Couch Available: Coffee or a drink Preferred Gender: Any No smoking allowed Has children: No Can host children: No Has pets: No Can host pets: No
I'm currently living in Tokyo for a few months and because my apartment is very small, I can't host anyone right now. But I'm up for meeting travelers in Tokyo!
Delphine Berden 36, Female Roeselare, West-Flanders Belgium Friends since November 2005 "we have common friends. Hanging out with Steven is always fun, we share the same kind of (crazy!) humour. But.. he also makes time for a serious talk. That's why i can call him my friend." Friendship Type: Close Friend
MACHITA75 36, Female Oslo, Oslo Norway Friends since July 2008 "We met at CS Paella 2008 in Switzerland" Friendship Type: Close Friend I vouched for Steven Platteeuw 97
Bernard Vander Beken 34, Male Brugge, West-Flanders Belgium Friends since September 2007 "He organized the CS Belgian weekend Roeselare, met again at several meetings" Friendship Type: Good Friend I vouched for Steven Platteeuw 15
Elise Vanrenterghem 31, Female Gent, East-Flanders Belgium Friends since June 1995 "Em... isn't Henk the missing link?" Friendship Type: Good Friend
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.
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.
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? ;-)
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
Music, Movies, 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.
Types of People I enjoy
I mostly get along with everyone as long as they are honest and kind. I can adapt easily to different types of characters. The only kind of people I hate are people that look down on other people.
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 habits
Learn:
- 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
- ...
One Amazing Thing I've Seen or 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!
Opinion on the CouchSurfing.org Project
Wauw! I never thought anything like this was possible in the world we live in. I'm so glad to be wrong! I can't describe in any way how much CouchSurfing changed my life. Amazing initiative!
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.
I am really glad to have met Steven. I appreciate my times with him because he is always in a good mood and enjoying everything.
He knows what really count and make life worth living... A generous and intelligent man.
From Boris Sertic Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Nov 14, 2010
Positive
I spent one day with Steven and other CS in Tokyo during one of the CS's event. I really enjoyed time spent with Steven. He has very good sense of humor that will keep you laugh constantly. Hope will meet him again somewhere.
Steven is a cool, easygoing guy and it's very easy to enjoy his company. He can spend a whole Sunday walking in the forest after a long party night and be enthusiastic abt it :) He also has a good eye for photography. Hope to see you again on New Years!
Steven is a great person who allways cares so much about other people and does everything to make others happy.
He is really nice company and likes to show you around. He especially likes to go out for a beer or party, but is also perfect company when you feel like doing something quiet or having a serious conversation.
Thank you Steven for helping me to find my way op this website. Thanks to you I have had very good couch surf experiences. Hope to meet you in person soon.
I met Steven at Wacken Open Air.
During a CS meeting. Steven is a very nice guy. Very interesting person.
From LETSGOALEX Los Angeles, United States Jul 22, 2009
Positive
Steven Steven...without him at the Paella we all will be shelterless and coffeeless:-) Such a helpful and cool dude that will make any event a lot more fun. Looking forward to see you again!
Well it all started when I got the Eurostar to Belgium, got 3 trains and bus to Graspop Metal Meeting then opened my tent to find it was broken! Steven came to my rescue and gave up his tent so I could surf it. Had a great time hanging out with him and his friends and watching some awesome music. Steven is really into his metal and is a great guy. Hope to see you again sometime soon.
56 
Tokyo/東京
Japan
1 
4 
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