Evelien Driessen 28, Female Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands Friends since September 2002 "Biton" Friendship Type: Good Friend 5
NielsBaloe Gorisse 31, Male Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands Friends since January 1940 "Biton" Friendship Type: Friend
Jaco Schipper 32, Male Bunnik, Utrecht Netherlands Friends since January 2001 "Met this great chap during the time we were students." Friendship Type: Close Friend
Rianne Salden 27, Female Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands Friends since September 2002 "Student association Biton" Friendship Type: Good Friend 5
Ben Lenarts 28, Male Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands Friends since August 2002 "We're both members of the same student society" Friendship Type: Friend
FREYA_UTRECHT 25, Female Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands Friends since October 2003 "via biton" Friendship Type: Friend
Lisanne Mathijssen 25, Female Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands Friends since February 2005 "Biton" Friendship Type: Friend
Anniek van der Helm 26, Female Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands Friends since October 2004 "Biton" Friendship Type: Friend
Pim Rupert 26, Male Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands Friends since October 2003 "via student association Biton" Friendship Type: Good Friend 6
Niels van Hoorn 26, Male Utrecht, Utrecht Netherlands Friends since October 2002 "Via Biton" Friendship Type: Friend
I'm a physicist turned software engineer, currently trying to build a startup.
I spend my free time reading, making travel plans, coming up with ideas for new software (and perhaps even write it), meeting friends and sleeping.
I'm a bit of a workaholic ("work" is broadly defined as not being idle). I enjoy good conversations, especially about "saving the world" and the potential of technology.
When I travel I like to learn something about my destination, so I try to read some related books before I go and/or during the trip. I also try to learn the language, but I rarely find the time.
I've only hosted once, mainly because by the time I feel ready for it I move to a new place or start a new job. I do think it's a great way to meet people, so I should do it more often.
I have surfed with a number of people, which I really enjoyed. It's a much richer experience than staying in a hostel.
I was also involved in the Melbourne CS community while I was living there; even though I had my own apartment it is a great community to hang out with.
CouchSurfing Experience
I once stayed with a friend in Kiev, who I never met before. It was a great experience, different from hostelling and very very different from hotels. After that I surfed a few couches in the USA and Australia and I really enjoyed that.
Interests
Saving the world (stuff like geo engineering, not holding hands...), psychology, genetics, Web 2.0, software engineering, cultural differences, how organizations/society works, travel, non touristy information about places.
Philosophy
Make the most of my life and improve the world while I'm at it. It's a cliche, but not that hard really...
Music, Movies, Books
Music:
Anything from Avril Lavigne to Infected Mushroom and Rammstein; depends on my state of mind.
Books:
Mostly non-fiction. E.g. "The 4 Hour Work Week", "The Blank Slate", "The Paradox of Choice", "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintanance" (although I didn't finish that one)
Anyone who thinks like me or absolutely disagrees. Or something in between. Or someone who has the amazing ability not to think at all and still enjoy life.
Teach, Learn, Share
I can probably teach you basic (web) software development skills, if for some odd reason you want to learn that in your free time (like me).
I also (think I) know a little bit about a lot of things.
One Amazing Thing I've Seen or Done
Travel coast to coast in the USA for two months, mostly by Greyhound.
This summary is not a replacement for reading references; it's a quick summary to help you get started. At a glance, you can see how many references a member has, and how many of them are positive, neutral, and negative.
In the second line, you'll see how many references came from people who hosted this member, surfed with them, and traveled with them. These numbers won't always add up to the total: some references are not categorized, and some may be categorized as more than one thing.
When viewing this summary, don't jump to conclusions! Things that are negative for one person may be positive for another, and vice versa. It's important to read references carefully and evaluate what that information means to you.
Sjors is a very funny, smart guy. We had some great conversation at Lena's party about cultural expectations & social behaviours. Would love to chat again anytime :)
George stayed with us for a few days. We didn't get up to anything too crazy but all was good. He even left us a little present!
Have also bumped into him at Melbourne events, and sure I will see him again.
Sjors is crazy man. Actually not. But he works hard to convey this science image of his. That said he is great, impossibly, crazy company. Sjors is a nice, gentle, man who will never ever get upset or even perturbed no matter what goes wrong. Who else could stand in the snow alone for 45 minutes and only be concerned that he might be holding others up. That to me makes Sjors a star. Look forward to seeing you again. Cheers mate!
Sjors was someone who I had seen around but not had a chance to talk to, but when I finally did, he showed me that he really was a thinker and I really enjoyed talking to him. I look forward to the next time we get to talk!
This quietly intelligent man will surprise you with his dry Dutch wit.
From NICOLEW Menzies Creek, Australia Jun 15, 2008
Positive
It was great to meet Sjors at the CS Belgrave Foodies night, we had an interesting chat and I wish him well in Melbourne, I am sure we will meet up again....
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Utrecht
Shanghai 上海
Hong Kong
Rotterdam
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