https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=85.145.165.16&feedformat=atomWiki.trustroots.org - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T15:10:11ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.39.2https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2263CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-09T01:02:27Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* There is a first time for everything */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: alles afgerond<br />
<br />
=Inleidend stuk=<br />
<br />
==There is a first time for everything==<br />
<br />
In CouchSurfing there is too. You most-likely still remember what your first CouchSurfing experience was like. Many questions ran through your head. Who is my CouchSurfer? How are the people at the meeting? What do I say when my host opens the door? Do I hug him? Give I one, two or three kisses on the cheek or just a handshake? Everyone experienced his first CouchSurfing moment differently. Nevertheless, most of us probably felt nervous and excited for what you could expect. <br />
<br />
That´s how we, the editors of this newsletter, feel too: both nervous and excited. This is the first official CS Newsletter to be launched in the Netherlands. It is a moment where we have all been looking forward to since the first brainstorm session. It is the real deal now. Our first memory of the CS Newsletter is ready to be created. <br />
<br />
The aim of the CS Newsletter is to inform you about happenings in our CouchSurfing community. We may be a very small country but we have an active CouchSurfing community. That’s why we give you more insight on past and future events, write about other CouchSurfers experiences and have you (re)discover new parts of The Netherlands. <br />
<br />
You can find the CS Newsletter by clicking on the following [INVULLEN [link]. <br />
Open the link, save it to your bookmarks and read through it. <br />
<br />
We hope that you enjoy reading the CS Newsletter, get inspiration from it and continue to create new memories together with us!<br />
<br />
CS The Netherlands<br />
<br />
PS. We also would like to receive feedback, suggestions and other remarks from you. So when you are finished with reading the CS Newsletter send an e-mail to: [INVULLEN] . Thank you, we really appreciate it.<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at this [http://couchwiki.org/en/Netherlands#Regular_meetings list]. Here you can find which city has a regular meeting and how often they organize it. For more accurate information like date and time go to the CS Eventpage. This page can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
<br />
In the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden tried to organize some meetings. It seemed a great way to get to know each other a bit better. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where only three people showed up, it was time for more action. We gathered some people, picked a bar and had our first meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right accross the train- and busstation which makes it very easy to reach when you are coming from outside of Leeuwarden. It was a hit and we decided to turn this meeting into a monthly one. Every Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month you can join us. In the previous meeting we had great fun meeting new CouchSurfers and to see old faces coming back to the meetings. <br />
<br />
The success of the Monthly meeting gave us the inspiration to do more. We are starting to make plans as an community to:<br />
* To organize City exchanges<br />
* To Couchsurf with a theme. Like visits to the city with the longest name or visiting every province of The Netherlands the coming year. <br />
<br />
We are always happy to welcome new people to our city. So if you are interested in visiting Leeuwarden, organizing a city exchange or just meeting up with us; keep an eye on the eventpage. You can also contact us through the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing the Netherlands Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of countries, regions, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the eventlocation.<br />
<br />
Since last October, the team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
<br />
The corrections consists of:<br />
* checking the spelling of places names<br />
* relocating cities into the right province<br />
* merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which should be Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
* merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
* adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to Couchsurf while taking their [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. <br />
They formed a group, and soon many members popped-up who showed interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their homes. <br />
<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
were soon to be organised. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the way their children started to get involved in hospitality, sharing, making new (inter)national friends and the art of having fun while dealing with language barriers.<br />
<br />
Not soon after an official Family Welcome Group Netherlands was created. In this group Dutch families come together to share their experiences. Also, because of the group you can easily find other family Couchsurfers travelling around and seeking for a place to stay in The Netherlands. <br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. A meeting where the children can meet and play, the parents can enjoy and tell. But mostly a meeting where we can all share this great thing called Family Couchsurfing! <br />
<br />
Remember you don't have to be a family yourself to join the Family Couchsurfing Community. You are more than welcome to join us anytime when you like to host, surf or share experiences with families. <br />
<br />
We hope to welcome everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
<br />
We all like to some sightseeing in the country we are visiting, right. We all like to save money if possible, right? Well, maybe the next deal is good one for you then! If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] is a good money saver. <br />
<br />
The dayticket costs only 3 euros and can only be bought from the busdriver. The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but you ask for the so-called 'Dagkaartje' for 3 euros. You have the pay the busdriver in exact cash because they often cannot change. <br />
<br />
The busdriver gives you a ticket that is valid in all buses driving through the Province of [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant] with unlimited stops and transfers. As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many sights that you can visit for just 3 euros. <br />
<br />
You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or for those with no internetaccess just dial: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-).<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had a massive number of people surfing your couch? <br />
Was it ever so packed with people that you were afraid it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top AT LEAST 5 people on one couch. <br />
<br />
Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
<br />
Gather a group of people, put them on your couch, make a nice photograph and tell us what happened!<br />
<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2262CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-09T01:02:13Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* There is a first time for everything. */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: alles afgerond<br />
<br />
=Inleidend stuk=<br />
<br />
==There is a first time for everything==<br />
<br />
In CouchSurfing there is too. You most-likely still remember what your first CouchSurfing experience was like. Many questions ran through your head. Who is my CouchSurfer? How are the people at the meeting? What do I say when my host opens the door? Do I hug him? Give I one, two or three kisses on the cheek or just a handshake? Everyone experienced his first CouchSurfing moment differently. Nevertheless, most of us probably felt nervous and excited for what you could expect. <br />
<br />
That´s how we, the editors of this newsletter, feel too: both nervous and excited. This is the first official CS Newsletter to be launched in the Netherlands. It is a moment where we have all been looking forward to since the first brainstorm session. It is the real deal now. Our first memory of the CS Newsletter is ready to be created. <br />
<br />
The aim of the CS Newsletter is to inform you about happenings in our CouchSurfing community. We may be a very small country but we have an active CouchSurfing community. That’s why we give you more insight on past and future events, write about other CouchSurfers experiences and have you (re)discover new parts of The Netherlands. <br />
<br />
You can find the CS Newsletter by clicking on the following [INVULLEN [link]. <br />
Open the link, save it to your bookmarks and read through it. <br />
<br />
We hope that you enjoy reading the CS Newsletter, get inspiration from it and continue to create new memories together with us!<br />
<br />
CS The Netherlands<br />
<br />
{S. We also would like to receive feedback, suggestions and other remarks from you. So when you are finished with reading the CS Newsletter send an e-mail to: [INVULLEN] . Thank you, we really appreciate it.<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at this [http://couchwiki.org/en/Netherlands#Regular_meetings list]. Here you can find which city has a regular meeting and how often they organize it. For more accurate information like date and time go to the CS Eventpage. This page can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
<br />
In the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden tried to organize some meetings. It seemed a great way to get to know each other a bit better. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where only three people showed up, it was time for more action. We gathered some people, picked a bar and had our first meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right accross the train- and busstation which makes it very easy to reach when you are coming from outside of Leeuwarden. It was a hit and we decided to turn this meeting into a monthly one. Every Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month you can join us. In the previous meeting we had great fun meeting new CouchSurfers and to see old faces coming back to the meetings. <br />
<br />
The success of the Monthly meeting gave us the inspiration to do more. We are starting to make plans as an community to:<br />
* To organize City exchanges<br />
* To Couchsurf with a theme. Like visits to the city with the longest name or visiting every province of The Netherlands the coming year. <br />
<br />
We are always happy to welcome new people to our city. So if you are interested in visiting Leeuwarden, organizing a city exchange or just meeting up with us; keep an eye on the eventpage. You can also contact us through the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing the Netherlands Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of countries, regions, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the eventlocation.<br />
<br />
Since last October, the team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
<br />
The corrections consists of:<br />
* checking the spelling of places names<br />
* relocating cities into the right province<br />
* merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which should be Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
* merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
* adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to Couchsurf while taking their [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. <br />
They formed a group, and soon many members popped-up who showed interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their homes. <br />
<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
were soon to be organised. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the way their children started to get involved in hospitality, sharing, making new (inter)national friends and the art of having fun while dealing with language barriers.<br />
<br />
Not soon after an official Family Welcome Group Netherlands was created. In this group Dutch families come together to share their experiences. Also, because of the group you can easily find other family Couchsurfers travelling around and seeking for a place to stay in The Netherlands. <br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. A meeting where the children can meet and play, the parents can enjoy and tell. But mostly a meeting where we can all share this great thing called Family Couchsurfing! <br />
<br />
Remember you don't have to be a family yourself to join the Family Couchsurfing Community. You are more than welcome to join us anytime when you like to host, surf or share experiences with families. <br />
<br />
We hope to welcome everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
<br />
We all like to some sightseeing in the country we are visiting, right. We all like to save money if possible, right? Well, maybe the next deal is good one for you then! If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] is a good money saver. <br />
<br />
The dayticket costs only 3 euros and can only be bought from the busdriver. The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but you ask for the so-called 'Dagkaartje' for 3 euros. You have the pay the busdriver in exact cash because they often cannot change. <br />
<br />
The busdriver gives you a ticket that is valid in all buses driving through the Province of [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant] with unlimited stops and transfers. As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many sights that you can visit for just 3 euros. <br />
<br />
You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or for those with no internetaccess just dial: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-).<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had a massive number of people surfing your couch? <br />
Was it ever so packed with people that you were afraid it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top AT LEAST 5 people on one couch. <br />
<br />
Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
<br />
Gather a group of people, put them on your couch, make a nice photograph and tell us what happened!<br />
<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2261CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-09T01:01:58Z<p>85.145.165.16: </p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: alles afgerond<br />
<br />
=Inleidend stuk=<br />
<br />
==There is a first time for everything.==<br />
<br />
In CouchSurfing there is too. You most-likely still remember what your first CouchSurfing experience was like. Many questions ran through your head. Who is my CouchSurfer? How are the people at the meeting? What do I say when my host opens the door? Do I hug him? Give I one, two or three kisses on the cheek or just a handshake? Everyone experienced his first CouchSurfing moment differently. Nevertheless, most of us probably felt nervous and excited for what you could expect. <br />
<br />
That´s how we, the editors of this newsletter, feel too: both nervous and excited. This is the first official CS Newsletter to be launched in the Netherlands. It is a moment where we have all been looking forward to since the first brainstorm session. It is the real deal now. Our first memory of the CS Newsletter is ready to be created. <br />
<br />
The aim of the CS Newsletter is to inform you about happenings in our CouchSurfing community. We may be a very small country but we have an active CouchSurfing community. That’s why we give you more insight on past and future events, write about other CouchSurfers experiences and have you (re)discover new parts of The Netherlands. <br />
<br />
You can find the CS Newsletter by clicking on the following [INVULLEN [link]. <br />
Open the link, save it to your bookmarks and read through it. <br />
<br />
We hope that you enjoy reading the CS Newsletter, get inspiration from it and continue to create new memories together with us!<br />
<br />
CS The Netherlands<br />
<br />
