The short version about me is my visiting - card:

Born in 1948, I am a husband, father and grandfather. I am a churchmember. I like doing sports. After studying Economics and working als a financiel civil servant, now I am retired. I like history. I like books. I like travelling and studying languages. I try to understand people, societies, the world, but I know I only slightly can.

The longer version about me is my socalled explanatory note, I use when travelling and asking institutions for talks :

Explanatory note regarding my wish for visiting you and talking with you

Visiting your country, I would like to learn about your country and your people. I believe in learning from each other in our world. That’s why I ask for a visit and a talk.
I am a man of 67 years old, married and retired from work. My wife is still working. We have four children. They are grown up and married. We have eight grandchildren. I am a churchmember.
I like history. I like books. I like travelling and studying languages. I like doing sports.
Of profession, I am an economist. Most of my life I worked in the Dutch ministry of Finance. I was an advisor to the minister of Finance regarding the spending of money for programs like social security, health, education, environment, housing, agriculture, ands. In my job I was reflecting on the best way to organise these kinds of governmentprograms.
As I am now retired, I have time for travelling. As my wife is still working, sometimes I travel alone. I like travelling very much. However, I think I’m a somewhat “atypical tourist”. I want to understand about the world (but I know I only slightly can!). I like to travel to countries that are different from my own. And I want to know as much as possible about these countries, their society, their economy, the religions in these countries, their culture, their social problems, their choices and developments ands. Therefore, while travelling, I like to talk with people and learn from them. So, I try to meet all kinds of professionals, e.g. professors at universities, civil servants and politicians, businessmen, pastors, representatives of cultural groups ands., ands.
I want to emphasise that I am not a representative of any organisation and I’m not a journalist. I just want to understand the country I visit. I am a strong believer in the usefulness of dialogue and communication between people and countries all over the world. I like to learn from others, but I hope people can learn from me as well. I have my professional experience and in my life I was thinking about social dilemma’s and governance problems. So I hope a meeting will be a pleasure for you and me.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

see: about me

Interests

see: about me

• culture
• books
• education
• environment
• traveling
• sports
• agriculture
• economics
• teaching
• history
• journalism
• languages
• religion

Music, Movies, and Books

see: about me. I like books about the reality of society and history. I like literature related to the reality of society, the great works of the nineteenth and twentieth century. I have no special relation with music and movies.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

None. I tried to live my life.

Teach, Learn, Share

see: about me

What I Can Share with Hosts

see: about me

Countries I’ve Visited

Benin, Cuba, Estonia, Germany, Iran, Myanmar, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Uganda, Viet Nam, Zambia

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands