CS newsletter for the Netherlands: Difference between revisions

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[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]
[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1]]


Draft 2nd newsletter
[[CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.2]]
 
Draft 3nd newsletter


=Heading=
=Heading=


Bericht over queensday?
=CouchSurfers meeting up=


=Couchsurfers meeting up (rechterbalk)=
==Grote zomermeetings in Europa==


==Queensday==
More and more CouchSurfing communities are organising couchsurfing events this summer. Wherever you go, you can meetup with local couchsurfers.


Wie schrijft er een korte introductie over alle activiteiten?
Below is a selection of interesting events:


==Visit the Deltaworks!==
July 16th - July 18th: Oostende, Belgium: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=62713 CS Beach Weekend]


The Dutch know how to manage the water, it's been a
July 16th - July 18th: Champ-du-Boult, France: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=53351 Normandy Summer camp]
constant struggle in the past centuries with the
lowpoint being a major flood in 1953 with thousands
drowning. Nowadays big dikes keeps the water out
succesfully. One of the major accomplishments in the
fight against the water is the 'Deltaworks' in
Zeeland, in the southwest corner of the Netherlands,
with the Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier being the masterpiece.
The first part of the Deltaworks was built about 50
years ago, and the Eastern Dam was finished in 1986.
Check for more information:
http://www.deltawerken.com/23


I think both Dutch and foreigners would love to see the
July 16th - July 21th: Brussels, Belgium: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=72244 Brussels CS summer event]
Delta works by themselves. For me it's been a while as
well, so that's why I'm setting up a meeting event for June
5th. The enthusiasm was overwhelming in the first few
days with over 20 people signing up. We are working
hard on the program now, but it will include a
museumvisit and the visit of the outside structures. It
could be a whole weekend event for those who want,
with camping, or we could have a night program in a
city afterwards. It depends on you as well. Ideas and
suggestions are very welcome. So please [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=64443 sign up], and
let's make it a fun event! We'll keep you updated then.


[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gils/ Harald]
July 23th - July 25th: Dundee, Scotland: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=74886 Dundee Calling]


==Flash Mobs in the Netherlands==
July 23th - July 26th: Paris, France: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=71291 Paris Rendez Vous]


Flash mobs have been taking cities all over the world
July 28th - August 1st: Pescosolido, Italy: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=48567 Italy summer camp]
by storm since around 2003, though until recently they
were not common-place in the Netherlands. A flash mob
is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a
public place, perform an unusual act for a brief period
of time, and then quickly disperse. At the first ever
recorded flash mob 150 people arrived at a flooring
shop, claimed to live together in a warehouse and
showed interest in buying the same rug. Exactly 10
minutes later the crowd suddenly disappeared.


Reading about this first flash mob inspired me to
July 30th - August 2nd: Aberdeen, Scotland: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=66899 a summer camp on the stunning balmedie beach]
research the phenomenon. As I sat captivated by videos
of flash mobs on Youtube, the idea of organising one in
my home city became increasingly exciting. Admittedly
it took a bit of work, but within a few weeks eager
participants were signing up on Couchsurfers, Hyves and
Facebook.


The afternoon went off without a hitch. At the
August 2nd - August 8th: Tokaj, Hungaria: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=56737 Canoe tour]
appointed time on Saturday 20th February 2010 the
signal was given. Couchsurfers ran out of shops, jumped
up from benches, suddenly stopped window shopping, and
got down on their knees and fanatically worshiped a
small statue in the busy shopping area of Rotterdam.
Passers by looked on with confusion and surprise, as
the mob disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.
You can find “Worship the Sock Bears” on Youtube.
Our after party proved highly successful as
Rotterdam’s Tiki Bar kindly agreed to open early for
us.