{S. We also would like to receive feedback, suggestions and other remarks from you. So when you are finished with reading the CS Newsletter send an e-mail to: [INVULLEN] . Thank you, we really appreciate it. <br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at this [http://couchwiki.org/en/Netherlands#Regular_meetings list]. Here you can find which city has a regular meeting and how often they organize it. For more accurate information like date and time go to the CS Eventpage. This page can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
<br />
In the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden tried to organize some meetings. It seemed a great way to get to know each other a bit better. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where only three people showed up, it was time for more action. We gathered some people, picked a bar and had our first meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right accross the train- and busstation which makes it very easy to reach when you are coming from outside of Leeuwarden. It was a hit and we decided to turn this meeting into a monthly one. Every Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month you can join us. In the previous meeting we had great fun meeting new CouchSurfers and to see old faces coming back to the meetings. <br />
<br />
The success of the Monthly meeting gave us the inspiration to do more. We are starting to make plans as an community to:<br />
* To organize City exchanges<br />
* To Couchsurf with a theme. Like visits to the city with the longest name or visiting every province of The Netherlands the coming year. <br />
<br />
We are always happy to welcome new people to our city. So if you are interested in visiting Leeuwarden, organizing a city exchange or just meeting up with us; keep an eye on the eventpage. You can also contact us through the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing the Netherlands Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of countries, regions, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the eventlocation.<br />
<br />
Since last October, the team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
<br />
The corrections consists of:<br />
* checking the spelling of places names<br />
* relocating cities into the right province<br />
* merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which should be Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
* merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
* adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to Couchsurf while taking their [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. <br />
They formed a group, and soon many members popped-up who showed interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their homes. <br />
<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
were soon to be organised. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the way their children started to get involved in hospitality, sharing, making new (inter)national friends and the art of having fun while dealing with language barriers.<br />
<br />
Not soon after an official Family Welcome Group Netherlands was created. In this group Dutch families come together to share their experiences. Also, because of the group you can easily find other family Couchsurfers travelling around and seeking for a place to stay in The Netherlands. <br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. A meeting where the children can meet and play, the parents can enjoy and tell. But mostly a meeting where we can all share this great thing called Family Couchsurfing! <br />
<br />
Remember you don't have to be a family yourself to join the Family Couchsurfing Community. You are more than welcome to join us anytime when you like to host, surf or share experiences with families. <br />
<br />
We hope to welcome everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
<br />
We all like to some sightseeing in the country we are visiting, right. We all like to save money if possible, right? Well, maybe the next deal is good one for you then! If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] is a good money saver. <br />
<br />
The dayticket costs only 3 euros and can only be bought from the busdriver. The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but you ask for the so-called 'Dagkaartje' for 3 euros. You have the pay the busdriver in exact cash because they often cannot change. <br />
<br />
The busdriver gives you a ticket that is valid in all buses driving through the Province of [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant] with unlimited stops and transfers. As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many sights that you can visit for just 3 euros. <br />
<br />
You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or for those with no internetaccess just dial: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-).<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had a massive number of people surfing your couch? <br />
Was it ever so packed with people that you were afraid it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top AT LEAST 5 people on one couch. <br />
<br />
Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
<br />
Gather a group of people, put them on your couch, make a nice photograph and tell us what happened!<br />
<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=Netherlands&diff=2259Netherlands2010-01-08T18:16:18Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* Couchsurfing Meetings */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Netherlands}}<br />
<br />
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).<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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].<br />
<br />
==Couchsurfing Meetings==<br />
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 across 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 opening their homes to large groups of people. Larger events also attract CSers from [[France]], [[England]] and [[Germany]].<br />
<br />
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]]<br />
<br />
===Regular meetings===<br />
<br />
====Weekly====<br />
<br />
[[Rotterdam]]: every Tuesday<br />
<br />
[[Amsterdam]]: every Saturday<br />
<br />
====Monthly====<br />
<br />
[[Utrecht]]: every last Friday of the month<br />
<br />
[[Groningen]]: every first Friday of the month<br />
<br />
[[Amersfoort]]: every first Friday of the month<br />
<br />
[[The Hague]]: On Thursdays, twice a month <br />
<br />
[[Leiden]]: every first Friday of the month<br />
<br />
[[Delft]]: every first Wednesday of the month<br />
<br />
[[Leeuwarden]]: every second Wednesday of the month<br />
<br />
[[Maastricht]]: on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday in the second half of the month<br />
<br />
[[Enschede]]: every 7th of the month<br />
<br />
[[Eindhoven]]: every last Thursday of the month<br />
<br />
====Annual====<br />
<br />
[[Rotterdam]]: [[Sinterklaas]]: end of November, beginning of December<br />
<br />
[[Utrecht]]: [[Midsummernight]]; the weekend closest to June 21st<br />
<br />
[[Groningen]]: [[Groningen Summer CS Picnic]]; beginning of September<br />
<br />
[[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)<br />
<br />
[[Haarlem]]: Midsummer aftercamp<br />
<br />
All over the country: <br />
* Queensnight: April 29th<br />
* Queensday: April 30th<br />
* Liberation day: May 5th<br />
<br />
===Other cities with meetings===<br />
<br />
[['s Hertogenbosch]], [[Arnhem]], [[Zwolle]], [[Breda]], [[Tilburg]], [[Hengelo]]<br />
<br />
==Main attractions==<br />
<br />
Most tourists stay in Holland (the provinces North and South Holland). This area is very densely populated and has most famous tourist spots.<br />
<br />
* the the tourist enclave and cultural capital '''[[Amsterdam]]'''.<br />
<br />
* the gouvernmental city of '''[[The Hague]]''' with the beach of '''[[Scheveningen]]'''<br />
<br />
* modern multicultural city life and architecture in '''[[Rotterdam]]'''.<br />
<br />
* Polders and Windmills, [[Kinderdijk]] and the [[Beemster]]<br />
<br />
* Tulips, near the coast north of [[Leiden]] and of course in the [[Keukenhof|Tulipgarden]] '[http://www.keukenhof.nl/nm/english.html keukenhof]<br />
<br />
==Tips==<br />
Advise from couchsurfers for everyone who wants to leave the ´beaten track´:<br />
<br />
====Active Couchsurfing-comunities====<br />
<br />
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.<br />
* [[Utrecht]]<br />
<br />
* [[Groningen]]<br />
<br />
* [[Leiden]]<br />
<br />
* [[Maastricht]]<br />
<br />
* [[Rotterdam]]<br />
<br />
* [[Amersfoort]]<br />
<br />
* [[Tilburg]]<br />
<br />
====Beautiful spots====<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
Plenty of pretty small historic cities can be found in these regions:<br />
<br />
* 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]].<br />
<br />
* [[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]]).<br />
<br />
* [[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)<br />
<br />
* 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. <br />
<br />
* 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. <br />
<br />
* The Islands in the North (Waddeneilanden): Texel, Vlieland, Terschelling, Ameland and Schiermonnikoog<br />
<br />
====Exotic couches and people who would like to get more guests====<br />
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.<br />
<br />
* [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.<br />
<br />
* 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.<br />
<br />
==The Dutch==<br />
Advise on [[how to be a good guest]] in the Netherlands:<br />
<br />
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, <br />
# 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.<br />
# 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.<br />
#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.<br />
<br />
A good and funny book about the Dutch and dutch customs is the [http://www.undutchables.com/ UnDutchables]<br />
<br />
==Get around==<br />
<br />
===Bike===<br />
* [[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).<br />
<br />
===Train===<br />
* 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'.<br />
<br />
* [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. <br />
<br />
===Bus===<br />
* 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 Eindhoven, Leiden, Gouda and Schoonhoven you can use OV-chipkaart. The Rotterdam metro system only allows the OV-chipkaart.<br />
<br />
* [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.<br />
<br />
===Boat===<br />
* Ferry lines are operated on Hoek van Holland, Rotterdam and IJmuiden.<br />
<br />
* The islands in the north are best reachable by this [http://www.rederij-doeksen.nl/ ferryservice]<br />
<br />
===Car=== <br />
* 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.<br />
<br />
* 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.<br />
<br />
===Air===<br />
* 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.<br />
<br />
* 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.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Safety==<br />
*The general alarm number is 112.<br />
*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.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Work==<br />
[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].<br />
<br />
==Backgroud information==<br />
<br />
===Geography===<br />
<br />
'''Polders'''<br />
<br />
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).<br />
<br />
'''Delta Works'''<br />
<br />
'''Randstad'''<br />
<br />
'''Multi-cultural society'''<br />
<br />
'''Bible Belt'''<br />
<br />
===History===<br />
<br />
'''Romans'''<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
'''Medieval'''<br />
<br />
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)<br />
<br />
'''Dutch Republic'''<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
'''French Revolution'''<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
'''Dutch Kingdom'''<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
'''World Wars'''<br />
<br />
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).<br />
<br />
'''Modern History'''<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
[[trash:Netherlands]]<br />
[[hitch:Netherlands]]<br />
{{IsIn|Europe}}</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2258CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T18:10:09Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* Regular CS meetings! */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: alles afgerond<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at this [http://couchwiki.org/en/Netherlands#Regular_meetings list]. Here you can find which city has a regular meeting and how often they organize it. For more accurate information like date and time go to the CS Eventpage. This page can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
<br />
In the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden tried to organize some meetings. It seemed a great way to get to know each other a bit better. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where only three people showed up, it was time for more action. We gathered some people, picked a bar and had our first meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right accross the train- and busstation which makes it very easy to reach when you are coming from outside of Leeuwarden. It was a hit and we decided to turn this meeting into a monthly one. Every Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month you can join us. In the previous meeting we had great fun meeting new CouchSurfers and to see old faces coming back to the meetings. <br />
<br />
The success of the Monthly meeting gave us the inspiration to do more. We are starting to make plans as an community to:<br />
* To organize City exchanges<br />
* To Couchsurf with a theme. Like visits to the city with the longest name or visiting every province of The Netherlands the coming year. <br />
<br />
We are always happy to welcome new people to our city. So if you are interested in visiting Leeuwarden, organizing a city exchange or just meeting up with us; keep an eye on the eventpage. You can also contact us through the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing the Netherlands Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of countries, regions, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the eventlocation.<br />
<br />
Since last October, the team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
<br />
The corrections consists of:<br />
* checking the spelling of places names<br />
* relocating cities into the right province<br />
* merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which should be Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
* merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
* adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to Couchsurf while taking their [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. <br />
They formed a group, and soon many members popped-up who showed interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their homes. <br />
<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
were soon to be organised. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the way their children started to get involved in hospitality, sharing, making new (inter)national friends and the art of having fun while dealing with language barriers.<br />
<br />
Not soon after an official Family Welcome Group Netherlands was created. In this group Dutch families come together to share their experiences. Also, because of the group you can easily find other family Couchsurfers travelling around and seeking for a place to stay in The Netherlands. <br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. A meeting where the children can meet and play, the parents can enjoy and tell. But mostly a meeting where we can all share this great thing called Family Couchsurfing! <br />
<br />
Remember you don't have to be a family yourself to join the Family Couchsurfing Community. You are more than welcome to join us anytime when you like to host, surf or share experiences with families. <br />
<br />
We hope to welcome everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
<br />
We all like to some sightseeing in the country we are visiting, right. We all like to save money if possible, right? Well, maybe the next deal is good one for you then! If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] is a good money saver. <br />
<br />
