CURRENT MISSION

Work on the energy transition in the Netherlands

ABOUT ME

I am tall (not for a Dutch guy of course) and bang into things with my head frequently (lamps above dinner tables are a menace). I think my brain cells forget due to the shock and that is why I keep hitting my head against the same things. I like good food, but not cooking (exceptions made in good company, then I like both). I like my bicycles (I have cool lights which don't need batteries or a dynamo) and don't like city-busses.

I have had a job of 1 day a week of teaching physics to 14-year kids on secondary school. I started doing that to see if I would like to teach. And indeed: I take a liking to it.

Right now, I have a job working in the upcoming market for solar panels in the Netherlands, at a renewable energy company. That place feels like it is the hub of energy transition in the Netherlands and is at the fringe between idealism and economic realism. Just the place I would like to work in right now.

Three days a week I am at home, enjoying and/or surviving my time with my one year old son, sometimes simultaneously. And with my wife, but that does not concern surviving.

PHILOSOPHY

Not as cynically ment as it sounds: now that I am here, let me make the most of it.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I humbly provided a couch for travelers and surfed a couch now and then, checking out a European city (should at least know my own continent). Right now, my time alone with my wife is sparse, so hosting and surfing is not the first thing we are doing. But couch surfing remains an interest and I am still open for couch-experiences.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I welcomed a number of couchsurfers in a multitude of homes. Have surfed at a couch in Glasgow, watching Kung-fu movies. And stayed for 3 or 4 days (!) in Lausanne with one hostess. It was a good time. Stayed in Warsaw for a couple of days during my interrail trip (all the other cities were fully booked!).

Interests

I like books, bicycles, flowers, peanutbutter, the Norwegian air, pointless humor, karikatures, science-fiction, games, cold water from the tap, things that are apt for their purpose.

• fish
• books
• dining
• cooking
• flowers
• movies
• knitting
• cycling
• fishing
• surfing
• sailing
• mathematics
• physics
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Lemony Snicket: a series of unfortunate events. Erlend Loe: Naiv Super and Doppler. Edelfeldt: Missne och Robin. Susanna Clarke: Mr. K. Norrell and Jonathan Strange. Tonke Dragt, Discworld books, Adriaan en Olivier, Per Nilsson, Jane Austen, George Orwell, Asimov, Zelazny, Jack Vence, Van Vogt, Franz Kafka.

Movies: Christian Bale, Jude Law, Nathalie Portman, Ellen Page.

Music: lot's of electronic plink ploink music (kraftwerk, BS2000, Lo Fi Fnk, Lamb) and other sorts. NO RnB or RAP!!! Uargh. Except scandinavian RAP, which unites ridicilousness and thoughness in an entertaining manner indeed.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Northern light, aura borealis. Water at the keel of a sailing ship.

Teach, Learn, Share

I am good with Excel. Uh...know some knots (good ones!). I can teach you to cycle on a lying bicycle. I can knit, chop wood, gut fish. Maths, science. I know what's up with renewable energy sources, ask me a little and I will tell plenty.

Countries I’ve Visited

Czech Republic, Germany, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

Netherlands, Norway, Spain

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