I am Steven van Vulpen, born on March 18 1986 in Bunnik.

School:
I attended the Lage Engh in Bunnik. After that I went to the Sint Gregorius College in Utrecht, where I finished my VWO in Nature & Health and Nature & Technique. This went so well, that I followed the same path. It brought me to Chemistry at Utrecht University. My eyes were opened and I quitted it after one year and started Law in Utrecht. A broad start broad me towards a focus on international law and conflicts. I finished the LLM in Conflict & Security, a double LLM, a cooperation between Utrecht University and the University of Sheffield.

Sports:
I started to play volleyball during primary school and was invited for regional selections, though that would take too much time as I was busy with playing the piano and Scouting as well. Afterwards I tried squash and Futsal. At the moment I run for a couple of years and I am one of the trainers at Loopgroep Bunnik.

Church
I am a member of the PKN Bunnik, where I did my confessions. Our youth is really active and we went to the Ukraine and Malawi together to do voluntary work. We like to do this, because it adds an extra dimension towards our faith. I am also part of a working group that tries to update our Sunday ceremonies and I take part in the organization of our alpha-course.

Dieuwke:
I met Dieuwke in 2007 during the preparations for our journey towards the Ukraine. She joined us on this trip to do voluntary work. We met a couple of times after the journey and we have a relationship since then. She studies journalism in Ede (CHE), lives in Utrecht and her parents live in Dronten.

Why this blog is in English:
My blog was meant to keep my family updated when I was in Sheffield, during February-July 2009. I updated them in Dutch and I had a wonderful time. I met a lot of international students in the UK, so that is why I blog in English. I know that most of my followers are Dutch, but I do not like to exclude my foreign friends by writing in Dutch. Moreover, writing in English is also good for me to keep in touch with the English language. Most of my stories will be about sports, mostly running, but they will also deal with issues I come across in my everyday life, including hopefully a lot of interesting stories about my work as well.