The dayticket costs only 3 euros and can only be bought from the busdriver. The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but you ask for the so-called 'Dagkaartje' for 3 euros. You have the pay the busdriver in exact cash because they often cannot change. <br />
<br />
The busdriver gives you a ticket that is valid in all buses driving through the Province of [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant] with unlimited stops and transfers. As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many sights that you can visit for just 3 euros. <br />
<br />
You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or for those with no internetaccess just dial: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-).<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had a massive number of people surfing your couch? <br />
Was it ever so packed with people that you were afraid it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top AT LEAST 5 people on one couch. <br />
<br />
Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
<br />
Gather a group of people, put them on your couch, make a nice photograph and tell us what happened!<br />
<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2256CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T17:39:35Z<p>85.145.165.16: </p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: alles afgerond<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at the CS Eventpage. This overview can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
<br />
In the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden tried to organize some meetings. It seemed a great way to get to know each other a bit better. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where only three people showed up, it was time for more action. We gathered some people, picked a bar and had our first meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right accross the train- and busstation which makes it very easy to reach when you are coming from outside of Leeuwarden. It was a hit and we decided to turn this meeting into a monthly one. Every Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month you can join us. In the previous meeting we had great fun meeting new CouchSurfers and to see old faces coming back to the meetings. <br />
<br />
The success of the Monthly meeting gave us the inspiration to do more. We are starting to make plans as an community to:<br />
* To organize City exchanges<br />
* To Couchsurf with a theme. Like visits to the city with the longest name or visiting every province of The Netherlands the coming year. <br />
<br />
We are always happy to welcome new people to our city. So if you are interested in visiting Leeuwarden, organizing a city exchange or just meeting up with us; keep an eye on the eventpage. You can also contact us through the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing the Netherlands Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of countries, regions, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the eventlocation.<br />
<br />
Since last October, the team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
<br />
The corrections consists of:<br />
* checking the spelling of places names<br />
* relocating cities into the right province<br />
* merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which should be Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
* merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
* adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to Couchsurf while taking their [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. <br />
They formed a group, and soon many members popped-up who showed interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their homes. <br />
<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
were soon to be organised. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the way their children started to get involved in hospitality, sharing, making new (inter)national friends and the art of having fun while dealing with language barriers.<br />
<br />
Not soon after an official Family Welcome Group Netherlands was created. In this group Dutch families come together to share their experiences. Also, because of the group you can easily find other family Couchsurfers travelling around and seeking for a place to stay in The Netherlands. <br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. A meeting where the children can meet and play, the parents can enjoy and tell. But mostly a meeting where we can all share this great thing called Family Couchsurfing! <br />
<br />
Remember you don't have to be a family yourself to join the Family Couchsurfing Community. You are more than welcome to join us anytime when you like to host, surf or share experiences with families. <br />
<br />
We hope to welcome everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
<br />
We all like to some sightseeing in the country we are visiting, right. We all like to save money if possible, right? Well, maybe the next deal is good one for you then! If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] is a good money saver. <br />
<br />
The dayticket costs only 3 euros and can only be bought from the busdriver. The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but you ask for the so-called 'Dagkaartje' for 3 euros. You have the pay the busdriver in exact cash because they often cannot change. <br />
<br />
The busdriver gives you a ticket that is valid in all buses driving through the Province of [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant] with unlimited stops and transfers. As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many sights that you can visit for just 3 euros. <br />
<br />
You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or for those with no internetaccess just dial: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-).<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had a massive number of people surfing your couch? <br />
Was it ever so packed with people that you were afraid it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top AT LEAST 5 people on one couch. <br />
<br />
Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
<br />
Gather a group of people, put them on your couch, make a nice photograph and tell us what happened!<br />
<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2255CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T17:38:28Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* organisation */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: tot en met Leeuwarden<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at the CS Eventpage. This overview can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
<br />
In the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden tried to organize some meetings. It seemed a great way to get to know each other a bit better. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where only three people showed up, it was time for more action. We gathered some people, picked a bar and had our first meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right accross the train- and busstation which makes it very easy to reach when you are coming from outside of Leeuwarden. It was a hit and we decided to turn this meeting into a monthly one. Every Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month you can join us. In the previous meeting we had great fun meeting new CouchSurfers and to see old faces coming back to the meetings. <br />
<br />
The success of the Monthly meeting gave us the inspiration to do more. We are starting to make plans as an community to:<br />
* To organize City exchanges<br />
* To Couchsurf with a theme. Like visits to the city with the longest name or visiting every province of The Netherlands the coming year. <br />
<br />
We are always happy to welcome new people to our city. So if you are interested in visiting Leeuwarden, organizing a city exchange or just meeting up with us; keep an eye on the eventpage. You can also contact us through the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing the Netherlands Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of countries, regions, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the eventlocation.<br />
<br />
Since last October, the team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
<br />
The corrections consists of:<br />
* checking the spelling of places names<br />
* relocating cities into the right province<br />
* merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which should be Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
* merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
* adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to Couchsurf while taking their [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. <br />
They formed a group, and soon many members popped-up who showed interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their homes. <br />
<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
were soon to be organised. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the way their children started to get involved in hospitality, sharing, making new (inter)national friends and the art of having fun while dealing with language barriers.<br />
<br />
Not soon after an official Family Welcome Group Netherlands was created. In this group Dutch families come together to share their experiences. Also, because of the group you can easily find other family Couchsurfers travelling around and seeking for a place to stay in The Netherlands. <br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. A meeting where the children can meet and play, the parents can enjoy and tell. But mostly a meeting where we can all share this great thing called Family Couchsurfing! <br />
<br />
Remember you don't have to be a family yourself to join the Family Couchsurfing Community. You are more than welcome to join us anytime when you like to host, surf or share experiences with families. <br />
<br />
We hope to welcome everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
<br />
We all like to some sightseeing in the country we are visiting, right. We all like to save money if possible, right? Well, maybe the next deal is good one for you then! If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] is a good money saver. <br />
<br />
The dayticket costs only 3 euros and can only be bought from the busdriver. The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but you ask for the so-called 'Dagkaartje' for 3 euros. You have the pay the busdriver in exact cash because they often cannot change. <br />
<br />
The busdriver gives you a ticket that is valid in all buses driving through the Province of [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant] with unlimited stops and transfers. As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many sights that you can visit for just 3 euros. <br />
<br />
You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or for those with no internetaccess just dial: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-).<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had a massive number of people surfing your couch? <br />
Was it ever so packed with people that you were afraid it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top AT LEAST 5 people on one couch. <br />
<br />
Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
<br />
Gather a group of people, put them on your couch, make a nice photograph and tell us what happened!<br />
<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2254CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T17:38:02Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* foto couch */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: tot en met Leeuwarden<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
===organisation===<br />
<br />
Linda ?<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at the CS Eventpage. This overview can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
<br />
In the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden tried to organize some meetings. It seemed a great way to get to know each other a bit better. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where only three people showed up, it was time for more action. We gathered some people, picked a bar and had our first meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right accross the train- and busstation which makes it very easy to reach when you are coming from outside of Leeuwarden. It was a hit and we decided to turn this meeting into a monthly one. Every Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month you can join us. In the previous meeting we had great fun meeting new CouchSurfers and to see old faces coming back to the meetings. <br />
<br />
The success of the Monthly meeting gave us the inspiration to do more. We are starting to make plans as an community to:<br />
* To organize City exchanges<br />
* To Couchsurf with a theme. Like visits to the city with the longest name or visiting every province of The Netherlands the coming year. <br />
<br />
We are always happy to welcome new people to our city. So if you are interested in visiting Leeuwarden, organizing a city exchange or just meeting up with us; keep an eye on the eventpage. You can also contact us through the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing the Netherlands Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of countries, regions, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the eventlocation.<br />
<br />
Since last October, the team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
<br />
The corrections consists of:<br />
* checking the spelling of places names<br />
* relocating cities into the right province<br />
* merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which should be Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
* merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
* adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to Couchsurf while taking their [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. <br />
They formed a group, and soon many members popped-up who showed interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their homes. <br />
<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
were soon to be organised. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the way their children started to get involved in hospitality, sharing, making new (inter)national friends and the art of having fun while dealing with language barriers.<br />
<br />
Not soon after an official Family Welcome Group Netherlands was created. In this group Dutch families come together to share their experiences. Also, because of the group you can easily find other family Couchsurfers travelling around and seeking for a place to stay in The Netherlands. <br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. A meeting where the children can meet and play, the parents can enjoy and tell. But mostly a meeting where we can all share this great thing called Family Couchsurfing! <br />
<br />
Remember you don't have to be a family yourself to join the Family Couchsurfing Community. You are more than welcome to join us anytime when you like to host, surf or share experiences with families. <br />
<br />
We hope to welcome everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
<br />
We all like to some sightseeing in the country we are visiting, right. We all like to save money if possible, right? Well, maybe the next deal is good one for you then! If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] is a good money saver. <br />
<br />
The dayticket costs only 3 euros and can only be bought from the busdriver. The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but you ask for the so-called 'Dagkaartje' for 3 euros. You have the pay the busdriver in exact cash because they often cannot change. <br />
<br />
The busdriver gives you a ticket that is valid in all buses driving through the Province of [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant] with unlimited stops and transfers. As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many sights that you can visit for just 3 euros. <br />
<br />
You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or for those with no internetaccess just dial: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-).<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had a massive number of people surfing your couch? <br />
Was it ever so packed with people that you were afraid it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top AT LEAST 5 people on one couch. <br />
