Trustroots Wiki - User contributions [en]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-04-09T01:07:31Z

83.163.211.43: /* Changes on the CouchSurfing Website SPELLING CHECKED */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Queensday 2010. Who parties along?

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

===Queensday 2010. Who parties along? SPELLING CHECKED===

Most people who come to the Netherlands have heard about it at least once. The day that all Dutch people act even more silly than usual. The day that the country is orange. And the day that everyone is (beyond) drunk. We're obviously talking about.. Queensday!

Queensday is a national holiday in The Netherlands, on April 30th. This is the birthday of our Queen Mother, Juliana. We do so since 1949. Before that it was celebrated on august 31st, the birthday of Queen Wilhelmina (she's the grandmother of our recent Queen). In 1948 her daughter, Juliana, became Queen and the holiday moved to April 30th. Back in the days, Queensday was no more than just a regular weekday (and the birth date of the Queen). The royal family never attended any festivities. Nowadays, almost everyone has got the day off and Queensday has become the national holiday of the year.
In case you're wondering why we still celebrate the birthday of our Queen Mother: Our current Queen is born on January 31st. As most of you know, you can never count on the Dutch weather (and winter time it isn’t reliable at all). Queen Beatrix therefore decided to honor her mother by keeping Queensday on April 30th (but also to have a bigger chance of a sunny day).

What's special about this day? The royal family attends and participates in many activities (you can watch it live on tv, it's not very interesting really ;)). Every year, they visit a different city in The Netherlands. This year they will visit Middelburg and Vlissingen (Zeeland).

'''Couchsurfing the night before!
'''

For Couchsurfing, Queensday means not just a DAY of activities and parties. No, we have a WEEK filled with fun things!

Couchsurfing starts the week traditionally during Queensnight with events in The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht. Originally, The Hague was the first city to celebrate Queensnight with a lot of live music throughout the whole city. Soon after other cities followed The Hague’s example. CS The Hague organizes a fun night in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67418 the city] with traditional Dutch food and party in the center.
In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62852 Amsterdam] they know how to party, too! During Queensnight you can join the CS Amsterdam members in a pub in the very typical Amsterdam surrounding; the Jordaan district. ‘A great opportunity to meet other CS members and dodgy locals’ (at least, that's what the meeting page says).

Ever played Musical Chairs? I’m sure you did. It is a nostalgic game which you can play In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64743 Utrecht]. Utrecht has also one of the biggest Queensday flee markets of the country, which opens during Queensnight. Get there early with fellow CS’ers and get to the best stuff first. Or just make a competition out of finding the weirdest, craziest rubbish. Really, be amazed by what people used to have in their homes and want to get rid of now!

Also smaller cities have parties during Queensnight. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67641 Enschede] for instance has a free party with DJ's and also a CouchSurfing meeting.

'''Queensday'''

Partied hard during Queensnight? Well.. get some Ibuprofen, a new beer and suck it up. There is no time to sleep, because the party continues.
The place to be on Queensday is [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62856 Amsterdam]. Over half a million people visit the country’s capital to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday. Throughout the city there are parties everywhere, people are selling things and you’ll find the traditional games. Don’t be surprised if people try to make money by giving you a kiss, hug or whatever. The Dutch are always keen on money and Queensday is the best opportunity to make some profit.
The biggest party for CouchSurfing is also in Amsterdam. Right where it all happens. CS Amsterdam is organizing a real CS-Camp down in the Vondelpark. The park is a nice place to relax, regain your powers for the next party, chat with other CS’ers, play music and have a BBQ together. Besides that, walk around the city center! It will be crowded and you move slowly, but the experience is simply unique.

If you feel you haven’t partied enough by the end of the day; you might want to head east. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68347 Zwolle] organizes their first Monthly meeting! CS Zwolle chose Queensday as a the kick-off for their regular meeting; which better day to start it? It'll start at 20.00 so it is a great opportunity for an after party.

'''I still have plenty of energy left: what’s next?'''

Don’t worry! As said before, CS Netherlands has a week filled with activities! Other activities you can enjoy are:
• May 1st – Rural Cinema in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60092 Wognum].
Ever watched a movie with special effects containing frogs, birds, bats, mosquitoes and other animals?

• May 1st – Windmills & Cheapthrills in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66089 Dordrecht].
Get a view of the beautiful islands, windmills and other Dutch scenic things around Dordrecht.

• May 4th – Memorial day service at the Dam Square – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62867 Amsterdam].
The day that we all remember the World War II victims with a beautiful service at the Dam Square.

• May 5th – Liberation Day Music Festival – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57513 Zwolle]
To celebrate our freedom and the end of World War II. Every provincial capital organizes one or several music events. CS Zwolle has a gathering for those interested.

• May 9th – Spring Forrest Hike 2010 – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60029 Oss]
Enjoy the nature with a nice, refreshing hike!

'''One last tip:
'''

Wear orange! So get an orange t-shirt, paint your face orange, buy a weird wig.. be creative! It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it. Orange is the keyword!

===The 24 hour train race project SPELLING CHECKED===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague SPELLING CHECKED===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland! SPELLING CHECKED===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands SPELLING CHECKED===

Flash mobs have been taking over cities all over the world since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a (large) group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then just leave again. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organizing one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically [http://crystalshard.net/test/flashmob.jpg worshiped] a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles SPELLING CHECKED ===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be on the 18th of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 events
calendar] for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Bowling meetings SPELLING CHECKED===

One year ago exactly, Jeroen and Ellen organized the first Eindhoven Bowling Meet. This successful meet has brought Eindhoven CS back to life after it kind of died.

One year and many meets later in Eindhoven, we decided to have another Bowling Meet! We arranged to meet at 8pm, in front the entrance of Mega Bowling. Lots of ‘familiar’ faces, but a lot of unknown ones as well, came to this event and there were even some international guests. It was a nice mix of people, devided in four lanes.

One after the next, the bowling balls were launched and it became clear who had the most talent –and who was there just for fun-. The music was best to be described as ‘old skool 90s’. And of course we saw some bloopers like throwing the ball backwards or sliding along with it.. but in the end the aim of the night was to have a good time.. And so we did! Everyone went home happily afterward. See you all at the next Eindhoven Meeting!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/abeyholland/ Astrid]

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines SPELLING CHECKED===

What do you do when you're with over 10 CouchSurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of CouchSurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on Saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Changes on the CouchSurfing Website SPELLING CHECKED==

Soon there will be some new features implemented on the CouchSurfing Website:

'''Report Abuse'''

Website abuse occurs when people use the site in a way that's against the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/terms.html Terms of Use]. For some time, CS has given members the option to flag messages as spam. A new tool expands on this concept dramatically. A site-wide automated system that will allow all CouchSurfing members to participate easily in keeping abuse off of the site is being released. Let's hope that it will stop or at least reduce problems such as dating spam and advertisements. In the (near) future you will see a abuse-button on which you can report abuse. It will appear on messages, groups, group posts, event listings and profiles. While protecting the community against abuse, CS will remain dedicated to protecting members' freedom of expression and diversity of opinion. The Member Disputes and Safety Team will be carefully monitoring the system to make sure that it is working properly and isn't being misused.

More information about this feature can be found in the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/channel_read.html?gid=13449&post=5402131#gpid5402131 safety newsletter] (ook beschikbaar in het [http://www.couchsurfing.org/news.html?id=338 Nederlands])

'''Request Manager'''

This is a tool that will help you save time and stay organized when sending and responding to CouchRequests. This tool will help you browse both CouchRequests you've received and those you've sent. The Request Manager has a lot of benefits:
* Clearer communication. When replying to a CouchRequest, a host just marks 'yes', 'no' or 'maybe'. The system will sort the request accordingly.
* Time saving for busy hosts. You will be able to save template messages as simple as "Sure, I can host you! Here's my phone number!" or as complex as "No, I can't host that weekend, but here's a list of my favorite spots in the city." To get through your responses more quickly, just choose the template of choice and personalize it.
* More accurate reply rates. Once the day of the CouchSurfer's arrival has passed, a host can no longer reply to the request to boost his/her reply rating. If you receive a request within a week of the arrival date and aren't able to respond in time, it won't affect your reply rate.
* Better organization. All of your replies will be threaded together for easy reference.

'''CS Bookmarks'''

To help you navigate the site more quickly, you can save a page as a bookmark and reach it directly from the navigation bar.

'''News Channels'''

We're also launching a redesign for the News Channels. The Channels will now be more prominently featured on the website, with a more appealing layout to improve your reading experience.

'''New Ways to Donate and Get Verified'''

Up until now, members could only donate or get verified with a major credit card or debit card. In the next month we're introducing three new methods:

- ACH: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the US and Canada.

- EU Debit: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the European Union.

- Direct Pay (IBAN, Bank Transfers): a way to send a donation through a bank, internationally.

==Ideas for meetings SPELLING CHECKED==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media SPELLING CHECKED==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India SPELLING CHECKED==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

==Major events roadmap==

Do you like Sinterklaas in Rotterdam or Midsummernight in Utrecht a lot and are you looking for big CouchSurfing events in other countries? A couchsurfer from Italy made a google-map with a list of major events planned for 2010. See the list [http://tinyurl.com/CSRoadMap here]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

==Interview with Marc SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on in every newsletter we want to introduced you to people who travelled and/or couchsurfed a lot recently. We hope this will inspire you for your future travelplans. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc], originally from the Netherlands, but currently living in Berlin

1. How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:

- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.

- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.

- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.

- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.

- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm SPELLING CHECKED -note from SusyQ: waar gáát dit in Godsnaam over? Beetje erg incrowd..==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host' SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to people in the Netherlands who host a lot. We hope this will inspire you for your future hosting experiences. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] from Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good CouchSurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the benefit of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''CouchSurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five CouchSurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-04-09T01:04:59Z

83.163.211.43: /* Changes on the CouchSurfing Website */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Queensday 2010. Who parties along?

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

===Queensday 2010. Who parties along? SPELLING CHECKED===

Most people who come to the Netherlands have heard about it at least once. The day that all Dutch people act even more silly than usual. The day that the country is orange. And the day that everyone is (beyond) drunk. We're obviously talking about.. Queensday!

Queensday is a national holiday in The Netherlands, on April 30th. This is the birthday of our Queen Mother, Juliana. We do so since 1949. Before that it was celebrated on august 31st, the birthday of Queen Wilhelmina (she's the grandmother of our recent Queen). In 1948 her daughter, Juliana, became Queen and the holiday moved to April 30th. Back in the days, Queensday was no more than just a regular weekday (and the birth date of the Queen). The royal family never attended any festivities. Nowadays, almost everyone has got the day off and Queensday has become the national holiday of the year.
In case you're wondering why we still celebrate the birthday of our Queen Mother: Our current Queen is born on January 31st. As most of you know, you can never count on the Dutch weather (and winter time it isn’t reliable at all). Queen Beatrix therefore decided to honor her mother by keeping Queensday on April 30th (but also to have a bigger chance of a sunny day).

What's special about this day? The royal family attends and participates in many activities (you can watch it live on tv, it's not very interesting really ;)). Every year, they visit a different city in The Netherlands. This year they will visit Middelburg and Vlissingen (Zeeland).

'''Couchsurfing the night before!
'''

For Couchsurfing, Queensday means not just a DAY of activities and parties. No, we have a WEEK filled with fun things!

Couchsurfing starts the week traditionally during Queensnight with events in The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht. Originally, The Hague was the first city to celebrate Queensnight with a lot of live music throughout the whole city. Soon after other cities followed The Hague’s example. CS The Hague organizes a fun night in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67418 the city] with traditional Dutch food and party in the center.
In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62852 Amsterdam] they know how to party, too! During Queensnight you can join the CS Amsterdam members in a pub in the very typical Amsterdam surrounding; the Jordaan district. ‘A great opportunity to meet other CS members and dodgy locals’ (at least, that's what the meeting page says).

Ever played Musical Chairs? I’m sure you did. It is a nostalgic game which you can play In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64743 Utrecht]. Utrecht has also one of the biggest Queensday flee markets of the country, which opens during Queensnight. Get there early with fellow CS’ers and get to the best stuff first. Or just make a competition out of finding the weirdest, craziest rubbish. Really, be amazed by what people used to have in their homes and want to get rid of now!

Also smaller cities have parties during Queensnight. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67641 Enschede] for instance has a free party with DJ's and also a CouchSurfing meeting.

'''Queensday'''

Partied hard during Queensnight? Well.. get some Ibuprofen, a new beer and suck it up. There is no time to sleep, because the party continues.
The place to be on Queensday is [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62856 Amsterdam]. Over half a million people visit the country’s capital to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday. Throughout the city there are parties everywhere, people are selling things and you’ll find the traditional games. Don’t be surprised if people try to make money by giving you a kiss, hug or whatever. The Dutch are always keen on money and Queensday is the best opportunity to make some profit.
The biggest party for CouchSurfing is also in Amsterdam. Right where it all happens. CS Amsterdam is organizing a real CS-Camp down in the Vondelpark. The park is a nice place to relax, regain your powers for the next party, chat with other CS’ers, play music and have a BBQ together. Besides that, walk around the city center! It will be crowded and you move slowly, but the experience is simply unique.

If you feel you haven’t partied enough by the end of the day; you might want to head east. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68347 Zwolle] organizes their first Monthly meeting! CS Zwolle chose Queensday as a the kick-off for their regular meeting; which better day to start it? It'll start at 20.00 so it is a great opportunity for an after party.

'''I still have plenty of energy left: what’s next?'''

Don’t worry! As said before, CS Netherlands has a week filled with activities! Other activities you can enjoy are:
• May 1st – Rural Cinema in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60092 Wognum].
Ever watched a movie with special effects containing frogs, birds, bats, mosquitoes and other animals?

• May 1st – Windmills & Cheapthrills in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66089 Dordrecht].
Get a view of the beautiful islands, windmills and other Dutch scenic things around Dordrecht.

• May 4th – Memorial day service at the Dam Square – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62867 Amsterdam].
The day that we all remember the World War II victims with a beautiful service at the Dam Square.

• May 5th – Liberation Day Music Festival – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57513 Zwolle]
To celebrate our freedom and the end of World War II. Every provincial capital organizes one or several music events. CS Zwolle has a gathering for those interested.

• May 9th – Spring Forrest Hike 2010 – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60029 Oss]
Enjoy the nature with a nice, refreshing hike!

'''One last tip:
'''

Wear orange! So get an orange t-shirt, paint your face orange, buy a weird wig.. be creative! It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it. Orange is the keyword!

===The 24 hour train race project SPELLING CHECKED===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague SPELLING CHECKED===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland! SPELLING CHECKED===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands SPELLING CHECKED===

Flash mobs have been taking over cities all over the world since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a (large) group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then just leave again. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organizing one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically [http://crystalshard.net/test/flashmob.jpg worshiped] a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles SPELLING CHECKED ===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be on the 18th of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 events
calendar] for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Bowling meetings SPELLING CHECKED===

One year ago exactly, Jeroen and Ellen organized the first Eindhoven Bowling Meet. This successful meet has brought Eindhoven CS back to life after it kind of died.

One year and many meets later in Eindhoven, we decided to have another Bowling Meet! We arranged to meet at 8pm, in front the entrance of Mega Bowling. Lots of ‘familiar’ faces, but a lot of unknown ones as well, came to this event and there were even some international guests. It was a nice mix of people, devided in four lanes.

One after the next, the bowling balls were launched and it became clear who had the most talent –and who was there just for fun-. The music was best to be described as ‘old skool 90s’. And of course we saw some bloopers like throwing the ball backwards or sliding along with it.. but in the end the aim of the night was to have a good time.. And so we did! Everyone went home happily afterward. See you all at the next Eindhoven Meeting!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/abeyholland/ Astrid]

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines SPELLING CHECKED===

What do you do when you're with over 10 CouchSurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of CouchSurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on Saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Changes on the CouchSurfing Website SPELLING CHECKED==

Soon there will be some new features implemented on the CouchSurfing Website:

* Report Abuse

Website abuse occurs when people use the site in a way that's against the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/terms.html Terms of Use]. For some time, CS has given members the option to flag messages as spam. A new tool expands on this concept dramatically. A site-wide automated system that will allow all CouchSurfing members to participate easily in keeping abuse off of the site is being released. Let's hope that it will stop or at least reduce problems such as dating spam and advertisements. In the (near) future you will see a abuse-button on which you can report abuse. It will appear on messages, groups, group posts, event listings and profiles. While protecting the community against abuse, CS will remain dedicated to protecting members' freedom of expression and diversity of opinion. The Member Disputes and Safety Team will be carefully monitoring the system to make sure that it is working properly and isn't being misused.

More information about this feature can be found in the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/channel_read.html?gid=13449&post=5402131#gpid5402131 safety newsletter] (ook beschikbaar in het [http://www.couchsurfing.org/news.html?id=338 Nederlands])

* Request Manager

This is a tool that will help you save time and stay organized when sending and responding to CouchRequests. This tool will help you browse both CouchRequests you've received and those you've sent. The Request Manager has a lot of benefits:
- Clearer communication. When replying to a CouchRequest, a host just marks 'yes', 'no' or 'maybe'. The system will sort the request accordingly.
- Time saving for busy hosts. You will be able to save template messages as simple as "Sure, I can host you! Here's my phone number!" or as complex as "No, I can't host that weekend, but here's a list of my favorite spots in the city." To get through your responses more quickly, just choose the template of choice and personalize it.
- More accurate reply rates. Once the day of the CouchSurfer's arrival has passed, a host can no longer reply to the request to boost his/her reply rating. If you receive a request within a week of the arrival date and aren't able to respond in time, it won't affect your reply rate.
- Better organization. All of your replies will be threaded together for easy reference.

* CS Bookmarks

To help you navigate the site more quickly, you can save a page as a bookmark and reach it directly from the navigation bar.

* News Channels

We're also launching a redesign for the News Channels. The Channels will now be more prominently featured on the website, with a more appealing layout to improve your reading experience.

* New Ways to Donate and Get Verified

Up until now, members could only donate or get verified with a major credit card or debit card. In the next month we're introducing three new methods:

- ACH: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the US and Canada.

- EU Debit: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the European Union.

- Direct Pay (IBAN, Bank Transfers): a way to send a donation through a bank, internationally.

==Ideas for meetings SPELLING CHECKED==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media SPELLING CHECKED==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India SPELLING CHECKED==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

==Major events roadmap==

Do you like Sinterklaas in Rotterdam or Midsummernight in Utrecht a lot and are you looking for big CouchSurfing events in other countries? A couchsurfer from Italy made a google-map with a list of major events planned for 2010. See the list [http://tinyurl.com/CSRoadMap here]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

==Interview with Marc SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on in every newsletter we want to introduced you to people who travelled and/or couchsurfed a lot recently. We hope this will inspire you for your future travelplans. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc], originally from the Netherlands, but currently living in Berlin

1. How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:

- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.

- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.

- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.

- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.

- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm SPELLING CHECKED -note from SusyQ: waar gáát dit in Godsnaam over? Beetje erg incrowd..==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host' SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to people in the Netherlands who host a lot. We hope this will inspire you for your future hosting experiences. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] from Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good CouchSurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the benefit of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''CouchSurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five CouchSurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-04-09T00:54:26Z

83.163.211.43: /* Queensday 2010. Who parties along? */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Queensday 2010. Who parties along?

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

===Queensday 2010. Who parties along? SPELLING CHECKED===

Most people who come to the Netherlands have heard about it at least once. The day that all Dutch people act even more silly than usual. The day that the country is orange. And the day that everyone is (beyond) drunk. We're obviously talking about.. Queensday!

Queensday is a national holiday in The Netherlands, on April 30th. This is the birthday of our Queen Mother, Juliana. We do so since 1949. Before that it was celebrated on august 31st, the birthday of Queen Wilhelmina (she's the grandmother of our recent Queen). In 1948 her daughter, Juliana, became Queen and the holiday moved to April 30th. Back in the days, Queensday was no more than just a regular weekday (and the birth date of the Queen). The royal family never attended any festivities. Nowadays, almost everyone has got the day off and Queensday has become the national holiday of the year.
In case you're wondering why we still celebrate the birthday of our Queen Mother: Our current Queen is born on January 31st. As most of you know, you can never count on the Dutch weather (and winter time it isn’t reliable at all). Queen Beatrix therefore decided to honor her mother by keeping Queensday on April 30th (but also to have a bigger chance of a sunny day).

What's special about this day? The royal family attends and participates in many activities (you can watch it live on tv, it's not very interesting really ;)). Every year, they visit a different city in The Netherlands. This year they will visit Middelburg and Vlissingen (Zeeland).

'''Couchsurfing the night before!
'''

For Couchsurfing, Queensday means not just a DAY of activities and parties. No, we have a WEEK filled with fun things!

Couchsurfing starts the week traditionally during Queensnight with events in The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht. Originally, The Hague was the first city to celebrate Queensnight with a lot of live music throughout the whole city. Soon after other cities followed The Hague’s example. CS The Hague organizes a fun night in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67418 the city] with traditional Dutch food and party in the center.
In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62852 Amsterdam] they know how to party, too! During Queensnight you can join the CS Amsterdam members in a pub in the very typical Amsterdam surrounding; the Jordaan district. ‘A great opportunity to meet other CS members and dodgy locals’ (at least, that's what the meeting page says).

Ever played Musical Chairs? I’m sure you did. It is a nostalgic game which you can play In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64743 Utrecht]. Utrecht has also one of the biggest Queensday flee markets of the country, which opens during Queensnight. Get there early with fellow CS’ers and get to the best stuff first. Or just make a competition out of finding the weirdest, craziest rubbish. Really, be amazed by what people used to have in their homes and want to get rid of now!

Also smaller cities have parties during Queensnight. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67641 Enschede] for instance has a free party with DJ's and also a CouchSurfing meeting.

'''Queensday'''

Partied hard during Queensnight? Well.. get some Ibuprofen, a new beer and suck it up. There is no time to sleep, because the party continues.
The place to be on Queensday is [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62856 Amsterdam]. Over half a million people visit the country’s capital to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday. Throughout the city there are parties everywhere, people are selling things and you’ll find the traditional games. Don’t be surprised if people try to make money by giving you a kiss, hug or whatever. The Dutch are always keen on money and Queensday is the best opportunity to make some profit.
The biggest party for CouchSurfing is also in Amsterdam. Right where it all happens. CS Amsterdam is organizing a real CS-Camp down in the Vondelpark. The park is a nice place to relax, regain your powers for the next party, chat with other CS’ers, play music and have a BBQ together. Besides that, walk around the city center! It will be crowded and you move slowly, but the experience is simply unique.

If you feel you haven’t partied enough by the end of the day; you might want to head east. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68347 Zwolle] organizes their first Monthly meeting! CS Zwolle chose Queensday as a the kick-off for their regular meeting; which better day to start it? It'll start at 20.00 so it is a great opportunity for an after party.

'''I still have plenty of energy left: what’s next?'''

Don’t worry! As said before, CS Netherlands has a week filled with activities! Other activities you can enjoy are:
• May 1st – Rural Cinema in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60092 Wognum].
Ever watched a movie with special effects containing frogs, birds, bats, mosquitoes and other animals?

• May 1st – Windmills & Cheapthrills in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66089 Dordrecht].
Get a view of the beautiful islands, windmills and other Dutch scenic things around Dordrecht.

