CURRENT MISSION

Figuring out what is the best place to live. Temporarily moving to the US!

Exploring everything, climbing mountains.

ABOUT ME

Where to start.. well, I grew up in The Netherlands, then went to Belgium (Antwerp) on Erasmus and discovered that living in another city is great, and that I really like to meet people from other countries! That's why I joined CS. I want to enjoy life, to discover new things. And this works only well with nice people around, especially when they become friends.

I'm currently working in Barcelona, which is a great city! I am trying to stay longer:). They offered me a PhD position in neuroscience, I *only* have to find a grant for it..

I like to see myself as a relaxed person. I can spend hours hanging around, for example in a park or at a festival, or a coffee bar. I remember in Vienna spending many hours just reading in one of the nice coffee houses. But on the other hand I want to experience cool and unusual things. Playing rock music on stage, dancing, swimming at night, going on a hiking trip and sleeping in the wild.. Many things sound good to me, always up for something. Sometimes I am serious, sometimes I am unserious.. I like to laugh, and when people make me have laughing fits. I remember on high school that we were always trying out the most weird and funny ways of laughing:). Yes, laughing is good for you. But I also want to have good conversations and get to know people really well.
I love exploring my surroundings, going to cultural things and unusual places. I love the sun. It hasn't been coming out enough in The Netherlands, so I'm enjoying it as much as possible (actually the main reason why I moved to Spain :)). And the smell of a summer evening is one of the best things. It makes me dreamy and it feels like everything is possible. And camp fires. That too.

PHILOSOPHY

Being happy is most important in life.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I tried it, and approved. Further, the regular thing. I'd like to meet new people for just a drink or something, and also host people occasionally and to find a place when I'm traveling. When living in another country it is especially nice to meet foreign people since they are always in for discovering the city and events.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Very nice way of travelling! It's almost like you're living in the city yourself:)

Interests

Music, so I played in a band for a while, mainly rock music, synthesizers, electronic, but actually a lot of different kinds. Drum 'n bass music I find easiest to dance on. Occasionally I am drawing stuff, particularly portraits, and I followed various dancing courses such as modern, African and lindy hop. I'm planning to continue with modern dancing, which I like best, though lindy hop is nicely social. Art, photography, reading, cooking, movies, or just having a picnic in a parc with friends, a lot of good food and/or a book. Especially when there is a swimming lake in the same park :).

Sometimes I think I should switch to a job creating data analyses tools for Matlab, since writing Matlab scripts is one of the things I enjoy most at work (making life so much easier once you struggle through the errors :D), plus programming earns a lot more. Although research results are fun too, especially if they make sense.

• arts
• writing
• books
• photography
• festivals
• dancing
• dining
• cooking
• recipes
• coffee
• picnic
• drinking
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• drawing
• music
• rock music
• piano
• hiking
• camping
• rock climbing
• swimming
• neuroscience
• study abroad
• hitchhiking
• beaches
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Game of Thrones, Neil Gaiman, Haruki Murakami, The Book Thief of Markus Zusak, Douglas Adams (Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy), or books about languages, ants, science etc.

Music: Triggerfinger, Opeth, Rammstein (youth melancholy haha), Ratatat, Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Joy Division, old songs of Muse, The Cardigans, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jesse Cook, Ludovico Einaudi, Norah Jones, Bad Company, drum & bass, and many many more..

Movies: weird sci-fi such as Dark City, or in general good ones like Black Swan, Mulholland Drive, Lost in Translation, Monty Python films, and more I can't remember the name of. The last good movie I saw was probably Five Easy Pieces. Series I liked: Six Feet Under, Spaced, Peep Show, Battlestar Galactica, House, Game of Thrones, The IT Crowd, Black Books, The Expanse, Breaking Bad, Cosmos, Planet Earth.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

A road trip with friends to the South, without any preparations. We often ate around midnight, when we couldn't even see our food (and the bugs that ended up in there..).

Adventures in Spain, like hitchhiking. Just going to a city at the coast, trying to find a deserted beach and sleep there. Once with two fiends and a campfire was awesome:) Once on my own was less awesome since there were a lot of hiking people and mosquitos (no campfire and feeling like a homeless person:P). Ah Andalucia was great too! I went with a friend and drove all the way for 6 days. A bit too much but great anyway:) The view on Africa in the distance when driving through the mountains, when I first thought it were clouds, was one of the most beautiful things I have seen:). And hiking around in amazing Tenerife.

Teach, Learn, Share

Me gustaría aprendar más Castillano, y Català també. I can teach other people Dutch, of course, playing the piano, some cooking recipes (I can make tiramisu for you;))..

Countries I’ve Visited

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom

Countries I’ve Lived In

Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, United States