CURRENT MISSION

I am currently travelling through Russia with trans siberian railway and cruising through Japan.

SO I WON'T BE ABLE TO HOST ANYONE UNTIL NOVEMBER/ DECEMBER

ABOUT ME

I am a 29 years old. Two years ago I received my masters degrees in cognitive psychology and a master degree in philosophy. I like to read books, watch movies and brewing my own beer. And I also enjoy drinking those (and other) beers with friends while chatting or dancing the night away.
Currently I'm travelling my dream trip. For a long time I wanted to travel to Japan via the Trans Siberian Railway and right now, I am doping exactly that! The plan is to make a photo documentation of the trip, so we'll see how that goes.
I like to meet new people, from all over the world, to get to see things from a new perspective or just for shits and giggles. Couchsurfing is a great opportunity at this, and it is the main reason for me in making my couch available and surfing at other people's couches.
But my biggest interest is in photography. I especially like portrait photography and art photography (a really broad and vague description, I know). I find it a great challenge to catch people's emotions and reflect their spirit in my photos.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

By making my couch available for surfers and couchsurfing when I have time.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Despite the fact that I am a long time member I don't really have that much experience as of now. However I want to change that during my upcoming trip. My experiences so far were really good. I stayed at Talinn and had a wonderful time there. Talinn is a beautiful city that looks like it comes straight out of a fairy tale when it has snowed. On top of that our hosts where great.
I also enjoyed staying in Barcelona. It is a great and vibrant city and I loved going to the carnaval there.
My stay in Berlin was terrific. I met lots of nice people (my host had a co-couchsurfer from Iran) and had long conversations during the night.

Interests

Things I am interested in are: movies, literature, philosophy and meeting new people (and travelling of course but, hé who on couchsurfing isn't?).

Furthermore, I am an avid photographer. I would love to make a living as a photographer but until that time comes I am happy to work in our local hospital and spending most of my free time photographing. If you would like to know what I do, check out my website (www.thijmensietsma.com) or facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/thijmensietsmaphotography/)

I am also involved in KloosterKino, an organisation that screens short animated movies on various locations. Mostly around Nijmegen. I help making the program, deciding which shorts we want to screen and making sure everything runs smoothly during the screenings. Check-out the website if you are interested: http://www.kloosterkino.nl/

• arts
• culture
• books
• literature
• photography
• dancing
• cooking
• recipes
• beer
• drinking
• movies
• traveling
• surfing
• swimming
• psychology
• tourism
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Books I like include:
- The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevski (my favorite),
- All books by Houellebecq,
- Night train to Lisbon
- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers.
- Beyond Sleep by Dutch writer Willem Frederik Hermans

Some of the movies I like are:
- Moonrise Kingdom
- Der Himmel Über Berlin
- Persona (what aesthetic!)
- 2001: A space Odyssey
- There will be blood
- And alle movies by Andrei Tarkovsky.
I especially like Tarkovsky. The atmosphere in his films is beautifully distant and all of his shots are aesthetic master pieces.

My music taste is quite diverse ranging from classical music to experimental rock but things I listen to right now include:
- The White Birch
- Radiohead (I love their new album),
- Jamie XX
- James Blake
- and many others.
As a former concert photographer in Nijmegen I saw a lot of concerts. My favorite type of concert are the ones in small venues where you really are close to the artists. In that way you can feel the music the best. If you come over we can go to one of my favorite places: Merleyn or de Onderbroek. They have great bands playing and the venues is quite small.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Seeing lake Ohrid (and swimming in it of course). Travelling from Skröder Albania to Pristina Kosovo. This was a thrilling trip through breathtaking mountains (with way to steep cliffs and a reckless driver) and on a ferry with beautiful turquoise water.
But also travelling in Morocco. On the train from Meknes to Marrakech I met a wonderful guy who showed me around Marrakech and really helped me when my bag got stolen. He helped me guide through the Moroccan bureaucracy. The friendliness and willingness to help, made the fact that my bag (with camera) got stolen a little less painful.

What I Can Share with Hosts

I enjoy drinking a good beer and cooking. I would love to learn about your local cuisine as well as share some dutch recipes. Furthermore I like to learn from about your culture and tell you about mine.

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Morocco, Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Germany, Netherlands