CURRENT MISSION

To bring people together

ABOUT US

We are keen on travelling, meeting new people and getting the local experience. And especially since we have children, we want to help them become aware of the cultural differences around us and learn to adapt en actually enjoy them. Especially as we are a multicultural family and our girls are raised in 3 languages, we feel less and less that we belong to one country. We have started to see ourselves more like citizens of the world and we see CS as our extended family.

When we became CS members it was mainly to host people. We needed to gather a lot of courage to actually ask to be hosted and then to go to people's homes. We still find it a bit daunting to stay in other people's homes.

We used to be passioned by cooking and we do not shy away from trying new foods when our guests or hosts are keen on sharing a favourite dish with us. At the moment the whole chef thing is a bit difficult when the children are running around and we focus mainly on basic, easy, quick and healthy stuff.

Our guests are welcome to join our meals when our plans include eating at home but keep in mind that it won't be anything spectacular. Nor do we expect spectacular from our hosts. We find a lot of joy in getting to know people exactly as they are, with their normal life(style), normal food, normal activities and preferences.

PHILOSOPHY

We have come here on Earth to learn. Stop learning and you stop living.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We host (mostly), we surf (sometimes), we spread the word among work colleagues and friends.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

So far amazing. We have met lovely people with interesting stories and the nicest part of it is that we would have never met these people outside the CS community. On a couple of occasions it clicked to the point of becoming friends and staying in touch, and this is of course the greatest gift of all.

Since april 2011 we hosted couchsurfers from China, Taiwan, United States, Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary,, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine, UK, all great encounters.

We have little time for ourselves and we enjoy hosting the most when our guests are fairly independent with their visiting agenda during the day, and make time to join us for dinner and/or breakfast and a nice chat.

We have surfed several couches in France in 2011, during a 2 week holiday tour; we were hosted in 5 different places and had a lovely time. We enjoyed most staying with families with children, and getting acquainted to the real down-to-earth French home cookery. Dana surfs sometimes on her own to attend or give craft courses and workshops.

We have attended a Lebanese food-and-wine evening organized by CS in Rotterdam, hosted a Romanian food-and-wine party, and participated to a kitchen-surfing event which was impressive.

Interests

Hand weaving and contributing to slow fashion. Crafts of all kinds (fashion design and making clothes, tiffany glass 2D and 3D, painting, bobbin lace making, silk painting, beer, mead and wine making), nature walks, mountain hiking, camping in nature, reading, playing board games (we have quite a few).
And raising children of course, this is in itself a life-long adventure.

• animals
• culture
• architecture
• design
• fashion
• dining
• cooking
• breakfast
• wine
• beer
• partying
• crafts
• board games
• reading
• traveling
• painting
• hiking
• camping
• surfing
• tours

Music, Movies, and Books

Films: we try to watch as many non-Holliwood films as we can get our hands on, in general we like to watch art films from different European and Asian countries. Last memorable film we watched was Black Butterflies.
Music: a wide range - at the moment we favor Scottish bands/singers like RunRig and Amy McDonald, and some Nightwish every now and then. And the girls love to listen to Bollywood music and dance dramatically on it :)
Books: poetry, travel books, some fantasy, personal stories like The Kite Runner; we recently discovered the amazing poems of Ingrid Jonker - simply beautiful. Currently interested in very old european literature and reading The Mabinogion - amazing to see how this X century world has shaped up the idea of romance all over the world.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Stood perfectly still in a forest for 3h or so, until all the little and big creatures resumed their activities all around me, sometimes less than an inch away. It's like having your own Discovery Channel and Animal Planet in one, plus the smells and the tastes.

Held a new born tightly against my heart. It is addictive :)

Watched my prematurely born baby fight for her life.

Teach, Learn, Share

We love to share our modest cooking and baking skills.
Love to learn healthy recipes.

Fun things to do with children.

Fashion design and clothes making - at the moment greatly interested in designing patterns for clothes made of handwoven fabrics.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Stories, jokes, visiting tips, food, ... friendship when it clicks.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldova, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, Netherlands, Romania, United Kingdom

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