If you’ve ever been part of a flash mob you’ll know
August 6th - August 8th: Spychowo, Poland: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=72666 II CS International Family Weekend (IFW)]
the immense amount of fun involved. If you haven’t
yet, don’t fear, there are many more entertaining
events looming on the horizon. On Saturday 3rd April at
15:00 there will be massive pillow fights worldwide!
The pillows of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, along with over
120 other cities will be celebrating together as never
before. Interested? Check out our [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=26365 group]


[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/spanglyhaze/ Hazel]
August 1st: Barcelona, Spain: [http://hitchgathering.org/barcelona Pre Gathering for the 3rd European Hitchhiking Gathering]


==Couchsurfers’ Music Exchange: Different cultures different music styles==
August 6th: Sines, Portugal: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=69794 3rd European Hitchhiking Gathering]


During my Australasian half-year-in-between-jobs I’ve
August 27th - August 29th: Karisilla, Estonia: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=74663 Summer camp in Setumaa]
encountered it several times: backpackers I randomly
met that have the best suggestions of music I might
like after listening to some of my stuff on my ipod. Of
course you’re somewhere dodgy and that’s exactly
the point where you are being pushed into another
rundown bus and you forget to write down the artists
and titles of the songs your musical muse told you. You
tell yourself you’ll remember it till you find pen
and paper. An hour later you completely forget about
it.


That’s how the idea of the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58591
September 2nd - September 5th: Milano, Italy: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=57923 This is FO(u)R MI!]
ouchsurfers’ Music Exchange] started: it’s a meeting where CS
listen to other CS’ music and give “if you like this you
might also like”-type of suggestions. (besides
writing down some tracks themselves, of course). To
keep it civilized nothing is actually copied on the
spot (except for some open source tracks).
The first meeting took place the 1st of March at the
“La Place” on the top floor of the OBA (library)
near Amsterdam Central. A happy and culturally diverse
group of around 15 people brought their laptops, ipods,
headphones and harddrives to share their taste in
music. A combination of hip-hop, electro, lounge,
classical music, dutch music and bollywood was the
outcome. The atmosphere was open and relaxed; a
beautiful start of a monthly little festival of music
lovers.


The next one will be held Thursday 1st of April at the
September 3rd - September 5th: Lille, France: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=72089 The Braderie de Lille]
same spot. Keep an eye on the Couchsurfing events
calendar for more info.  


[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/victorious_e/ Victor]
September 10th - September 12th: Prague, Czech Republic: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=58166 Cz3echsurfing]


==Arnhem Calling?==
==overzicht van regular meetings==


Sytse gaat op zoek naar iemand die een verhaal wil schrijven
In more and more Dutch cities CouchSurf-meetings are being held on a regular basis. If you want to know when to go where, you can check this [http://couchwiki.org/en/Netherlands#Regular_meetings list].


==Bowling meetings==
==[http://www.couchsurfing.org/meetings.html?mid=60151 Castlefest] - Festival of Light==
6, 7, 8, August, Lisse, The Netherlands


Astrid schrijft een stukje
People from all over the world come to visit this, I would call it...
Medieval, hippy, folk, family, fantasy festival.


==Midsummernight in the park==
International world, pagan, celtic & folk music, encampment of medieval Re-enactors, a medieval & fantasy market. Art, theatre, visitors dressed up in most beautiful clothing.
All sort of things to do: Balfolk, Sword fighting, painting, poi. Food is all Biological!!


Wil er iemand iets leuks over schrijven?
It's a festival of enjoyment, relax & amazement. And I love it...would be awesome to have a CouchSurf meeting here!


==Small meeting?==
Place to be:
Every year there is a Wickerman burning on Saturday. A hugh wooden construction, filled with the wishes, dreams and gifts from all visitors. You can put your own dreams as an offer inside. The perfect spot to meet!


Wil er iemand iets leuks over schrijven?
I’m working as a volunteer (coordinator backstage) on this festival ever since the beginning and I love to show you people around. The most fun part is to explore the festival your self, so I suggest we meet Friday, Saturday and Sunday 14:00 hours for a drink in front of the Wickerbeast, and share our adventures of couchsurfing! After a drink, I can take the people who are interested for a short backstage tour.


==Meeting in Zwolle?==
Relax & hope to see you there!
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/chantel_bleu/ Chantel]


Vind enkele dagen voor de deadline plaats,
More info: http://www.castlefest.com
is het nog mogelijk er iets over te schrijven?


=News from Cs Netherlands (rechterbalk)=
!!!voor Floris: ik heb op 1 juli je een paar foto's gestuurd voor bij dit bericht!!!


