Editing CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.2 (section)

=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 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://couchwiki.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