I: So, tell me about yourself.
K: Uhm... where do I start?
I: Well, we'll start off with the vital statistics. Things like when were you
born, and were, how tall are you, what colour hair and things like that.
K: Allright.. I was born in 1969. In a town called Dordrecht, in
the Netherlands. I am 1 meter 86 centimetres long, I have blonde
hair and blue eyes.
I: 1 meter 86 centimetres.. what's that in feet and inches ?
K: I think about 6 feet 2 inch.
I: Let me see.. you don't live in Dordrecht anymore ?
K: No. In 1978 we moved to Nieuwegein. My father's job moved to Utrecht and
we moved along.
I: Would you move back ?
K: Definately not. I have spend most time in Nieuwegein now and I have my
career here.
I: Let's put things in historic order.. what was your school-career ?
K: Let's see.. started with basisschool in Dordrecht and in Nieuwegein.
Then MAVO in Nieuwegein.. the Prins Bernhard Mavo. After that MTS Electronica
at Scutos in Utrecht and finally HTS Informatica at the Hogeschool Utrecht,
again in Utrecht. It's not the shortest route to a diploma but it worked
out nicely for me.
I: Errr.. could you translate that to English ?
K: Well, to make it short, basisschool is primary school, MAVO is general
education, then electronics and finally computer science. Hogeschool is
a level just below University.
I: I see. Hmmm.. according to my data you have a job you started right
after you finished your education. Tell me about it.
K: Indeed. During the final stage of my study I got in touch with
Cetis, in the person of
Jos van der Woude. Around the time I finished,
he asked me for a couple of weeks of programming work. Which became a
few weeks more, then a couple of temporary contracts and finally a
permanent position.
I: What kind of job is it ?
K: The official title nowadays is 'Developer new media'. The general idea
is that I develop Internet applications for educational purposes.
I: Could you give some examples ?
K: Well.. originally things around gopher.. nowadays it's all about World
Wide Web offcourse. The gopher thing started with a system to enter data
into the gopher server directly from within wordprocessors. The recent
'hit' is coupling between World Wide Web and databases.
I: Do you like your job ?
K: I sure do. It's a great job. I really like creating new things, working
out how things can work, getting new ideas and things like that. It's a
job with a lot of freedom. I could earn a lot more money in a commercial
job, but I rather stay at this job and enjoy myself.
I: Well.. let's move on to another subject. You still live with your
parents ?
K: I do. At the moment I'm looking for a place of my own. But, since
finding a house is hard in the Netherlands, it takes time. A lot of time.
I: You also work with computers as a hobby ?
K: Yes. It all started as a hobby. Lately I'm making a distinction between
what I do with the computer as 'work' and what as 'hobby'. I don't want to
be working twenty-four hours a day. I do like computers and I can do great
things with them.
I: Any other hobbies ?
K: Sure. I like to ride my bike. Not only as means of transport to commute
to work but also for nice rides in the evening or on weekends. I also
like travelling around the world, and reading, and walking.
I: How would you describe yourself as a person.. I mean in terms of
introvert/extrovert.. things like that.
K: Definately introvert. A bit shy. Insecure in some situations. Serious.
A sense of humour that is sometimes weird and most of the time great.
I: Do you have a relationship with someone ?
K: No.
I: I see.. friends ?
K: Sure.. I have a number of close friends. And I get along very well with
most of my co workers.
I: Well, at the moment this is about the time and space I have available.
Should anything change, I'll get back to you on this. Thanks for answering
my questions.
K: Ok.
Both stand up and leave the room to go their respective ways. The room is left behind empty, with the light still burning. It's as if the room has been a spectator in an experience which it can't describe.
Koos van den Hout, July 30th 1996.