==CS Eindhoven in Elsevier==
==The best way to spend a Kruidvat train ticket: 18 hours of train travelling in NL==


More and more media are noticing Couchsurfing, after 3opreis, Arnon Grunberg in NRC and many more also Elsevier found our about couchsurfing. Read [http://picasaweb.google.com/MyStuffToBeSold/CouchSurfing#5447683810739603538 here] a article about a CS event in Eindhoven
“Would it be possible?”
“Hmm. If we start early and do some smart planning, yes, why not?”
“Let’s do this!”
I imagine the initiators of the idea came to the idea like this. The idea of the 24-hour train race project. The ambitious idea to visit all 12 provincial capitals of The Netherlands in just one day. Probably one of the few countries where such a thing is possible.
Many CS members, armed with a special Kruidvat train ticket to be able to travel for the whole day, would accomplish this mission on the 22nd of May. First train: 6:10am from Amsterdam, on to Haarlem and The Hague.
The fun started right from the beginning: the Dutch Railways (NS) decided that not our train, but the one 150 meters down the platform, would be the train that leaves.
And that’s how you create a delay: we started the journey with already 10 minutes off-schedule. “Off to a good start”!
Fortunately we caught up pretty quick, and, frankly, practically didn’t experience any delays for the rest of the day! Thank you, NS! There, I said it, something positive about the NS. They deserved it for once.
People were encouraged to join us during the journey whenever they wanted. And boy they did! “Are you guys from the 24-hour train race?” et voila: we had once again a bigger group of train travellers on a mission.  
A few hardcore people made it all the way to the last stop: Lelystad. 0:18am the train arrived at the station! To make the last miles less painful we sang songs and people were already dreaming about their bed out loud... The other passengers thought we were gone nuts, I’m sure.
Once on the platform, we started praising the station signs and kissed the ground in true Pope style.
Relieved, proud and tired as hell, we could finally say we visited all 12 provincial capitals. Not only that, but we did it in one day!


==wellicht nog iets naar aanleiding van de volgende CS NL meeting==
Fotolinks:


==nieuwe ontwikkelingen==
http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1X9GA8A/7869872_l_d4aa32afa3c87006c610c513658f1e5f.jpg


hopelijk zijn de vernieuwingen van het ambassadeurs-systeem bekend en kunnen we een oproep plaatsen voor nieuwe ambassadeurs
http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1X9GA8A/7770295_l_671ade1bfeaaa2ea00c51695fefbaf1b.jpg


=Nomadic adventures (linkerbalk)=
http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1X9GA8A/7770316_l_22883d7bfb73dd66771e51bf5046575e.jpg


Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!
http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1X9GA8A/7770213_l_8603c1f3667916c4116bd86b6bf63f50.jpg


Sytse heeft contact gezocht met een interessante surfer
===The Netherlands today, Europe tomorrow!===
Jasper gaat nog contact zoeken
For me personally, the 24-hour train race was a learning experience as well, because I’m involved in a project that is a bit bigger than just The Netherlands. The project is called The Unity Express, and is about a journey across as many as 24 European countries in a single, privately chartered train, with stops in major cities along the way, for a period of four weeks in the summer of 2011.
Zie voorstel vragen in de newsletter werkgroep
The train has room for more than 400 people on board simultaneously. When traveling, people literally live in the train: eating, sleeping, partying, laughing, learning, discussing... It all happens there.
The main goal of this project is to create unity among as much European citizens as possible. By bringing all those people together, on the train and in cities we attend, we create a better understanding for each other, so we can live more peacefully with each other.
This project will launch in mid July on CouchSurfing and with its own [http://www.unityexpress.eu website]. Want to help? This project cannot exist without your help! We need every profession you can think of: paramedics, chefs, security, writers, programmers, entertainers, DJ’s, organizers, thinkers, planners and many more! Go to the website or do a quick search on CouchSurfing to find the working group where you can get involved!
Want more information about the project before the launch? Send an E-mail to [email protected] with your questions and I’ll be happy to answer them!


