Hi my name is Joost. I'm a Danish citizen raised in the Netherlands with an American partner and a British son living in Prague. I consider myself European and hope that my son will think of himself as a citizen of Earth. Being human is full of challenges and I believe that we are meant to face those challenges, that we have a responsibility to ourselves, our fellow man, the animals around us and whoever the creator of this planet is to make strides to create a world that is harmonious sustainable and fair.

My girlfriend always says:" I like nice people" and I couldn't agree more. Nice people are what this world needs. In my own way I try (but often fail) to be nice. In the articles you see me writing I'll always try to appeal to the nice in people trusting it's there and hoping it will come out.

Oh, and professionally I teach English and other languages in Prague to companies and individuals ( http://www.joost4languages.com/ ). There is nothing more rewarding than being served free coffee while correcting the mistakes of powerful executives all day long. talk about a stress-free job. Don't even think about moving to Prague, the job is taken.

By the way that's my son up there, he's the cutest kid in the world. At the moment he speaks two words in three languages. His name's Atreyu, but he can't see the never ending story yet since the rockbiter scares him.

My passion is ...

humanity, who we are, what we stand for, and how we can change for the better.

I know too much about ...

many useless topics and too little about the things that matter.

My parents always told me ...

That if I designed a bridge, it would have too few bolts.

My childhood ambition ...

to build a perpetuum mobile

My favorite memory ...

Having breakfast early in the morning next to our orange Mercedes truck at the military checkpoint on Mount Hermon after we spent the night there, just so we could be the first ones to ski there.

Why I write ...

because it makes me happy

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Anything I can get my hands on

My first job ...

Paperboy

My best moment ...

any time I make my son laugh or my girlfriend smile

My inspiration ...

My girlfriend, my parents, my friends, me

Politics, News & Issues > Drug Laws & Prevention Lowering the legal drinking age in America

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In June of 1996 I was on an airplane on my way to the United States. I was working a summer job in a Christian summer camp in Wisconsin. Going to America for the first time I was really exited and curious about the country, the people and basically everything that was connected to this adventure.

Now my birthday was the 19th of Juli which meant that halfway through my three-month trip I would finally reach the ripe old age of twenty-one. Not a significant birthday for a European but a very significant one for an American as I was soon to discover.

On my very first weekend I went with ...

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