I am Leo VAN DER VELDEN, originally from the Netherlands, but since 1986 living and working abroad. I studied anthropology and in particular South-East Asian Studies at the University of Amsterdam, while in 1977-78 I was an exchange student at the University of the Philippines. I also completed my masters' field studies in Manila in 1980 as a research associate of the Institute of Philippine Culture of the Ateneo de Manila University. Nowadays I am especially interested in (South) Sudan and Bhutan, and in particular in philately and postal history. I worked and lived for five years in Bhutan (1996 - 1999 and again in 2007 - 2009), while I have been working and living in North and South Sudan in 1986 -1991, 1995-1996 and 2009 - 2011. I also worked and lived in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) a.k.a. North Korea in 2012 - 2013.