===Standaardvragen===
Cheers,
1. How did you find out about Couchsurfing?
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/riddergraniet Coen]


2. How do you combine travelling with your professional life?
=News from CS Netherlands=


3. What is the most special experience you ever had through couchsurfing?
==New Ambassador program==


4. What is the most special place you ever visited?
Maybe you already saw profiles of CouchSurfers that have a strange yellow flag on their profile, those people appear to be [http://www.couchsurfing.org/ambassador_list ambassadors]. All CouchSurfers are equal, so ambassadors are certainly no more important than any other CouchSurfer. Ambassadors are only more visible. Quite often they are the people involved in the internal organisation of CouchSurfing, welcoming new members, organising events or just answering questions about CouchSurfing. Find all about what it means to be an ambassador on the [http://www.couchsurfing.org/amb_levels.html CouchSurfing website].


5. What is your favourite means of travel?
The last few months the CouchSurfing headquarter in San Francisco has been busy on improving the ambassador program. This ment there have been no new ambassadors added for over half a year. We cannot give any details yet, but soon it will be possible again for people to apply for the new ambassador system. The Dutch CouchSurfing organisation is looking forward to welcome new people, so if you like CouchSurfing and want to do more with it don't hesitate! You don't need any superpowers to become an ambassador. 


6. What should every traveller bring in his/her suitcase?
Are you interested?
Contact [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/kilgoretrout/ Jasper] for more info!


7. Which traveller should we interview in the next newsletter?
=Nomadic adventures=


==Hitchhiking from Bremen to Stockholm==
Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!


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


I hitchhiked up to Stockholm, because the only home I have is the road. It took me three days to get to Stockholm for one reason, and one alone: Some hitchhiking places in Sweden suck. It took me a while to realise that in Scandinavia on-ramps with your thumb out are actually better than their gas stations which are often at least a km from the highway, small, and frequented by locals, not long-distance drivers.
Somewhere on the edge of Europe lies an invisible line. Many people on the European side are afraid to go across this line. But those adventurers who do dare to risk their lives by passing this invisible line will be rewarded with their own weight in gold. Beyond this line, most media based presumptions which try to tie you up in your own state, turn out to be foolish. One of the random people I told about my upcoming visit to Syria and Jordan answered with a serious tone, that he preferred to visit places where less bullets were flying around. That was before I told him I would go there hitch-hiking.  


The first day of the hitch up was really lucky. Even though it ook me 3 or 4 hours to get out of Bremen, right before Kiel I met Jørg. Jørg was a german from Dortmund, moving to Sortland, up north in Norway (Yeah, it's pretty far up). He had all his stuff with him and he was taking the ferry from Kiel to Gøteborg, and since he was paying the same amount regardless of the amount of people in his car, he had no problem taking me along.
Xenophobia; I stumble upon it a lot, during my travels as well as at home. Mostly the xenophobia is directed at the neighboring country. Sometimes even on fellow inhabitants of ones' own country. In Turkey, on my way from the Netherlands to Syria, I was soaked with warnings about how often I would get killed once I would reach Eastern Turkey. They almost scared me, but assuming it would still be human beings living there, I went nonetheless. Now, two months later, I can tell you that the Eastern-Turkish people are just as hospitable as the people who warn you for them. I've got too many examples to offer, like this man who spontaneously took me home in the middle of the night, sparing me a long night in my tent at the outskirts of Antakya. Next day, wandering through the dark streets of an unknown village in Northern Syria, the first man I say 'good evening' to, interrupts his walk to the mosque and let's his son take care of me. The whole evening they've been treating me with tea, food, stories and Internet, inviting me the next day to come back any time I like. I didn't even get a chance to return to them the next evening; on my way to their village a man on a motorcycle persuades me to stay at his place instead.  


[http://lh3.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S4Wp5JrBfCI/AAAAAAAAL6M/v95oDtaHXbI/s640/SDC11291.JPG photo]
Syrians compete for their guests, doing everything to prevent you from visiting someone else. That's what I call hospitality. They're just amazing. Though even they, who should be aware of the Middle Eastern generosity, will warn you for their neighbors. Obviously they aren't afraid for their visitors; no xenophobia in that sense, yet they are for the strangers just over the horizon. I believe that CouchSurfing, or simply traveling, is the way to decrease this. Say 'no' to xenophobia!
My free bed on the right. Jørg on his on the left.


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


So after a romantic 5 days in Stockholm, I ha to pick up my phone again and finally go home. No way was I going to find an excuse to spend even more time in a [http://lh6.ggpht.com/_PX75rcYIyBI/S3ZhrfJe-YI/AAAAAAAAKrk/39kgz9E9Wm0/s640/SDC11208.JPG meter of snow].
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/2F1VS00/3335724_l_d85db16f40ffdea54f3a7d0afc596f91.jpg picture]


=Exotic couches (linkerbalk)=
=Exotic couches=


Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!
Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!