• May 4th – Memorial day service at the Dam Square – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62867 Amsterdam].
The day that we all remember the World War II victims with a beautiful service at the Dam Square.

• May 5th – Liberation Day Music Festival – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57513 Zwolle]
To celebrate our freedom and the end of World War II. Every provincial capital organizes one or several music events. CS Zwolle has a gathering for those interested.

• May 9th – Spring Forrest Hike 2010 – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60029 Oss]
Enjoy the nature with a nice, refreshing hike!

'''One last tip:
'''

Wear orange! So get an orange t-shirt, paint your face orange, buy a weird wig.. be creative! It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it. Orange is the keyword!

===The 24 hour train race project SPELLING CHECKED===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague SPELLING CHECKED===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland! SPELLING CHECKED===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands SPELLING CHECKED===

Flash mobs have been taking over cities all over the world since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a (large) group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then just leave again. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organizing one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically [http://crystalshard.net/test/flashmob.jpg worshiped] a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles SPELLING CHECKED ===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be on the 18th of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 events
calendar] for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Bowling meetings SPELLING CHECKED===

One year ago exactly, Jeroen and Ellen organized the first Eindhoven Bowling Meet. This successful meet has brought Eindhoven CS back to life after it kind of died.

One year and many meets later in Eindhoven, we decided to have another Bowling Meet! We arranged to meet at 8pm, in front the entrance of Mega Bowling. Lots of ‘familiar’ faces, but a lot of unknown ones as well, came to this event and there were even some international guests. It was a nice mix of people, devided in four lanes.

One after the next, the bowling balls were launched and it became clear who had the most talent –and who was there just for fun-. The music was best to be described as ‘old skool 90s’. And of course we saw some bloopers like throwing the ball backwards or sliding along with it.. but in the end the aim of the night was to have a good time.. And so we did! Everyone went home happily afterward. See you all at the next Eindhoven Meeting!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/abeyholland/ Astrid]

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines SPELLING CHECKED===

What do you do when you're with over 10 CouchSurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of CouchSurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on Saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Changes on the CouchSurfing Website==

Soon there will be some new features implemented on the CouchSurfing Website:

* Report Abuse

Website abuse occurs when people use our site in a way that's against our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/terms.html Terms of Use]. For some time, we've given members the option to flag messages as spam. Our new tool expands on this concept dramatically. We are now releasing a site-wide automated system that will allow all CouchSurfing members to participate easily in keeping abuse off of the site. We expect this to have a dramatic effect on reducing problems such as dating spam and advertisements. In the future you will see a mark about abuse all around the website on which you can report abuse. It will appear on messages, groups, group posts, event listings, and profiles. While protecting our community against abuse, we also remain dedicated to protecting members' freedom of expression and diversity of opinion. The Member Disputes and Safety Team will be carefully monitoring the system to make sure that it is working properly and isn't being misused.

More information about this feature can be found in the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/channel_read.html?gid=13449&post=5402131#gpid5402131 safety newsletter] (ook beschikbaar in het [http://www.couchsurfing.org/news.html?id=338 Nederlands])

* Request Manager

This is a tool that will help you save time, stay organized, and prevent miscommunication when sending and responding to CouchRequests. With this tool you'll be able to easily sort through both CouchRequests you've received and those you've sent. The Request Manager has a lot of great benefits. Clearer communication. When replying to a CouchRequest, a host clearly marks yes, no, or maybe and the system will sort the request accordingly. Time saved for busy hosts. You can save template messages as simple as "Sure, I can host you! Here's my phone number!" or as complex as "No, I can't host that weekend, but here's a list of my favorite spots in the city." To get through your responses more quickly, just choose the template you want and personalize it.
More accurate reply rates. Once the day of the CouchSurfer's arrival has passed, a host can no longer reply to the request to boost their reply rating. If you receive a request within a week of the arrival date and aren't able to respond in time, it won't affect your reply rate. Better organization. All of your replies will be threaded together for easy reference.

* CS Bookmarks

To help you navigate the site more quickly, you can save a page as a bookmark and reach it directly from the navigation bar.

* News Channels

We're also launching a redesign for the News Channels. The Channels will now be more prominently featured on the website, with a more appealing layout to improve your reading experience.

* New Ways to Donate and Get Verified

Up until now, members could only donate or get verified with a major credit card or debit card. In the next month we're introducing three new methods:

- ACH: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the US and Canada.

- EU Debit: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the European Union.

- Direct Pay (IBAN, Bank Transfers): a way to send a donation through a bank, internationally.

==Ideas for meetings SPELLING CHECKED==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media SPELLING CHECKED==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India SPELLING CHECKED==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

==Major events roadmap==

Do you like Sinterklaas in Rotterdam or Midsummernight in Utrecht a lot and are you looking for big CouchSurfing events in other countries? A couchsurfer from Italy made a google-map with a list of major events planned for 2010. See the list [http://tinyurl.com/CSRoadMap here]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

==Interview with Marc SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on in every newsletter we want to introduced you to people who travelled and/or couchsurfed a lot recently. We hope this will inspire you for your future travelplans. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc], originally from the Netherlands, but currently living in Berlin

1. How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:

- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.

- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.

- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.

- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.

- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm SPELLING CHECKED -note from SusyQ: waar gáát dit in Godsnaam over? Beetje erg incrowd..==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host' SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to people in the Netherlands who host a lot. We hope this will inspire you for your future hosting experiences. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] from Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good CouchSurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the benefit of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''CouchSurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five CouchSurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-04-09T00:28:05Z

83.163.211.43: /* Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Queensday 2010. Who parties along?

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

===Queensday 2010. Who parties along?===

Most people who come to the Netherlands have heard about it at least once. The day that all Dutch people act even more silly than usual. The day that the country is orange. And the day that everyone is (beyond) drunk.

Queensday is a national holiday in The Netherlands. We celebrate Queensday in its original date since 1949. Before that time Queensday was celebrated on august 31st. In 1948 her daughter, Juliana, became Queen and the holiday moved to April 30th. Back in the days, Queensday wasn’t much than just a regular working day and the birthdate of the Queen. The royal family never attended any festivities. There was just a flurar tribute that people could watch on the TV. After a few years, more and more people got the day off and Queensday became the national holiday of the year.
Our current Queen is born on January 31st, but we still celebrate Queensday on April 30th. As most of you know, you can never count on the Dutch weather and especially during winter time it isn’t reliable at all. Queen Beatrix therefore decided to honor her mother by keeping Queensday on April 30th, but also to have a bigger chance of a sunny day.

Nowadays, the royal family also attends and participates in activities. Every year, the royal family visits a city somewhere in the country. This year the royal family visits Middelburg and Vlissingen in the province of Zeeland. The fact that the Royal family does this is something most Dutch appreciate a lot. You feel a bit connected to the people who are usually not approachable.

'''Couchsurfing the night before!
'''

For Couchsurfing, Queensday means not just a DAY of activities and parties. No, we have a WEEK filled with fun things!

Couchsurfing starts the week traditionally during Queensnight with events in The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht. Originally, The Hague was the first city to celebrate Queensnight with a lot of live music throughout the whole city. Soon after other cities followed The Hague’s example. CS The Hague organizes a fun night in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67418 The Hague] with traditional Dutch food and partying in the center.
In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62852 Amsterdam] they know how to party, too! During Queensnight you can join the CS Amsterdam members in a pub in the very typical Amsterdam surrounding; the Jordaan district. ‘A great opportunity to meet other CS members and dodgy locals’ reads their meeting page.

Ever played Musical Chairs? I’m sure you did. It is a nostalgic game which you can play In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64743 Utrecht]. Utrecht has also one of the biggest Queensday flee markets of the country, which opens during Queensnight. Get there early with fellow CS’ers and get the best stuff first. Or just make a game out of finding the weirdest, craziest rubbish. Really, be amazed by what people used to have in their homes and now want to sell to you!

Also smaller cities have parties during queensnight. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67641 Enschede] for instance has a free party with DJ's and also a CouchSurfing meeting.

'''Queensday'''

Partied hard during Queensnight? Well, take a ibu, get a new beer and suck it up. There is no time to sleep because the party continues.
The place to be on Queensday is [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62856 Amsterdam]. Over half a million people visit the country’s capital to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. Throughout the city there are parties everywhere, people are selling things and you’ll find the traditional games. Don’t look weird if people try to make money by giving you a kiss, hug or whatever. The Dutch are always keen on money and Queensday is the best opportunity to make some profit.
The biggest party for Couchsurfing is also in Amsterdam. Right where it all happens. CS Amsterdam is organizing a real CS-Camp down in the Vondelpark. The park is a nice place to relax, raise your energy for the next party, chat with other CS’ers, play music and have a BBQ together. Besides that, walk around the city center! It will be crowded and you move slowly, but the experience is something to never forget.

If you feel you haven’t partied enough by the end of the day; you might want to head east. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68347 Zwolle] organizes their first Monthly meeting! CS Zwolle chose Queensday as a the kick-off for their regular meeting; which better day to start with it? It starts at 20.00 so it is a great opportunity for an after party.

'''I still have plenty of energy left: what’s next?'''

Don’t worry! As said before, CS Netherlands has a week filled with activities! Other activities you can enjoy are:
• May 1st – Rural Cinema in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60092 Wognum].
Ever watched a movie with special effects by frogs, birds and other animals?

• May 1st – Windmills & Cheapthrills in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66089 Dordrecht].
Get a view of the beautiful islands, windmills and other dutch scenics around Dordrecht.

• May 4th – Memorial day service at the Damsquare – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62867 Amsterdam].
The day that we all remember the World War II victims with a beautiful service at the Damsquare.

• May 5th – Liberation Day Music Festival – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57513 Zwolle]
To celebrate our freedom and the end of WW II every provincial capital city organizes several music events. CS Zwolle has a gathering for those interested.

• May 9th – Spring Forrest Hike 2010 – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60029 Oss]
Enjoy the nature with a nice, refreshing Hike!

'''One last tip:
'''

Wear orange! So get an orange t-shirt, paint your face orange, buy a weird wick or be creative differently. It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it. Orange is the keyword!

===The 24 hour train race project SPELLING CHECKED===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague SPELLING CHECKED===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland! SPELLING CHECKED===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands SPELLING CHECKED===

Flash mobs have been taking over cities all over the world since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a (large) group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then just leave again. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organizing one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically [http://crystalshard.net/test/flashmob.jpg worshiped] a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles SPELLING CHECKED ===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be on the 18th of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 events
calendar] for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Bowling meetings SPELLING CHECKED===

One year ago exactly, Jeroen and Ellen organized the first Eindhoven Bowling Meet. This successful meet has brought Eindhoven CS back to life after it kind of died.

One year and many meets later in Eindhoven, we decided to have another Bowling Meet! We arranged to meet at 8pm, in front the entrance of Mega Bowling. Lots of ‘familiar’ faces, but a lot of unknown ones as well, came to this event and there were even some international guests. It was a nice mix of people, devided in four lanes.

One after the next, the bowling balls were launched and it became clear who had the most talent –and who was there just for fun-. The music was best to be described as ‘old skool 90s’. And of course we saw some bloopers like throwing the ball backwards or sliding along with it.. but in the end the aim of the night was to have a good time.. And so we did! Everyone went home happily afterward. See you all at the next Eindhoven Meeting!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/abeyholland/ Astrid]

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines SPELLING CHECKED===

What do you do when you're with over 10 CouchSurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of CouchSurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on Saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Changes on the CouchSurfing Website==

Soon there will be some new features implemented on the CouchSurfing Website:

* Report Abuse

Website abuse occurs when people use our site in a way that's against our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/terms.html Terms of Use]. For some time, we've given members the option to flag messages as spam. Our new tool expands on this concept dramatically. We are now releasing a site-wide automated system that will allow all CouchSurfing members to participate easily in keeping abuse off of the site. We expect this to have a dramatic effect on reducing problems such as dating spam and advertisements. In the future you will see a mark about abuse all around the website on which you can report abuse. It will appear on messages, groups, group posts, event listings, and profiles. While protecting our community against abuse, we also remain dedicated to protecting members' freedom of expression and diversity of opinion. The Member Disputes and Safety Team will be carefully monitoring the system to make sure that it is working properly and isn't being misused.

More information about this feature can be found in the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/channel_read.html?gid=13449&post=5402131#gpid5402131 safety newsletter] (ook beschikbaar in het [http://www.couchsurfing.org/news.html?id=338 Nederlands])

* Request Manager

This is a tool that will help you save time, stay organized, and prevent miscommunication when sending and responding to CouchRequests. With this tool you'll be able to easily sort through both CouchRequests you've received and those you've sent. The Request Manager has a lot of great benefits. Clearer communication. When replying to a CouchRequest, a host clearly marks yes, no, or maybe and the system will sort the request accordingly. Time saved for busy hosts. You can save template messages as simple as "Sure, I can host you! Here's my phone number!" or as complex as "No, I can't host that weekend, but here's a list of my favorite spots in the city." To get through your responses more quickly, just choose the template you want and personalize it.
More accurate reply rates. Once the day of the CouchSurfer's arrival has passed, a host can no longer reply to the request to boost their reply rating. If you receive a request within a week of the arrival date and aren't able to respond in time, it won't affect your reply rate. Better organization. All of your replies will be threaded together for easy reference.

* CS Bookmarks

To help you navigate the site more quickly, you can save a page as a bookmark and reach it directly from the navigation bar.

* News Channels

We're also launching a redesign for the News Channels. The Channels will now be more prominently featured on the website, with a more appealing layout to improve your reading experience.

* New Ways to Donate and Get Verified

Up until now, members could only donate or get verified with a major credit card or debit card. In the next month we're introducing three new methods:

- ACH: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the US and Canada.

- EU Debit: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the European Union.

- Direct Pay (IBAN, Bank Transfers): a way to send a donation through a bank, internationally.

==Ideas for meetings SPELLING CHECKED==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media SPELLING CHECKED==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India SPELLING CHECKED==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

==Major events roadmap==

Do you like Sinterklaas in Rotterdam or Midsummernight in Utrecht a lot and are you looking for big CouchSurfing events in other countries? A couchsurfer from Italy made a google-map with a list of major events planned for 2010. See the list [http://tinyurl.com/CSRoadMap here]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

==Interview with Marc SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on in every newsletter we want to introduced you to people who travelled and/or couchsurfed a lot recently. We hope this will inspire you for your future travelplans. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc], originally from the Netherlands, but currently living in Berlin

1. How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:

- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.

- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.

- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.

- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.

- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm SPELLING CHECKED -note from SusyQ: waar gáát dit in Godsnaam over? Beetje erg incrowd..==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host' SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to people in the Netherlands who host a lot. We hope this will inspire you for your future hosting experiences. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] from Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good CouchSurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the benefit of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''CouchSurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five CouchSurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-04-09T00:26:48Z

83.163.211.43: /* Bowling meetings */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Queensday 2010. Who parties along?

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

===Queensday 2010. Who parties along?===

Most people who come to the Netherlands have heard about it at least once. The day that all Dutch people act even more silly than usual. The day that the country is orange. And the day that everyone is (beyond) drunk.

Queensday is a national holiday in The Netherlands. We celebrate Queensday in its original date since 1949. Before that time Queensday was celebrated on august 31st. In 1948 her daughter, Juliana, became Queen and the holiday moved to April 30th. Back in the days, Queensday wasn’t much than just a regular working day and the birthdate of the Queen. The royal family never attended any festivities. There was just a flurar tribute that people could watch on the TV. After a few years, more and more people got the day off and Queensday became the national holiday of the year.
Our current Queen is born on January 31st, but we still celebrate Queensday on April 30th. As most of you know, you can never count on the Dutch weather and especially during winter time it isn’t reliable at all. Queen Beatrix therefore decided to honor her mother by keeping Queensday on April 30th, but also to have a bigger chance of a sunny day.

Nowadays, the royal family also attends and participates in activities. Every year, the royal family visits a city somewhere in the country. This year the royal family visits Middelburg and Vlissingen in the province of Zeeland. The fact that the Royal family does this is something most Dutch appreciate a lot. You feel a bit connected to the people who are usually not approachable.

'''Couchsurfing the night before!
'''

For Couchsurfing, Queensday means not just a DAY of activities and parties. No, we have a WEEK filled with fun things!

Couchsurfing starts the week traditionally during Queensnight with events in The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht. Originally, The Hague was the first city to celebrate Queensnight with a lot of live music throughout the whole city. Soon after other cities followed The Hague’s example. CS The Hague organizes a fun night in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67418 The Hague] with traditional Dutch food and partying in the center.
In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62852 Amsterdam] they know how to party, too! During Queensnight you can join the CS Amsterdam members in a pub in the very typical Amsterdam surrounding; the Jordaan district. ‘A great opportunity to meet other CS members and dodgy locals’ reads their meeting page.

Ever played Musical Chairs? I’m sure you did. It is a nostalgic game which you can play In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64743 Utrecht]. Utrecht has also one of the biggest Queensday flee markets of the country, which opens during Queensnight. Get there early with fellow CS’ers and get the best stuff first. Or just make a game out of finding the weirdest, craziest rubbish. Really, be amazed by what people used to have in their homes and now want to sell to you!

Also smaller cities have parties during queensnight. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67641 Enschede] for instance has a free party with DJ's and also a CouchSurfing meeting.

'''Queensday'''

Partied hard during Queensnight? Well, take a ibu, get a new beer and suck it up. There is no time to sleep because the party continues.
The place to be on Queensday is [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62856 Amsterdam]. Over half a million people visit the country’s capital to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. Throughout the city there are parties everywhere, people are selling things and you’ll find the traditional games. Don’t look weird if people try to make money by giving you a kiss, hug or whatever. The Dutch are always keen on money and Queensday is the best opportunity to make some profit.
The biggest party for Couchsurfing is also in Amsterdam. Right where it all happens. CS Amsterdam is organizing a real CS-Camp down in the Vondelpark. The park is a nice place to relax, raise your energy for the next party, chat with other CS’ers, play music and have a BBQ together. Besides that, walk around the city center! It will be crowded and you move slowly, but the experience is something to never forget.

If you feel you haven’t partied enough by the end of the day; you might want to head east. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68347 Zwolle] organizes their first Monthly meeting! CS Zwolle chose Queensday as a the kick-off for their regular meeting; which better day to start with it? It starts at 20.00 so it is a great opportunity for an after party.

'''I still have plenty of energy left: what’s next?'''

Don’t worry! As said before, CS Netherlands has a week filled with activities! Other activities you can enjoy are:
• May 1st – Rural Cinema in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60092 Wognum].
Ever watched a movie with special effects by frogs, birds and other animals?

• May 1st – Windmills & Cheapthrills in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66089 Dordrecht].
Get a view of the beautiful islands, windmills and other dutch scenics around Dordrecht.

• May 4th – Memorial day service at the Damsquare – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62867 Amsterdam].
The day that we all remember the World War II victims with a beautiful service at the Damsquare.

• May 5th – Liberation Day Music Festival – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57513 Zwolle]
To celebrate our freedom and the end of WW II every provincial capital city organizes several music events. CS Zwolle has a gathering for those interested.

• May 9th – Spring Forrest Hike 2010 – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60029 Oss]
Enjoy the nature with a nice, refreshing Hike!

'''One last tip:
'''

Wear orange! So get an orange t-shirt, paint your face orange, buy a weird wick or be creative differently. It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it. Orange is the keyword!

===The 24 hour train race project SPELLING CHECKED===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague SPELLING CHECKED===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland! SPELLING CHECKED===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands SPELLING CHECKED===

Flash mobs have been taking over cities all over the world since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a (large) group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then just leave again. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organizing one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically [http://crystalshard.net/test/flashmob.jpg worshiped] a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles SPELLING CHECKED ===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be on the 18th of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 events
calendar] for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Bowling meetings SPELLING CHECKED===

One year ago exactly, Jeroen and Ellen organized the first Eindhoven Bowling Meet. This successful meet has brought Eindhoven CS back to life after it kind of died.

One year and many meets later in Eindhoven, we decided to have another Bowling Meet! We arranged to meet at 8pm, in front the entrance of Mega Bowling. Lots of ‘familiar’ faces, but a lot of unknown ones as well, came to this event and there were even some international guests. It was a nice mix of people, devided in four lanes.

One after the next, the bowling balls were launched and it became clear who had the most talent –and who was there just for fun-. The music was best to be described as ‘old skool 90s’. And of course we saw some bloopers like throwing the ball backwards or sliding along with it.. but in the end the aim of the night was to have a good time.. And so we did! Everyone went home happily afterward. See you all at the next Eindhoven Meeting!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/abeyholland/ Astrid]

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines SPELLING CHECKED===

What do you do when you're with over 10 CouchSurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of CouchSurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on Saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Changes on the CouchSurfing Website==

Soon there will be some new features implemented on the CouchSurfing Website:

* Report Abuse

Website abuse occurs when people use our site in a way that's against our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/terms.html Terms of Use]. For some time, we've given members the option to flag messages as spam. Our new tool expands on this concept dramatically. We are now releasing a site-wide automated system that will allow all CouchSurfing members to participate easily in keeping abuse off of the site. We expect this to have a dramatic effect on reducing problems such as dating spam and advertisements. In the future you will see a mark about abuse all around the website on which you can report abuse. It will appear on messages, groups, group posts, event listings, and profiles. While protecting our community against abuse, we also remain dedicated to protecting members' freedom of expression and diversity of opinion. The Member Disputes and Safety Team will be carefully monitoring the system to make sure that it is working properly and isn't being misused.

More information about this feature can be found in the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/channel_read.html?gid=13449&post=5402131#gpid5402131 safety newsletter] (ook beschikbaar in het [http://www.couchsurfing.org/news.html?id=338 Nederlands])

* Request Manager

This is a tool that will help you save time, stay organized, and prevent miscommunication when sending and responding to CouchRequests. With this tool you'll be able to easily sort through both CouchRequests you've received and those you've sent. The Request Manager has a lot of great benefits. Clearer communication. When replying to a CouchRequest, a host clearly marks yes, no, or maybe and the system will sort the request accordingly. Time saved for busy hosts. You can save template messages as simple as "Sure, I can host you! Here's my phone number!" or as complex as "No, I can't host that weekend, but here's a list of my favorite spots in the city." To get through your responses more quickly, just choose the template you want and personalize it.
More accurate reply rates. Once the day of the CouchSurfer's arrival has passed, a host can no longer reply to the request to boost their reply rating. If you receive a request within a week of the arrival date and aren't able to respond in time, it won't affect your reply rate. Better organization. All of your replies will be threaded together for easy reference.

* CS Bookmarks

To help you navigate the site more quickly, you can save a page as a bookmark and reach it directly from the navigation bar.

* News Channels

We're also launching a redesign for the News Channels. The Channels will now be more prominently featured on the website, with a more appealing layout to improve your reading experience.

* New Ways to Donate and Get Verified

Up until now, members could only donate or get verified with a major credit card or debit card. In the next month we're introducing three new methods:

- ACH: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the US and Canada.

- EU Debit: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the European Union.

- Direct Pay (IBAN, Bank Transfers): a way to send a donation through a bank, internationally.

==Ideas for meetings SPELLING CHECKED==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media SPELLING CHECKED==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India SPELLING CHECKED==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

==Major events roadmap==

Do you like Sinterklaas in Rotterdam or Midsummernight in Utrecht a lot and are you looking for big CouchSurfing events in other countries? A couchsurfer from Italy made a google-map with a list of major events planned for 2010. See the list [http://tinyurl.com/CSRoadMap here]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

==Interview with Marc SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on in every newsletter we want to introduced you to people who travelled and/or couchsurfed a lot recently. We hope this will inspire you for your future travelplans. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc], originally from the Netherlands, but currently living in Berlin

1. How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:

- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.

- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.

- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.

- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.

- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host' SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to people in the Netherlands who host a lot. We hope this will inspire you for your future hosting experiences. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] from Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good CouchSurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the benefit of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''CouchSurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five CouchSurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-04-09T00:26:13Z

83.163.211.43: /* CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Queensday 2010. Who parties along?

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

===Queensday 2010. Who parties along?===

Most people who come to the Netherlands have heard about it at least once. The day that all Dutch people act even more silly than usual. The day that the country is orange. And the day that everyone is (beyond) drunk.

Queensday is a national holiday in The Netherlands. We celebrate Queensday in its original date since 1949. Before that time Queensday was celebrated on august 31st. In 1948 her daughter, Juliana, became Queen and the holiday moved to April 30th. Back in the days, Queensday wasn’t much than just a regular working day and the birthdate of the Queen. The royal family never attended any festivities. There was just a flurar tribute that people could watch on the TV. After a few years, more and more people got the day off and Queensday became the national holiday of the year.
Our current Queen is born on January 31st, but we still celebrate Queensday on April 30th. As most of you know, you can never count on the Dutch weather and especially during winter time it isn’t reliable at all. Queen Beatrix therefore decided to honor her mother by keeping Queensday on April 30th, but also to have a bigger chance of a sunny day.

Nowadays, the royal family also attends and participates in activities. Every year, the royal family visits a city somewhere in the country. This year the royal family visits Middelburg and Vlissingen in the province of Zeeland. The fact that the Royal family does this is something most Dutch appreciate a lot. You feel a bit connected to the people who are usually not approachable.

'''Couchsurfing the night before!
'''

For Couchsurfing, Queensday means not just a DAY of activities and parties. No, we have a WEEK filled with fun things!

Couchsurfing starts the week traditionally during Queensnight with events in The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht. Originally, The Hague was the first city to celebrate Queensnight with a lot of live music throughout the whole city. Soon after other cities followed The Hague’s example. CS The Hague organizes a fun night in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67418 The Hague] with traditional Dutch food and partying in the center.
In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62852 Amsterdam] they know how to party, too! During Queensnight you can join the CS Amsterdam members in a pub in the very typical Amsterdam surrounding; the Jordaan district. ‘A great opportunity to meet other CS members and dodgy locals’ reads their meeting page.

Ever played Musical Chairs? I’m sure you did. It is a nostalgic game which you can play In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64743 Utrecht]. Utrecht has also one of the biggest Queensday flee markets of the country, which opens during Queensnight. Get there early with fellow CS’ers and get the best stuff first. Or just make a game out of finding the weirdest, craziest rubbish. Really, be amazed by what people used to have in their homes and now want to sell to you!

Also smaller cities have parties during queensnight. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67641 Enschede] for instance has a free party with DJ's and also a CouchSurfing meeting.

'''Queensday'''

Partied hard during Queensnight? Well, take a ibu, get a new beer and suck it up. There is no time to sleep because the party continues.
The place to be on Queensday is [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62856 Amsterdam]. Over half a million people visit the country’s capital to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. Throughout the city there are parties everywhere, people are selling things and you’ll find the traditional games. Don’t look weird if people try to make money by giving you a kiss, hug or whatever. The Dutch are always keen on money and Queensday is the best opportunity to make some profit.
The biggest party for Couchsurfing is also in Amsterdam. Right where it all happens. CS Amsterdam is organizing a real CS-Camp down in the Vondelpark. The park is a nice place to relax, raise your energy for the next party, chat with other CS’ers, play music and have a BBQ together. Besides that, walk around the city center! It will be crowded and you move slowly, but the experience is something to never forget.

If you feel you haven’t partied enough by the end of the day; you might want to head east. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68347 Zwolle] organizes their first Monthly meeting! CS Zwolle chose Queensday as a the kick-off for their regular meeting; which better day to start with it? It starts at 20.00 so it is a great opportunity for an after party.

'''I still have plenty of energy left: what’s next?'''

Don’t worry! As said before, CS Netherlands has a week filled with activities! Other activities you can enjoy are:
• May 1st – Rural Cinema in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60092 Wognum].
Ever watched a movie with special effects by frogs, birds and other animals?

• May 1st – Windmills & Cheapthrills in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66089 Dordrecht].
Get a view of the beautiful islands, windmills and other dutch scenics around Dordrecht.

• May 4th – Memorial day service at the Damsquare – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62867 Amsterdam].
The day that we all remember the World War II victims with a beautiful service at the Damsquare.

• May 5th – Liberation Day Music Festival – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57513 Zwolle]
To celebrate our freedom and the end of WW II every provincial capital city organizes several music events. CS Zwolle has a gathering for those interested.

• May 9th – Spring Forrest Hike 2010 – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60029 Oss]
Enjoy the nature with a nice, refreshing Hike!

'''One last tip:
'''

Wear orange! So get an orange t-shirt, paint your face orange, buy a weird wick or be creative differently. It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it. Orange is the keyword!

===The 24 hour train race project SPELLING CHECKED===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague SPELLING CHECKED===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland! SPELLING CHECKED===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands SPELLING CHECKED===

Flash mobs have been taking over cities all over the world since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a (large) group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then just leave again. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organizing one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically [http://crystalshard.net/test/flashmob.jpg worshiped] a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles SPELLING CHECKED ===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be on the 18th of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 events
calendar] for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Bowling meetings===

One year ago exactly, Jeroen and Ellen organized the first Eindhoven Bowling Meet. This succesful meet has brought Eindhoven CS back to life after it kind of died.

One year and many meets later in Eindhoven, we decided to have another Bowling Meet! We arraged to meet at 8pm, in front the entrance of Mega Bowling. Lots of ‘familiar’ faces, but a lot of unknown ones as well, came to this event and there were even some international guests. It was a nice mix of people, devided in four lanes.

One after the next, the bowling balls were launched and it became clear who had the most talent –and who was there just for fun-. The music was best to be described as ‘old skool 90s’. And of course we saw some bloopers like throwing the ball backwards or sliding along with it.. but in the end the aim of the night was to have a good time.. And so we did! Everyone went home happily afterwards. See you all at the next Eindhoven Meeting!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/abeyholland/ Astrid]

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines SPELLING CHECKED===

What do you do when you're with over 10 CouchSurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of CouchSurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on Saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Changes on the CouchSurfing Website==

Soon there will be some new features implemented on the CouchSurfing Website:

* Report Abuse

Website abuse occurs when people use our site in a way that's against our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/terms.html Terms of Use]. For some time, we've given members the option to flag messages as spam. Our new tool expands on this concept dramatically. We are now releasing a site-wide automated system that will allow all CouchSurfing members to participate easily in keeping abuse off of the site. We expect this to have a dramatic effect on reducing problems such as dating spam and advertisements. In the future you will see a mark about abuse all around the website on which you can report abuse. It will appear on messages, groups, group posts, event listings, and profiles. While protecting our community against abuse, we also remain dedicated to protecting members' freedom of expression and diversity of opinion. The Member Disputes and Safety Team will be carefully monitoring the system to make sure that it is working properly and isn't being misused.

More information about this feature can be found in the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/channel_read.html?gid=13449&post=5402131#gpid5402131 safety newsletter] (ook beschikbaar in het [http://www.couchsurfing.org/news.html?id=338 Nederlands])

* Request Manager

This is a tool that will help you save time, stay organized, and prevent miscommunication when sending and responding to CouchRequests. With this tool you'll be able to easily sort through both CouchRequests you've received and those you've sent. The Request Manager has a lot of great benefits. Clearer communication. When replying to a CouchRequest, a host clearly marks yes, no, or maybe and the system will sort the request accordingly. Time saved for busy hosts. You can save template messages as simple as "Sure, I can host you! Here's my phone number!" or as complex as "No, I can't host that weekend, but here's a list of my favorite spots in the city." To get through your responses more quickly, just choose the template you want and personalize it.
More accurate reply rates. Once the day of the CouchSurfer's arrival has passed, a host can no longer reply to the request to boost their reply rating. If you receive a request within a week of the arrival date and aren't able to respond in time, it won't affect your reply rate. Better organization. All of your replies will be threaded together for easy reference.

* CS Bookmarks

To help you navigate the site more quickly, you can save a page as a bookmark and reach it directly from the navigation bar.

* News Channels

We're also launching a redesign for the News Channels. The Channels will now be more prominently featured on the website, with a more appealing layout to improve your reading experience.

* New Ways to Donate and Get Verified

Up until now, members could only donate or get verified with a major credit card or debit card. In the next month we're introducing three new methods:

- ACH: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the US and Canada.

- EU Debit: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the European Union.

- Direct Pay (IBAN, Bank Transfers): a way to send a donation through a bank, internationally.

==Ideas for meetings SPELLING CHECKED==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media SPELLING CHECKED==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India SPELLING CHECKED==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

==Major events roadmap==

Do you like Sinterklaas in Rotterdam or Midsummernight in Utrecht a lot and are you looking for big CouchSurfing events in other countries? A couchsurfer from Italy made a google-map with a list of major events planned for 2010. See the list [http://tinyurl.com/CSRoadMap here]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

==Interview with Marc SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on in every newsletter we want to introduced you to people who travelled and/or couchsurfed a lot recently. We hope this will inspire you for your future travelplans. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc], originally from the Netherlands, but currently living in Berlin

1. How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:

- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.

- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.

- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.

- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.

- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host' SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to people in the Netherlands who host a lot. We hope this will inspire you for your future hosting experiences. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] from Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good CouchSurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the benefit of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''CouchSurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five CouchSurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-04-09T00:25:49Z

83.163.211.43: /* Flash Mobs in the Netherlands */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Queensday 2010. Who parties along?

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

===Queensday 2010. Who parties along?===

Most people who come to the Netherlands have heard about it at least once. The day that all Dutch people act even more silly than usual. The day that the country is orange. And the day that everyone is (beyond) drunk.

Queensday is a national holiday in The Netherlands. We celebrate Queensday in its original date since 1949. Before that time Queensday was celebrated on august 31st. In 1948 her daughter, Juliana, became Queen and the holiday moved to April 30th. Back in the days, Queensday wasn’t much than just a regular working day and the birthdate of the Queen. The royal family never attended any festivities. There was just a flurar tribute that people could watch on the TV. After a few years, more and more people got the day off and Queensday became the national holiday of the year.
Our current Queen is born on January 31st, but we still celebrate Queensday on April 30th. As most of you know, you can never count on the Dutch weather and especially during winter time it isn’t reliable at all. Queen Beatrix therefore decided to honor her mother by keeping Queensday on April 30th, but also to have a bigger chance of a sunny day.

Nowadays, the royal family also attends and participates in activities. Every year, the royal family visits a city somewhere in the country. This year the royal family visits Middelburg and Vlissingen in the province of Zeeland. The fact that the Royal family does this is something most Dutch appreciate a lot. You feel a bit connected to the people who are usually not approachable.

'''Couchsurfing the night before!
'''

For Couchsurfing, Queensday means not just a DAY of activities and parties. No, we have a WEEK filled with fun things!

Couchsurfing starts the week traditionally during Queensnight with events in The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht. Originally, The Hague was the first city to celebrate Queensnight with a lot of live music throughout the whole city. Soon after other cities followed The Hague’s example. CS The Hague organizes a fun night in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67418 The Hague] with traditional Dutch food and partying in the center.
In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62852 Amsterdam] they know how to party, too! During Queensnight you can join the CS Amsterdam members in a pub in the very typical Amsterdam surrounding; the Jordaan district. ‘A great opportunity to meet other CS members and dodgy locals’ reads their meeting page.

Ever played Musical Chairs? I’m sure you did. It is a nostalgic game which you can play In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64743 Utrecht]. Utrecht has also one of the biggest Queensday flee markets of the country, which opens during Queensnight. Get there early with fellow CS’ers and get the best stuff first. Or just make a game out of finding the weirdest, craziest rubbish. Really, be amazed by what people used to have in their homes and now want to sell to you!

Also smaller cities have parties during queensnight. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67641 Enschede] for instance has a free party with DJ's and also a CouchSurfing meeting.

'''Queensday'''

Partied hard during Queensnight? Well, take a ibu, get a new beer and suck it up. There is no time to sleep because the party continues.
The place to be on Queensday is [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62856 Amsterdam]. Over half a million people visit the country’s capital to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. Throughout the city there are parties everywhere, people are selling things and you’ll find the traditional games. Don’t look weird if people try to make money by giving you a kiss, hug or whatever. The Dutch are always keen on money and Queensday is the best opportunity to make some profit.
The biggest party for Couchsurfing is also in Amsterdam. Right where it all happens. CS Amsterdam is organizing a real CS-Camp down in the Vondelpark. The park is a nice place to relax, raise your energy for the next party, chat with other CS’ers, play music and have a BBQ together. Besides that, walk around the city center! It will be crowded and you move slowly, but the experience is something to never forget.

If you feel you haven’t partied enough by the end of the day; you might want to head east. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68347 Zwolle] organizes their first Monthly meeting! CS Zwolle chose Queensday as a the kick-off for their regular meeting; which better day to start with it? It starts at 20.00 so it is a great opportunity for an after party.

'''I still have plenty of energy left: what’s next?'''

Don’t worry! As said before, CS Netherlands has a week filled with activities! Other activities you can enjoy are:
• May 1st – Rural Cinema in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60092 Wognum].
Ever watched a movie with special effects by frogs, birds and other animals?

• May 1st – Windmills & Cheapthrills in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66089 Dordrecht].
Get a view of the beautiful islands, windmills and other dutch scenics around Dordrecht.

• May 4th – Memorial day service at the Damsquare – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62867 Amsterdam].
The day that we all remember the World War II victims with a beautiful service at the Damsquare.

• May 5th – Liberation Day Music Festival – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57513 Zwolle]
To celebrate our freedom and the end of WW II every provincial capital city organizes several music events. CS Zwolle has a gathering for those interested.

• May 9th – Spring Forrest Hike 2010 – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60029 Oss]
Enjoy the nature with a nice, refreshing Hike!

'''One last tip:
'''

Wear orange! So get an orange t-shirt, paint your face orange, buy a weird wick or be creative differently. It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it. Orange is the keyword!

===The 24 hour train race project SPELLING CHECKED===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague SPELLING CHECKED===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland! SPELLING CHECKED===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands SPELLING CHECKED===

Flash mobs have been taking over cities all over the world since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a (large) group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then just leave again. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organizing one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically [http://crystalshard.net/test/flashmob.jpg worshiped] a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be on the 18th of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 events
calendar] for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Bowling meetings===

One year ago exactly, Jeroen and Ellen organized the first Eindhoven Bowling Meet. This succesful meet has brought Eindhoven CS back to life after it kind of died.

One year and many meets later in Eindhoven, we decided to have another Bowling Meet! We arraged to meet at 8pm, in front the entrance of Mega Bowling. Lots of ‘familiar’ faces, but a lot of unknown ones as well, came to this event and there were even some international guests. It was a nice mix of people, devided in four lanes.

One after the next, the bowling balls were launched and it became clear who had the most talent –and who was there just for fun-. The music was best to be described as ‘old skool 90s’. And of course we saw some bloopers like throwing the ball backwards or sliding along with it.. but in the end the aim of the night was to have a good time.. And so we did! Everyone went home happily afterwards. See you all at the next Eindhoven Meeting!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/abeyholland/ Astrid]

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines SPELLING CHECKED===

What do you do when you're with over 10 CouchSurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of CouchSurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on Saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Changes on the CouchSurfing Website==

Soon there will be some new features implemented on the CouchSurfing Website:

* Report Abuse

Website abuse occurs when people use our site in a way that's against our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/terms.html Terms of Use]. For some time, we've given members the option to flag messages as spam. Our new tool expands on this concept dramatically. We are now releasing a site-wide automated system that will allow all CouchSurfing members to participate easily in keeping abuse off of the site. We expect this to have a dramatic effect on reducing problems such as dating spam and advertisements. In the future you will see a mark about abuse all around the website on which you can report abuse. It will appear on messages, groups, group posts, event listings, and profiles. While protecting our community against abuse, we also remain dedicated to protecting members' freedom of expression and diversity of opinion. The Member Disputes and Safety Team will be carefully monitoring the system to make sure that it is working properly and isn't being misused.

More information about this feature can be found in the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/channel_read.html?gid=13449&post=5402131#gpid5402131 safety newsletter] (ook beschikbaar in het [http://www.couchsurfing.org/news.html?id=338 Nederlands])

* Request Manager

This is a tool that will help you save time, stay organized, and prevent miscommunication when sending and responding to CouchRequests. With this tool you'll be able to easily sort through both CouchRequests you've received and those you've sent. The Request Manager has a lot of great benefits. Clearer communication. When replying to a CouchRequest, a host clearly marks yes, no, or maybe and the system will sort the request accordingly. Time saved for busy hosts. You can save template messages as simple as "Sure, I can host you! Here's my phone number!" or as complex as "No, I can't host that weekend, but here's a list of my favorite spots in the city." To get through your responses more quickly, just choose the template you want and personalize it.
More accurate reply rates. Once the day of the CouchSurfer's arrival has passed, a host can no longer reply to the request to boost their reply rating. If you receive a request within a week of the arrival date and aren't able to respond in time, it won't affect your reply rate. Better organization. All of your replies will be threaded together for easy reference.

* CS Bookmarks

To help you navigate the site more quickly, you can save a page as a bookmark and reach it directly from the navigation bar.

* News Channels

We're also launching a redesign for the News Channels. The Channels will now be more prominently featured on the website, with a more appealing layout to improve your reading experience.

* New Ways to Donate and Get Verified

Up until now, members could only donate or get verified with a major credit card or debit card. In the next month we're introducing three new methods:

- ACH: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the US and Canada.

- EU Debit: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the European Union.

- Direct Pay (IBAN, Bank Transfers): a way to send a donation through a bank, internationally.

==Ideas for meetings SPELLING CHECKED==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media SPELLING CHECKED==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India SPELLING CHECKED==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

==Major events roadmap==

Do you like Sinterklaas in Rotterdam or Midsummernight in Utrecht a lot and are you looking for big CouchSurfing events in other countries? A couchsurfer from Italy made a google-map with a list of major events planned for 2010. See the list [http://tinyurl.com/CSRoadMap here]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

==Interview with Marc SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on in every newsletter we want to introduced you to people who travelled and/or couchsurfed a lot recently. We hope this will inspire you for your future travelplans. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc], originally from the Netherlands, but currently living in Berlin

1. How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:

- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.

- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.

- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.

- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.

- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host' SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to people in the Netherlands who host a lot. We hope this will inspire you for your future hosting experiences. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] from Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good CouchSurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the benefit of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''CouchSurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five CouchSurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-04-09T00:24:04Z

83.163.211.43: /* Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Queensday 2010. Who parties along?

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

===Queensday 2010. Who parties along?===

Most people who come to the Netherlands have heard about it at least once. The day that all Dutch people act even more silly than usual. The day that the country is orange. And the day that everyone is (beyond) drunk.

Queensday is a national holiday in The Netherlands. We celebrate Queensday in its original date since 1949. Before that time Queensday was celebrated on august 31st. In 1948 her daughter, Juliana, became Queen and the holiday moved to April 30th. Back in the days, Queensday wasn’t much than just a regular working day and the birthdate of the Queen. The royal family never attended any festivities. There was just a flurar tribute that people could watch on the TV. After a few years, more and more people got the day off and Queensday became the national holiday of the year.
Our current Queen is born on January 31st, but we still celebrate Queensday on April 30th. As most of you know, you can never count on the Dutch weather and especially during winter time it isn’t reliable at all. Queen Beatrix therefore decided to honor her mother by keeping Queensday on April 30th, but also to have a bigger chance of a sunny day.

Nowadays, the royal family also attends and participates in activities. Every year, the royal family visits a city somewhere in the country. This year the royal family visits Middelburg and Vlissingen in the province of Zeeland. The fact that the Royal family does this is something most Dutch appreciate a lot. You feel a bit connected to the people who are usually not approachable.

'''Couchsurfing the night before!
'''

For Couchsurfing, Queensday means not just a DAY of activities and parties. No, we have a WEEK filled with fun things!

Couchsurfing starts the week traditionally during Queensnight with events in The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht. Originally, The Hague was the first city to celebrate Queensnight with a lot of live music throughout the whole city. Soon after other cities followed The Hague’s example. CS The Hague organizes a fun night in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67418 The Hague] with traditional Dutch food and partying in the center.
In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62852 Amsterdam] they know how to party, too! During Queensnight you can join the CS Amsterdam members in a pub in the very typical Amsterdam surrounding; the Jordaan district. ‘A great opportunity to meet other CS members and dodgy locals’ reads their meeting page.

Ever played Musical Chairs? I’m sure you did. It is a nostalgic game which you can play In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64743 Utrecht]. Utrecht has also one of the biggest Queensday flee markets of the country, which opens during Queensnight. Get there early with fellow CS’ers and get the best stuff first. Or just make a game out of finding the weirdest, craziest rubbish. Really, be amazed by what people used to have in their homes and now want to sell to you!

Also smaller cities have parties during queensnight. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67641 Enschede] for instance has a free party with DJ's and also a CouchSurfing meeting.

'''Queensday'''

Partied hard during Queensnight? Well, take a ibu, get a new beer and suck it up. There is no time to sleep because the party continues.
The place to be on Queensday is [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62856 Amsterdam]. Over half a million people visit the country’s capital to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. Throughout the city there are parties everywhere, people are selling things and you’ll find the traditional games. Don’t look weird if people try to make money by giving you a kiss, hug or whatever. The Dutch are always keen on money and Queensday is the best opportunity to make some profit.
The biggest party for Couchsurfing is also in Amsterdam. Right where it all happens. CS Amsterdam is organizing a real CS-Camp down in the Vondelpark. The park is a nice place to relax, raise your energy for the next party, chat with other CS’ers, play music and have a BBQ together. Besides that, walk around the city center! It will be crowded and you move slowly, but the experience is something to never forget.

If you feel you haven’t partied enough by the end of the day; you might want to head east. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68347 Zwolle] organizes their first Monthly meeting! CS Zwolle chose Queensday as a the kick-off for their regular meeting; which better day to start with it? It starts at 20.00 so it is a great opportunity for an after party.

'''I still have plenty of energy left: what’s next?'''

Don’t worry! As said before, CS Netherlands has a week filled with activities! Other activities you can enjoy are:
• May 1st – Rural Cinema in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60092 Wognum].
Ever watched a movie with special effects by frogs, birds and other animals?

• May 1st – Windmills & Cheapthrills in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66089 Dordrecht].
Get a view of the beautiful islands, windmills and other dutch scenics around Dordrecht.

• May 4th – Memorial day service at the Damsquare – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62867 Amsterdam].
The day that we all remember the World War II victims with a beautiful service at the Damsquare.

• May 5th – Liberation Day Music Festival – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57513 Zwolle]
To celebrate our freedom and the end of WW II every provincial capital city organizes several music events. CS Zwolle has a gathering for those interested.

• May 9th – Spring Forrest Hike 2010 – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60029 Oss]
Enjoy the nature with a nice, refreshing Hike!