<br />
Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
<br />
Gather a group of people, put them on your couch, make a nice photograph and tell us what happened!<br />
<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2253CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T17:37:46Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* foto couch */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: tot en met Leeuwarden<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
===organisation===<br />
<br />
Linda ?<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at the CS Eventpage. This overview can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
<br />
In the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden tried to organize some meetings. It seemed a great way to get to know each other a bit better. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where only three people showed up, it was time for more action. We gathered some people, picked a bar and had our first meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right accross the train- and busstation which makes it very easy to reach when you are coming from outside of Leeuwarden. It was a hit and we decided to turn this meeting into a monthly one. Every Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month you can join us. In the previous meeting we had great fun meeting new CouchSurfers and to see old faces coming back to the meetings. <br />
<br />
The success of the Monthly meeting gave us the inspiration to do more. We are starting to make plans as an community to:<br />
* To organize City exchanges<br />
* To Couchsurf with a theme. Like visits to the city with the longest name or visiting every province of The Netherlands the coming year. <br />
<br />
We are always happy to welcome new people to our city. So if you are interested in visiting Leeuwarden, organizing a city exchange or just meeting up with us; keep an eye on the eventpage. You can also contact us through the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing the Netherlands Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of countries, regions, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the eventlocation.<br />
<br />
Since last October, the team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
<br />
The corrections consists of:<br />
* checking the spelling of places names<br />
* relocating cities into the right province<br />
* merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which should be Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
* merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
* adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to Couchsurf while taking their [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. <br />
They formed a group, and soon many members popped-up who showed interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their homes. <br />
<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
were soon to be organised. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the way their children started to get involved in hospitality, sharing, making new (inter)national friends and the art of having fun while dealing with language barriers.<br />
<br />
Not soon after an official Family Welcome Group Netherlands was created. In this group Dutch families come together to share their experiences. Also, because of the group you can easily find other family Couchsurfers travelling around and seeking for a place to stay in The Netherlands. <br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. A meeting where the children can meet and play, the parents can enjoy and tell. But mostly a meeting where we can all share this great thing called Family Couchsurfing! <br />
<br />
Remember you don't have to be a family yourself to join the Family Couchsurfing Community. You are more than welcome to join us anytime when you like to host, surf or share experiences with families. <br />
<br />
We hope to welcome everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
<br />
We all like to some sightseeing in the country we are visiting, right. We all like to save money if possible, right? Well, maybe the next deal is good one for you then! If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] is a good money saver. <br />
<br />
The dayticket costs only 3 euros and can only be bought from the busdriver. The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but you ask for the so-called 'Dagkaartje' for 3 euros. You have the pay the busdriver in exact cash because they often cannot change. <br />
<br />
The busdriver gives you a ticket that is valid in all buses driving through the Province of [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant] with unlimited stops and transfers. As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many sights that you can visit for just 3 euros. <br />
<br />
You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or for those with no internetaccess just dial: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-).<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had a massive number of people surfing your couch? <br />
Was it ever so packed with people that you were afraid it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top AT LEAST 5 people on one couch. <br />
Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
<br />
Gather a group of people, put them on your couch, make a nice photograph and tell us what happened!<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2252CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T17:35:56Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* foto couch */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: tot en met Leeuwarden<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
===organisation===<br />
<br />
Linda ?<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at the CS Eventpage. This overview can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
<br />
In the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden tried to organize some meetings. It seemed a great way to get to know each other a bit better. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where only three people showed up, it was time for more action. We gathered some people, picked a bar and had our first meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right accross the train- and busstation which makes it very easy to reach when you are coming from outside of Leeuwarden. It was a hit and we decided to turn this meeting into a monthly one. Every Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month you can join us. In the previous meeting we had great fun meeting new CouchSurfers and to see old faces coming back to the meetings. <br />
<br />
The success of the Monthly meeting gave us the inspiration to do more. We are starting to make plans as an community to:<br />
* To organize City exchanges<br />
* To Couchsurf with a theme. Like visits to the city with the longest name or visiting every province of The Netherlands the coming year. <br />
<br />
We are always happy to welcome new people to our city. So if you are interested in visiting Leeuwarden, organizing a city exchange or just meeting up with us; keep an eye on the eventpage. You can also contact us through the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing the Netherlands Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of countries, regions, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the eventlocation.<br />
<br />
Since last October, the team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
<br />
The corrections consists of:<br />
* checking the spelling of places names<br />
* relocating cities into the right province<br />
* merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which should be Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
* merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
* adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to Couchsurf while taking their [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. <br />
They formed a group, and soon many members popped-up who showed interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their homes. <br />
<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
were soon to be organised. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the way their children started to get involved in hospitality, sharing, making new (inter)national friends and the art of having fun while dealing with language barriers.<br />
<br />
Not soon after an official Family Welcome Group Netherlands was created. In this group Dutch families come together to share their experiences. Also, because of the group you can easily find other family Couchsurfers travelling around and seeking for a place to stay in The Netherlands. <br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. A meeting where the children can meet and play, the parents can enjoy and tell. But mostly a meeting where we can all share this great thing called Family Couchsurfing! <br />
<br />
Remember you don't have to be a family yourself to join the Family Couchsurfing Community. You are more than welcome to join us anytime when you like to host, surf or share experiences with families. <br />
<br />
We hope to welcome everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
<br />
We all like to some sightseeing in the country we are visiting, right. We all like to save money if possible, right? Well, maybe the next deal is good one for you then! If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] is a good money saver. <br />
<br />
The dayticket costs only 3 euros and can only be bought from the busdriver. The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but you ask for the so-called 'Dagkaartje' for 3 euros. You have the pay the busdriver in exact cash because they often cannot change. <br />
<br />
The busdriver gives you a ticket that is valid in all buses driving through the Province of [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant] with unlimited stops and transfers. As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many sights that you can visit for just 3 euros. <br />
<br />
You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or for those with no internetaccess just dial: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-).<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had a massive number of people surfing your couch? <br />
Was it ever so packed with people that you were afraid it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top AT LEAST 5 people on one couch. <br />
Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
Make a nice photograph of hordes of people on the same couch and tell us what happened.<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2251CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T17:33:02Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* Traveltip for inside the Netherlands */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: tot en met Leeuwarden<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
===organisation===<br />
<br />
Linda ?<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at the CS Eventpage. This overview can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
<br />
In the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden tried to organize some meetings. It seemed a great way to get to know each other a bit better. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where only three people showed up, it was time for more action. We gathered some people, picked a bar and had our first meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right accross the train- and busstation which makes it very easy to reach when you are coming from outside of Leeuwarden. It was a hit and we decided to turn this meeting into a monthly one. Every Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month you can join us. In the previous meeting we had great fun meeting new CouchSurfers and to see old faces coming back to the meetings. <br />
<br />
The success of the Monthly meeting gave us the inspiration to do more. We are starting to make plans as an community to:<br />
* To organize City exchanges<br />
* To Couchsurf with a theme. Like visits to the city with the longest name or visiting every province of The Netherlands the coming year. <br />
<br />
We are always happy to welcome new people to our city. So if you are interested in visiting Leeuwarden, organizing a city exchange or just meeting up with us; keep an eye on the eventpage. You can also contact us through the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing the Netherlands Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of countries, regions, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the eventlocation.<br />
<br />
Since last October, the team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
<br />
The corrections consists of:<br />
* checking the spelling of places names<br />
* relocating cities into the right province<br />
* merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which should be Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
* merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
* adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to Couchsurf while taking their [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. <br />
They formed a group, and soon many members popped-up who showed interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their homes. <br />
<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
were soon to be organised. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the way their children started to get involved in hospitality, sharing, making new (inter)national friends and the art of having fun while dealing with language barriers.<br />
<br />
Not soon after an official Family Welcome Group Netherlands was created. In this group Dutch families come together to share their experiences. Also, because of the group you can easily find other family Couchsurfers travelling around and seeking for a place to stay in The Netherlands. <br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. A meeting where the children can meet and play, the parents can enjoy and tell. But mostly a meeting where we can all share this great thing called Family Couchsurfing! <br />
<br />
Remember you don't have to be a family yourself to join the Family Couchsurfing Community. You are more than welcome to join us anytime when you like to host, surf or share experiences with families. <br />
<br />
We hope to welcome everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
<br />
We all like to some sightseeing in the country we are visiting, right. We all like to save money if possible, right? Well, maybe the next deal is good one for you then! If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] is a good money saver. <br />
<br />
The dayticket costs only 3 euros and can only be bought from the busdriver. The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but you ask for the so-called 'Dagkaartje' for 3 euros. You have the pay the busdriver in exact cash because they often cannot change. <br />
<br />
The busdriver gives you a ticket that is valid in all buses driving through the Province of [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant] with unlimited stops and transfers. As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many sights that you can visit for just 3 euros. <br />
<br />
You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or for those with no internetaccess just dial: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-).<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had massive numbers of people surfing your couch???<br />
Was it ever so full you were afraid that it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top 5 people on one couch. Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
Make a nice photograph of hordes of people on the same couch and tell us what happened.<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2250CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T17:23:06Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* Family welcome Netherlands */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: tot en met Leeuwarden<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
===organisation===<br />
<br />
Linda ?<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at the CS Eventpage. This overview can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
<br />
In the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden tried to organize some meetings. It seemed a great way to get to know each other a bit better. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where only three people showed up, it was time for more action. We gathered some people, picked a bar and had our first meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right accross the train- and busstation which makes it very easy to reach when you are coming from outside of Leeuwarden. It was a hit and we decided to turn this meeting into a monthly one. Every Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month you can join us. In the previous meeting we had great fun meeting new CouchSurfers and to see old faces coming back to the meetings. <br />
<br />
The success of the Monthly meeting gave us the inspiration to do more. We are starting to make plans as an community to:<br />
* To organize City exchanges<br />
* To Couchsurf with a theme. Like visits to the city with the longest name or visiting every province of The Netherlands the coming year. <br />
<br />
We are always happy to welcome new people to our city. So if you are interested in visiting Leeuwarden, organizing a city exchange or just meeting up with us; keep an eye on the eventpage. You can also contact us through the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing the Netherlands Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of countries, regions, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the eventlocation.<br />
<br />
Since last October, the team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
<br />
The corrections consists of:<br />
* checking the spelling of places names<br />
* relocating cities into the right province<br />
* merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which should be Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
* merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
* adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to Couchsurf while taking their [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. <br />
They formed a group, and soon many members popped-up who showed interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their homes. <br />
<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
were soon to be organised. Everyone was very enthusiastic about the way their children started to get involved in hospitality, sharing, making new (inter)national friends and the art of having fun while dealing with language barriers.<br />
<br />
Not soon after an official Family Welcome Group Netherlands was created. In this group Dutch families come together to share their experiences. Also, because of the group you can easily find other family Couchsurfers travelling around and seeking for a place to stay in The Netherlands. <br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. A meeting where the children can meet and play, the parents can enjoy and tell. But mostly a meeting where we can all share this great thing called Family Couchsurfing! <br />
<br />
Remember you don't have to be a family yourself to join the Family Couchsurfing Community. You are more than welcome to join us anytime when you like to host, surf or share experiences with families. <br />
<br />
We hope to welcome everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than a good deal might be the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] that you can buy on request only from the busdriver.<br />
The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but a Dagkaartje and pay in cash exact 3 euro(often they can't change from bigger money).<br />
With this ticket you can use all busses in the complete province [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant].<br />
As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many things that you can visit for just that 3 euro in one day. You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or if you have NO internet just dail: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-)<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had massive numbers of people surfing your couch???<br />
Was it ever so full you were afraid that it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top 5 people on one couch. Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
Make a nice photograph of hordes of people on the same couch and tell us what happened.<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2249CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T16:56:30Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* CS location-database fixing */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: tot en met Leeuwarden<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
===organisation===<br />
<br />
Linda ?<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at the CS Eventpage. This overview can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
<br />
In the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden tried to organize some meetings. It seemed a great way to get to know each other a bit better. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where only three people showed up, it was time for more action. We gathered some people, picked a bar and had our first meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right accross the train- and busstation which makes it very easy to reach when you are coming from outside of Leeuwarden. It was a hit and we decided to turn this meeting into a monthly one. Every Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month you can join us. In the previous meeting we had great fun meeting new CouchSurfers and to see old faces coming back to the meetings. <br />
<br />
The success of the Monthly meeting gave us the inspiration to do more. We are starting to make plans as an community to:<br />
* To organize City exchanges<br />
* To Couchsurf with a theme. Like visits to the city with the longest name or visiting every province of The Netherlands the coming year. <br />
<br />
We are always happy to welcome new people to our city. So if you are interested in visiting Leeuwarden, organizing a city exchange or just meeting up with us; keep an eye on the eventpage. You can also contact us through the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing the Netherlands Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of countries, regions, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the eventlocation.<br />
<br />
Since last October, the team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
<br />
The corrections consists of:<br />
* checking the spelling of places names<br />
* relocating cities into the right province<br />
* merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which should be Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
* merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
* adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
Just for the people that have not had any experience<br />
with the so called “Family Welcome Group” I like to<br />
give a little introduction about this family friendly<br />
group.<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to use the<br />
CS system and take the [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. They formed a<br />
group, and soon many members popped-up and showed<br />
interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their house. [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
where soon organised, and all where very enthusiastic<br />
about the way their children started to get involved in<br />
hospitality and sharing towards others, finding a way<br />
around language barriers and enjoy many hours of fun<br />
with (inter)national friends.<br />
<br />
More and more families joined in this fun, and now<br />
there even is a Family Welcome Group Netherlands. In<br />
this group Dutch families come together for sharing<br />
experiences and through the CS website can easily be<br />
found by other international families that like to<br />
visit the Netherlands.<br />
Please know that you not need to be a family yourself<br />
to join in on these groups, if you like to host or surf<br />
or share with families you are very welcome to join.<br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. Where the children can<br />
meet&play and parents can enjoy&share this great thing<br />
that is called Family Couchsurfing!<br />
So, if you are, or know a family that likes to get<br />
involved let them know about this wonderful group of<br />
people. We hope to see everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than a good deal might be the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] that you can buy on request only from the busdriver.<br />
The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but a Dagkaartje and pay in cash exact 3 euro(often they can't change from bigger money).<br />
With this ticket you can use all busses in the complete province [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant].<br />
As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many things that you can visit for just that 3 euro in one day. You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or if you have NO internet just dail: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-)<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had massive numbers of people surfing your couch???<br />
Was it ever so full you were afraid that it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top 5 people on one couch. Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
Make a nice photograph of hordes of people on the same couch and tell us what happened.<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2248CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T16:55:44Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* CS location-database fixing */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: tot en met Leeuwarden<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
===organisation===<br />
<br />
Linda ?<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at the CS Eventpage. This overview can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
<br />
In the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden tried to organize some meetings. It seemed a great way to get to know each other a bit better. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where only three people showed up, it was time for more action. We gathered some people, picked a bar and had our first meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right accross the train- and busstation which makes it very easy to reach when you are coming from outside of Leeuwarden. It was a hit and we decided to turn this meeting into a monthly one. Every Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month you can join us. In the previous meeting we had great fun meeting new CouchSurfers and to see old faces coming back to the meetings. <br />
<br />
The success of the Monthly meeting gave us the inspiration to do more. We are starting to make plans as an community to:<br />
* To organize City exchanges<br />
* To Couchsurf with a theme. Like visits to the city with the longest name or visiting every province of The Netherlands the coming year. <br />
<br />
We are always happy to welcome new people to our city. So if you are interested in visiting Leeuwarden, organizing a city exchange or just meeting up with us; keep an eye on the eventpage. You can also contact us through the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing the Netherlands Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of countries, regions, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the eventlocation.<br />
<br />
Since last October, the team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
<br />
The corrections consists of:<br />
- checking the spelling of places names<br />
- relocating cities into the right province<br />
- merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which should be Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
- merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
- adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
Just for the people that have not had any experience<br />
with the so called “Family Welcome Group” I like to<br />
give a little introduction about this family friendly<br />
group.<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to use the<br />
CS system and take the [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. They formed a<br />
group, and soon many members popped-up and showed<br />
interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their house. [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
where soon organised, and all where very enthusiastic<br />
about the way their children started to get involved in<br />
hospitality and sharing towards others, finding a way<br />
around language barriers and enjoy many hours of fun<br />
with (inter)national friends.<br />
<br />
More and more families joined in this fun, and now<br />
there even is a Family Welcome Group Netherlands. In<br />
this group Dutch families come together for sharing<br />
experiences and through the CS website can easily be<br />
found by other international families that like to<br />
visit the Netherlands.<br />
Please know that you not need to be a family yourself<br />
to join in on these groups, if you like to host or surf<br />
or share with families you are very welcome to join.<br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. Where the children can<br />
meet&play and parents can enjoy&share this great thing<br />
that is called Family Couchsurfing!<br />
So, if you are, or know a family that likes to get<br />
involved let them know about this wonderful group of<br />
people. We hope to see everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than a good deal might be the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] that you can buy on request only from the busdriver.<br />
The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but a Dagkaartje and pay in cash exact 3 euro(often they can't change from bigger money).<br />
With this ticket you can use all busses in the complete province [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant].<br />
As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many things that you can visit for just that 3 euro in one day. You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or if you have NO internet just dail: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-)<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had massive numbers of people surfing your couch???<br />
Was it ever so full you were afraid that it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top 5 people on one couch. Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
Make a nice photograph of hordes of people on the same couch and tell us what happened.<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2247CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T16:51:27Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* Leeuwarden */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: tot en met Leeuwarden<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
===organisation===<br />
<br />
Linda ?<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at the CS Eventpage. This overview can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
<br />
In the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden tried to organize some meetings. It seemed a great way to get to know each other a bit better. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where only three people showed up, it was time for more action. We gathered some people, picked a bar and had our first meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right accross the train- and busstation which makes it very easy to reach when you are coming from outside of Leeuwarden. It was a hit and we decided to turn this meeting into a monthly one. Every Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month you can join us. In the previous meeting we had great fun meeting new CouchSurfers and to see old faces coming back to the meetings. <br />
<br />
The success of the Monthly meeting gave us the inspiration to do more. We are starting to make plans as an community to:<br />
* To organize City exchanges<br />
* To Couchsurf with a theme. Like visits to the city with the longest name or visiting every province of The Netherlands the coming year. <br />
<br />