==Couchpicture==
==Interview with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/urbian/ Urbian Fritz-James]==


Who can beat [http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1MK8MI5/2260014_l_9198503e871c39a39d2b63455a8e0402.jpg 8 people?]
1  How did you find out about CouchSurfing?


==Interview with a 'exotic host'==
In 2005 I went to Krakow. I wanted to meet local people in Krakow so i start to google "meet local people". First I ran into to the site virtual tourist and than this guy said to me to go to couchsurfing.com and contact this lady in Krakow. So i decided to contact her. ( I really dont know her name and she is not on cs anymore) Well I contacted her but finally we didnt meet because she was busy. But I liked the idea of hosting people, so when I came back to Holland i immediately started hosting people and now I have been a member since 2005.


From now on every newsletter we want to introduce you to a host in the Netherlands.
2  What makes your couch special?
This edition we'll start with [http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/gerald_rotterdam/ Gerard] in Bergschenhoek, near Rotterdam.


1  How did you find out about Couchsurfing?
Well lets start with me and my girlfriend. People make the difference and being our guest, we really want to make people feel like they are at home. You can drink and eat whatever we have in our home (except for the champagne). Further we have a separate bedroom with AAA quality mattresses, so a goodnight rest is guaranteed. And on top of everything we have a jacuzzi on our rooftop. Furthermore we live on a island just in the middle of Rotterdam which make it just perfect for your stay in Rotterdam.


In September I read an article about CS in a local
newspaper. I got interested and informed myself at an
experienced Couch-Surfer: Urbian Fitz-James. He talked
so enthusiastic that I made a CS profile myself the
same evening.


2  What makes your couch special?
We don't accept everyone. We have a preference for ladies and couples. I also have assignments written down in my profile so I know for sure that people have written my profile carefully instead of hitting the ctrl+c and ctrl+v button.
 
My guest(s) get their own room: I have a guestroom
with a nice bed next to the bathroom. I prefer one or
two guests at a time, so I can give them as much
attention.
I wanna be social with my guests: We have the meals
together and I show them around. I live between
Rotterdam and The Hague; also Delft and Gouda are quite
close by.
I love to tell them about the Dutch history, culture
and way of thinking: liberal and independent. I show
them the typically Dutch landscape 'polder below
sea-level' and let them taste Dutch specialties as
'stroopwafel', 'kroket', 'drop' and 'poffertjes'.


3  Tell about a special person you hosted?
3  Tell about a special person you hosted?


In 2008 I was Couch-Surfing myself in Brazil. I also
Well we hosted a lot of special persons since 2005. But Leila Messaoudi was one of the most special persons we hosted. The first time she came to my place she planned to stay for 3 days but it ended up for 2 weeks. Spending christmas together. We also went to a cs meeting in Paris were we had a lovely time. Leila became my little sister and i adopted her. She visited our place again for 4 times.
visited the Amazon's-region, with Manaus as capital.
There, in the jungle, I found a Couch-Surfer: André, a
guy of 21, who picked me up from the airport, helped me
as much as he could and showed me around. This young
man spoke: Dutch! He visited our beautiful country
already three times, each time several weeks, and fell
in love with the Netherlands. In January 2009 he stayed
at my place for three weeks and we had a wonderful time
together. We still have contact.


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


A very nice small town is Delft: very Dutch, full of
Go to Kinderdijk (windmills) to get some of that nostalgic feeling of Holland
history, lots of things to see and to do. I love to
show my guests around at the 'grote markt', and tell
them about the royal graves in the 'Nieuwe Kerk', Hugo
de Groot, Vermeer and the old houses and town-hall.
There are nice bars, restaurants, souvenir-shops and
terraces in Delft.


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


In a good Couch-Surf request the guest writes about
I would like to see some humor in it and please amaze me with something original and wicked. And when you write me a request you should at least have the words "qwerty", "smoke" and "jacuzzi" in your request. That is because of the assignments I have in my profile.  
himself (or herself) and tells me why he wants to come
to the Netherlands. I always give newbies the favour of
the doubt and welcome also young starters in our CS
community.