'''One last tip:
'''

Wear orange! So get an orange t-shirt, paint your face orange, buy a weird wick or be creative differently. It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it. Orange is the keyword!

===The 24 hour train race project SPELLING CHECKED===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague SPELLING CHECKED===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland! SPELLING CHECKED===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically [http://crystalshard.net/test/flashmob.jpg worshiped] a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be on the 18th of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 events
calendar] for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Bowling meetings===

One year ago exactly, Jeroen and Ellen organized the first Eindhoven Bowling Meet. This succesful meet has brought Eindhoven CS back to life after it kind of died.

One year and many meets later in Eindhoven, we decided to have another Bowling Meet! We arraged to meet at 8pm, in front the entrance of Mega Bowling. Lots of ‘familiar’ faces, but a lot of unknown ones as well, came to this event and there were even some international guests. It was a nice mix of people, devided in four lanes.

One after the next, the bowling balls were launched and it became clear who had the most talent –and who was there just for fun-. The music was best to be described as ‘old skool 90s’. And of course we saw some bloopers like throwing the ball backwards or sliding along with it.. but in the end the aim of the night was to have a good time.. And so we did! Everyone went home happily afterwards. See you all at the next Eindhoven Meeting!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/abeyholland/ Astrid]

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines SPELLING CHECKED===

What do you do when you're with over 10 CouchSurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of CouchSurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on Saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Changes on the CouchSurfing Website==

Soon there will be some new features implemented on the CouchSurfing Website:

* Report Abuse

Website abuse occurs when people use our site in a way that's against our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/terms.html Terms of Use]. For some time, we've given members the option to flag messages as spam. Our new tool expands on this concept dramatically. We are now releasing a site-wide automated system that will allow all CouchSurfing members to participate easily in keeping abuse off of the site. We expect this to have a dramatic effect on reducing problems such as dating spam and advertisements. In the future you will see a mark about abuse all around the website on which you can report abuse. It will appear on messages, groups, group posts, event listings, and profiles. While protecting our community against abuse, we also remain dedicated to protecting members' freedom of expression and diversity of opinion. The Member Disputes and Safety Team will be carefully monitoring the system to make sure that it is working properly and isn't being misused.

More information about this feature can be found in the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/channel_read.html?gid=13449&post=5402131#gpid5402131 safety newsletter] (ook beschikbaar in het [http://www.couchsurfing.org/news.html?id=338 Nederlands])

* Request Manager

This is a tool that will help you save time, stay organized, and prevent miscommunication when sending and responding to CouchRequests. With this tool you'll be able to easily sort through both CouchRequests you've received and those you've sent. The Request Manager has a lot of great benefits. Clearer communication. When replying to a CouchRequest, a host clearly marks yes, no, or maybe and the system will sort the request accordingly. Time saved for busy hosts. You can save template messages as simple as "Sure, I can host you! Here's my phone number!" or as complex as "No, I can't host that weekend, but here's a list of my favorite spots in the city." To get through your responses more quickly, just choose the template you want and personalize it.
More accurate reply rates. Once the day of the CouchSurfer's arrival has passed, a host can no longer reply to the request to boost their reply rating. If you receive a request within a week of the arrival date and aren't able to respond in time, it won't affect your reply rate. Better organization. All of your replies will be threaded together for easy reference.

* CS Bookmarks

To help you navigate the site more quickly, you can save a page as a bookmark and reach it directly from the navigation bar.

* News Channels

We're also launching a redesign for the News Channels. The Channels will now be more prominently featured on the website, with a more appealing layout to improve your reading experience.

* New Ways to Donate and Get Verified

Up until now, members could only donate or get verified with a major credit card or debit card. In the next month we're introducing three new methods:

- ACH: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the US and Canada.

- EU Debit: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the European Union.

- Direct Pay (IBAN, Bank Transfers): a way to send a donation through a bank, internationally.

==Ideas for meetings SPELLING CHECKED==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media SPELLING CHECKED==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India SPELLING CHECKED==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

==Major events roadmap==

Do you like Sinterklaas in Rotterdam or Midsummernight in Utrecht a lot and are you looking for big CouchSurfing events in other countries? A couchsurfer from Italy made a google-map with a list of major events planned for 2010. See the list [http://tinyurl.com/CSRoadMap here]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

==Interview with Marc SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on in every newsletter we want to introduced you to people who travelled and/or couchsurfed a lot recently. We hope this will inspire you for your future travelplans. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc], originally from the Netherlands, but currently living in Berlin

1. How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:

- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.

- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.

- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.

- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.

- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host' SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to people in the Netherlands who host a lot. We hope this will inspire you for your future hosting experiences. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] from Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good CouchSurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the benefit of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''CouchSurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five CouchSurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-04-09T00:23:30Z

83.163.211.43: /* Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Queensday 2010. Who parties along?

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

===Queensday 2010. Who parties along?===

Most people who come to the Netherlands have heard about it at least once. The day that all Dutch people act even more silly than usual. The day that the country is orange. And the day that everyone is (beyond) drunk.

Queensday is a national holiday in The Netherlands. We celebrate Queensday in its original date since 1949. Before that time Queensday was celebrated on august 31st. In 1948 her daughter, Juliana, became Queen and the holiday moved to April 30th. Back in the days, Queensday wasn’t much than just a regular working day and the birthdate of the Queen. The royal family never attended any festivities. There was just a flurar tribute that people could watch on the TV. After a few years, more and more people got the day off and Queensday became the national holiday of the year.
Our current Queen is born on January 31st, but we still celebrate Queensday on April 30th. As most of you know, you can never count on the Dutch weather and especially during winter time it isn’t reliable at all. Queen Beatrix therefore decided to honor her mother by keeping Queensday on April 30th, but also to have a bigger chance of a sunny day.

Nowadays, the royal family also attends and participates in activities. Every year, the royal family visits a city somewhere in the country. This year the royal family visits Middelburg and Vlissingen in the province of Zeeland. The fact that the Royal family does this is something most Dutch appreciate a lot. You feel a bit connected to the people who are usually not approachable.

'''Couchsurfing the night before!
'''

For Couchsurfing, Queensday means not just a DAY of activities and parties. No, we have a WEEK filled with fun things!

Couchsurfing starts the week traditionally during Queensnight with events in The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht. Originally, The Hague was the first city to celebrate Queensnight with a lot of live music throughout the whole city. Soon after other cities followed The Hague’s example. CS The Hague organizes a fun night in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67418 The Hague] with traditional Dutch food and partying in the center.
In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62852 Amsterdam] they know how to party, too! During Queensnight you can join the CS Amsterdam members in a pub in the very typical Amsterdam surrounding; the Jordaan district. ‘A great opportunity to meet other CS members and dodgy locals’ reads their meeting page.

Ever played Musical Chairs? I’m sure you did. It is a nostalgic game which you can play In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64743 Utrecht]. Utrecht has also one of the biggest Queensday flee markets of the country, which opens during Queensnight. Get there early with fellow CS’ers and get the best stuff first. Or just make a game out of finding the weirdest, craziest rubbish. Really, be amazed by what people used to have in their homes and now want to sell to you!

Also smaller cities have parties during queensnight. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67641 Enschede] for instance has a free party with DJ's and also a CouchSurfing meeting.

'''Queensday'''

Partied hard during Queensnight? Well, take a ibu, get a new beer and suck it up. There is no time to sleep because the party continues.
The place to be on Queensday is [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62856 Amsterdam]. Over half a million people visit the country’s capital to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. Throughout the city there are parties everywhere, people are selling things and you’ll find the traditional games. Don’t look weird if people try to make money by giving you a kiss, hug or whatever. The Dutch are always keen on money and Queensday is the best opportunity to make some profit.
The biggest party for Couchsurfing is also in Amsterdam. Right where it all happens. CS Amsterdam is organizing a real CS-Camp down in the Vondelpark. The park is a nice place to relax, raise your energy for the next party, chat with other CS’ers, play music and have a BBQ together. Besides that, walk around the city center! It will be crowded and you move slowly, but the experience is something to never forget.

If you feel you haven’t partied enough by the end of the day; you might want to head east. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68347 Zwolle] organizes their first Monthly meeting! CS Zwolle chose Queensday as a the kick-off for their regular meeting; which better day to start with it? It starts at 20.00 so it is a great opportunity for an after party.

'''I still have plenty of energy left: what’s next?'''

Don’t worry! As said before, CS Netherlands has a week filled with activities! Other activities you can enjoy are:
• May 1st – Rural Cinema in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60092 Wognum].
Ever watched a movie with special effects by frogs, birds and other animals?

• May 1st – Windmills & Cheapthrills in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66089 Dordrecht].
Get a view of the beautiful islands, windmills and other dutch scenics around Dordrecht.

• May 4th – Memorial day service at the Damsquare – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62867 Amsterdam].
The day that we all remember the World War II victims with a beautiful service at the Damsquare.

• May 5th – Liberation Day Music Festival – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57513 Zwolle]
To celebrate our freedom and the end of WW II every provincial capital city organizes several music events. CS Zwolle has a gathering for those interested.

• May 9th – Spring Forrest Hike 2010 – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60029 Oss]
Enjoy the nature with a nice, refreshing Hike!

'''One last tip:
'''

Wear orange! So get an orange t-shirt, paint your face orange, buy a weird wick or be creative differently. It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it. Orange is the keyword!

===The 24 hour train race project SPELLING CHECKED===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague SPELLING CHECKED===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland! SPELLING CHECKED===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht SPELLING CHECKED===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically [http://crystalshard.net/test/flashmob.jpg worshiped] a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be on the 18th of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 events
calendar] for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Bowling meetings===

One year ago exactly, Jeroen and Ellen organized the first Eindhoven Bowling Meet. This succesful meet has brought Eindhoven CS back to life after it kind of died.

One year and many meets later in Eindhoven, we decided to have another Bowling Meet! We arraged to meet at 8pm, in front the entrance of Mega Bowling. Lots of ‘familiar’ faces, but a lot of unknown ones as well, came to this event and there were even some international guests. It was a nice mix of people, devided in four lanes.

One after the next, the bowling balls were launched and it became clear who had the most talent –and who was there just for fun-. The music was best to be described as ‘old skool 90s’. And of course we saw some bloopers like throwing the ball backwards or sliding along with it.. but in the end the aim of the night was to have a good time.. And so we did! Everyone went home happily afterwards. See you all at the next Eindhoven Meeting!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/abeyholland/ Astrid]

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines SPELLING CHECKED===

What do you do when you're with over 10 CouchSurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of CouchSurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on Saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Changes on the CouchSurfing Website==

Soon there will be some new features implemented on the CouchSurfing Website:

* Report Abuse

Website abuse occurs when people use our site in a way that's against our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/terms.html Terms of Use]. For some time, we've given members the option to flag messages as spam. Our new tool expands on this concept dramatically. We are now releasing a site-wide automated system that will allow all CouchSurfing members to participate easily in keeping abuse off of the site. We expect this to have a dramatic effect on reducing problems such as dating spam and advertisements. In the future you will see a mark about abuse all around the website on which you can report abuse. It will appear on messages, groups, group posts, event listings, and profiles. While protecting our community against abuse, we also remain dedicated to protecting members' freedom of expression and diversity of opinion. The Member Disputes and Safety Team will be carefully monitoring the system to make sure that it is working properly and isn't being misused.

More information about this feature can be found in the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/channel_read.html?gid=13449&post=5402131#gpid5402131 safety newsletter] (ook beschikbaar in het [http://www.couchsurfing.org/news.html?id=338 Nederlands])

* Request Manager

This is a tool that will help you save time, stay organized, and prevent miscommunication when sending and responding to CouchRequests. With this tool you'll be able to easily sort through both CouchRequests you've received and those you've sent. The Request Manager has a lot of great benefits. Clearer communication. When replying to a CouchRequest, a host clearly marks yes, no, or maybe and the system will sort the request accordingly. Time saved for busy hosts. You can save template messages as simple as "Sure, I can host you! Here's my phone number!" or as complex as "No, I can't host that weekend, but here's a list of my favorite spots in the city." To get through your responses more quickly, just choose the template you want and personalize it.
More accurate reply rates. Once the day of the CouchSurfer's arrival has passed, a host can no longer reply to the request to boost their reply rating. If you receive a request within a week of the arrival date and aren't able to respond in time, it won't affect your reply rate. Better organization. All of your replies will be threaded together for easy reference.

* CS Bookmarks

To help you navigate the site more quickly, you can save a page as a bookmark and reach it directly from the navigation bar.

* News Channels

We're also launching a redesign for the News Channels. The Channels will now be more prominently featured on the website, with a more appealing layout to improve your reading experience.

* New Ways to Donate and Get Verified

Up until now, members could only donate or get verified with a major credit card or debit card. In the next month we're introducing three new methods:

- ACH: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the US and Canada.

- EU Debit: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the European Union.

- Direct Pay (IBAN, Bank Transfers): a way to send a donation through a bank, internationally.

==Ideas for meetings SPELLING CHECKED==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media SPELLING CHECKED==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India SPELLING CHECKED==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

==Major events roadmap==

Do you like Sinterklaas in Rotterdam or Midsummernight in Utrecht a lot and are you looking for big CouchSurfing events in other countries? A couchsurfer from Italy made a google-map with a list of major events planned for 2010. See the list [http://tinyurl.com/CSRoadMap here]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

==Interview with Marc SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on in every newsletter we want to introduced you to people who travelled and/or couchsurfed a lot recently. We hope this will inspire you for your future travelplans. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc], originally from the Netherlands, but currently living in Berlin

1. How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:

- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.

- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.

- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.

- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.

- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host' SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to people in the Netherlands who host a lot. We hope this will inspire you for your future hosting experiences. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] from Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good CouchSurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the benefit of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''CouchSurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five CouchSurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-04-09T00:23:07Z

83.163.211.43: /* The 24 hour train race project */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Queensday 2010. Who parties along?

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

===Queensday 2010. Who parties along?===

Most people who come to the Netherlands have heard about it at least once. The day that all Dutch people act even more silly than usual. The day that the country is orange. And the day that everyone is (beyond) drunk.

Queensday is a national holiday in The Netherlands. We celebrate Queensday in its original date since 1949. Before that time Queensday was celebrated on august 31st. In 1948 her daughter, Juliana, became Queen and the holiday moved to April 30th. Back in the days, Queensday wasn’t much than just a regular working day and the birthdate of the Queen. The royal family never attended any festivities. There was just a flurar tribute that people could watch on the TV. After a few years, more and more people got the day off and Queensday became the national holiday of the year.
Our current Queen is born on January 31st, but we still celebrate Queensday on April 30th. As most of you know, you can never count on the Dutch weather and especially during winter time it isn’t reliable at all. Queen Beatrix therefore decided to honor her mother by keeping Queensday on April 30th, but also to have a bigger chance of a sunny day.

Nowadays, the royal family also attends and participates in activities. Every year, the royal family visits a city somewhere in the country. This year the royal family visits Middelburg and Vlissingen in the province of Zeeland. The fact that the Royal family does this is something most Dutch appreciate a lot. You feel a bit connected to the people who are usually not approachable.

'''Couchsurfing the night before!
'''

For Couchsurfing, Queensday means not just a DAY of activities and parties. No, we have a WEEK filled with fun things!

Couchsurfing starts the week traditionally during Queensnight with events in The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht. Originally, The Hague was the first city to celebrate Queensnight with a lot of live music throughout the whole city. Soon after other cities followed The Hague’s example. CS The Hague organizes a fun night in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67418 The Hague] with traditional Dutch food and partying in the center.
In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62852 Amsterdam] they know how to party, too! During Queensnight you can join the CS Amsterdam members in a pub in the very typical Amsterdam surrounding; the Jordaan district. ‘A great opportunity to meet other CS members and dodgy locals’ reads their meeting page.

Ever played Musical Chairs? I’m sure you did. It is a nostalgic game which you can play In [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64743 Utrecht]. Utrecht has also one of the biggest Queensday flee markets of the country, which opens during Queensnight. Get there early with fellow CS’ers and get the best stuff first. Or just make a game out of finding the weirdest, craziest rubbish. Really, be amazed by what people used to have in their homes and now want to sell to you!

Also smaller cities have parties during queensnight. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67641 Enschede] for instance has a free party with DJ's and also a CouchSurfing meeting.

'''Queensday'''

Partied hard during Queensnight? Well, take a ibu, get a new beer and suck it up. There is no time to sleep because the party continues.
The place to be on Queensday is [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62856 Amsterdam]. Over half a million people visit the country’s capital to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. Throughout the city there are parties everywhere, people are selling things and you’ll find the traditional games. Don’t look weird if people try to make money by giving you a kiss, hug or whatever. The Dutch are always keen on money and Queensday is the best opportunity to make some profit.
The biggest party for Couchsurfing is also in Amsterdam. Right where it all happens. CS Amsterdam is organizing a real CS-Camp down in the Vondelpark. The park is a nice place to relax, raise your energy for the next party, chat with other CS’ers, play music and have a BBQ together. Besides that, walk around the city center! It will be crowded and you move slowly, but the experience is something to never forget.

If you feel you haven’t partied enough by the end of the day; you might want to head east. [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68347 Zwolle] organizes their first Monthly meeting! CS Zwolle chose Queensday as a the kick-off for their regular meeting; which better day to start with it? It starts at 20.00 so it is a great opportunity for an after party.

'''I still have plenty of energy left: what’s next?'''

Don’t worry! As said before, CS Netherlands has a week filled with activities! Other activities you can enjoy are:
• May 1st – Rural Cinema in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60092 Wognum].
Ever watched a movie with special effects by frogs, birds and other animals?

• May 1st – Windmills & Cheapthrills in [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66089 Dordrecht].
Get a view of the beautiful islands, windmills and other dutch scenics around Dordrecht.

• May 4th – Memorial day service at the Damsquare – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62867 Amsterdam].
The day that we all remember the World War II victims with a beautiful service at the Damsquare.

• May 5th – Liberation Day Music Festival – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57513 Zwolle]
To celebrate our freedom and the end of WW II every provincial capital city organizes several music events. CS Zwolle has a gathering for those interested.

• May 9th – Spring Forrest Hike 2010 – [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60029 Oss]
Enjoy the nature with a nice, refreshing Hike!

'''One last tip:
'''

Wear orange! So get an orange t-shirt, paint your face orange, buy a weird wick or be creative differently. It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it. Orange is the keyword!

===The 24 hour train race project SPELLING CHECKED===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague SPELLING CHECKED===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland! SPELLING CHECKED===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically [http://crystalshard.net/test/flashmob.jpg worshiped] a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be on the 18th of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 events
calendar] for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Bowling meetings===

One year ago exactly, Jeroen and Ellen organized the first Eindhoven Bowling Meet. This succesful meet has brought Eindhoven CS back to life after it kind of died.

One year and many meets later in Eindhoven, we decided to have another Bowling Meet! We arraged to meet at 8pm, in front the entrance of Mega Bowling. Lots of ‘familiar’ faces, but a lot of unknown ones as well, came to this event and there were even some international guests. It was a nice mix of people, devided in four lanes.

One after the next, the bowling balls were launched and it became clear who had the most talent –and who was there just for fun-. The music was best to be described as ‘old skool 90s’. And of course we saw some bloopers like throwing the ball backwards or sliding along with it.. but in the end the aim of the night was to have a good time.. And so we did! Everyone went home happily afterwards. See you all at the next Eindhoven Meeting!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/abeyholland/ Astrid]

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines SPELLING CHECKED===

What do you do when you're with over 10 CouchSurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of CouchSurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on Saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Changes on the CouchSurfing Website==

Soon there will be some new features implemented on the CouchSurfing Website:

* Report Abuse

Website abuse occurs when people use our site in a way that's against our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/terms.html Terms of Use]. For some time, we've given members the option to flag messages as spam. Our new tool expands on this concept dramatically. We are now releasing a site-wide automated system that will allow all CouchSurfing members to participate easily in keeping abuse off of the site. We expect this to have a dramatic effect on reducing problems such as dating spam and advertisements. In the future you will see a mark about abuse all around the website on which you can report abuse. It will appear on messages, groups, group posts, event listings, and profiles. While protecting our community against abuse, we also remain dedicated to protecting members' freedom of expression and diversity of opinion. The Member Disputes and Safety Team will be carefully monitoring the system to make sure that it is working properly and isn't being misused.

More information about this feature can be found in the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/channel_read.html?gid=13449&post=5402131#gpid5402131 safety newsletter] (ook beschikbaar in het [http://www.couchsurfing.org/news.html?id=338 Nederlands])

* Request Manager

This is a tool that will help you save time, stay organized, and prevent miscommunication when sending and responding to CouchRequests. With this tool you'll be able to easily sort through both CouchRequests you've received and those you've sent. The Request Manager has a lot of great benefits. Clearer communication. When replying to a CouchRequest, a host clearly marks yes, no, or maybe and the system will sort the request accordingly. Time saved for busy hosts. You can save template messages as simple as "Sure, I can host you! Here's my phone number!" or as complex as "No, I can't host that weekend, but here's a list of my favorite spots in the city." To get through your responses more quickly, just choose the template you want and personalize it.
More accurate reply rates. Once the day of the CouchSurfer's arrival has passed, a host can no longer reply to the request to boost their reply rating. If you receive a request within a week of the arrival date and aren't able to respond in time, it won't affect your reply rate. Better organization. All of your replies will be threaded together for easy reference.

* CS Bookmarks

To help you navigate the site more quickly, you can save a page as a bookmark and reach it directly from the navigation bar.

* News Channels

We're also launching a redesign for the News Channels. The Channels will now be more prominently featured on the website, with a more appealing layout to improve your reading experience.

* New Ways to Donate and Get Verified

Up until now, members could only donate or get verified with a major credit card or debit card. In the next month we're introducing three new methods:

- ACH: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the US and Canada.

- EU Debit: a way to send a donation directly from a bank account, in the European Union.

- Direct Pay (IBAN, Bank Transfers): a way to send a donation through a bank, internationally.

==Ideas for meetings SPELLING CHECKED==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media SPELLING CHECKED==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India SPELLING CHECKED==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

==Major events roadmap==

Do you like Sinterklaas in Rotterdam or Midsummernight in Utrecht a lot and are you looking for big CouchSurfing events in other countries? A couchsurfer from Italy made a google-map with a list of major events planned for 2010. See the list [http://tinyurl.com/CSRoadMap here]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

==Interview with Marc SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on in every newsletter we want to introduced you to people who travelled and/or couchsurfed a lot recently. We hope this will inspire you for your future travelplans. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc], originally from the Netherlands, but currently living in Berlin

1. How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:

- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.

- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.

- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.

- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.

- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host' SPELLING CHECKED==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to people in the Netherlands who host a lot. We hope this will inspire you for your future hosting experiences. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] from Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good CouchSurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the benefit of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''CouchSurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five CouchSurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-04-03T22:59:36Z

83.163.211.43: /* Bowling meetings */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday > komt vrijdagochtend
--> Linda: Het wordt iets later wanneer het klaar is.

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Queensday 2010. Who parties along?==

Most people who come to the Netherlands have heard about it at least once. The day that all Dutch people act even more silly than usual. The day that the country is orange. And the day that everyone is (beyond) drunk.

