Jelle
& Vera

Netherlands & Spain
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Profile information

Travel information
We are currently
At home
Description
In terms of cultural exchange, we both enjoy learning and sharing languages. Amongst the two of us, we speak Dutch, English, Norwegian, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Italian. We are always looking to improve and exchange our languages. Of course, we also like to discover and discuss any cultural differences that may exist between us.

More than anything else, Jelle likes to be outdoors and connect with nature. He loves to go on hikes, climbs, and camping trips. Besides going into nature, he loves being around animals. Next year, he hopes to embark on a new adventure and begin a 3-4 year PhD program at NTNU, Trondheim. His research interest is focused on the European Union's neighbourhood policy, particularly the Eastern neighbourhood.

Vera enjoys engaging with the world around her and exploring new concepts and places. She loves learning from people from diverse backgrounds and immersing herself in books. After a few years of intense studying, she values physical well-being activities like yoga, hiking, and climbing. Currently thinking about her professional career, she is exploring various research topics related to the EU and global political dynamics.
Interests
Sustainability
Culture
Dancing
Gardening
Farming
Yoga / Wellness
Politics / Social justice
Sailing / Boating
Vegetarian or vegan
Writing
Photography
Pets
Outdoor activities
Nature
LGBTQ
Languages
Movies & TV
Mountain
Music
History
Hiking
Cycling
Cooking & food
Charity work
Blogging
Books
Camping
Art & design
Animals
Adventure sports
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
Norwegian: Fluent
German: Intermediate
French: Intermediate
Japanese: Intermediate
Italian: Beginner
More details about my language interests
We both speak multiple languages. We are confident in some of them and enjoy sharing our knowledge. When visiting somewhere, we would love to pick up at least some basics of the local language.
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Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn
We're interested in:
Eco Projects
Being an elderly companion
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Life at a Farmstay
Hospitality/Tourism
Some knowledge of:
Languages
Charity Work
Animal Care
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Helping around the house
General Maintenance
Able to teach about:
Helping with Computers/ Internet
More details about your skills
Jelle is a decent cook but vegan, so he does not use animal products. His bachelor's degree in Computer Science means he can assist with many things related to computers, phones, etc. He can also help out with daily housekeeping tasks, such as cleaning. I like animals, especially dogs, and I love taking them on walks.

I would be willing to help out in many different ways. I am eager to learn skills that I don't have yet.

Vera has a strong affinity for animals and enjoys playing with them, particularly cats and dogs. Although a beginner, she enjoys taking care of plants and is eager to expand her gardening skills. She can help with housekeeping tasks, and she is happy to assist with other physically demanding tasks if needed. Growing up, she always tried to outsmart her father who works as a computer scientist, so she is familiar with common household technology problems.
Age
28 & 23
What else ...
We're pretty easy-going people and enjoy various activities. Whether going on a hike, playing board games, watching a film, listening to music or simply having exciting conversations, we'd like to spend some time with our hosts!
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
- Special dietary requirements
  We're both vegan.

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4 Nov 2024

Left by Workawayer () for host (Help at our place in ...)

We had high hopes for our stay at Anne Kristin, as she seemed very friendly from her profile and is undeniably located in a beautiful location. Indeed, her farm on a hill in Vanvikan has wonderful views of the fjord below, and nice hikes surround it. Thus, it could be nice to stay with her under different circumstances. Sadly, this was not our… read more experience.

Our problems began even before embarking on our journey to Norway. We had hoped to stay somewhere nice with relatively low costs while waiting for our jobs to start. Thus, we looked for a workaway months ago to secure this plan. Then, only two weeks in advance, we received a message from Anne Kristin stating that she would not have enough work for us as winter was coming (which sounds cyclic to us but was unforeseen). As such, we would work just 3 hours instead of 5, but we would have to provide our food. This was rather short notice, and given the limited options for workaway stays in the area, we could hardly change our plans. So, we suddenly found ourselves paying for food, which is quite expensive in Norway. However, we gave it a chance. The following two issues were the only complaints we respectfully raised to her.

