My name is Wilfred Berendsen, I am 25 years old (born on 11 September ’73). Born in Lichtenvoorde, a small village in the East of the Netherlands near the German border. As a child, I got fascinated by animals really quick. Although my parents did not like this too much, they saw one of their 4 boys developing a great interests in whatever was alive. Therefore, it did not take long before I got my first animals, two fishes. Soon after this, the first zebra finches appeared in the living room. This small start was followed by rabbits, guinese pigs, squirrels, desert rats, hamsters, pigeons, chickens, a gold pheasant and chinchilla’s between my 6th and 18th year. My biggest interest however was the flying stuff, so I got my first aviary when I was about 9 years old. This hobby started with exotic birds and some parakeets. Since the later only survived after a certain illness, I went on with the parakeets. This were first mainly Australian birds, but on my 12th I really felt in love with a south American species. This concerned the Peach Fronted Parakeet( Aratinga Aurea Aurea ). I can still remember the first day that I saw this beautiful bird, since I am still fond of them. I keep this bird as from my 13th birthday till now, and it is still my favourite species.

About 13 years ago, I started with keeping mainly South American Parakeets, mainly of the Aratinga and Pyrhurra family. Further on, I managed to breed with the Ara Nobilis Nobilis about 4 years ago. Unfortunately, I had to sell my good couple of this ara-species because I started an internship in Pardubice (Czech Republic) about 3 years ago to complete my bachelor studies in Logistics at the HEAO-Arnhem . This internship was at the Czech subsidiary of Nedcon, a well-known Dutch designer, manufacturer and seller of racking systems. During this Internship at Nedcon Bohemia, I travelled between the Czech Republic and the Netherlands during about one year. I lived in Pardubice for about 5 months together. This time in Pardubice was about the nicest time of my live, except at least the experiences I had during my exchange in Prague (see later on).

At the end of this internship, I started with my present study Business Administration at the Erasmus University Rotterdam. This started about 2,5 years ago, so I lived in Rotterdam for about 2 years. This lasted till the end of June ’98. Till that time, I had a lot of fun in Rotterdam and met a lot of interesting people and new friends. At the moment, I am almost ready with my study Business Administration. Since I also want to receive the CEMS master degree, I also followed an exchange. This was at the Vysoka Skola Economicka (VSE) in Prague, also called "Prague University of Economics". Here I studied from september 1998 till the end of 1998.

During my exchange in Prague, I was living in a dormitory with about 30 other CEMS students from the whole of Western-Europe. Besides this, there are living a whole colony of Americans following the so-called CESP- Program (Central European Study Program) at the same university. I enjoyed my exchange a lot and had a lot of fun there together with my roommate of Vienna and the other students living in the dormitory. The Czech people are also very nice, so I made a lot of friends. The only thing I really missed were my Misty and Michi. But fortunately, my mother took care of them quite well. Therefore, I did not really miss a lot but had a lot of fun and the best moments of my live. For this, I have to send some special thanks to my friends and the nice people I met in Prague.

After my exchange, I still spend some 2 months in Prague. This because I only had to start at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam half of March. Till that time, I still wanted to learn something more about the Czech culture, people and language. Especially concerning the last, it can be mentioned that I spend (and need to spend) quite a lot of time in studying. But although it is very hard to learn the language, it is very interesting. Further on, it is really nice to be able to speak some words with the locals.

At the moment, I am living with my parents and brothers in Lichtenvoorde again. I hope to complete my studies Business Administration at the Erasmus University in about 5 months. To do so, I am now busy writing my thesis. The rest of my time is spend with following some courses, studying czech, working and socialising.

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