6  Which sort of guests do you prefer?
6  Which sort of guests do you prefer?


I prefer guests who don't come for the red-light
We prefer couples and ladies. For the rest you will have to be able to speak english and dont be shy.
district and the cannabis! I love guests who are
interested in the Dutch way of living, way of thinking,
culture and who wanna let them show around. Guests who
let me decide where to go, see the most and have the
nicest time.


7  Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?
7  Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?


I suggest to interview Urbian Fitz-James, mentioned
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=CI8LAF  Pieter Ter berg]
before. He made me enthusiastic and helped me the first
year with advice and recommended me as starting host at
guests.
 
===Standaardvragen===
1  How did you find out about Couchsurfing?
 
2  What makes your couch special?
 
3  Tell about a special person you hosted?
 
4  What place near your couch would you recommend everybody to visit?
 
5  What do you like to see in a good couchsurf request?
 
6  Which sort of guests do you prefer?
 
7  Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?
 
==Place unknown==
 
Casa Merode, a CS house in Tilburg. It's a house with 5 students who are all active on CS. There's a Wiki-page about it and it's got its own group on CS.
 
http://wiki.couchsurfing.org/en/Casa_Merode
http://www.couchsurfing.org/group.html?gid=22894&showpage=1


=traveltip (linkerbalk)=
[http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/2J65MU/22306_l_7430622ba1bc22932dc363dec4e0cb4f.jpg picture]


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


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

Latest revision as of 18:55, 14 January 2013

Old newsletters:

CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.1

CS Newsletter for the Netherlands 2010.2

Draft 3nd newsletter

Heading

CouchSurfers meeting up

Grote zomermeetings in Europa

More and more CouchSurfing communities are organising couchsurfing events this summer. Wherever you go, you can meetup with local couchsurfers.

Below is a selection of interesting events:

July 16th - July 18th: Oostende, Belgium: CS Beach Weekend

July 16th - July 18th: Champ-du-Boult, France: Normandy Summer camp

July 16th - July 21th: Brussels, Belgium: Brussels CS summer event

July 23th - July 25th: Dundee, Scotland: Dundee Calling

July 23th - July 26th: Paris, France: Paris Rendez Vous

July 28th - August 1st: Pescosolido, Italy: Italy summer camp

July 30th - August 2nd: Aberdeen, Scotland: a summer camp on the stunning balmedie beach

August 2nd - August 8th: Tokaj, Hungaria: Canoe tour

August 6th - August 8th: Spychowo, Poland: II CS International Family Weekend (IFW)

August 1st: Barcelona, Spain: Pre Gathering for the 3rd European Hitchhiking Gathering

August 6th: Sines, Portugal: 3rd European Hitchhiking Gathering

August 27th - August 29th: Karisilla, Estonia: Summer camp in Setumaa

September 2nd - September 5th: Milano, Italy: This is FO(u)R MI!

September 3rd - September 5th: Lille, France: The Braderie de Lille

September 10th - September 12th: Prague, Czech Republic: Cz3echsurfing

overzicht van regular meetings

In more and more Dutch cities CouchSurf-meetings are being held on a regular basis. If you want to know when to go where, you can check this list.

Castlefest - Festival of Light

6, 7, 8, August, Lisse, The Netherlands

People from all over the world come to visit this, I would call it... Medieval, hippy, folk, family, fantasy festival.

International world, pagan, celtic & folk music, encampment of medieval Re-enactors, a medieval & fantasy market. Art, theatre, visitors dressed up in most beautiful clothing. All sort of things to do: Balfolk, Sword fighting, painting, poi. Food is all Biological!!

It's a festival of enjoyment, relax & amazement. And I love it...would be awesome to have a CouchSurf meeting here!

Place to be: Every year there is a Wickerman burning on Saturday. A hugh wooden construction, filled with the wishes, dreams and gifts from all visitors. You can put your own dreams as an offer inside. The perfect spot to meet!

I’m working as a volunteer (coordinator backstage) on this festival ever since the beginning and I love to show you people around. The most fun part is to explore the festival your self, so I suggest we meet Friday, Saturday and Sunday 14:00 hours for a drink in front of the Wickerbeast, and share our adventures of couchsurfing! After a drink, I can take the people who are interested for a short backstage tour.