Queensday is a national holiday in The Netherlands. We celebrate Queensday in its original date since 1949. Before that time Queensday was celebrated on august 31st. In 1948 her daughter, Juliana, became Queen and the holiday moved to April 30th. Back in the days, Queensday wasn’t much than just a regular working day and the birthdate of the Queen. The royal family never attended any festivities. There was just a flurar tribute that people could watch on the TV. After a few years, more and more people got the day off and Queensday became the national holiday of the year.
Our current Queen is born on January 31st, but we still celebrate Queensday on April 30th. As most of you know, you can never count on the Dutch weather and especially during winter time it isn’t reliable at all. Queen Beatrix therefore decided to honor her mother by keeping Queensday on April 30th, but also to have a bigger chance of a sunny day.

Nowadays, the royal family also attends and participates in activities. Every year, the royal family visits a city somewhere in the country. This year the royal family visits Middelburg and Vlissingen in the province of Zeeland. The fact that the Royal family does this is something most Dutch appreciate a lot. You feel a bit connected to the people who are usually not approachable.

'''Couchsurfing the night before!
'''

For Couchsurfing, Queensday means not just a DAY of activities and parties. No, we have a WEEK filled with fun things!

Couchsurfing starts the week traditionally during Queensnight with events in The Hague, Amsterdam and Utrecht. Originally, The Hague was the first city to celebrate Queensnight with a lot of live music throughout the whole city. Soon after other cities followed The Hague’s example. CS The Hague organizes a fun night in The Hague with traditional Dutch food and partying in the center.
In Amsterdam they know how to party, too! During Queensnight you can join the CS Amsterdam members in a pub in the very typical Amsterdam surrounding; the Jordaan district. ‘A great opportunity to meet other CS members and dodgy locals’ reads their meeting page.

Ever played Musical Chairs? I’m sure you did. It is a nostalgic game which you can play In Utrecht. Utrecht has also one of the biggest Queensday flee markets of the country, which opens during Queensnight. Get there early with fellow CS’ers and get the best stuff first. Or just make a game out of finding the weirdest, craziest rubbish. Really, be amazed by what people used to have in their homes and now want to sell to you!

'''Queensday'''

Partied hard during Queensnight? Well, take a ibu, get a new beer and suck it up. There is no time to sleep because the party continues.
The place to be on Queensday is Amsterdam. Over half a million people visit the country’s capital to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. Throughout the city there are parties everywhere, people are selling things and you’ll find the traditional games. Don’t look weird if people try to make money by giving you a kiss, hug or whatever. The Dutch are always keen on money and Queensday is the best opportunity to make some profit.
The biggest party for Couchsurfing is also in Amsterdam. Right where it all happens. CS Amsterdam is organizing a real CS-Camp down in the Vondelpark. The park is a nice place to relax, raise your energy for the next party, chat with other CS’ers, play music and have a BBQ together. Besides that, walk around the city center! It will be crowded and you move slowly, but the experience is something to never forget.

If you feel you haven’t partied enough by the end of the day; you might want to head east. Zwolle organizes their first Monthly meeting! CS Zwolle chose Queensday as a the kick-off for their regular meeting; which better day to start with it? It starts at 20.00 so it is a great opportunity for an after party.

'''I still have plenty of energy left: what’s next?'''

Don’t worry! As said before, CS Netherlands has a week filled with activities! Other activities you can enjoy are:
• May 1st – Windmills & Cheapthrills in Dordrecht.
Get a view of the beautiful islands, windmills and other dutch scenics around Dordrecht.
• May 1st – Rural Cinema in Wognum.
Ever watched a movie with special effects by frogs, birds and other animals?
• May 4th – Memorial day service at the Damsquare – Amsterdam.
The day that we all remember the World War II victims with a beautiful service at the Damsquare.
• May 5th – Liberation Day Music Festival – Zwolle
To celebrate our freedom and the end of WW II every city organizes several music events. CS Zwolle has a gathering for those interested.
• May 9th – Spring Forrest Hike 2010 – Oss
Enjoy the nature with a nice, refreshing Hike!

'''One last tip:
'''

Wear orange! So get an orange t-shirt, paint your face orange, buy a weird wick or be creative differently. It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as you do it. Orange is the keyword!

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically [http://crystalshard.net/test/flashmob.jpg worshiped] a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Bowling meetings===

One year ago exactly, Jeroen and Ellen organized the first Eindhoven Bowling Meet. This succesful meet has brought Eindhoven CS back to life after it kind of died.

One year and many meets later in Eindhoven, we decided to have another Bowling Meet! We arraged to meet at 8pm, in front the entrance of Mega Bowling. Lots of ‘familiar’ faces, but a lot of unknown ones as well, came to this event and there were even some international guests. It was a nice mix of people, devided in four lanes.

One after the next, the bowling balls were launched and it became clear who had the most talent –and who was there just for fun-. The music was best to be described as ‘old skool 90s’. And of course we saw some bloopers like throwing the ball backwards or sliding along with it.. but in the end the aim of the night was to have a good time.. And so we did! Everyone went home happily afterwards. See you all at the next Eindhoven Meeting!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/abeyholland/ Astrid]

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when you're with over 10 CouchSurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of CouchSurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on Saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Changes on the CouchSurfing Website==

Soon there will be some new features implemented on the CouchSurfing Website:

* Report Abuse

Website abuse occurs when people use our site in a way that's against our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/terms.html Terms of Use]. For some time, we've given members the option to flag messages as spam. Our new tool expands on this concept dramatically. We are now releasing a site-wide automated system that will allow all CouchSurfing members to participate easily in keeping abuse off of the site. We expect this to have a dramatic effect on reducing problems such as dating spam and advertisements. In the future you will see a mark about abuse all around the website on which you can report abuse. It will appear on messages, groups, group posts, event listings, and profiles. While protecting our community against abuse, we also remain dedicated to protecting members' freedom of expression and diversity of opinion. The Member Disputes and Safety Team will be carefully monitoring the system to make sure that it is working properly and isn't being misused.

* Request Manager

This is a tool that will help you save time, stay organized, and prevent miscommunication when sending and responding to CouchRequests. With this tool you'll be able to easily sort through both CouchRequests you've received and those you've sent. The Request Manager has a lot of great benefits. Clearer communication. When replying to a CouchRequest, a host clearly marks yes, no, or maybe and the system will sort the request accordingly. Time saved for busy hosts. You can save template messages as simple as "Sure, I can host you! Here's my phone number!" or as complex as "No, I can't host that weekend, but here's a list of my favorite spots in the city." To get through your responses more quickly, just choose the template you want and personalize it.
More accurate reply rates. Once the day of the CouchSurfer's arrival has passed, a host can no longer reply to the request to boost their reply rating. If you receive a request within a week of the arrival date and aren't able to respond in time, it won't affect your reply rate. Better organization. All of your replies will be threaded together for easy reference.

* CS Bookmarks

To help you navigate the site more quickly, you can save a page as a bookmark and reach it directly from the navigation bar.

* News Channels

We're also launching a redesign for the News Channels. The Channels will now be more prominently featured on the website, with a more appealing layout to improve your reading experience.

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with Marc==

From now on in every newsletter we want to introduced you to people who travelled and/or couchsurfed a lot recently. We how this will inspire you for your future travelplans. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc], originally from the Netherlands, but currently living in Berlin

1. How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to people in the Netherlands who host a lot. We how this will inspire you for your future hosting experiences. This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] from Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good CouchSurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the benefit of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''CouchSurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five CouchSurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T13:22:18Z

83.163.211.43: /* CS house */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday > komt vrijdagochtend

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje > komt woensdagavond

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when you're with over 10 CouchSurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of CouchSurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on Saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good CouchSurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the benefit of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''CouchSurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five CouchSurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T13:21:41Z

83.163.211.43: /* Interview with a 'exotic host' */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday > komt vrijdagochtend

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje > komt woensdagavond

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when you're with over 10 CouchSurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of CouchSurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on Saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good CouchSurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the benefit of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T13:20:40Z

83.163.211.43: /* Interview with Marc */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday > komt vrijdagochtend

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje > komt woensdagavond

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when you're with over 10 CouchSurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of CouchSurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on Saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T13:19:48Z

83.163.211.43: /* Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday > komt vrijdagochtend

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje > komt woensdagavond

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when you're with over 10 CouchSurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of CouchSurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on Saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T13:18:47Z

83.163.211.43: /* Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday > komt vrijdagochtend

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===CouchSurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my iPod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS'ers
listen to other CS’ers' music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, iPods,
headphones and hard drives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, Dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the CouchSurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje > komt woensdagavond

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T13:16:55Z

83.163.211.43: /* Flash Mobs in the Netherlands */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday > komt vrijdagochtend

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on CouchSurfing, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. CouchSurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje > komt woensdagavond

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T13:16:03Z

83.163.211.43: /* Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday > komt vrijdagochtend

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost CouchSurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy Sunday afternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje > komt woensdagavond

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T13:15:23Z

83.163.211.43: /* Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday > komt vrijdagochtend

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neighbors give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the CouchSurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje > komt woensdagavond

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T13:14:16Z

83.163.211.43: /* Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday > komt vrijdagochtend

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organize the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to CouchSurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje > komt woensdagavond

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T13:12:16Z

83.163.211.43: /* Interview with a 'exotic host' */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday > komt vrijdagochtend

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organise the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to Couchsurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje > komt woensdagavond

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and got some information from an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He spoke
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile for myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed, next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them a lot of
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties like
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a 21-year-old, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke.. Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
three times already, each time for several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still are in contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'Grote Markt'. Tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who want to get shown around. Guests who
let me decide where to go see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He got me interested in CS and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host to
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T13:04:36Z

83.163.211.43: /* New 'rules' for travelling (and Couchsurfing) in India */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday > komt vrijdagochtend

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organise the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to Couchsurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje > komt woensdagavond

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for traveling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. It comes down to a form of mandatory registration. More info below.

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all hotels, hostels, resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay. The details should be signed off by the host who is accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

It comes down to this:
Filling out the C Form is a formality (whenever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form). If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Doing this is your own choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city.

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

Source: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and informed myself at an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He talked
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them as much
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have the meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties as
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a
guy of 21, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke: Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
already three times, each time several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still have contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'grote markt', and tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome also young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who wanna let them show around. Guests who
let me decide where to go, see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He made me enthusiastic and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host at
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T12:57:31Z

83.163.211.43: /* Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday > komt vrijdagochtend

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organise the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o'clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to Couchsurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje > komt woensdagavond

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for travelling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. Several state governments have started cracking the whips on errant Hotels, Hostels & Homestay owners...

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all Hotels, Hostels, Homestays, Resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor and that formality has to be strictly followed. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay.
''Susy's note: is this bit 'under the .. departure' not just repeating what has been said above?''
Under the 1992 Registration of Foreigners Rules (Section 14) Act. The C Form to be submitted to the government should have information about their native country, date of their arrival, duration of stay, purpose of the visit and date of their departure. The details should be signed off by the host who was accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

Now these are the requirements of the law:

For Surfers -
Filling out the C Form is a formality - when ever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form -. If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Whether you would want to do this is your choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city...

One of the reasons the police are insisting on compliance on Form C is not only to stop unwanted elements from misusing the facilities of the state but also for your own security. Just in case - nationals of a particular country have to be given extra protection - then they can effectively do so.

Just three weeks ago - we had a high profile visitor from the US who was on a private visit. Because of the current situation, the moment we notified the cops, a constable on duty was provided as extra protection. Just in case. Yes, this doesn't hold for 99% of CS guests, but nevertheless, we would like to comply with the laws of our land, and hope that you too will. :)

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and informed myself at an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He talked
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them as much
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have the meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties as
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a
guy of 21, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke: Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
already three times, each time several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still have contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'grote markt', and tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome also young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who wanna let them show around. Guests who
let me decide where to go, see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He made me enthusiastic and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host at
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T12:57:00Z

83.163.211.43: /* The 24 hour train race project */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday > komt vrijdagochtend

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get them pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the train stations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make as much food as possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains.

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sure we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come up with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to do the entire journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a train station? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organise the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o´clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to Couchsurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje > komt woensdagavond

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for travelling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. Several state governments have started cracking the whips on errant Hotels, Hostels & Homestay owners...

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all Hotels, Hostels, Homestays, Resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor and that formality has to be strictly followed. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay.
''Susy's note: is this bit 'under the .. departure' not just repeating what has been said above?''
Under the 1992 Registration of Foreigners Rules (Section 14) Act. The C Form to be submitted to the government should have information about their native country, date of their arrival, duration of stay, purpose of the visit and date of their departure. The details should be signed off by the host who was accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

Now these are the requirements of the law:

For Surfers -
Filling out the C Form is a formality - when ever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form -. If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Whether you would want to do this is your choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city...

One of the reasons the police are insisting on compliance on Form C is not only to stop unwanted elements from misusing the facilities of the state but also for your own security. Just in case - nationals of a particular country have to be given extra protection - then they can effectively do so.

Just three weeks ago - we had a high profile visitor from the US who was on a private visit. Because of the current situation, the moment we notified the cops, a constable on duty was provided as extra protection. Just in case. Yes, this doesn't hold for 99% of CS guests, but nevertheless, we would like to comply with the laws of our land, and hope that you too will. :)

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and informed myself at an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He talked
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them as much
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have the meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties as
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a
guy of 21, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke: Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
already three times, each time several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still have contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'grote markt', and tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome also young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who wanna let them show around. Guests who
let me decide where to go, see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He made me enthusiastic and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host at
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T12:53:39Z

83.163.211.43: /* Couchsurfers meeting up (rechterbalk) */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday > komt vrijdagochtend

=CouchSurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This time table is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area where from you can join as well.
For people who live further out: all cities part of [http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=attachment%3B+filename%3D51%2F813%2FNachtnettreinenlijnenkaart.pdf&blobheadervalue2=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1208879563070&ssbinary=true NachtNet] are available to find a couch in.

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get the pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the trainstations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make so much food at possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sur we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come of with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to join in for the whole part of the journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a trainstation? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organise the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o´clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to Couchsurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje > komt woensdagavond

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for travelling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. Several state governments have started cracking the whips on errant Hotels, Hostels & Homestay owners...

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all Hotels, Hostels, Homestays, Resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor and that formality has to be strictly followed. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay.
''Susy's note: is this bit 'under the .. departure' not just repeating what has been said above?''
Under the 1992 Registration of Foreigners Rules (Section 14) Act. The C Form to be submitted to the government should have information about their native country, date of their arrival, duration of stay, purpose of the visit and date of their departure. The details should be signed off by the host who was accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

Now these are the requirements of the law:

For Surfers -
Filling out the C Form is a formality - when ever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form -. If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Whether you would want to do this is your choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city...

One of the reasons the police are insisting on compliance on Form C is not only to stop unwanted elements from misusing the facilities of the state but also for your own security. Just in case - nationals of a particular country have to be given extra protection - then they can effectively do so.

Just three weeks ago - we had a high profile visitor from the US who was on a private visit. Because of the current situation, the moment we notified the cops, a constable on duty was provided as extra protection. Just in case. Yes, this doesn't hold for 99% of CS guests, but nevertheless, we would like to comply with the laws of our land, and hope that you too will. :)

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and informed myself at an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He talked
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them as much
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have the meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties as
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a
guy of 21, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke: Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
already three times, each time several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still have contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'grote markt', and tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome also young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who wanna let them show around. Guests who
let me decide where to go, see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He made me enthusiastic and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host at
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T12:31:52Z

83.163.211.43: /* Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday?

=Couchsurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This timbletable is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area from where you can also join in.
For people who live further away: all cities which are part of 'nachtnet' are available to find a couch in

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get the pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the trainstations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make so much food at possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sur we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come of with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to join in for the whole part of the journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a trainstation? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organise the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o´clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to Couchsurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for travelling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. Several state governments have started cracking the whips on errant Hotels, Hostels & Homestay owners...

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all Hotels, Hostels, Homestays, Resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor and that formality has to be strictly followed. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay.
''Susy's note: is this bit 'under the .. departure' not just repeating what has been said above?''
Under the 1992 Registration of Foreigners Rules (Section 14) Act. The C Form to be submitted to the government should have information about their native country, date of their arrival, duration of stay, purpose of the visit and date of their departure. The details should be signed off by the host who was accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

Now these are the requirements of the law:

For Surfers -
Filling out the C Form is a formality - when ever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form -. If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Whether you would want to do this is your choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city...

One of the reasons the police are insisting on compliance on Form C is not only to stop unwanted elements from misusing the facilities of the state but also for your own security. Just in case - nationals of a particular country have to be given extra protection - then they can effectively do so.

Just three weeks ago - we had a high profile visitor from the US who was on a private visit. Because of the current situation, the moment we notified the cops, a constable on duty was provided as extra protection. Just in case. Yes, this doesn't hold for 99% of CS guests, but nevertheless, we would like to comply with the laws of our land, and hope that you too will. :)

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg is a German guy from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg. Since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem bringing me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I had to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and informed myself at an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He talked
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them as much
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have the meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties as
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a
guy of 21, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke: Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
already three times, each time several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still have contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'grote markt', and tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome also young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who wanna let them show around. Guests who
let me decide where to go, see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He made me enthusiastic and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host at
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T12:28:42Z

83.163.211.43: /* Interview with Marc */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday?

=Couchsurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This timbletable is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area from where you can also join in.
For people who live further away: all cities which are part of 'nachtnet' are available to find a couch in

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get the pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the trainstations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make so much food at possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sur we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come of with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to join in for the whole part of the journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a trainstation? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organise the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o´clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to Couchsurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for travelling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. Several state governments have started cracking the whips on errant Hotels, Hostels & Homestay owners...

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all Hotels, Hostels, Homestays, Resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor and that formality has to be strictly followed. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay.
''Susy's note: is this bit 'under the .. departure' not just repeating what has been said above?''
Under the 1992 Registration of Foreigners Rules (Section 14) Act. The C Form to be submitted to the government should have information about their native country, date of their arrival, duration of stay, purpose of the visit and date of their departure. The details should be signed off by the host who was accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

Now these are the requirements of the law:

For Surfers -
Filling out the C Form is a formality - when ever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form -. If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Whether you would want to do this is your choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city...

One of the reasons the police are insisting on compliance on Form C is not only to stop unwanted elements from misusing the facilities of the state but also for your own security. Just in case - nationals of a particular country have to be given extra protection - then they can effectively do so.

Just three weeks ago - we had a high profile visitor from the US who was on a private visit. Because of the current situation, the moment we notified the cops, a constable on duty was provided as extra protection. Just in case. Yes, this doesn't hold for 99% of CS guests, but nevertheless, we would like to comply with the laws of our land, and hope that you too will. :)

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something I should do. So I finally signed up and I was gone: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I traveled with, who I did activities with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a bike tour with, hitchhiked with, walked through the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (that is still growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their everything

3. How do you combine traveling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-European question, that is only asked by people from there :-)
If you are traveling in other places in the world, you will never get that question. You will hear questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc.
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospitable people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside of CS. And in these cultures it is often an offense to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Traveling over land by hitchhiking, local buses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of traveling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job (I am a teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice) it is quite easy for me to work on the road (but I didn't really need to).

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through CouchSurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
- Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner.
- Climbing the Tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
- After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly CS'ers.
- Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school.
- After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a CS'er who was also a 'national trail angel'.

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to speak with them, because their second language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favorite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
Slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. The best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a Ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truck drivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I didn't use my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveler bring in his/her suitcase?

- Book: the little Prince
- Object: a red nose
- Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
- Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my day pack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up traveling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuff in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travelers?

- Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (No need for explanations)
- Travel slow!!!! Stay for a long time in a country! I tried to be for at least 6 weeks, or even a few months, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
- Never by return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldn't have planned at all on forehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what traveling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg was a german from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg, and since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem taking me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I ha to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and informed myself at an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He talked
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them as much
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have the meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties as
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a
guy of 21, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke: Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
already three times, each time several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still have contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'grote markt', and tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome also young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who wanna let them show around. Guests who
let me decide where to go, see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He made me enthusiastic and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host at
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T12:13:13Z

83.163.211.43: /* New 'rules' for travelling (and Couchsurfing) in India */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday?

=Couchsurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This timbletable is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area from where you can also join in.
For people who live further away: all cities which are part of 'nachtnet' are available to find a couch in

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get the pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the trainstations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make so much food at possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sur we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come of with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to join in for the whole part of the journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a trainstation? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organise the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o´clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to Couchsurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for travelling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf couches in India this summer, here's something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not-so-good geo-political relationships, the government has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreigners in India. Several state governments have started cracking the whips on errant Hotels, Hostels & Homestay owners...

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all Hotels, Hostels, Homestays, Resorts, private homes (which is the category CS hosts are in), Dormitories etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all police stations has to be filled out by the visitor and that formality has to be strictly followed. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigner, where he/she is coming from and the duration of his/her stay.
''Susy's note: is this bit 'under the .. departure' not just repeating what has been said above?''
Under the 1992 Registration of Foreigners Rules (Section 14) Act. The C Form to be submitted to the government should have information about their native country, date of their arrival, duration of stay, purpose of the visit and date of their departure. The details should be signed off by the host who was accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

Now these are the requirements of the law:

For Surfers -
Filling out the C Form is a formality - when ever you check into a hotel they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form -. If you don't stay in a hotel, you'll have to do it yourself. Whether you would want to do this is your choice, but the request will be to follow the law and make yourself and your host safer in the city...

One of the reasons the police are insisting on compliance on Form C is not only to stop unwanted elements from misusing the facilities of the state but also for your own security. Just in case - nationals of a particular country have to be given extra protection - then they can effectively do so.

Just three weeks ago - we had a high profile visitor from the US who was on a private visit. Because of the current situation, the moment we notified the cops, a constable on duty was provided as extra protection. Just in case. Yes, this doesn't hold for 99% of CS guests, but nevertheless, we would like to comply with the laws of our land, and hope that you too will. :)

Hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something for me. So I finally signed up and I was lost: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I travelled with, who I did an activity with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a biketour with, hitchhiked with, walked throught the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (and growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their...

3. How do you combine travelling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-european question, only people there ask it :-)
If you are travelling in other places in the world, You will never get that question, but questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospital people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside cs. And in these cultures it is often an offence to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Travelling over land by hitchhiking, local busses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of travelling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job, (I am an teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice), it is quite easy for me to work on the way. (but I didn't really need to)

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through couchsurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
-Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner,
-Climbing the tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
-After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly cs-ers
-Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school
-After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a cs'r who was also a 'national trail angel'

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to talk with them, because their 2nd language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favourite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. the best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truckdrivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I skipped my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveller bring in his/her suitcase?

-Book: the little Prince
-Object: a red nose
-Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
-Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my daypack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up travelling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuf in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travellers?

-Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (no need for explanations)
-Travel slow!!!! Stay a long time in countries! I tried to be at least 6 weeks or even a few months is places, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
-never by Return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldnt have planned at all beforehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what travelling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg was a german from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg, and since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem taking me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I ha to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and informed myself at an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He talked
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them as much
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have the meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties as
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a
guy of 21, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke: Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
already three times, each time several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still have contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'grote markt', and tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome also young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who wanna let them show around. Guests who
let me decide where to go, see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He made me enthusiastic and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host at
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T11:57:58Z

83.163.211.43: /* Couchsurfing in the media */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday?

=Couchsurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This timbletable is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area from where you can also join in.
For people who live further away: all cities which are part of 'nachtnet' are available to find a couch in

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get the pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the trainstations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make so much food at possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sur we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come of with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to join in for the whole part of the journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a trainstation? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organise the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o´clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to Couchsurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==CouchSurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing CouchSurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found out about us.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' published an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for travelling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf in India this summer something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not so good geo-political relationships, the govt has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreign nationals in India. Several state govts. have started cracking the whips on errant Hotels, Hostels & Homestay owners...

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all Hotels, Hostels, Homestays, Resorts, Private homes (which is where all CS hosts fall under), Dormitories...etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all Police stations has to be filled out by the visitor and thats a formality which has to be strictly followed. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigners, where they were coming from, and the duration of their stay. (Under the 1992 Registration of Foreigners Rules (Section 14) Act. The C Form to be submitted to the government should have information about their native country, date of their arrival, duration of stay, purpose of the visit and date of their departure. The details should be signed off by the host who was accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

Now these are the requirements of the law...:)

For Surfers -
this filling up of the C Form is a formality - when ever you check into a hotel - they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form anyway, just that you don't have to go to the police station...so thats an additional task for you...but in return you will get the hospitality of a good host...whether you would want to do this is your choice, but the request will be to follow the law & make yourself & the host safer in the city...

one of the reasons the police are insisting on compliance on Form C is not only to stop unwanted elements from misusing the facilities of the state but also for your security...just in case - nationals of a particular country have to be given extra protection - then they can effectively do so...

just 3 weeks back - we had a high profile visitor from the US who was on a private visit, but b'coz of the current situation, the moment we notified the cops, a constable on duty was provided as extra protection, just in case....yes, this doesn't hold for 99% of CS guests, but nevertheless, we would like to comply with the laws of our land, and hope that you too will...:)

hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something for me. So I finally signed up and I was lost: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I travelled with, who I did an activity with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a biketour with, hitchhiked with, walked throught the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (and growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their...

3. How do you combine travelling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-european question, only people there ask it :-)
If you are travelling in other places in the world, You will never get that question, but questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospital people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside cs. And in these cultures it is often an offence to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Travelling over land by hitchhiking, local busses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of travelling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job, (I am an teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice), it is quite easy for me to work on the way. (but I didn't really need to)

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through couchsurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
-Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner,
-Climbing the tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
-After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly cs-ers
-Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school
-After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a cs'r who was also a 'national trail angel'

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to talk with them, because their 2nd language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favourite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. the best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truckdrivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I skipped my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveller bring in his/her suitcase?

-Book: the little Prince
-Object: a red nose
-Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
-Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my daypack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up travelling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuf in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travellers?

-Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (no need for explanations)
-Travel slow!!!! Stay a long time in countries! I tried to be at least 6 weeks or even a few months is places, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
-never by Return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldnt have planned at all beforehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what travelling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg was a german from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg, and since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem taking me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I ha to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and informed myself at an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He talked
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them as much
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have the meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties as
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a
guy of 21, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke: Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
already three times, each time several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still have contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'grote markt', and tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome also young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who wanna let them show around. Guests who
let me decide where to go, see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He made me enthusiastic and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host at
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-31T11:54:41Z

83.163.211.43: /* Ideas for meetings */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday?

=Couchsurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

The Netherlands is probably the only decent country where it is possible to travel by train through every provincial capital in just one day.

This timbletable is tested:

http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

The start and end will be in Amsterdam, but there are plenty of cities in the Randstad area from where you can also join in.
For people who live further away: all cities which are part of 'nachtnet' are available to find a couch in

Preparation:

There are several pretty cheap options to get your dayticket. Kruidvat sells daytickets for only 14,90. The red ticket is valid on the right day. At several Kruidvat stores they are already sold out, but you can still get the pretty cheap at www.marktplaats.nl
With discount otherwise the ticket is 26,80 (there will be plenty of people with a NS-subscribtion at the meeting, so your discount ticket will be valid).

Food:

The timetable doesn't give much time to get food outside of the trainstations. But we have plenty of time to make our own in the train. Let's make it a challenge to make so much food at possible in the train!
Also don't forget to bring drinks. It is allowed to drink alcohol in Dutch trains

Entertainment:

Your not allowed to play electric music in trains, but I'm sur we can also get creative in here. There are plenty of games we can play in the train. Let's also make it a challenge to come of with the most crazy games!

An extra challenge could be to make a picture with you and as much city-signs as possible!

Visitors:

Of course you don't have to join in for the whole part of the journey. We would love to get visitors along the track. Do you live in a tiny village, that only has a trainstation? This is finally your chance to join in in a CS meeting!

Just check the timetable:
http://www.rosenbrand.net/cs/timetable.pdf

Sign up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=68094 here]

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organise the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o´clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to Couchsurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest tries to find him/her. When you've found the person that is hiding you get next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers' dressing room in the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=1348&post=5356152 Utrecht Train Station]

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor Kinderen"

- Theatersport/improvisation theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==Couchsurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing Couchsurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found our about couchsurfing.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' made an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for travelling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf in India this summer something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not so good geo-political relationships, the govt has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreign nationals in India. Several state govts. have started cracking the whips on errant Hotels, Hostels & Homestay owners...

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all Hotels, Hostels, Homestays, Resorts, Private homes (which is where all CS hosts fall under), Dormitories...etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all Police stations has to be filled out by the visitor and thats a formality which has to be strictly followed. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigners, where they were coming from, and the duration of their stay. (Under the 1992 Registration of Foreigners Rules (Section 14) Act. The C Form to be submitted to the government should have information about their native country, date of their arrival, duration of stay, purpose of the visit and date of their departure. The details should be signed off by the host who was accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

Now these are the requirements of the law...:)

For Surfers -
this filling up of the C Form is a formality - when ever you check into a hotel - they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form anyway, just that you don't have to go to the police station...so thats an additional task for you...but in return you will get the hospitality of a good host...whether you would want to do this is your choice, but the request will be to follow the law & make yourself & the host safer in the city...

one of the reasons the police are insisting on compliance on Form C is not only to stop unwanted elements from misusing the facilities of the state but also for your security...just in case - nationals of a particular country have to be given extra protection - then they can effectively do so...

just 3 weeks back - we had a high profile visitor from the US who was on a private visit, but b'coz of the current situation, the moment we notified the cops, a constable on duty was provided as extra protection, just in case....yes, this doesn't hold for 99% of CS guests, but nevertheless, we would like to comply with the laws of our land, and hope that you too will...:)

hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/oysie/ Marc]==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something for me. So I finally signed up and I was lost: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I travelled with, who I did an activity with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a biketour with, hitchhiked with, walked throught the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (and growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their...

3. How do you combine travelling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-european question, only people there ask it :-)
If you are travelling in other places in the world, You will never get that question, but questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospital people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside cs. And in these cultures it is often an offence to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Travelling over land by hitchhiking, local busses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of travelling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job, (I am an teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice), it is quite easy for me to work on the way. (but I didn't really need to)

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through couchsurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
-Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner,
-Climbing the tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
-After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly cs-ers
-Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school
-After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a cs'r who was also a 'national trail angel'

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to talk with them, because their 2nd language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favourite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. the best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truckdrivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I skipped my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveller bring in his/her suitcase?

-Book: the little Prince
-Object: a red nose
-Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
-Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my daypack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up travelling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuf in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travellers?

-Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (no need for explanations)
-Travel slow!!!! Stay a long time in countries! I tried to be at least 6 weeks or even a few months is places, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
-never by Return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldnt have planned at all beforehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what travelling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg was a german from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg, and since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem taking me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I ha to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and informed myself at an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He talked
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them as much
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have the meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties as
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a
guy of 21, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke: Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
already three times, each time several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still have contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'grote markt', and tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome also young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who wanna let them show around. Guests who
let me decide where to go, see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He made me enthusiastic and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host at
guests.

==CS house==

'''Couchsurfing house #1 – Casa Merode in Tilburg'''

What do you get when you combine five couchsurfers, liters of coffee, a vegetable garden, a crossword puzzle in the toilet and lots of people coming in and going out every day? Casa Merode (CM) is the one and only CS-house in Tilburg. All inhabitants are members of CouchSurfing and enjoy having guests.

“We can refer to ourselves as a CS house, but we are more like a collective of nice people who just live together and happened to members of CouchSurfing.” Sofia, from Sweden, is the only ‘real foreigner’ living in Casa Merode. The other housemates (Lukas, Erik, Susy and Bram) love to travel and don’t mind speaking English when she’s around (and sometimes even when she’s not), but are all born in The Netherlands.

“This house feels like an international home” is something we have all said on several occasions. It’s almost like a family, with lots of respect and love. We cook, eat and hang out together, we look out for each other. There’s no stupid cleaning schedules and fights about who drank someone else’s milk. We use common sense and the simple rule ‘if you finish something, replace it’.

And then there’s CouchSurfing. Tilburg does not get a whole lot of travelers coming through, but it’s very nice to have some guests once in a while. Casa Merode has an average of 2 guests a month. But we would like some more! So, this is an official statement for everyone who reads this: If you’d like to stay, or just drop by in our house in Tilburg, send one of us a message through CS!

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/ Susanne/SusyQ]

More about Casa Merode:
Two guys from Campus in Beeld (tv programme in Nijmegen) surfed our couch a few weeks ago and it’s to be found on Youtube now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8
Also we’ve been interviewed for a local student-paper (in Dutch). http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html
And then there’s our CS-group http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 and Wiki http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode .

Noot voor Jasper: foto’s kun je vinden op Lukas’ of Sofia’s profiel
Lukas: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2O0CHTP
Susy: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/susyq/
Sofia: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=31A8KCF
Erik: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=2Y73UWF
Bram: http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=4SR4UY5

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-29T21:06:33Z

83.163.211.43: /* Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland! */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday?

=Couchsurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

Jasper zal de tekst van Floris in de CS-NL groep aanpassen

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organise the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o´clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to Couchsurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water. It's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries, with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands of people
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch people and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works with their own eyes. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
on the program now, but it will include a
museum visit and a visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event with camping for those who want to, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest seeks. When you've found the person that is hiding you crawl next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers dressing room on the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on Utrecht Train Station (let me know if you want to join in)

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Sardines (see for explanation in this newsletter) on Utrecht Central Station

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor kinderen"

- Theatersport/imporv theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==Couchsurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing Couchsurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found our about couchsurfing.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' made an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for travelling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf in India this summer something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not so good geo-political relationships, the govt has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreign nationals in India. Several state govts. have started cracking the whips on errant Hotels, Hostels & Homestay owners...

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all Hotels, Hostels, Homestays, Resorts, Private homes (which is where all CS hosts fall under), Dormitories...etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all Police stations has to be filled out by the visitor and thats a formality which has to be strictly followed. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigners, where they were coming from, and the duration of their stay. (Under the 1992 Registration of Foreigners Rules (Section 14) Act. The C Form to be submitted to the government should have information about their native country, date of their arrival, duration of stay, purpose of the visit and date of their departure. The details should be signed off by the host who was accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

Now these are the requirements of the law...:)

For Surfers -
this filling up of the C Form is a formality - when ever you check into a hotel - they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form anyway, just that you don't have to go to the police station...so thats an additional task for you...but in return you will get the hospitality of a good host...whether you would want to do this is your choice, but the request will be to follow the law & make yourself & the host safer in the city...

one of the reasons the police are insisting on compliance on Form C is not only to stop unwanted elements from misusing the facilities of the state but also for your security...just in case - nationals of a particular country have to be given extra protection - then they can effectively do so...

just 3 weeks back - we had a high profile visitor from the US who was on a private visit, but b'coz of the current situation, the moment we notified the cops, a constable on duty was provided as extra protection, just in case....yes, this doesn't hold for 99% of CS guests, but nevertheless, we would like to comply with the laws of our land, and hope that you too will...:)

hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

==ideas for meetings==

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with Marc==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something for me. So I finally signed up and I was lost: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I travelled with, who I did an activity with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a biketour with, hitchhiked with, walked throught the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (and growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their...

3. How do you combine travelling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-european question, only people there ask it :-)
If you are travelling in other places in the world, You will never get that question, but questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospital people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside cs. And in these cultures it is often an offence to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Travelling over land by hitchhiking, local busses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of travelling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job, (I am an teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice), it is quite easy for me to work on the way. (but I didn't really need to)

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through couchsurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
-Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner,
-Climbing the tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
-After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly cs-ers
-Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school
-After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a cs'r who was also a 'national trail angel'

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to talk with them, because their 2nd language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favourite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. the best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truckdrivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I skipped my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveller bring in his/her suitcase?

-Book: the little Prince
-Object: a red nose
-Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
-Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my daypack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up travelling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuf in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travellers?

-Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (no need for explanations)
-Travel slow!!!! Stay a long time in countries! I tried to be at least 6 weeks or even a few months is places, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
-never by Return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldnt have planned at all beforehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what travelling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg was a german from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg, and since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem taking me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I ha to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and informed myself at an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He talked
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them as much
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have the meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties as
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a
guy of 21, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke: Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
already three times, each time several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still have contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'grote markt', and tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome also young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who wanna let them show around. Guests who
let me decide where to go, see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He made me enthusiastic and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host at
guests.

==CS house #1==

I suggest in stead of Place Unknown, we can make a section on CS houses. I know about our one and one in Valkenswaard. Any other ones?
Article on Casa Merode is done and being reviewed btw.

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-29T21:01:04Z

83.163.211.43: /* Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday?

=Couchsurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

Jasper zal de tekst van Floris in de CS-NL groep aanpassen

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organise the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o´clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to Couchsurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse, Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water, it's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works by themselves. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
hard on the program now, but it will include a
museumvisit and the visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event for those who want,
with camping, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated then.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest seeks. When you've found the person that is hiding you crawl next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers dressing room on the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on Utrecht Train Station (let me know if you want to join in)

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Sardines (see for explanation in this newsletter) on Utrecht Central Station

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor kinderen"

- Theatersport/imporv theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==Couchsurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing Couchsurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found our about couchsurfing.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' made an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for travelling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf in India this summer something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not so good geo-political relationships, the govt has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreign nationals in India. Several state govts. have started cracking the whips on errant Hotels, Hostels & Homestay owners...

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all Hotels, Hostels, Homestays, Resorts, Private homes (which is where all CS hosts fall under), Dormitories...etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all Police stations has to be filled out by the visitor and thats a formality which has to be strictly followed. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigners, where they were coming from, and the duration of their stay. (Under the 1992 Registration of Foreigners Rules (Section 14) Act. The C Form to be submitted to the government should have information about their native country, date of their arrival, duration of stay, purpose of the visit and date of their departure. The details should be signed off by the host who was accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

Now these are the requirements of the law...:)

For Surfers -
this filling up of the C Form is a formality - when ever you check into a hotel - they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form anyway, just that you don't have to go to the police station...so thats an additional task for you...but in return you will get the hospitality of a good host...whether you would want to do this is your choice, but the request will be to follow the law & make yourself & the host safer in the city...

one of the reasons the police are insisting on compliance on Form C is not only to stop unwanted elements from misusing the facilities of the state but also for your security...just in case - nationals of a particular country have to be given extra protection - then they can effectively do so...

just 3 weeks back - we had a high profile visitor from the US who was on a private visit, but b'coz of the current situation, the moment we notified the cops, a constable on duty was provided as extra protection, just in case....yes, this doesn't hold for 99% of CS guests, but nevertheless, we would like to comply with the laws of our land, and hope that you too will...:)

hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

==ideas for meetings==

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with Marc==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something for me. So I finally signed up and I was lost: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I travelled with, who I did an activity with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a biketour with, hitchhiked with, walked throught the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (and growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their...

3. How do you combine travelling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-european question, only people there ask it :-)
If you are travelling in other places in the world, You will never get that question, but questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospital people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside cs. And in these cultures it is often an offence to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Travelling over land by hitchhiking, local busses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of travelling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job, (I am an teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice), it is quite easy for me to work on the way. (but I didn't really need to)

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through couchsurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
-Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner,
-Climbing the tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
-After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly cs-ers
-Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school
-After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a cs'r who was also a 'national trail angel'

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to talk with them, because their 2nd language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favourite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. the best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truckdrivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I skipped my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveller bring in his/her suitcase?

-Book: the little Prince
-Object: a red nose
-Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
-Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my daypack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up travelling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuf in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travellers?

-Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (no need for explanations)
-Travel slow!!!! Stay a long time in countries! I tried to be at least 6 weeks or even a few months is places, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
-never by Return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldnt have planned at all beforehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what travelling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg was a german from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg, and since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem taking me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I ha to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and informed myself at an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He talked
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them as much
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have the meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties as
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a
guy of 21, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke: Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
already three times, each time several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still have contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'grote markt', and tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome also young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who wanna let them show around. Guests who
let me decide where to go, see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He made me enthusiastic and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host at
guests.

==CS house #1==

I suggest in stead of Place Unknown, we can make a section on CS houses. I know about our one and one in Valkenswaard. Any other ones?
Article on Casa Merode is done and being reviewed btw.

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-29T20:55:40Z

83.163.211.43: /* Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday?

=Couchsurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

Jasper zal de tekst van Floris in de CS-NL groep aanpassen

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organise the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o´clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop in Kijkduin, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children (and parents too) can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands: the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o'clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we'll build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join this event, sign up on the meeting page, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends who are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to Couchsurfing.

What to bring: The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food/drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water, it's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works by themselves. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
hard on the program now, but it will include a
museumvisit and the visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event for those who want,
with camping, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated then.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest seeks. When you've found the person that is hiding you crawl next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers dressing room on the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on Utrecht Train Station (let me know if you want to join in)

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Sardines (see for explanation in this newsletter) on Utrecht Central Station

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor kinderen"

- Theatersport/imporv theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==Couchsurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing Couchsurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found our about couchsurfing.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' made an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for travelling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf in India this summer something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not so good geo-political relationships, the govt has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreign nationals in India. Several state govts. have started cracking the whips on errant Hotels, Hostels & Homestay owners...

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all Hotels, Hostels, Homestays, Resorts, Private homes (which is where all CS hosts fall under), Dormitories...etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all Police stations has to be filled out by the visitor and thats a formality which has to be strictly followed. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigners, where they were coming from, and the duration of their stay. (Under the 1992 Registration of Foreigners Rules (Section 14) Act. The C Form to be submitted to the government should have information about their native country, date of their arrival, duration of stay, purpose of the visit and date of their departure. The details should be signed off by the host who was accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

Now these are the requirements of the law...:)

For Surfers -
this filling up of the C Form is a formality - when ever you check into a hotel - they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form anyway, just that you don't have to go to the police station...so thats an additional task for you...but in return you will get the hospitality of a good host...whether you would want to do this is your choice, but the request will be to follow the law & make yourself & the host safer in the city...

one of the reasons the police are insisting on compliance on Form C is not only to stop unwanted elements from misusing the facilities of the state but also for your security...just in case - nationals of a particular country have to be given extra protection - then they can effectively do so...

just 3 weeks back - we had a high profile visitor from the US who was on a private visit, but b'coz of the current situation, the moment we notified the cops, a constable on duty was provided as extra protection, just in case....yes, this doesn't hold for 99% of CS guests, but nevertheless, we would like to comply with the laws of our land, and hope that you too will...:)

hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

==ideas for meetings==

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with Marc==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something for me. So I finally signed up and I was lost: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I travelled with, who I did an activity with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a biketour with, hitchhiked with, walked throught the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (and growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their...

3. How do you combine travelling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-european question, only people there ask it :-)
If you are travelling in other places in the world, You will never get that question, but questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospital people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside cs. And in these cultures it is often an offence to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Travelling over land by hitchhiking, local busses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of travelling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job, (I am an teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice), it is quite easy for me to work on the way. (but I didn't really need to)

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through couchsurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
-Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner,
-Climbing the tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
-After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly cs-ers
-Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school
-After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a cs'r who was also a 'national trail angel'

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to talk with them, because their 2nd language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favourite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. the best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truckdrivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I skipped my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveller bring in his/her suitcase?

-Book: the little Prince
-Object: a red nose
-Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
-Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my daypack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up travelling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuf in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travellers?

-Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (no need for explanations)
-Travel slow!!!! Stay a long time in countries! I tried to be at least 6 weeks or even a few months is places, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
-never by Return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldnt have planned at all beforehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what travelling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg was a german from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg, and since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem taking me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I ha to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and informed myself at an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He talked
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them as much
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have the meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties as
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a
guy of 21, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke: Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
already three times, each time several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still have contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'grote markt', and tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome also young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who wanna let them show around. Guests who
let me decide where to go, see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He made me enthusiastic and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host at
guests.

==CS house #1==

I suggest in stead of Place Unknown, we can make a section on CS houses. I know about our one and one in Valkenswaard. Any other ones?
Article on Casa Merode is done and being reviewed btw.

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-29T20:51:08Z

83.163.211.43: /* Place unknown */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday?

=Couchsurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

Jasper zal de tekst van Floris in de CS-NL groep aanpassen

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organise the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o´clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children, parents too, can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and Frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands, the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o´clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join in on this event, sign up through the link, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends that are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to Couchsurfing.

What to bring. The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food and drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water, it's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works by themselves. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
hard on the program now, but it will include a
museumvisit and the visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event for those who want,
with camping, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated then.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest seeks. When you've found the person that is hiding you crawl next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers dressing room on the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on Utrecht Train Station (let me know if you want to join in)

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Sardines (see for explanation in this newsletter) on Utrecht Central Station

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor kinderen"

- Theatersport/imporv theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==Couchsurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing Couchsurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found our about couchsurfing.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' made an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for travelling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf in India this summer something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not so good geo-political relationships, the govt has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreign nationals in India. Several state govts. have started cracking the whips on errant Hotels, Hostels & Homestay owners...

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all Hotels, Hostels, Homestays, Resorts, Private homes (which is where all CS hosts fall under), Dormitories...etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all Police stations has to be filled out by the visitor and thats a formality which has to be strictly followed. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigners, where they were coming from, and the duration of their stay. (Under the 1992 Registration of Foreigners Rules (Section 14) Act. The C Form to be submitted to the government should have information about their native country, date of their arrival, duration of stay, purpose of the visit and date of their departure. The details should be signed off by the host who was accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

Now these are the requirements of the law...:)

For Surfers -
this filling up of the C Form is a formality - when ever you check into a hotel - they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form anyway, just that you don't have to go to the police station...so thats an additional task for you...but in return you will get the hospitality of a good host...whether you would want to do this is your choice, but the request will be to follow the law & make yourself & the host safer in the city...

one of the reasons the police are insisting on compliance on Form C is not only to stop unwanted elements from misusing the facilities of the state but also for your security...just in case - nationals of a particular country have to be given extra protection - then they can effectively do so...

just 3 weeks back - we had a high profile visitor from the US who was on a private visit, but b'coz of the current situation, the moment we notified the cops, a constable on duty was provided as extra protection, just in case....yes, this doesn't hold for 99% of CS guests, but nevertheless, we would like to comply with the laws of our land, and hope that you too will...:)

hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

==ideas for meetings==

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with Marc==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something for me. So I finally signed up and I was lost: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I travelled with, who I did an activity with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a biketour with, hitchhiked with, walked throught the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (and growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their...

3. How do you combine travelling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-european question, only people there ask it :-)
If you are travelling in other places in the world, You will never get that question, but questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospital people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside cs. And in these cultures it is often an offence to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Travelling over land by hitchhiking, local busses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of travelling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job, (I am an teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice), it is quite easy for me to work on the way. (but I didn't really need to)

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through couchsurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
-Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner,
-Climbing the tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
-After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly cs-ers
-Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school
-After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a cs'r who was also a 'national trail angel'

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to talk with them, because their 2nd language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favourite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. the best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truckdrivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I skipped my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveller bring in his/her suitcase?

-Book: the little Prince
-Object: a red nose
-Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
-Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my daypack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up travelling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuf in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travellers?

-Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (no need for explanations)
-Travel slow!!!! Stay a long time in countries! I tried to be at least 6 weeks or even a few months is places, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
-never by Return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldnt have planned at all beforehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what travelling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg was a german from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg, and since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem taking me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I ha to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and informed myself at an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He talked
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them as much
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have the meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties as
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a
guy of 21, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke: Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
already three times, each time several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still have contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'grote markt', and tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome also young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who wanna let them show around. Guests who
let me decide where to go, see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He made me enthusiastic and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host at
guests.

==CS house #1==

I suggest in stead of Place Unknown, we can make a section on CS houses. I know about our one and one in Valkenswaard. Any other ones?
Article on Casa Merode is done and being reviewed btw.

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-29T19:43:07Z

83.163.211.43: /* Couchsurfing in the media */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Bericht over queensday?

=Couchsurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Coming==

===Queensday all over the country===

Linda schrijft een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===The 24 hour train race project===

Jasper zal de tekst van Floris in de CS-NL groep aanpassen

===Family Meeting on Kijkduin beach, The Hague===

We are happy to organise the very first [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66973 Family Meeting] in the Netherlands.

The beach is a perfect place to meet for families and share experiences under a (hopefully) bright blue sky, while barefoot children play games in the sand.

We meet at 10.30 o´clock under the lighthouse near the parking and bus stop, before going down to the beach (right side). Here the children, parents too, can play games in groups like waterpaaltjes voeltbal, giant mikado and Frisbee. Also individual games like poi and diabolo are fun to do or learn. Also there is the biggest swimming pool of the Netherlands, the sea!

If all families bring some food (enough for yourself and two others) we can have a huge picnic around 12.30 o´clock.
In the afternoon there is a yoga class and we build sandcastles and play more games.

If you want to join in on this event, sign up through the link, we would like to know how many people are coming. Please bring friends that are not yet a member of CS as this is a perfect introduction to Couchsurfing.

What to bring. The usual stuff like towels and swim suits, favorite games of the children and food and drinks.

During the meeting you can contact us on 06 389 259 52

We hope to see you all on the 13th of June!
Greetings from [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/onsplekkie/ Ilse Maarten and Lilou]

===Visit the Deltaworks in Zeeland!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water, it's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works by themselves. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
hard on the program now, but it will include a
museumvisit and the visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event for those who want,
with camping, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated then.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]

===Songfestival Meeting in Utrecht===

Everybody has an opinion about the Eurovision Songfestival. Some like the music, some like the show, some think it is only favoritism, but everybody loves to see who gets 12 and who gets 0 points.

*Will the Netherlands give 12 points to Turkey again?
*Will the Scandinavians give all points to each other again?
*Will Turkey and Greece give points to each other?
*Will any of Turkeys neigbours give them points?
*Will the Netherlands finally reach the finals again?
*Are there still enough Poles in Ireland to give them 12 points?
and the most important one:
*Will Israel give points to Germany?

Of course we will also vote ourselves, we'll see who predicted the winner, but more important, we will see which songs the couchsurfers actually DO like.

Sing up [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=67969 here]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

===Midsummernight in the park in Utrecht===

Again Utrecht has prepared a whole weekend full of activities in the park around [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 Midsummer Night]

The submeetings are made, so [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] before it is too late!

- Meeting each other with nice drinks and fun games

- A crazy quest in the centre of Utrecht finding the lost couchsurfer

- A chance to see the Netherlands play football against Japan in South Africa

- Creative workshops in the park

- A diner made by the Utrecht Cooking team (bring your own plates this time!)

- A new ceremony celebrating the sun going down

- A lazy sundayafternoon-brunch

These pictures of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 last year] will give an impression of what you might expect:

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140055_l_bdb8e0959ab23b199855479df60f9f27.jpg Midsummer Lampions]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140049_l_3380f1524d53917fdb4909a46967dc20.jpg Midsummer fireshow]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/35ELGAF/5140039_l_aa8cdea866dc37475bd8326801b38c24.jpg Crazy people in Utrecht]

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1P2DO0K/5188437_l_e22dd4558823bcf9096caea771989838.jpg The whole group of 2009]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

==past==

===Flash Mobs in the Netherlands===

Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.

Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.

The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.

If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]

===Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles===

During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.

That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.

The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Bowling meetings===

Astrid schrijft een stukje

===Happy times in Zwollywood - Sardines===

What do you do when your with over 10 couchsurfers in a abandoned school (which will be demolished in 2 weeks) and because it is [http://www.earthhour.org/ Earth Hour] you just turned off all the lights?

Answer: Sardines!

Sardines is reversed hide and seek; one person hides and the rest seeks. When you've found the person that is hiding you crawl next to this person untill you've reached the point that one person is looking for everybody.

Both the location and the group of couchsurfers appeared to be perfect for this game. We've been hiding under the sink, under chairs and even in the shower of the teachers dressing room on the gym of the school. In the end we got so good that we even managed to let somebody sneak out and come back with chips.

The next step: Sardines on saturday afternoon on Utrecht Train Station (let me know if you want to join in)

[http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108733015822075_100000561303728_153097_5544008_n.jpg picture1],
[http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732965822080_100000561303728_153087_2414733_n.jpg picture2], [http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs515.snc3/27054_108732989155411_100000561303728_153092_296049_n.jpg picture3], [http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs495.ash1/27054_108732982488745_100000561303728_153091_1916225_n.jpg picture4]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper]

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==Ideas for meetings==

At the last [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64872 meeting] of the Netherlands CS organisation we brainstormed about ideas for possible meetings. Some of those ideas are already being organised and can be found in this newsletter. Some of those ideas can be found below. Do you want to help with organising any of these ideas, contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza] or any other member of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5031 Netherlands CS Organisation].

- Sardines (see for explanation in this newsletter) on Utrecht Central Station

- Rubix cube party (come in different colored clothes, leaves in the same color)

- Making up stories, tell them to each other and guess which one is true and which one made-up

- Make pubquizes

- Bike meetings, double city bike tour and meetup half way in between the cities (like Utrecht-Amsterdam, Arnhem-Zwolle, Den Haag-Rotterdam)

- Meetup at the last metro or tram stop

- Singing songs from "Kinderen voor kinderen"

- Theatersport/imporv theater

- Sharades (hints)

- International invasions, to (Newcastle, Duisburg, Gent)

- Meetup where you don't know where you will end up: 2x left 1x right for a ... period of time and see where you end up

==Couchsurfing in the media==

More and more media are noticing Couchsurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found our about couchsurfing.

[http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 Elsevier] recently wrote an article about a CS event in Eindhoven and 'Het Reformatorisch Dagblad' made an [http://www.refdag.nl/artikel/1468653/Wereldreizen%20van%20bank%20naar%20bank.html interview] with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/lizzie82ish/ Liza]

Tilburg CS was in the news twice for so far. A tv show called Campus in Beeld, whose host surfed a couch in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4aqRyTeNy8 this city] and an article in the student [http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html paper].

==New 'rules' for travelling (and Couchsurfing) in India==
For everybody who is planning to surf in India this summer something to keep in mind:

In the aftermath of the recent terror attacks & keeping in view the not so good geo-political relationships, the govt has decided to become more stringent on rules regarding stay of foreign nationals in India. Several state govts. have started cracking the whips on errant Hotels, Hostels & Homestay owners...

The Foreigners Registration Act (FRA) states the rules & regulations to be followed by all Hotels, Hostels, Homestays, Resorts, Private homes (which is where all CS hosts fall under), Dormitories...etc. The "C" Form, which is available in all Police stations has to be filled out by the visitor and thats a formality which has to be strictly followed. The "C" Form collects the details of the passport of the foreigners, where they were coming from, and the duration of their stay. (Under the 1992 Registration of Foreigners Rules (Section 14) Act. The C Form to be submitted to the government should have information about their native country, date of their arrival, duration of stay, purpose of the visit and date of their departure. The details should be signed off by the host who was accommodating them.

If anybody is accommodating a foreign guest on a personal visit in his or her house, they should also inform the police department as per the Foreign Registration Rules. Failure to provide information to the authorities by the hosts would invite a punishment of imprisonment up to five years and a fine.

Now these are the requirements of the law...:)

For Surfers -
this filling up of the C Form is a formality - when ever you check into a hotel - they will photocopy your passport & make you sign the C form anyway, just that you don't have to go to the police station...so thats an additional task for you...but in return you will get the hospitality of a good host...whether you would want to do this is your choice, but the request will be to follow the law & make yourself & the host safer in the city...

one of the reasons the police are insisting on compliance on Form C is not only to stop unwanted elements from misusing the facilities of the state but also for your security...just in case - nationals of a particular country have to be given extra protection - then they can effectively do so...

just 3 weeks back - we had a high profile visitor from the US who was on a private visit, but b'coz of the current situation, the moment we notified the cops, a constable on duty was provided as extra protection, just in case....yes, this doesn't hold for 99% of CS guests, but nevertheless, we would like to comply with the laws of our land, and hope that you too will...:)

hope this brings the clarity to all those who are going to be hosts & surfers in India...

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/priyaq/ Priya]

==ideas for meetings==

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

==Interview with Marc==
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

An Amsterdam friend of mine had been hosting people already for some time, and he kept bugging me with saying it is really something for me. So I finally signed up and I was lost: totally fell in love with the concept, the openness and the trust between people who are everywhere just that: people.

2. How did you participate in CS until now?

I have mostly been a nomad until now. 4 years ago I left Holland with the idea to travel for maximum a year. It became 2 and then 3 and then 4......
I met hundreds of CS'ers, people who hosted me, who I travelled with, who I did an activity with, who I met on meetings, parties, took a biketour with, hitchhiked with, walked throught the desert with and even hosted in a temporary home I had :)
It is just amazing that there is a community of people all over the world (and growing!) who want to share their life, their experiences, their...

3. How do you combine travelling with your professional life?

This question is a typical northwest-european question, only people there ask it :-)
If you are travelling in other places in the world, You will never get that question, but questions like: what did you learn as a human, what kind of people did you meet, what amazing experiences do you have if you travel so long etc
I'll answer the question like this:
Actually, if you travel outside of the 'material' western world, you discover how hospital people are. Especially in the African, Arabian and East-european societies people invite you all the time for tea, dinner or to stay over, also outside cs. And in these cultures it is often an offence to do something back, so you have a hard time spending money!
Also: Travelling over land by hitchhiking, local busses, local trains is extremely cheap and beautiful: the whole fact of travelling 'slow' makes you really get to know the countries, the people and the culture.
OK OK, if you really want to know:
I worked and saved some money before I departed, and because I have a free job, (I am an teacher/director of theatre, circus and voice), it is quite easy for me to work on the way. (but I didn't really need to)

4. What is the most special experience you ever had through couchsurfing?

That's a difficult question, I had so many amazing experiences:
-Being hosted in an Hotel in Jordan, because the CS member was the owner,
-Climbing the tablemountain in Capetown in midst of the day in summer (stupid!) with a local guy from the townships.
-After a 42 hours drive in a 'bush-taxi' from Guinnee via Senegal to Gambia being invited to a wedding of the brother of a CS'er. The whole high-society of Gambia and Sierra-Leone turned out to be at this wedding, and 2 smelly cs-ers
-Hitchhiking all over Moldova, because my host didn't feel like staying in the capital and going to school
-After walking for days through the Negev desert getting a shower at a cs'r who was also a 'national trail angel'

5. What is the most special place you ever visited?

Pffff, same problem as above..
If I really have to choose:
Visiting the San people (Bushman) in the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
These people are so amazing: If you look into their eyes, you see a deep wisdom and the fire of a child at the same moment.
I was able to talk with them, because their 2nd language after their own (the language with the 12 'clicks') is Afrikaans, which is related to Dutch!
Because it was apparent there were no young girls walking around with babies, like you expect of 'tribe' people, I asked why.
Their answer: We don't get children before the age of 30, because then you are wise enough not to project your problems on your children.
....
I rest my case

6. What is your favourite means of travel?

Hitchhiking.
slow, really being inside of the country, meeting locals. the best way!
Once I had a ticket from Hamburg to Israel because it was the cheapest I found. The only thing was that I was in Porto, Portugal. :-)
I already booked a ryanair ticket from Portugal to Hamburg via London.
And then I got an offer to drive with truckdrivers from Portugal via Belgium to Hamburg, so of course I skipped my ticket!!!

7. What should every traveller bring in his/her suitcase?

-Book: the little Prince
-Object: a red nose
-Paper and marker for Hitchhiking
-Not enough money, so you will improvise
The suitcase itself should be small and < 15 kg. I had many cases that I took my daypack to visit someone for a few days, and I ended up travelling with it for many weeks. It made me realize I actually didn't need the stuf in my 'big' bag :-)

8. what would your advise be to other (new) travellers?

-Always follow your intuition. It is always right! (no need for explanations)
-Travel slow!!!! Stay a long time in countries! I tried to be at least 6 weeks or even a few months is places, because you slowly sink into the local culture and really start to understand on a deeper level about the people, the land, the culture.
-never by Return tickets (or worse: RTW tickets).
Because I followed my intuition, I ended up in places and with people I couldnt have planned at all beforehand.

If you follow the flow of life and surrender, it will show you the beauty of what travelling is really about: the Journey inside.

==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==

Check the [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/ weblog] of [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/linforcer/ Tommy] for more.

I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.

The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg was a german from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg, and since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem taking me along.

[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.

The next day, the ferry docked at 9 and by 9 30 we were on our way North, where I got stuck for a long time before moving on to Karlstad, where I pulled some strings to stay a night with Elina's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. (Elina being my host in Stockholm, whom I hadn't met yet, technically making Marion Carel's friend's boyfriend's friend's neighbor. Then of course true to my nature, I left the very instrument used for the pulling of aforementioned strings (read: my phone) in Karlstad.

So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I ha to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Interview with a 'exotic host'==

From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.

[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1HUXNSU/974873_l_1d63f3bfa645852d7cc36574d490e2bb.jpg Kinderdijk]

1 How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

In September 2006 I red an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and informed myself at an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He talked
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile myself the
same evening.

2 What makes your couch special?

My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them as much
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have the meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties as
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a
guy of 21, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke: Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
already three times, each time several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still have contact.

4 What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'grote markt', and tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.

5 What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?

In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome also young starters in our CS
community.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who wanna let them show around. Guests who
let me decide where to go, see the most and have the
nicest time.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
before. He made me enthusiastic and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host at
guests.

==Place unknown==

Casa Merode, a CS house in Tilburg. It's a house with 5 students who are all active on CS. There's a Wiki-page about it and it's got its own group on CS.

http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode
http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894&showpage=1

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for more than 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-12T12:48:57Z

83.163.211.43: /* Place unknown */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Een welkom en een vraag die linkt naar een threat in de NL group
(wanneer is iemand voor jou een vouch waard?)

=Couchsurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

==Queensday==

Wie schrijft er een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

==Visit the Deltaworks!==

The Dutch know how to manage the water, it's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works by themselves. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
hard on the program now, but it will include a
museumvisit and the visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event for those who want,
with camping, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please sign up, and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated then.

Meetinglink:
http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443

==[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 MCME] ==

Jasper: mail gestuurd naar Victor

==Arnhem Calling?==

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

==Midsummeraftercamp?==

wordt dit weer georganiseerd dit jaar?

==Maastricht summer meeting?==

wordt dit weer georganiseerd dit jaar?

==Midsummernight in the park==

Wil er iemand iets leuks over schrijven?

==Small meeting?==

Wil er iemand iets leuks over schrijven?

==Carnaval?==

Wil er iemand iets leuks over schrijven?

==Meeting in Zwolle?==

Vind enkele dagen voor de deadline plaats,
is het nog mogelijk er iets over te schrijven?

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

==How to make a CS event? > Maikel's powerpoint?===

Stoppen we deze erin?

==Discussion topic (heading) ? ==

doen we dit nog?

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

==stories from Dutch travellers?==

Opnieuw Tommy vragen?

==guests in NL?==

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

===Standaardvragen===
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

2. How do you combine travelling with your 'normal' life?

3. What is the most special experience you ever had through couchsurfing?

4. What is the most special place you ever visited?

5. Which traveller should we interview in the next newsletter?

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

Interview with a 'exotic host'?

Jasper heeft een mail gestuurd naar een potentiele host
Wie heeft er zin in een tweede host te interviewen?
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

===Standaardvragen===
* How did you find out about Couchsurfing?

* What makes your couch special?

* Tell about a special person you hosted?

* What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?

* Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

==Couchpicture==

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

==Place unknown==

Casa Merode, a CS house in Tilburg. It's a house with 5 students who are all active on CS. There's a Wiki-page about it and it's got its own group on CS.

http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode
http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894&showpage=1

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for over 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

CS newsletter for the Netherlands

2010-03-07T12:15:23Z

83.163.211.43: /* traveltip (linkerbalk) */

Old newsletters:

[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]

Draft 2nd newsletter

=Heading=

Een welkom en een vraag die linkt naar een threat in de NL group
(wanneer is iemand voor jou een vouch waard?)

=Couchsurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=

===Queensday===

Wie schrijft er een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?

===Visit the Deltaworks!===

The Dutch know how to manage the water, it's been a
constant struggle in the past centuries with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water are the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the 'Eastern Schelde dam' being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks were built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23

I think both Dutch and foreigners would love to see the
Delta works by themselves. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I set up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
hard on the program now, but it will include a
museumvisit and the visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event for those who want,
with camping, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please sign up, and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated then.

Meetinglink:
http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443

===[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591 MCME] ===

Jasper: mail gestuurd naar Victor

===Arnhem Calling?===

Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven

===Midsummeraftercamp?===

wordt dit weer georganiseerd dit jaar?

===Maastricht summer meeting?===

wordt dit weer georganiseerd dit jaar?

===Midsummernight in the park===

Wil er iemand iets leuks over schrijven?

===Small meeting?===

Wil er iemand iets leuks over schrijven?

===Carnaval?===

Wil er iemand iets leuks over schrijven?

===Meeting in Zwolle?===

Vind enkele dagen voor de deadline plaats,
is het nog mogelijk er iets over te schrijven?

=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=

===How to make a CS event? > Maikel's powerpoint?===

Stoppen we deze erin?

===Discussion topic (heading) ? ===

doen we dit nog?

=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=

===stories from Dutch travellers?===

===guests in NL?===

Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=

===Interview with a 'exotic host'?===

Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep

===Couchpicture===

Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]

===Place unknown===

Welke community is leuk om iets mee te doen,
Tilburg? Zwolle?

=traveltip (linkerbalk)=

Get a phone without SIM-lock and get a new SIM-card whenever you enter a country in which you plan to stay for over 5 days. It saves you (and your CS-hosts) loads of money.

{{IsIn|CS Organisation Netherlands}}
[[category:CS Newsletters]]

Casa Merode

2009-11-25T00:10:22Z

83.163.211.43: Created page with '== Casa Merode == Casa Merode is a student house in the south center of Tilburg, in the Netherlands. Since September 2009 there it has 5 inhabitants, all of them CouchSur…'

== Casa Merode ==
Casa Merode is a student house in the south center of [[Tilburg]], in the [[Netherlands]]. Since September 2009 there it has 5 inhabitants, all of them CouchSurfers. This makes the house 100% CouchSurf-friendly.
It's easily accessible on foot or public transport from the city center and main railroad station and even has lots of parking space around.

== CouchSurfing at Casa Merode ==
[[File:Casa_Couch.jpg|left|160px|official (public) couch of Casa Merode]]Casa Merode has it's own [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 CS-group], as a subgroup of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5526 Tilburg-group].
You could either request by writing a request to one of the house members (which are all addressed as 'moderator' in the Casa Merode group) or simply join the CS-group and write an (open) request.

Casa Merode has approximately 10 'couches' open to surf. In the communal living room there are two mattresses and the blue couch. In the other (private) rooms more mattresses or sleeping-space can be found. If necessary the garden provides enough space for a small tent.

So far Casa Merode had visitors from the following countries:
* Austria
* Belgium
* Canada
* England
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Greece
* Norway
* Poland
* Russia
* Spain
* Sweden
* Turkey
* United States

== Values ==
In Casa Merode there are some values which are highly appreciated.
=== Love ===
The members of Casa Merode think that love is one of the most important things in life. You can love anyone at any time, and as much as you want.

=== Vegetarianism ===
Most members of Casa Merode don't eat meat, some eat meat rarely. Casa Merode only cooks communal dinners without meat. There are many different reasons for not eating meat. However, it does not mean that you can't come if you're a carnivore.

=== Sustainability ===
The world is creating many problems for the future. The most effective remedy is sustainability.
Casa Merode tries to focus on sustainability. Some examples:
* Composting barrel in the backyard
* Vegetables in the backyard
* Use of biodegradable cleaning and washing products
* Organic and vegetarian dinners

=== Tolerance and respect ===
Casa Merode is a highly tolerant house. People are never being judged on who they are or what ideas they have, though some actions (like violence) are not being tolerated.

=== Coffee ===
Well, not much of a value, but the fact is that Casa Merode drinks around 750 grams of coffee a week!

== Events ==
* Regular game evenings
* Merode cinema (great documentaries and movies)
* (CS-)Parties

== In the media ==
On the 5th of November 2009 Casa Merode was subject of an article[http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/09/onderdak.html] about student houses in Univers[http://www.uvt.nl/univers], the weekly newspaper of the University of Tilburg[http://www.uvt.nl]. CouchSurfing was one of the issues in the interview.

Tilburg

2009-11-25T00:08:09Z

83.163.211.43: /* Couch Searching & Surfing */

== Tilburg ==
[[File:Tilburg kerk.jpg|left|160px|The 'Kerk op de heuvel' a central spot in Tilburg]] Tilburg is a city located in the south of the [[Netherlands]], near the Belgian border. It is the sixth biggest city with approximately 200,000 inhabitants, including 13,500 students. Tilburg has city rights since 1809 and became famous for its wool industries.

== Couch Searching & Surfing ==
Tilburg has its own [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=5526 CouchSurf group]. There are over 200 CS-members in Tilburg. Since many people decide to just visit the big cities in the Netherlands there are not many CouchSurfers looking for a couch in Tilburg. Therefore it's relatively easy to find a host. However, you should still select the hosts you find most interesting and make an effort in requesting a couch.
Please note that during some events, e.g. Roadburn Festival, there is a huge number of visitors. It's recommended to request early (well, not too early).

Since September 2009 there's a 100% CouchSurfing-loving house, called '[[Casa Merode]]'. It has an official [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894 sub-group] of the Tilburg CS-group. It's one of the places in Tilburg with a big amount of couches.