We are always happy to welcome new people to our city. So if you are interested in visiting Leeuwarden, organizing a city exchange or just meeting up with us; keep an eye on the eventpage. You can also contact us through the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of regions, countries, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the location of an event.<br />
Since last October, this team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
The correction consists in:<br />
- checking the spelling of places names<br />
- relocating cities into the right province<br />
- merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which make Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
- merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
- adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
Just for the people that have not had any experience<br />
with the so called “Family Welcome Group” I like to<br />
give a little introduction about this family friendly<br />
group.<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to use the<br />
CS system and take the [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. They formed a<br />
group, and soon many members popped-up and showed<br />
interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their house. [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
where soon organised, and all where very enthusiastic<br />
about the way their children started to get involved in<br />
hospitality and sharing towards others, finding a way<br />
around language barriers and enjoy many hours of fun<br />
with (inter)national friends.<br />
<br />
More and more families joined in this fun, and now<br />
there even is a Family Welcome Group Netherlands. In<br />
this group Dutch families come together for sharing<br />
experiences and through the CS website can easily be<br />
found by other international families that like to<br />
visit the Netherlands.<br />
Please know that you not need to be a family yourself<br />
to join in on these groups, if you like to host or surf<br />
or share with families you are very welcome to join.<br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. Where the children can<br />
meet&play and parents can enjoy&share this great thing<br />
that is called Family Couchsurfing!<br />
So, if you are, or know a family that likes to get<br />
involved let them know about this wonderful group of<br />
people. We hope to see everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than a good deal might be the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] that you can buy on request only from the busdriver.<br />
The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but a Dagkaartje and pay in cash exact 3 euro(often they can't change from bigger money).<br />
With this ticket you can use all busses in the complete province [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant].<br />
As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many things that you can visit for just that 3 euro in one day. You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or if you have NO internet just dail: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-)<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had massive numbers of people surfing your couch???<br />
Was it ever so full you were afraid that it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top 5 people on one couch. Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
Make a nice photograph of hordes of people on the same couch and tell us what happened.<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2246CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T16:49:41Z<p>85.145.165.16: </p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: tot en met Leeuwarden<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
===organisation===<br />
<br />
Linda ?<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at the CS Eventpage. This overview can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
Since the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden have tried to organize some meetings to get to know each other. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where three people showed up, we really got some people together at what's now called the first monthly meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right across the bus- and train station, so people that had to come from outside of Leeuwarden could easily find it. After that we decided to have a monthly meeting on the Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month. So far we have had great fun meeting new people and people we met at other meetings. We are starting to make plans: city exchanges and couchsurfs with a theme like visit the place with the longest city name or visit at least one couch in every province in the coming year. If you are interested in meeting up with us. Check the upcoming event page at couchsurfing.com. Also if you are interested in a city exchange we would be glad to host a group from any city and show you around! You can contact us via the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of regions, countries, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the location of an event.<br />
Since last October, this team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
The correction consists in:<br />
- checking the spelling of places names<br />
- relocating cities into the right province<br />
- merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which make Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
- merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
- adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
Just for the people that have not had any experience<br />
with the so called “Family Welcome Group” I like to<br />
give a little introduction about this family friendly<br />
group.<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to use the<br />
CS system and take the [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. They formed a<br />
group, and soon many members popped-up and showed<br />
interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their house. [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
where soon organised, and all where very enthusiastic<br />
about the way their children started to get involved in<br />
hospitality and sharing towards others, finding a way<br />
around language barriers and enjoy many hours of fun<br />
with (inter)national friends.<br />
<br />
More and more families joined in this fun, and now<br />
there even is a Family Welcome Group Netherlands. In<br />
this group Dutch families come together for sharing<br />
experiences and through the CS website can easily be<br />
found by other international families that like to<br />
visit the Netherlands.<br />
Please know that you not need to be a family yourself<br />
to join in on these groups, if you like to host or surf<br />
or share with families you are very welcome to join.<br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. Where the children can<br />
meet&play and parents can enjoy&share this great thing<br />
that is called Family Couchsurfing!<br />
So, if you are, or know a family that likes to get<br />
involved let them know about this wonderful group of<br />
people. We hope to see everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than a good deal might be the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] that you can buy on request only from the busdriver.<br />
The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but a Dagkaartje and pay in cash exact 3 euro(often they can't change from bigger money).<br />
With this ticket you can use all busses in the complete province [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant].<br />
As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many things that you can visit for just that 3 euro in one day. You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or if you have NO internet just dail: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-)<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had massive numbers of people surfing your couch???<br />
Was it ever so full you were afraid that it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top 5 people on one couch. Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
Make a nice photograph of hordes of people on the same couch and tell us what happened.<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2245CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T16:24:44Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* Amersfoort */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: tot en met Carnaval meeting<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
===organisation===<br />
<br />
Linda ?<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at the CS Eventpage. This overview can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group, one of the smallest in The Netherlands. Nevertheless, CS Amersfoort grew rather fast in the past couple of months. Currently, Amersfoort has 104 members from various countries. <br />
<br />
Being a small community doesn't automatically mean Amersfoort has an inactive community. Besides monthly meetings - usually every first Friday of the month - other events and activities are being organised on a regular basis. For instance, the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009. It attracted many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands and travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one! It also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before which made this event turn out as a big success with lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come.<br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
Since the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden have tried to organize some meetings to get to know each other. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where three people showed up, we really got some people together at what's now called the first monthly meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right across the bus- and train station, so people that had to come from outside of Leeuwarden could easily find it. After that we decided to have a monthly meeting on the Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month. So far we have had great fun meeting new people and people we met at other meetings. We are starting to make plans: city exchanges and couchsurfs with a theme like visit the place with the longest city name or visit at least one couch in every province in the coming year. If you are interested in meeting up with us. Check the upcoming event page at couchsurfing.com. Also if you are interested in a city exchange we would be glad to host a group from any city and show you around! You can contact us via the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of regions, countries, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the location of an event.<br />
Since last October, this team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
The correction consists in:<br />
- checking the spelling of places names<br />
- relocating cities into the right province<br />
- merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which make Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
- merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
- adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
Just for the people that have not had any experience<br />
with the so called “Family Welcome Group” I like to<br />
give a little introduction about this family friendly<br />
group.<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to use the<br />
CS system and take the [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. They formed a<br />
group, and soon many members popped-up and showed<br />
interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their house. [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
where soon organised, and all where very enthusiastic<br />
about the way their children started to get involved in<br />
hospitality and sharing towards others, finding a way<br />
around language barriers and enjoy many hours of fun<br />
with (inter)national friends.<br />
<br />
More and more families joined in this fun, and now<br />
there even is a Family Welcome Group Netherlands. In<br />
this group Dutch families come together for sharing<br />
experiences and through the CS website can easily be<br />
found by other international families that like to<br />
visit the Netherlands.<br />
Please know that you not need to be a family yourself<br />
to join in on these groups, if you like to host or surf<br />
or share with families you are very welcome to join.<br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. Where the children can<br />
meet&play and parents can enjoy&share this great thing<br />
that is called Family Couchsurfing!<br />
So, if you are, or know a family that likes to get<br />
involved let them know about this wonderful group of<br />
people. We hope to see everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than a good deal might be the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] that you can buy on request only from the busdriver.<br />
The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but a Dagkaartje and pay in cash exact 3 euro(often they can't change from bigger money).<br />
With this ticket you can use all busses in the complete province [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant].<br />
As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many things that you can visit for just that 3 euro in one day. You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or if you have NO internet just dail: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-)<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had massive numbers of people surfing your couch???<br />
Was it ever so full you were afraid that it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top 5 people on one couch. Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
Make a nice photograph of hordes of people on the same couch and tell us what happened.<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2244CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T16:12:42Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* Midsummernight in the park 2010 */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: tot en met Carnaval meeting<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
===organisation===<br />
<br />
Linda ?<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==Regular CS meetings!==<br />
<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at the CS Eventpage. This overview can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group – one of the smaller ones in the Netherlands - that has however grown rather fast in the last couple of months. It currently counts 104 members of various countries. <br />
<br />
Besides monthly meetings that usually take place on the first Friday of each month, other events and activities are organised on a regular basis. One example for such gatherings is the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009, attracting many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands as well as travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one, but it also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before and turned out as big success and lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come. <br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
Since the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden have tried to organize some meetings to get to know each other. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where three people showed up, we really got some people together at what's now called the first monthly meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right across the bus- and train station, so people that had to come from outside of Leeuwarden could easily find it. After that we decided to have a monthly meeting on the Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month. So far we have had great fun meeting new people and people we met at other meetings. We are starting to make plans: city exchanges and couchsurfs with a theme like visit the place with the longest city name or visit at least one couch in every province in the coming year. If you are interested in meeting up with us. Check the upcoming event page at couchsurfing.com. Also if you are interested in a city exchange we would be glad to host a group from any city and show you around! You can contact us via the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of regions, countries, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the location of an event.<br />
Since last October, this team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
The correction consists in:<br />
- checking the spelling of places names<br />
- relocating cities into the right province<br />
- merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which make Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
- merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
- adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
Just for the people that have not had any experience<br />
with the so called “Family Welcome Group” I like to<br />
give a little introduction about this family friendly<br />
group.<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to use the<br />
CS system and take the [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. They formed a<br />
group, and soon many members popped-up and showed<br />
interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their house. [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
where soon organised, and all where very enthusiastic<br />
about the way their children started to get involved in<br />
hospitality and sharing towards others, finding a way<br />
around language barriers and enjoy many hours of fun<br />
with (inter)national friends.<br />
<br />
More and more families joined in this fun, and now<br />
there even is a Family Welcome Group Netherlands. In<br />
this group Dutch families come together for sharing<br />
experiences and through the CS website can easily be<br />
found by other international families that like to<br />
visit the Netherlands.<br />
Please know that you not need to be a family yourself<br />
to join in on these groups, if you like to host or surf<br />
or share with families you are very welcome to join.<br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. Where the children can<br />
meet&play and parents can enjoy&share this great thing<br />
that is called Family Couchsurfing!<br />
So, if you are, or know a family that likes to get<br />
involved let them know about this wonderful group of<br />
people. We hope to see everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than a good deal might be the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] that you can buy on request only from the busdriver.<br />
The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but a Dagkaartje and pay in cash exact 3 euro(often they can't change from bigger money).<br />
With this ticket you can use all busses in the complete province [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant].<br />
As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many things that you can visit for just that 3 euro in one day. You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or if you have NO internet just dail: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-)<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had massive numbers of people surfing your couch???<br />
Was it ever so full you were afraid that it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top 5 people on one couch. Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
Make a nice photograph of hordes of people on the same couch and tell us what happened.<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2243CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T16:06:44Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* regular meetings */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: tot en met Carnaval meeting<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
===organisation===<br />
<br />
Linda ?<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
Regular CS meetings!<br />
<br />
Many cities throughout the whole country organize meetings. Some meetings might be a-once-in-a-lifetime event that you can attend, others are held on a more regular basis. <br />
<br />
Mostly, the meetings are held at a bar in the city center where you can have a drink, talk and laugh with other (local) CS members. You don't have to be an experienced CouchSurfer to attend a meeting, new or old members; you are more than welcome to come along! So if you would like to meet other CS members in your area: don't hesitate to attend one of those regular meetings! <br />
<br />
If you don't know whether your city/village/town organizes a regular meeting than take a look at the CS Eventpage. This overview can easily be found by going to your CS front page. Click at Community > Search events and fill out the area you would like to attend a meeting at! In a moment of seconds all the meetings organized in your city pop up. Let the fun begin!<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group – one of the smaller ones in the Netherlands - that has however grown rather fast in the last couple of months. It currently counts 104 members of various countries. <br />
<br />
Besides monthly meetings that usually take place on the first Friday of each month, other events and activities are organised on a regular basis. One example for such gatherings is the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009, attracting many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands as well as travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one, but it also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before and turned out as big success and lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come. <br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
Since the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden have tried to organize some meetings to get to know each other. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where three people showed up, we really got some people together at what's now called the first monthly meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right across the bus- and train station, so people that had to come from outside of Leeuwarden could easily find it. After that we decided to have a monthly meeting on the Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month. So far we have had great fun meeting new people and people we met at other meetings. We are starting to make plans: city exchanges and couchsurfs with a theme like visit the place with the longest city name or visit at least one couch in every province in the coming year. If you are interested in meeting up with us. Check the upcoming event page at couchsurfing.com. Also if you are interested in a city exchange we would be glad to host a group from any city and show you around! You can contact us via the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of regions, countries, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the location of an event.<br />
Since last October, this team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
The correction consists in:<br />
- checking the spelling of places names<br />
- relocating cities into the right province<br />
- merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which make Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
- merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
- adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
Just for the people that have not had any experience<br />
with the so called “Family Welcome Group” I like to<br />
give a little introduction about this family friendly<br />
group.<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to use the<br />
CS system and take the [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. They formed a<br />
group, and soon many members popped-up and showed<br />
interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their house. [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
where soon organised, and all where very enthusiastic<br />
about the way their children started to get involved in<br />
hospitality and sharing towards others, finding a way<br />
around language barriers and enjoy many hours of fun<br />
with (inter)national friends.<br />
<br />
More and more families joined in this fun, and now<br />
there even is a Family Welcome Group Netherlands. In<br />
this group Dutch families come together for sharing<br />
experiences and through the CS website can easily be<br />
found by other international families that like to<br />
visit the Netherlands.<br />
Please know that you not need to be a family yourself<br />
to join in on these groups, if you like to host or surf<br />
or share with families you are very welcome to join.<br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. Where the children can<br />
meet&play and parents can enjoy&share this great thing<br />
that is called Family Couchsurfing!<br />
So, if you are, or know a family that likes to get<br />
involved let them know about this wonderful group of<br />
people. We hope to see everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than a good deal might be the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] that you can buy on request only from the busdriver.<br />
The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but a Dagkaartje and pay in cash exact 3 euro(often they can't change from bigger money).<br />
With this ticket you can use all busses in the complete province [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant].<br />
As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many things that you can visit for just that 3 euro in one day. You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or if you have NO internet just dail: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-)<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had massive numbers of people surfing your couch???<br />
Was it ever so full you were afraid that it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top 5 people on one couch. Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
Make a nice photograph of hordes of people on the same couch and tell us what happened.<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16https://wiki.trustroots.org/w/index.php?title=CS_newsletter_for_the_Netherlands&diff=2242CS newsletter for the Netherlands2010-01-08T15:44:41Z<p>85.145.165.16: /* Small meeting */</p>
<hr />
<div>Draft 1st newsletter<br />
<br />
nog te doen:<br />
<br />
* Algemeen<br />
- een inleidende tekst over het wat en waarom van de newsletter > kan in de mailing over de newsletter<br />
<br />
* CSinterklaas:<br />
- stukjes over organisatie?<br />
<br />
* Sauna meetings > Ramon ?<br />
<br />
* corrigeren: tot en met Carnaval meeting<br />
<br />
<br />
=Past meetings=<br />
<br />
==CSinterklaas Rotterdam 2009==<br />
<br />
For the 4th time couchsurfers in Rotterdam celebrated Sinterklaas, and like other times hunderds of couchsurfers from all around came over for this special event. This year even the organisation was a joint venture between couchsurfers not only from Rotterdam but from several Dutch cities and even a Belgian city. The climax was of course the visit of his holyness himself and the handing out of presents. Sinterklaas didn't start giving out presents immediately but had to talk to some couchsurfers who have been naughty in 2009 (hier kan mooi de foto met Liza en Sanne die op de testpagina stond). There were also lots of possibilities to discover Rotterdam or the many rituals around Sinterklaas. <br />
<br />
===Presents===<br />
<br />
We asked some people what they will do with the presents Sinterklaas gave them.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnyOYqmpI/AAAAAAAAFCo/enYltkmMq5A/s800/IMG_3613.JPG Sam]: Give it to a boy I know very well.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnykUkYVI/AAAAAAAAFCs/vu1_XP27GQ0/s800/IMG_3614.JPG Paul]: I am going to put coins in it.<br />
<br />
[http://lh5.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnzeJvR_I/AAAAAAAAFCw/Q1W7Di1DgDs/s576/IMG_3615.JPG Sagnik]: I will break this puzzle tonight, before I go to sleep.<br />
<br />
[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxQnrcI1vgI/AAAAAAAAFB0/pmAPyCppxPg/s800/IMG_3601.JPG Jessica]:<br />
<br />
===Speeddating===<br />
<br />
The Sinterklaas meeting is always a great event with people from nearby countries taking Rotterdam by storm, and of course filling local couchsurfers' couches. It all starts innocently enough on the Friday where the main party is the speed dating mee... wait, that doesn't sound very innocent.<br />
<br />
Alright, it IS innocent, it's a bit of a joke on the "CS is not a dating site" motto going around, but as my friend Ben said, that regardless of the joke: "So many people are going to hook up", which sounds like it definitely wouldn't be entirely untrue. Presented by Carel & the speed dating bitches (Damn, I'd buy music by a band with that name.) we were all given cards with suggestive questions on them, and when the other person answered them we'd get to write something related to that answer on their back for everyone to read, and mostly for yourself to read at the end of the night, especially if you're very self-absorbed.<br />
<br />
After that, all the men spent half the night finding out who wrote "He is definitely gay" on their backs, because God forbid someone realizes the truth.<br />
<br />
If you want to read more about Tommy's experiences click [http://surferofcouches.blogspot.com/2009/12/worst-4-beers-of-your-life-or-how-i.html here]<br />
<br />
===Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!===<br />
Part of the Sinterklaas Event in the last weekend of November was the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=50714 Sinterklaas Pastry Extravaganza!]<br />
<br />
For this meeting 21 people signed up but at the day itself about 10 people showed up. So did [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/wizzardofoss/ the Wizzard of Oss] (the writer of this article).<br />
<br />
As we arrived the host of this event, [http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1YA2FUP Maartje], already had some tea ready.<br />
The forecast told that it would be raining a lot that day so everybody was happy to be at this workshop not having to do sightseeing in the rain. After finishing the tea we all went to work.<br />
<br />
We made 'pepernoten'. They are good for getting [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409590869192774994 dirty hands] and a good view on the recipe.<br />
<br />
In the end many things were made, like [http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kruidnoten kruidnoten]. Also many decorations were made with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marzipan marzipan].<br />
<br />
In the end after all our work we managed to prepare:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592114868791538 pepernoten and cookies]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409592348657724402 the horse of Sinterklaas that was very tired]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593014472790642 a flag (guess from wich country)]; <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593149510617506 meat (and a present vegetarian meat;-))] and <br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409593329163313042 fresh big pepernoten].<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=43L1EXA Linda] liked to color her [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594099720538930 fingers].<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594680871282306 A bored Couchsurfer with die sick dogs of the host] Maybe someone was killed there.<br />
But when they saw [http://picasaweb.google.com/lourenssenm/2009CSSinterklaasMeetingRotterdam#5409594545561912610 this pepernoot] everybody was happy again.<br />
<br />
Everybody liked the baking extravaganza and because the group was small it was a very cosy meeting.<br />
<br />
===organisation===<br />
<br />
Linda ?<br />
<br />
==Sinterklaas in Utrecht==<br />
<br />
Sinterklaas was all over the Utrecht community for several days this year. <br />
<br />
It all started with the monthly meeting of Friday December 4th when Sinterklaas left some [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHvC4HCmI/AAAAAAAAFS0/W3-u2RNXIZw/s800/IMG_3737.JPG nice] [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHfZ8meGI/AAAAAAAAFRg/b_-_tOPmL0U/s576/IMG_3693.JPG presents] for [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqHyWPevII/AAAAAAAAFTQ/D-5y7689yhc/s576/IMG_3744.JPG some nice couchsurfers]. When Sinterklaas himself showed up it appeared that Utrecht had the honor of hosting the very politically correct [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqIDTcw2jI/AAAAAAAAFUU/wI-q_j5TMAE/s800/IMG_3769.JPG Zwarte Klaas and Witte Piet] who were quite willing to give all those naughty couchsurfers some [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink#5411787236789597778 decent spanking]. After that it was time to say goodbye to Graham in Utrecht style: with [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxqINdsk24I/AAAAAAAAFU8/dmjDv5NlGdY/s576/IMG_3787.JPG something to write on], this time a table-cloth. <br />