Relax & hope to see you there! Chantel

More info: http://www.castlefest.com

!!!voor Floris: ik heb op 1 juli je een paar foto's gestuurd voor bij dit bericht!!!

The best way to spend a Kruidvat train ticket: 18 hours of train travelling in NL

“Would it be possible?” “Hmm. If we start early and do some smart planning, yes, why not?” “Let’s do this!” I imagine the initiators of the idea came to the idea like this. The idea of the 24-hour train race project. The ambitious idea to visit all 12 provincial capitals of The Netherlands in just one day. Probably one of the few countries where such a thing is possible. Many CS members, armed with a special Kruidvat train ticket to be able to travel for the whole day, would accomplish this mission on the 22nd of May. First train: 6:10am from Amsterdam, on to Haarlem and The Hague. The fun started right from the beginning: the Dutch Railways (NS) decided that not our train, but the one 150 meters down the platform, would be the train that leaves. And that’s how you create a delay: we started the journey with already 10 minutes off-schedule. “Off to a good start”! Fortunately we caught up pretty quick, and, frankly, practically didn’t experience any delays for the rest of the day! Thank you, NS! There, I said it, something positive about the NS. They deserved it for once. People were encouraged to join us during the journey whenever they wanted. And boy they did! “Are you guys from the 24-hour train race?” et voila: we had once again a bigger group of train travellers on a mission. A few hardcore people made it all the way to the last stop: Lelystad. 0:18am the train arrived at the station! To make the last miles less painful we sang songs and people were already dreaming about their bed out loud... The other passengers thought we were gone nuts, I’m sure. Once on the platform, we started praising the station signs and kissed the ground in true Pope style. Relieved, proud and tired as hell, we could finally say we visited all 12 provincial capitals. Not only that, but we did it in one day!

Fotolinks:

http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1X9GA8A/7869872_l_d4aa32afa3c87006c610c513658f1e5f.jpg

http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1X9GA8A/7770295_l_671ade1bfeaaa2ea00c51695fefbaf1b.jpg

http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1X9GA8A/7770316_l_22883d7bfb73dd66771e51bf5046575e.jpg

http://images.couchsurfing.us.s3.amazonaws.com/1X9GA8A/7770213_l_8603c1f3667916c4116bd86b6bf63f50.jpg

The Netherlands today, Europe tomorrow!

For me personally, the 24-hour train race was a learning experience as well, because I’m involved in a project that is a bit bigger than just The Netherlands. The project is called The Unity Express, and is about a journey across as many as 24 European countries in a single, privately chartered train, with stops in major cities along the way, for a period of four weeks in the summer of 2011. The train has room for more than 400 people on board simultaneously. When traveling, people literally live in the train: eating, sleeping, partying, laughing, learning, discussing... It all happens there. The main goal of this project is to create unity among as much European citizens as possible. By bringing all those people together, on the train and in cities we attend, we create a better understanding for each other, so we can live more peacefully with each other. This project will launch in mid July on CouchSurfing and with its own website. Want to help? This project cannot exist without your help! We need every profession you can think of: paramedics, chefs, security, writers, programmers, entertainers, DJ’s, organizers, thinkers, planners and many more! Go to the website or do a quick search on CouchSurfing to find the working group where you can get involved! Want more information about the project before the launch? Send an E-mail to [email protected] with your questions and I’ll be happy to answer them!

Cheers, Coen

News from CS Netherlands

New Ambassador program

Maybe you already saw profiles of CouchSurfers that have a strange yellow flag on their profile, those people appear to be ambassadors. All CouchSurfers are equal, so ambassadors are certainly no more important than any other CouchSurfer. Ambassadors are only more visible. Quite often they are the people involved in the internal organisation of CouchSurfing, welcoming new members, organising events or just answering questions about CouchSurfing. Find all about what it means to be an ambassador on the CouchSurfing website.

The last few months the CouchSurfing headquarter in San Francisco has been busy on improving the ambassador program. This ment there have been no new ambassadors added for over half a year. We cannot give any details yet, but soon it will be possible again for people to apply for the new ambassador system. The Dutch CouchSurfing organisation is looking forward to welcome new people, so if you like CouchSurfing and want to do more with it don't hesitate! You don't need any superpowers to become an ambassador.

