Hey there! I am a curious metallurgist/geologist from the Netherlands. I have lived in different countries in Europe and am currently working in Sweden as a metallurgist. Science fascinates me and I can be nerdy sometimes because I love to learn how things come to be as they are. I do have a small passion for languages but speak only germanic languages fluently at the moment. In my free time I do a lot of climbing and when I have to recover from a training in that, you can find me outdoors for a hike, a run, a swim or a bike ride. Although, my free time is mostly going to my sports, I do like to visit musea and learn about history and art. When I was still a student I played violin in an orchestra and that leaves its traces in my look at music and art exhibitions. I do it way to little, but I really enjoy going to ballet shows. Currently I am reading "The eighth life for Brilka" from Nino Haratischwili (in German).

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

From my climbing habits I like to have a chat with people from the place. To each city I go, I always visit a boulder gym just to get a feeling for the kind of people that live there. Often I meet people that are either inviting me to join for dinner or that have some other story in common. Coming out of the climbing scene I would like to share stories in another way too, and why not via couch surfing? Because my friends and family are quite scattered over the place, my holidays are mostly an entangled route through Europe trying to match it all... but on the days that I do not have a couch at a family members or a friends place I can instead get to know someone else and make my circle of friends even more scattered over the globe!

Interests

• alpinism
• chemistry
• geology
• languages
• mountains
• ballet
• outdoors
• climbing
• cross-country skiing
• metallurgy
• tour-skiing

Music, Movies, and Books

Music:
I have been to a lot of electro/synthesizer and drum&bass parties/festivals
Then it can range from Mendelssohn's violin concerts to KruangBin, Feng Suave, Mac DeMarco, Benny Sings to hiphop rap. And! Little Simz!!

Movies are not my strongest part... but what has left an impression on me:
Apocalypse Now (mostly for the cinematography, how the concept is visualised is just fascinating)
Tarkovsky's movies
Federico Fellini - Amarcord
The Budapest Hotel
Indiana Jones
The revenant

Books:
Unfortunately too few time to read, but when I read I work down the list of things that I got as a present, that I got recommended... (A lot of Dutch, Indonesian and German literature...)

100 years of solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (No.1 of all times!)

Vor dem Fest - Sasha Stanishich (sorry for the misspelling of the authors name)
Joe Speedboot - Tommy Wieringa
Publieke Werken - Thomas Rosenboom
De Sprong der Paarden over de Zoete Zee - Harry Mulisch
Nooit meer Slapen - Hermans
Das achte Leben für Brilka - Nino Haratischwili
Voetsporen - Pramoedya Ananta Toer
What is the What - Dave Eggers
Enduring Love - Ian McEwan

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Cycling from the heart of the Netherlands to Berlin when I was a brookie of 17 with my friends was definitely an unforgettable trip, even when compared with the crazy alpine tours I made.

Teach, Learn, Share

I think this will be filled in after my first couch surfing experience.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Curiosity to hear someone else's story, but when roles need to be reversed I can tell you a whole bit about things I have seen, the industry I work in, the people I have met, the climbs I have done, the rocks I have seen, the countries that I have visited (shut me up when needed!). I like cooking and eating together (not alone xD) as having to eat alone is one of the things I regret about working life and living by myself. So this is definitely something I am open to when staying over.
When walking through a city I have quite an eye for architectural ornaments and definitely for the rock type that is used in the building, once a geologist... forever your holidays destroyed...

Countries I’ve Visited

Albania, Austria, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Namibia, Peru, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden