montreal, Canada)- August 2007: Sven (Gent, Belgium)- September 2007: Olivier (Brasschaat, Belgium)- October 2007: Martine (Brugge, Belgium)- November 2007: Martine (Brugge, Belgium)- November 2007: Stijn (Antwerpen, Belgium)- November 2007: Brian (Bilzen, Belgium)- December 2007: Olivier (Brasschaat, Belgium)- December 2007: Matilda (Stockholm, Sweden)- March 2008: Stijn (Antwerpen, Belgium)- March 2008: Janusz (Krakow, Poland)- March 2008: Chris (Warsaw, Poland)- April 2008: Clara (Liège, Belgium)- May 2008: Bruno (Gent, Belgium)- July 2008: Vince (Gossau, Switzerland)- July 2008: Raffi (Bern, Switzerland)- July 2008: Brie (Munich, Germany)- July 2008: Chris (Aachen, Germany)- November 2008: Philipp (Metz, France)- December 2008: Geneviève and Sylvain (Aachen, Germany)- December 2008: Vince (Gossau, Switzerland)- February 2009: Eva (Riga, Latvia)- May 2009: Jim and Vic (Dublin, Ireland)- May 2009: Daniel (Vienna, Austria)- May 2009: Lieke & Peter (Dendermonde, Belgium)- July 2009: Dafni (Niederlenz, Switzeland)- September 2009: Marianne (Oslo, Norway)

Interests

My primary interest is definitely metal music. I also like reading books (mostly thrillers) and going out with friends (mostly pub and concerts). As for sports, swimming is my absolute hobby. As I live about 2 minutes away from the local swimming pool, I go pretty often.
Photography is another one of my hobbies. Since I was young, I have always been addicted to taking pictures, collecting memories. I'm not a professional photographer, but I get so much satisfaction from taking pictures. Check out some of my pictures at:
http://stevenplatteeuw.myphotoalbum.com

I like travelling, but recently my opinion about travelling changed. Earlier I wanted to plan everything in detail and I never went outside Europe. Since a few months I get this feeling I can't describe. I just want to see the world, no matter what. Now I just have to find the time and money to do it. Donations, anyone? ;-)

• animals
• books
• photography
• concerts
• recipes
• beer
• pub crawls
• reading
• traveling
• billiards
• music
• guitar
• metal music
• surfing
• sports
• swimming
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:
I love metal music, mainly Gothic, Death, Metalcore & Thrash (Machine Head, Epica, Nightwish, In Flames, Slayer, Children of Bodom, Stream Of Passion, Amon Amarth, Unearth, Chimaira, After Forever, Kamelot, Beseech, Elis, Lacuna Coil, Arch Enemy, Opeth, Wintersun, Axamenta, Fear Factory, Lacrimosa, Sirenia, Tristania, Trail of Tears, ...). I can't live without it. Of course I'm also open to other styles of music as long as it's no commercial house or techno music.

Books:
Mainly Thriller & Horror. My favourite authors are:- Preston & Child- Stephen King- Dean Koontz- PJ Tracy- Dan Brown- Lee Child

As for movies I'm a very easy guy. I mostly like thrillers, but I can watch almost everything (except horror - gives me bad dreams). I have a very special talent to shut down my brain before watching a movie. That way I can like almost any movie, even if it's really predictable or whatever critics say.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

One of the experiences I will never forget is my first dive in Mallorca (Summer 2004). It was an amazing experience. I'm sure I will do this again!

Another great experience (but a while ago) was my first parasailing experience. I think I was about 16 years old or something. I have always been so afraid of heights, but nevertheless this was an experience that will stay forever in my memory. I enjoyed every single second of it.

Walked on the frozen Baltic sea in Riga (February 2009)

And last but not least: It has always been a dream of mine to swim with dolphins. In August 2002 I got to swim amongst dolphins in Turkey. They're just so sweet. I immediately had a connection with these animals. This will surely not be the last time I did this!

Teach, Learn, Share

Teach:- Dutch dialect
- Some nice and easy recipes
- All about metal music (and you might discover most metal music actually had a melody in it ;-)
- HTML & CSS programming
- All about the best Belgian beers
- Bad habitsLearn:- Foreign languages
- All about your country, habits, cultural differences, ...
- Your local recipes
- How to prevent a hangover (or cure from it when the prevention didn't work ;-))
- Learn how to play guitar
- New metal bands
- Good manners
- Travel budgetting
- ...

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium

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