On Pakjesavond (the evening of December 5th) Sinterklaas was to busy for us, so we had to make our [http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvSIZzIyI/AAAAAAAAFY4/0IW0O4vNPLI/s800/IMG_3802.JPG Sinterklaas candy] [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_4si9ljdgMXs/SxuvXwYpMOI/AAAAAAAAFZY/k7NrBEb-wNs/s800/IMG_3816.JPG ourselves].<br />
Luckily Sint managed to come back from Spain on the 8th to attend the [http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cYvPOJlCNuE/SyElFoT4GAI/AAAAAAAAC8w/rVIsTlAQrfI/s720/Sinterklaas%20068.jpg surprise evening] of the Dutch lessons in Utrecht.<br />
<br />
For more pictures check here:<br />
[http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/CSMonthlyMeetingSinterklaasEdition04122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyz4OLa8MzyEQ&feat=directlink# monthly meeting], [http://picasaweb.google.nl/Lizzie82ish/SinterklaasBaking05122009?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDb95DGuYrnhQE&feat=directlink# baking evening] and [http://picasaweb.google.com/Nynke87/CSSinterklaasUUNL09# Dutch lesson].<br />
<br />
==Winter Efteling meeting==<br />
<br />
It is in days like this that you understand what fairy tales are made of....<br />
<br />
The obstacles we all had to endure to reach the park, the solidarity of couchsurfer heroes who, because of their patience and support, allowed other people to also live the experience of the Efteling and finally the magical surrounding & great company, provided the perfect ingredients for an unforgettable day in which our inner child had a blast!!<br />
<br />
Links to pictures:<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889440&id=663115970 1]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889447&id=663115970 2]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4860159&id=663115970 3]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4889457&id=663115970 4]<br />
[http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/photo.php?pid=4889471&id=663115970 5]<br />
<br />
==Sauna Meetings ==<br />
<br />
Ramon ?<br />
<br />
=Future meetings=<br />
<br />
==Arnhem Calling==<br />
<br />
When the preparations started after the ambassador meeting we were thrilled to take up such a challenge for our small city. <br />
<br />
Now, a few months later, the preparations are in full swing. Many people are working hard to create an event that is<br />
different, yet also familiar. With plenty of socializing and couchsurfing going on it is going to be an event where you make new friends<br />
but where you also have the chance to catch up with old ones.<br />
<br />
What do we have in store for you????????<br />
<br />
===City tour===<br />
Be creative in the city tour: a tour where you will not just see the sights but also realize that Arnhem is a city full of culture, art, fashion, and fun.<br />
The tour is led by a notorious guide who also did the Zutphen tour, which turned out to be a great success. You can expect some really cool things during this tour and it will most definitely be worth your time. You might see something like this love poem here :)........<br />
<br />
Liefste rollator,<br />
<br />
Je liep knarsend en piepend mijn licht in.<br />
Ik straalde diep en wilde dat ik dichter bij de grond was,<br />
verbonden met de aarde en met jou.<br />
Heb je mijn opwinding opgemerkt<br />
toen ik ineens blozend een beetje rood begon te schijnen?<br />
Ik deed het voor jou maar<br />
je was supersnel weer in de volgende schaduw verdwenen.<br />
Nu hang ik hier het donker weg te jagen,<br />
als een stel ganzen op zoek naar de zon,<br />
wegdromend bij je knaloranje kleur.<br />
Als je nog eens voorbij komt rollen,<br />
mag ik me dan in je mandje laten vallen?<br />
Dan kunnen we samen keet schoppen<br />
en de wereld al rollend verlichten met ons kattenkwaad.<br />
Voor eeuwig zal ik branden, tot je weer onder me door loopt.<br />
Jij bent mijn knarsende, piepende, “alles-op-rolletjes”.<br />
<br />
<br />
Je lantaarnpaallampje.<br />
<br />
(Sorry for the Dutch: it's not really translatable.<br />
The story is about a lamppost falling in love on another object.<br />
They need love too right.)<br />
<br />
===Loesje workshop(16pax)===<br />
<br />
Loesje from Arnhem: you might know her or you might not, but she's famous !!!!!<br />
All around the world she distributes funny texts that make you laugh or think.<br />
And on the Arnhem calling meeting you get the chance to make your own Loesje text. <br />
In a 2 1/2 hour course you will learn all the ins and outs about Loesje and you will love her when you're done.<br />
<br />
Some examples of Loesje texts:<br />
<br />
The world is TOO ROUND to silently sit in the corner.<br />
<br />
I woke up this morning and found the world on my doorstep.<br />
<br />
One's plenty can be used to fill someone else's lack.<br />
<br />
Is the earth still round if one side develops faster?<br />
<br />
===The hunt===<br />
Have you ever been afraid??<br />
Ever been so scared you were ready to wet your pants?<br />
<br />
Your old scares won't mean a thing anymore! Be ready to be truly afraid....<br />
<br />
Be ready to be HUNTED!!!!! <br />
<br />
That is what you can expect in the hunt.<br />
<br />
This nightly event will be held in Sonsbeek. <br />
And you can expect to be a scared at times.<br />
But nothing life threatening: we promise :)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course there will be more activities at Arnhem Calling, like a cool jam session and a pub crawl.<br />
Find out more about the program on http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=49785.<br />
<br />
==Small meeting==<br />
<br />
In April 2010 there will be a SMALL CS meeting in and around 's-Hertogenbosch (also known as Den Bosch).<br />
<br />
The meeting will have one main eventlocation somewhere in or near 's-Hertogenbosch and several sub-events.<br />
<br />
You can join in on the following sub-events:<br />
<br />
- A city walk around 's-Hertogenbosch. Since we all want to get a good view on all the nice details of the city and hear all the stories, the walk might take a bit longer and take up to 4 hours. <br />
<br />
- A canal boat tour takes us in the evening through the canal called 'de Binnendieze'.<br />
<br />
- After all the fun things during the day we'll have a party to end the day perfectly!<br />
<br />
- If the hang-over stays away we might have a walk into the nature the following day. <br />
<br />
Check [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=46053 the meetingpage] for more details and sign-up to the subevents that you like.<br />
<br />
==CS Carnaval==<br />
<br />
Couch Surfing Alaaf! The Netherlands Alaaf! Traveller<br />
Alaaf!<br />
<br />
CS Crazy Couch Surfing Carnaval in the Maastricht (NL)<br />
/ Aachen (D) / Belgian village (B) Euregion.<br />
<br />
We start on the 11th of February and go on until<br />
Ashwednesday on the 17th of February. Note that te<br />
official Carnaval days are 14, 15 and 16 February, be<br />
sure to stay till Monday, Tuesday or (best!)<br />
Ashwednesday! Besides sleeping, on Ashwednesday it’s<br />
a custom to go for “haringbijten”, usually with<br />
classical music!<br />
<br />
All days there is the Carnaval Style Open CS House at<br />
Marten’s place, close to the central station and the<br />
center; for meeting, disguising and eating! During all<br />
days there are Carnaval activities from the end of the<br />
morning until deep in the night! Main organizers are<br />
Frank ~ inofficial CS Carnaval Ambassador ~ who’s<br />
guiding you through the traditions from the morning<br />
till midnight, and Marten whom you can follow for<br />
Carnaval “the nightlife edition”.<br />
<br />
The organizers are giving each square cm, so just the<br />
two of us can already host 33 people at the same time!<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=33037 Sign up!]<br />
<br />
==Midsummernight in the park 2010==<br />
<br />
Still a long time to go, but you can already [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57224 sign up] to celebrate midsummernight in Utrecht for the 3rd time!<br />
<br />
To get an idea of what you can expect, take a look at the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=23092 meeting] page of last year. <br />
<br />
==regular meetings==<br />
<br />
Jasper: imo we have to say something about those (see also this post in the NL org group: http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=5031&post=4398815#post4512320). Maybe just a link to [http://couchwiki.org/en/Netherlands#Regular_meetings here] might be enough.<br />
<br />
=Community uitgelicht/place unknown=<br />
<br />
==Amersfoort==<br />
<br />
The CouchSurfing Amersfoort community is a young CS group – one of the smaller ones in the Netherlands - that has however grown rather fast in the last couple of months. It currently counts 104 members of various countries. <br />
<br />
Besides monthly meetings that usually take place on the first Friday of each month, other events and activities are organised on a regular basis. One example for such gatherings is the Polish Food @ Home meeting that took place in November 2009, attracting many CouchSurfers from Amersfoort, places elsewhere in the Netherlands as well as travellers from abroad. People brought typical Polish food – which was a home match for some and a rather challenging undertaking for others. Thanks to the host of this meeting and the professional guidance given by two Polish CouchSufers, this event was not only a very yummie one, but it also brought together many CouchSurfers who had never met before and turned out as big success and lots of fun. Besides, it inspired CS Amersfoort to arrange even more Food @ Home meetings with a specific country character. There have been an Indian and Italian Food @ Home meeting before, and there are doubtlessly many more to come. <br />
<br />
==Leeuwarden==<br />
Since the summer of 2009 the couchsurfers of Leeuwarden have tried to organize some meetings to get to know each other. After an ice-cream meeting and a meeting in a bar where three people showed up, we really got some people together at what's now called the first monthly meeting on Wednesday September 16th. We met at 'De Stee', a bar right across the bus- and train station, so people that had to come from outside of Leeuwarden could easily find it. After that we decided to have a monthly meeting on the Wednesday closest to the 15th of the month. So far we have had great fun meeting new people and people we met at other meetings. We are starting to make plans: city exchanges and couchsurfs with a theme like visit the place with the longest city name or visit at least one couch in every province in the coming year. If you are interested in meeting up with us. Check the upcoming event page at couchsurfing.com. Also if you are interested in a city exchange we would be glad to host a group from any city and show you around! You can contact us via the Leeuwarden CS group.<br />
<br />
=CS Netherlands news=<br />
<br />
==CS location-database fixing==<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing Geography<br />
<br />
Among the different groups of volunteers who contribute to the site improvement, there is a team in charge of fixing and maintaining the Couchsurfing location database. This database contains the list of regions, countries, provinces and cities that you use when you select your location in your profile, when you do a CouchSearch or when you select the location of an event.<br />
Since last October, this team has started a comprehensive correction of the database for the Netherlands. This process is done province by province. As we write these lines, the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Flevoland are completed while Noord-Brabant is in progress.<br />
The correction consists in:<br />
- checking the spelling of places names<br />
- relocating cities into the right province<br />
- merging cities when needed (like Etten and Leur which make Etten-Leur in Noord Brabant)<br />
- merging wrongly listed districts names with the city they are part of (like Statenkwartier which was merged with The Hague)<br />
- adjusting the cities coordinates (latitude and longitude) from which distances between cities are calculated: this is used when you make a CouchSearch with a x kilometers radius.<br />
All these changes aim to make it easier for surfers and hosts to find each other, as this is the core of Couchsurfing.<br />
<br />
==Family welcome Netherlands==<br />
<br />
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=23160 Family welcome Netherlands]<br />
<br />
Just for the people that have not had any experience<br />
with the so called “Family Welcome Group” I like to<br />
give a little introduction about this family friendly<br />
group.<br />
<br />
It all started with a few people that like to use the<br />
CS system and take the [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4084390_l_09ffe8f3e570d1bf22d06e9168714572.jpg children along]. They formed a<br />
group, and soon many members popped-up and showed<br />
interest in sharing experiences and inviting other<br />
families to their house. [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/5618745_l_faa96418804b4343f10e66de23234d14.jpg International Family Meetings]<br />
where soon organised, and all where very enthusiastic<br />
about the way their children started to get involved in<br />
hospitality and sharing towards others, finding a way<br />
around language barriers and enjoy many hours of fun<br />
with (inter)national friends.<br />
<br />
More and more families joined in this fun, and now<br />
there even is a Family Welcome Group Netherlands. In<br />
this group Dutch families come together for sharing<br />
experiences and through the CS website can easily be<br />
found by other international families that like to<br />
visit the Netherlands.<br />
Please know that you not need to be a family yourself<br />
to join in on these groups, if you like to host or surf<br />
or share with families you are very welcome to join.<br />
<br />
This spring we hope to organise a meeting where many<br />
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/21KOQ15/4859304_l_379957ef1e13ebcbd0b04a1a2d2db155.jpg families] will be part of. Where the children can<br />
meet&play and parents can enjoy&share this great thing<br />
that is called Family Couchsurfing!<br />
So, if you are, or know a family that likes to get<br />
involved let them know about this wonderful group of<br />
people. We hope to see everyone soon!<br />
<br />
=tips / trivia=<br />
<br />
== Traveltip for inside the Netherlands ==<br />
If you like to do cheap sightseeing in Noord-Brabant than a good deal might be the [http://www.brabant.nl/dossiers/dossiers-op-thema/verkeer-en-vervoer/openbaar-vervoer/bussen-in-brabant/actie-de-bus,-d-,-beter-dus/kaarten-en-tarieven/dagkaart.aspx dayticket] that you can buy on request only from the busdriver.<br />
The system is simple: When you are boarding the bus you don't buy a normal ticket but a Dagkaartje and pay in cash exact 3 euro(often they can't change from bigger money).<br />
With this ticket you can use all busses in the complete province [http://www.storm-buitensport.nl/displayImage.html?iid=3450 Noord-Brabant].<br />
As Brabant is one of the biggest provinces there are many things that you can visit for just that 3 euro in one day. You can plan your route at the [http://journeyplanner.9292.nl/ 9292 routeplanner] or if you have NO internet just dail: 0900-9292 (€ 0,70 p/m, max € 14,-)<br />
<br />
=foto couch=<br />
<br />
Couchsurfing EXTREME<br />
<br />
Ever had massive numbers of people surfing your couch???<br />
Was it ever so full you were afraid that it might break because of the sheer weight pressing on it.<br />
The Couchsurfing Newsletter challenges you to top 5 people on one couch. Easy? Proof it!!!<br />
Make a nice photograph of hordes of people on the same couch and tell us what happened.<br />
The best picture will be selected for the Couchsurfing newsletter volume II.<br />
<br />
[[File:Couch1.jpg|200px|thumb|left|5 people on one couch]]</div>85.145.165.16