I'm a Dutch girl and I lived in Amsterdam since I was 19, I also lived and studied in London for a short while, but I grew up next to the sea and the dunes in Scheveningen which is a small beach village next to The Hague. Although I love Amsterdam and big cities, I secretly miss the sea sometimes… Furthermore, I work as a PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam, which consumes a lot of my time, but I'm now at the end of my final year, so yaaay almost done! For those interested, my research is about the effectiveness of mindfulness training for children and adolescents with ADHD.

In my free time I like to dance Rock ‘n’ Roll (as in '50s style dancing), rock climbing, swimming, meditation (mindfulness), yoga, skiing, roller-skating and figure skating, diving, and juggling. I don’t practice everything with the same intensity, but I like it all. More random preferences are board games, ice cream, Studio Ghibli movies, sushi, taking baths, mango, and cats! I have two adorable Norwegian Forest cats =^.^=

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

I have traveled a lot in my life so far, both with others and by myself, but it was mainly either camping with my own tent or staying in a hotel/apartment. For my trip to New Zealand, I wanted to do something else, so I joined this platform. I've met so many special people through Couch Surf during my NZ travels, the way I connected with some of them in such a short time was amazing in a way I never could have imagined. My couch surf hosts have been so kind to open their homes and their hearts to me, and I want to return this favour whenever possible!

Interests

• cats
• dancing
• yoga
• meditation
• anime
• board games
• juggling
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• skiing
• swimming
• nature
• hooping
• diving
• mindfulness
• sushi
• queer
• japan
• roller skating
• salsa
• research
• japanese culture
• rock'n'roll
• ghibli
• lgtb
• figure skating
• child psychology
• estatic dance

Music, Movies, and Books

Books:
- Perfume. It's really good, bit disturbing... Those are the kinds I like :)
- The Rosie Project
- Quite a bit of Dutch literature

Music:
- Rock 'n Roll music, like '50s music
- Basically all music that is not electronic music

Movies:
- Almost all Studio Ghibli movies (especially Totoro and Howl's Moving Castle ^^)
- Most Disney movies
- Amelie
- Big Fish
- Only Lovers Left Alive

Shows:
- Anime: Shokugeki no Soma, Elfen Lied, Azumanga Daioh, Ben-To, Mushishi, Death Note, Rurouni Kenshin, One Punch Man
- IT Crowd, Black Books, Miranda, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, New Girl, Game of Thrones, Vikings (until Ragnar cut off his hair O.o after that it was less interesting)

Food:
- Fruit, especially mango, all food other than fruit is inferior
- Ice cream
- Dutch pancakes
- Sushi
- Avocado
- Crème brûlée
- Liquorice (Dutch candy)
- Haribo (basically all things sweet)

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I recently did a 13000ft skydive during my travels in New Zealand, I guess that's something to put here. Although it was pretty cool, it wasn't as exciting as I expected it to be, there were far more amazing and memorable things I experienced there. One if them was going into the caves in Waitomo with my CS host who happened to be a tour guide there. Walking there together, sometimes in the pitch black, only with the lights of the glow worms guiding us through the caves, was truly magical ^^

Teach, Learn, Share

Oooh I'd love to teach you how to juggle! I also know a great way how to juggle together, it's super fun, so let's do this :)

I absolutely love to bake Dutch pancakes for you as a thank you for letting me surf on your couch, not sure if they have all ingredients needed in your home country, but I can improvise as well :)

If you are stressed or just in need of some inner peace, I'd be happy to lead a meditation for you or meditate together.

I would also be happy to recommend you some awesome anime, or even watch it together! Same for board games btw.

I could also teach you the basis steps of rock 'n roll dancing, or if you already know them, let's go out and test our dance moves on the floor!

Hmm, I could also teach you about statistics, the ins and outs of a multilevel model, for example, but I doubt if there is anyone interested in this ;)

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Israel, Italy, Japan, Monaco, Morocco, New Zealand, Portugal, Russian Federation, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands, United Kingdom