== Getting there and around ==

=== By train ===
Tilburg is easy to reach by train[http://www.ns.nl]
Direct trains from
* Roosendaal - coming from [[Belgium]]
* [[Den Haag]], [[Delft]], [[Rotterdam]] or [[Breda]]
* [[Eindhoven]], [[Venlo]]
* [['s-Hertogenbosch|Den Bosch]], [[Utrecht]]

and just 1,5 hours from [[Amsterdam]] or Schiphol

=== By car ===
* A58 from [[Eindhoven]]
* A27-A58 or N282 from [[Breda]]
* N65 from [['s-Hertogenbosch]]
There are 7 public car parks in Tilburg, but if your CouchSurfer doesn't live in the middle of the city center there are probably some free parking lots in the direct neighborhood.

The city is also easy to reach for [[Hitchhiking|hitchhikers]], since Tilburg's ring roads are linked to high ways.

=== By bus ===
Busses are easy to use. Just buy a prepaid ticket (a 'strippenkaart') in the kiosk on the station and GO! If you just need one bus ride it might be smart to buy a single ticket in the bus though. To check out routes and timetables check out [http://www.9292ov.nl www.9292ov.nl]

''Strippenkaart: A paper ticket with strips which gets a stamp every time you travel. The amount of 'stamped off strips' depends on the length of your journey. You can buy a 'strippenkaart' with 15 strips for 7,30. You can use your 'strippenkaart' in busses, trams and metros.''

=== By bike ===
A bike is great. You can ride it everywhere and you just park it close to other bikes. Remember to bring a strong lock and to lock your bike to something that isn't movable.

If you don't have a bike and still want to cruise around in Tilburg you have two (legal) options:
* Hire a bike at the main train station. It'll cost you €6,50 a day and a €50,- warranty
* Ask your CouchSurfer (maybe in advance) if he/she could lend you a bike.

There are lots of cycling lanes within Tilburg and even more (beautiful ones) just outside of Tilburg.

=== By foot ===
And of course you can.. walk! Tilburg is relatively small, all the cool bars and shops are in walking distance of each other.
If you arrive by train you can get a free street map at the blue machine just outside the train station. It can also guide you to your CS-address, since it can print you a route.

=== Old catholic churches ===
* Heuvelse Kerk (Heuvelring)
* Broekhovense Kerk (Broekhovense weg)
* Kerk Dionysius (Stadhuisstraat)

=== Around Tilburg ===
* [http://www.nationaalpark.nl/ldd/ Loonse en Drunense Duinen] (sand dunes surrounded forest)
* [http://www.beeksebergen.nl Beekse Bergen] (safari park and more)
* [http://www.efteling.nl De Efteling] ( A Theme Park about Fairytales. )

=== Parks ===
* Oude Warande
* Het Wandelbos
* Leijpark: Leypark (in the south) is a beautiful transition area between town and country. It is the venue for several special events each year, including the Festival Mundial.
* Reeshofpark
* Stadspark Oudedijk
* Tivolipark
* Wilhelminapark
* Quirijnstokpark
* Midden Brabant Park
* Kromhoutpark

=== Forest ===
* Oude Warande
* Dongevallei: [http://www.dongevallei.nl/ info about the Dongevallei ( only Dutch )]
* Reeshofbos
* Mussersbos
* Noorderbos
* Drijflanen: This area got a marked route named Reeshofroute (5,8 km) [http://natuurpunttilburg.web-log.nl/natuurpunttilburg/2009/08/drijflanen-natu.html Information and Pictures ( only Dutch )]
* Wilmabos

=== Special Events ===

February:
* Carnaval (four days of drinking and partying; big parade)

April:
* [http://www.roadburn.com the Roadburn Festival] (metal, progressive rock, stoner;)

May:
* [http://www.meimarkt.nl Meimarkt] (May market: 24 hour flea market all over the city)

June:
* [http://www.festivalmundial.nl Festival Mundial] (world music)

July:
* [http://www.t-parade.nl T-Parade] (intercultural fest with a parade through the city)
* [http://www.tilburgsekermis.com Tilburgse Kermis] (biggest carnival/fair of the Benelux and one of the biggest of Europe)

September:
* [http://www.incubate.org Incubate] (independent culture festival)

=== Others ===
* [[Casa Merode]]

== Culture ==
=== Arts and museums ===
* [http://www.textielmuseum.nl Audax Textiel Museum] (textile/wool museum)
* [http://www.depont.nl De Pont] (modern arts)
* [http://www.theaterstilburg.nl Theaters Tilburg] (all sorts of theater)
* [http://www.denwevorst.nl De NWE Vorst] (independent theater)

=== (music) Stages ===
* [http://www.013.nl 013 Tilburg] (pop, rock, metal)
* [http://www.paradoxtilburg.nl Paradox] (independent, jazz, experimental)
* [http://www.dehalloffame.nl Hall of Fame] (independent, urban, electronic, rock, free concerts)
* [http://www.culdesac.nl Cul de Sac] (every thursday night live music, rock, free concerts)

== Food & Drinks ==
In August 2009 the University Magazine, Univers, tested a lot of bars and restaurants in Tilburg[http://www.uvt.nl/univers/nieuws/0910/01/uitgaansgids.pdf].
=== Food ===
Food-wise.. Well.. You can go for a nice pub meal in Korte Heuvel, or come to Casa Merode! Or take our advice on these places:
* [http://www.immetilburg.nl/ De Imme] (vegetarian & organic)
* [http://www.thegrasscompany.nl/ Grass Company] (ok, it's a coffee shop, but they've got great food!)
* [http://www.breexz.nl/ Breexz] (location -at the Central Station- is perfect and their food is great)
* [http://www.intermezzotilburg.nl/ Intermezzo] (Only ice cream, but the best ice cream shop ever)
* .. Whatever you do, do NOT go to MacDonalds/KFC!

=== Drinks ===
Typical Tilburg booze
* Schrobbelèr - herb liqueur
* La Trappe - trappist beer

But, to be honest. The best drink in town is plain old BEER. There's a little street in the center, called Korte Heuvel, that has a few cool bars. A small summary.
* [http://www.kafeebuitenbeentje.nl/ Het Buitenbeentje] Small pub, cheap beer, dart boards and cool interior design.
* [http://www.culdesac.nl/ Cul de Sac] Live rock music, open late, smoking allowed inside.
* [http://www.clancystilburg.com/ Clancy's] Irish pub. Has pool tables, a smoking area and an international crowd.

Not in Korte Heuvel but a very nice place is [http://www.biercafe-kandinsky.nl Kandinsky]. They have the largest amount of special beers in Tilburg.

== Cities around ==

* Den Bosch / [['s-Hertogenbosch]]
* [[Eindhoven]]
* [[Breda]]

== Links ==
* Community of Tilburg: [http://www.tilburg.nl/english/ep/home.do?tabId=0 General information about the city Tilburg]

Tilburg

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Tilburg

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Brabant

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Brabant is called [[Noord-Brabant]] because it's north of the Belgian Brabant. Its capital is [['s-Hertogenbosch]] and some other bigger cities are [[Breda]], [[Tilburg]] and [[Eindhoven]]

Netherlands

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{{Netherlands}}

Welcome to the '''[[Netherlands]]'''! The Netherlands is a tiny country located between [[Germany]] and [[Belgium]]. Despite its size, it still houses a population of over 16 million people. Most of the people live in the "Randstad" metropolitan area, located in the West of the country around the region called [[Holland]]. In contrast to the mainly protestant north, the south people of the south has a largely catholic heritage which give them trong ties to for instance Belgium. In the North life is less hectic since there are less big cities. The province of [[Friesland]] has their own history and language. Most people of the Netherlands speak Dutch although most people are also proficient in English and one or more other European language(s).

Most Dutch people don't feel very connected to the traditional touristic stereotypes of wooden shoes, tulips and windmills. Still they are a unmistakable part of the Dutch history and heritage. No single country has been so active in creating their own land from thw water. The culture of the Netherlands is for a big part shaped by a open and tolerant society. The Dutch became famous for being tolerant on Drugs (especially socalled 'softdrugs' and XTC), were the first to allow gay people to marry and are quite progressive in medical issues as abortion. From the 17th century Amsterdam was a multi-cultural society, nowaydays most cities in the west have a mixed population with people from our former colonies ([[Indonesia]], [[Suriname]], the Dutch caribic islands), immigrant workers from [[Morocco]] and [[Turkey]], refugees and lately more and more western expats.

A lot more info about the Netherlands can be found on [http://www.writingtravellers.com/tikiwiki/tiki-index.php?page=Netherlands Writing Travellers], [http://wikitravel.org/en/Netherlands Wikitravel] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlands Wikipedia].

==Couchsurfing Meetings==
There are a lot of meetings all around the Netherlands. Due to the small size of both the Netherlands and the CS community, people from all over the country usually attend these meetings. Cities near to the border (like [[Maastricht]], [[Groningen]] and [[Enschede]]) even tend to coorporate with nearby cities acros the border. Netherlands meetings often take up a full evening, day or even weekend, can be attached to cultural events (the celebration of [[Sinterklaas]], [[Midsummernight]], [[Queen's day]], New Year's Eve or personal events (birthdays, going away parties), and often involve a few hosts offering up their homes to large groups of people. Larger events also attract CSers from [[France]], [[England]] and [[Germany]].

for more info about the meetings check the [http://www.couchsurfing.com/meetings.html CS-meeting page], the [http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=Y291Y2hzdXJmaW5nbmxAZ21haWwuY29t Dutch CS-calender] or ask the [[Dutch Ambassadors]]

===Regular meetings===

====Weekly====

[[Rotterdam]]: every tuesday

[[Amsterdam]]: every saturday

====Monthly====

[[Utrecht]]: every last friday of the month

[[Groningen]]: every first friday of the month

[[Amersfoort]]: every first friday of the month

[[The Hague]]: On thursdays, twice a month

[[Leiden]]: every first friday of the month

[[Delft]]: every first wednesday of the month

[[Leeuwarden]]: every second wednesday of the month

[[Maastricht]]: on a thursday, friday or saturday in the second half of the month

[[Enschede]]: every 7th of the month

[[Eindhoven]]: every last thursday of the month

====Annual====

[[Rotterdam]]: [[Sinterklaas]]: end of november, beginning of december

[[Utrecht]]: [[Midsummernight]]; june 21st

[[Groningen]]: [[Groningen Summer CS Picnic]]; beginning of September

[[Maastricht]]: Maastricht Summer Meeting in the end of July (weekend), Carnaval Meeting in February or March (five days), 11th of 11 at 11 november (one day)

[[Haarlem]]: Midsummer aftercamp

all over the country:
* Queensday: april 30th
* liberation day: may 5th

===other cities with meetings===

[['s Hertogenbosch]], [[Arnhem]], [[Zwolle]], [[Breda]], [[Tilburg]], [[Hengelo]]

==Main attractions==

Most tourists stay in Holland (the provinces North and South Holland). This area is very densely populated and has most famous tourist spots.

* the the tourist enclave and cultural capital '''[[Amsterdam]]'''.

* the gouvernmental city of '''[[The Hague]]''' with the beach of '''[[Scheveningen]]'''

* modern multicultural city life and architecture in '''[[Rotterdam]]'''.

* Polders and Windmills, [[Kinderdijk]] and the [[Beemster]]

* Tulips, near the coast north of [[Leiden]] and of course in the [[Keukenhof|Tulipgarden]] '[http://www.keukenhof.nl/nm/english.html keukenhof]

==Tips==
Advise from couchsurfers for everyone who wants to leave the ´beaten track´:

====Active Couchsurfing-comunities====

The cities below are cities that don't recive a lot of tourists but have an active Cs-community, so it's always easy to have a good time in there.
* [[Utrecht]]

* [[Groningen]]

* [[Leiden]]

* [[Maastricht]]

* [[Rotterdam]]

* [[Amersfoort]]

* [[Tilburg]]

====Beautiful spots====

Al the big cities in the west together form a horseshoe, therefore the name 'Randstad'. In between this horseshoe there is a quiet rural part called the green hart, perfect to bike around in and to cool down from the busy citylife.

Plenty of pretty small historic cities can be found in these regions:

* Rivierenland: near the big rivers (Between [[Rotterdam]], [[Utrecht]], [[Nijmegen]] and [['s Hertogenbosch]]). The first cityrights were granted in this region to cities like [[Dordrecht]], [[Gorinchem]], [[Wijk bij Duurstede]], [[Tiel]], [[Zutphen]] & [[Deventer]].

* [[Zeeland]]: the Islands in the southwest. A lot of Germans go to the beaches in here in the summer, but the Island around Zeeland also have a lot of nice old cities that look like cities in Flandres ([[Middelburg]], [[Sluis]], [[Brielle]], [[Domburg]]).

* [[Friesland]]: the northern province with it's own culture, language, flag and national sport and nice historic cities like [[Heerenveen]], [[Franeker]], [[Drachten]], [[Sneek]], [[Harlingen]], [[Sloten]], etc)

* kop van Noord-Holland: Holland north of [[Amsterdam]], also known as west-Friesland. In the Dutch golden age this area was very rich, you can still see traces of this in cities like [[Enkhuizen]], [[Hoorn]], [[Alkmaar]] and [[Edam]]). There are also a lot of old and interesting polders in this area.

* the South of [[Limburg]]: because of the hilly landscapes and distinct, bourgondic culture this region feels like a foreign country to a lot of Dutch people.

* The Islands in the North (Waddeneilanden): Texel, Vlieland, Terschelling, Ameland and Schiermonnikoog

====Exotic couches and people who would like to get more guests====
If you would like to get more guests or tell about a beautifull (exotic) couch you know, you can put your profile name in here.

* [http://couchsurfing.com/GERALD_ROTTERDAM Gerard Bosman] lives in a small town near Rotterdam, on a central spot in the Randstad. He loves to show the people, also young backpackers, around and explain them about how the Dutch manage to live so far below the sealevel.

* If you're into WWOOFing or would like to find out about squatted farms, check out [http://couchsurfing.com/spruit Spruit]'s profile. He lives in a beautiful place in the middle of the Randstad.

==The Dutch==
Advise on [[how to be a good guest]] in the Netherlands:

This one is from an integration course and doesn't apply to overnight visitors, but more to coffeetime guests. It probably only applies to the older generation of Dutchies. It definitely doesn't apply to CouchSurfers, for neither guests nor hosts,
# If the host says he will start preparing dinner, this isn't an invitation to join dinner (unless explicitly said), but a sign for you to leave.
# When visiting a Dutch family at tea time you will likely be offered a biscuit from a large tray or tin full of biscuits. Be considerate and only take one or very few.
#Smoking marijuana is depenaltized, but still, this does not mean you are free to practise this anywhere, with anybody, or talking apparently about such habits to anyone. Better that you don't exceed the limits upon a coffee-shop visit and restrict your use of marijuana there.

A good and funny book about the Dutch and dutch customs is the [http://www.undutchables.com/ UnDutchables]

==Get around==

===Bike===
* [[Traveling by bicycle]]is easy and very common both within cities and across the country. There are separate paths for bikes linking cities and villages, as well as directional signs (in red) indicating major bicycle routes. If you are bicycling at night, you must have a white light on the front of your bike (or yourself) and a red light on the back. You can find more info on biking in the netherlands (including routes) in [http://holland.cyclingaroundtheworld.nl/ here]. Renting bikes is possible at most big trainstations (where intercities stop).

===Train===
* There is a very well-developed internal train network, and the country's small size means that the major destinations are often within 20 - 80 minutes of each other. The train system is privatised. The biggest railroad company is the [http://www.ns.nl NS], of which the state is the only shareholder. Regional private companies include [http://www.syntus.nl/ Syntus] in the east of the country, [http://www.arriva.nl/ Arriva] which operates mainly in the North and near Dordrecht, [http://www.connexxion.nl/ Connexxion] in the centre and [http://www.veolia-transport.nl/ Veolia] in the South east. Tickets bought at NS vending machines/desks are valid for all trains in the Netherlands, exept high speed trains. At service desks you pay €0,50 extra as a 'service fee'.

* [http://www.nshispeed.nl/en International high-speed trains] stop at the major cities, and there are direct trains to and from such cities as Paris, Brussels and Cologne.

===Bus===
* If you travel by bus or metro more than once, it is advisable to buy a so called 'strippenkaart', see [http://www.amsterdam.info/transport/strippenkaart/ here] how it works. Sometimes you can/have to use OV-chipkaart, which is a magnetic card. See this [http://www.ov-chipkaart.nl/?taal=en website] for more information. In the centre of Rotterdam and regional buses around Leiden, Gouda and Schoonhoven you can use OV-chipkaart. The Rotterdam metro system only allows the OV-chipkaart.

* [http://www.eurolines.com/index.php?id=113&L=0 Eurolines] bus service makes daily trips from Belgium, France, Germany and the UK as well as semi-regular service from Poland and other countries.

===Boat===
* Ferry lines are operated on Hoek van Holland, Rotterdam and IJmuiden.

* The islands in the north are best reachable by this [http://www.rederij-doeksen.nl/ ferryservice]

===Car===
* There are a lot of roads of good quality in the Netherlands and no tollways. The speed limit is 120 km/h on freeways, 50 in and 80 outside of cities. The old cities are mostly hard to reach by car, overcrowded and expensive to park in. Don't travel in de [[Randstad]] by car in rushhours, there are allways a lot of trafficjams.

* Due to the small size and relative dense population '''[[hitchhiking]]''' is really easy in the Netherlands. The country is quite friendly to hitchhikers with even special spots in some cities. [http://www.liftershalte.info Lifterhalte ] is a wiki about hitchhiking with a very usefull map with some good hitchhking spots. Some other good spots can be found in [http://www.franknature.nl/hitchhike/hitchhike.htm# here]. Because of the free public transport cars students get a lot of Dutch are not used to hitchhikers.

===Air===
* The Netherlands main airport is Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, a busy international airport with a trainstation conveniently located underground. From Schiphol, travel to locations within the Randstad can be accomplished within 1 hour, and major destinations throughout the country can be reached within 3 hours.

* Some low cost carriers such as Easy Jet, Berlin Air, Sky Europe, Wizz Air and Ryan Air also fly into the airports at Maastricht/Aachen, [http://wiki.couchsurfing.com/en/Eindhoven Eindhoven] and Rotterdam. Public bus systems connect these airports with the NS stations. Easyjet stopped flying to Maastricht/Aachen but there are several main-carriers flying to Schiphol.

==Safety==
*The general alarm number is 112.
*While biking in the Netherlands is a nice way to get around, be sure to bring good locks for your bike if you bring your own. Bike theft occurs, mostly in metropolitan areas.

==Work==
[http://www.undutchables.nl Undutchables] and [http://www.bluelynx.com Blue Lynx] are job agencies that offers jobs to internationals in many languages. If you already speak dutch (or english for some jobs) try [http://www.monsterboard.nl Monsterboard]. For English speaking jobs, try [http://www.jobinamsterdam.com JobinAmsterdam].

==Backgroud information==

===Geography===

'''Polders'''

The country is famous for being below the water level. About half of the country has a state-controlled water level. In the west a lot of parts are reclaimed land; socalled 'polders'. The deepest are a little north of Rotterdam, some parts are more than 6 meters below sea level. Two polders appear on the world heritage list, kinderdijk (east of Rotterdam) and de Beemster (north of Amsterdam).

'''Delta Works'''

'''Randstad'''

'''Multi-cultural society'''

'''Bible Belt'''

===History===

'''Romans'''

The Netherlands formed the northern border of the Roman empire for some ages. The north was conquered once, but got independent again short time later. Not much is left of the Romans. The places where they built fortesses are often marked, but most of that is artificial. Some cities evolved from the Romans. [[Nijmegen]] is the only city founded by the Romans, [[Maastricht]] and [[Utrecht]] evolved from Roman fortifications.

'''Medieval'''

In the early medival times the west of the Netherlands was mainly a swamp. People only lived on the high parts around the rivers and on hills (terpen) in the North. After the year 1000 people started to make the swamplands into polders with grassfields. Cities appeared around the rivers ([['s Hertogenbosch]], [[Utrecht]], etc) and in [[Friesland]]. Most wealth was in the western provinces of Belgium which also belonged to the low countries (= Netherlands)

'''Dutch Republic'''

In the 16th century the all the provinces of the Netherlands (the present Netherlands, [[Belgium]] and [[Luxemburg]]), by intermarrying, came under the rule of [[Spain]]. The cities of Flanders were wealthy tradings cities by that time. At the same time all over [[Europe]], people started to protest again the decadence of the Catholic Church. Protestantism was quite popular in the southwest of the Netherlands. After the icony clash in 1566 the Catholic Spanish intensified repression against protestants. Lower dutch nobility started to protest against this repression, but were not taken serious by the Spanish. The provinces in the North make a coalition in [[Utrecht]] in 1567. William of Orange became the unofficial leader of the protestant rebellion. After a failed attempt, the rebellion really started with the takeover of the small coastal city of Brielle. Slowly more and more cities joined the insurge.

After 80 years of war the north became the protestant republic of Dutch provinces, the south remained catholic under rule of the Spanish. The north conquered two catholic provinces, [[Brabant]] and [[Limburg]], but also in the north there were lots of catholics left. The catholics were allowed to remain catholic, as long as the leading protestants didn't have to see anything that reminded them to catholicism. The centre of the region moved from [[Antwerpen]] (previously a protestant city, but conquered by the Spanish) to [[Amsterdam]]. Amsterdam became more wealthy then [[Antwerpen]] ever was and became the centre of a strong naval, colonial power. The VOC (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie) started trading posts in [[Afrika]], [[India]], [[China]] and [[Japan]] en conquered big parts of [[Indonesia]] while the WIC (West Indische Compagnie) started selltements in present day [[New York]], [[Recife]] ([[Brasil]]) and the carribean islands and got rich by Piratery and slavery.

'''French Revolution'''

In the 18th century the Dutch republic was a big example for the formation of the United States but was allready for a long time in decline. After losing wars with [[England]] the Dutch lost their role as world power. The Dutch were completely overrun by the enthousiasm of the revolution in [[France]] and became a French province aroun 1800. The French totally reformed state organisation drasticly.

'''Dutch Kingdom'''

When the French left the other monarchies in Europe upgraded the family of Orange to a royal family. the Netherlands became a kingdom joined with [[Belgium]]. Belgium left this union in 1830, but the kingdom remained.

'''World Wars'''

The Dutch tried to be neutral in both world wars, but only succeeded in that in the first. In the second the country was invaded by [[Germany]]. The war only lasted a few days and stopped after the Germans totally destroyed [[Rotterdam]]. It took 5 years untill the country was liberated. The south was allready liberated in 1944, the whole winter lasted with a frontline on the rivers, causing famine in the urban regions in the North. By mistake the allied forces destroyed the city of [[Nijmegen]] (they ment to detroy a German city).

'''Modern History'''

After the sober fifties, the Dutch became very wealthy in the sixties after finding gas supplies in the North. The cultural revolution of the sixties had a big impact on the Netherlands, making the country known for it's liberal, progressive laws and making [[Amsterdam]] one of the hippie capitals of the world. Because of shortage of low education workers, a lot of workers from mediterranian countries were reqruited. Together with the independence of most colonies (and the migration of lots of their inhabitants), this made the Netherland a multicultural society. After being mostly known for the country with liberal laws on drugs, gay-rights and etnical medical matters after the millennium the country was more and more polarised. Right wing politicans criticise the lack of authority and two political murders gave the Netherlands a reputation of a country looking for it's identity and unsure of what the future will bring.

[[trash:Netherlands]]
[[hitch:Netherlands]]
{{IsIn|Europe}}