Are you interested? Contact Jasper for more info!

Nomadic adventures

Do you have a nice travelstory? Tell us!

Dodging bullets in Syria

Somewhere on the edge of Europe lies an invisible line. Many people on the European side are afraid to go across this line. But those adventurers who do dare to risk their lives by passing this invisible line will be rewarded with their own weight in gold. Beyond this line, most media based presumptions which try to tie you up in your own state, turn out to be foolish. One of the random people I told about my upcoming visit to Syria and Jordan answered with a serious tone, that he preferred to visit places where less bullets were flying around. That was before I told him I would go there hitch-hiking.

Xenophobia; I stumble upon it a lot, during my travels as well as at home. Mostly the xenophobia is directed at the neighboring country. Sometimes even on fellow inhabitants of ones' own country. In Turkey, on my way from the Netherlands to Syria, I was soaked with warnings about how often I would get killed once I would reach Eastern Turkey. They almost scared me, but assuming it would still be human beings living there, I went nonetheless. Now, two months later, I can tell you that the Eastern-Turkish people are just as hospitable as the people who warn you for them. I've got too many examples to offer, like this man who spontaneously took me home in the middle of the night, sparing me a long night in my tent at the outskirts of Antakya. Next day, wandering through the dark streets of an unknown village in Northern Syria, the first man I say 'good evening' to, interrupts his walk to the mosque and let's his son take care of me. The whole evening they've been treating me with tea, food, stories and Internet, inviting me the next day to come back any time I like. I didn't even get a chance to return to them the next evening; on my way to their village a man on a motorcycle persuades me to stay at his place instead.

Syrians compete for their guests, doing everything to prevent you from visiting someone else. That's what I call hospitality. They're just amazing. Though even they, who should be aware of the Middle Eastern generosity, will warn you for their neighbors. Obviously they aren't afraid for their visitors; no xenophobia in that sense, yet they are for the strangers just over the horizon. I believe that CouchSurfing, or simply traveling, is the way to decrease this. Say 'no' to xenophobia!

Chiel (read more about Chiel's travels on his blog)

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Exotic couches

Do you have a nice hosting story? Tell us!

Interview with Urbian Fritz-James

1 How did you find out about CouchSurfing?

In 2005 I went to Krakow. I wanted to meet local people in Krakow so i start to google "meet local people". First I ran into to the site virtual tourist and than this guy said to me to go to couchsurfing.com and contact this lady in Krakow. So i decided to contact her. ( I really dont know her name and she is not on cs anymore) Well I contacted her but finally we didnt meet because she was busy. But I liked the idea of hosting people, so when I came back to Holland i immediately started hosting people and now I have been a member since 2005.

2 What makes your couch special?

Well lets start with me and my girlfriend. People make the difference and being our guest, we really want to make people feel like they are at home. You can drink and eat whatever we have in our home (except for the champagne). Further we have a separate bedroom with AAA quality mattresses, so a goodnight rest is guaranteed. And on top of everything we have a jacuzzi on our rooftop. Furthermore we live on a island just in the middle of Rotterdam which make it just perfect for your stay in Rotterdam.


We don't accept everyone. We have a preference for ladies and couples. I also have assignments written down in my profile so I know for sure that people have written my profile carefully instead of hitting the ctrl+c and ctrl+v button.

3 Tell about a special person you hosted?

Well we hosted a lot of special persons since 2005. But Leila Messaoudi was one of the most special persons we hosted. The first time she came to my place she planned to stay for 3 days but it ended up for 2 weeks. Spending christmas together. We also went to a cs meeting in Paris were we had a lovely time. Leila became my little sister and i adopted her. She visited our place again for 4 times.

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

Go to Kinderdijk (windmills) to get some of that nostalgic feeling of Holland

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

I would like to see some humor in it and please amaze me with something original and wicked. And when you write me a request you should at least have the words "qwerty", "smoke" and "jacuzzi" in your request. That is because of the assignments I have in my profile.

6 Which sort of guests do you prefer?

We prefer couples and ladies. For the rest you will have to be able to speak english and dont be shy.

7 Which host should we interview in the next newsletter?

Pieter Ter berg

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traveltip