We arrived on a chilly October night, only to find that the advertised guest house was badly equipped for the cold. There was a wood-burning stove, but whenever lit, it would smoke heavily into the room. This situation made breathing difficult, giving us headaches and waking us up at night due to the poor air quality. There was one tiny window to ventilate, but that obviously let the warmth out, too, and it hardly helped, given the amount of smoke in the room. We politely pointed this situation to Anne Kirstin, who insisted that the stove was working well and suggested we were not operating it correctly. Not believing us, she tried it out herself and acknowledged the smoke but did nothing more than give us a small electric heater. When handing it over, Anne Kristin remarked, "This will not be enough when it gets colder, and then you will have to use the wood stove again." She was unbothered and unwilling to solve the issue. Instead, she told us about a French person with asthma who had stayed with her and found that the wooden building helped provide some relief. Therefore, how could we experience any issues with the air quality? So, we found ourselves cold, but gave it a chance with the electric heater and did not talk about it more with her.

An additional problem was the lack of internet access. Anne Kristin's profile noted that there would be "full internet access." However, we could only access the internet in a particular spot in the house. That meant having to stand in a very non-ergonomic position for our 2-hour online French course twice a week, as the laptop had to be placed on the windowsill. When we asked if there was a solution, Anne Kristin first suggested that we sit in her kitchen for the course. However, she was swift to retract that offer. We had a 15-minute discussion in which she questioned whether the issue existed and condescendingly regretted we could not “even provide for (our) own internet” (implying we were too poor). In this conversation, she even told us how there was an Italian workawayer who had no problems with the internet, explained how many workawayers just need to update their email once a day, et cetera. Anything to avoid solving the issue. In her view, there was full internet access, as it works at the window (which it does sometimes), and you can go to any website. She also once hosted an Italian workawayer who had used the internet to his satisfaction, so it should be fine. Finally, she speculated that we had bad laptops.

A recurring pattern was Anne Kristin's distrust of us, as shown by her recurring examples of previous workawayers who did not experience the issues we had. With both the heating and internet problems, she asked to come into the guest house, asking for proof that it was indeed a problem. Nevertheless, even when she saw it with her own eyes, she did not provide much of a solution (an electric heater that would not be enough and moving the internet router to her window so that the reach would extend 1 more meter). This lack of trust was painful to experience after working hard for her to do physical labour. And, again, these were the only two complaints we politely raised in the span of our visit. However, we have not tackled the elephant in the room: the poor conditions the guest house is in during winter.

Coming back to the standard of the guest house just once, it could be higher generally, not just regarding the kitchen and the heating. We had to duct-tape the window as it would otherwise fall out. The shower is mounted on the wall of the kitchen/garage/whatever this space should be called (I hope I can add images at a later step). There is no toilet in the house. Instead, there is a small wooden cabin outdoors with a composting toilet, as in a hole in the ground and no running water or light. It could be better when waking up at night.

To aggravate the issue, the "kitchen" in the guest house is non-existent. There is a single electric hot plate. Therefore, cooking is no fun, and it is impossible to make nice dinners, which would at least mean there is a nice side to Anne Kristin not providing food. Instead, we were not eating great. Moreover, there is only a tiny store down the hill, on a 25-minute hike and 30 minutes back up. Alternatively, one could cross the fjord to Trondheim for a bigger store, adding several hours more. As such, in reality, we often worked 5 hours, but now, 2 hours consisted of doing the groceries and attempting to cook. The extra paying we needed to do thus resulted in less free time.

Some of this could be understood if she clarified the living standards on the workaway website. Alternatively, Anne Kristin could have taken our concerns more seriously. She has the means to solve these issues and lives well herself. Instead, when we raised the issues about the heating or wifi, she said our expectations were too high.

All in all, we were very disappointed. Then, on Sunday morning, Anne Kristin was annoyed at us for not showing up to work. We did not understand: we had not worked Saturday and had no reason to think we would work weekend days; that's how weekends work. However, we should have known that work sometimes pops up on a farm and cannot wait. We should have been in front of the guest house at 9 am. When we told Anne Kristin that we did not know, she told us that we had wrong expectations and would not be happy here, and she thought it better for us to leave. Besides, she did not want to work with us anymore as we were "aggressive," although all we ever did was ask for proper heating and internet, never complaining about the rest. Thus, we only stayed for a week rather than 2 months as envisioned and wasted a lot of money on plane tickets and Norwegian food.

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