| | Powwow Report for Netherlands - Nuenen, near Eindhoven (Apr 16 2011)
| Report from Nigel Saych | The warm spring day in Nuenen was in total contrast to the cold, damp winter day when Vincent van Gogh arrived in the village in 1883! And the mood was different also, not a sad and angry artist who had still not known success, but nearly 50 happy and enthusiastic translators from all over the Netherlands and from eight other countries.
Keen participants had arrived early and had explored the village by themselves, including the nearby windmill built in the time Vincent lived in Nuenen and which is in full working order. But the mass international invasion took place between 13:00 and 14:00 when we took over the terrace of a café in the centre of the village, with the poor waitresses still uncertain which language to speak.
After lunch, with our guests from the Randstad still trying to come to terms with the concept of free parking in the village centre, we walked to the nearby Vincentre, our starting point for the afternoon activities. Opened less than a year ago, this new Van Gogh centre has finally put Nuenen, if not the whole of Brabant on the map! Housed in the old Town Hall (which Van Gogh would have visited to register in the village), it is not a museum, but an exhibition which tries to explain Vincent’s life from his birth in Zundert in 1853 till the day he left Nuenen in 1885. The real ‘museum’ is the village itself, with 22 locations drawn or painted by Van Gogh during his two-year stay. While two groups visited the exhibition, the other two were taken for a guided walk around many of these locations. Half way through the afternoon this was reversed, so that everyone had the chance to join the walk and see the exhibition.
The Vincentre, which had offered our group the entry and walk free of charge because they know how poor we translators are, closed its doors to the public at 17:00 but we stayed on for another hour for drinks, networking and a lot of card-swapping. Our thanks go to the volunteers who not only looked after us, but stayed behind to clear up after we had left!
The short walk back to the village centre included the obligatory group photo in front of the statue of our special guest, Vincent van Gogh. Considering he spoke perfect Dutch, French and English he was in good company. Then it was on to the inn that bears his name, the Auberge Vincent for an excellent buffet dinner. With a wide choice of dishes and excellent company, this was a most enjoyable evening, and even the restaurant staff commented that they didn’t realise that translators could be such nice people. The Powwow organiser has only vague recollections of what happened between 10 in the evening and 2 the next morning, but puts it all down to stress. It certainly gives a new meaning to ‘Starry Night’…
A small group gathered after breakfast to visit the windmill and watermills that were a feature of so many of Vincent’s drawings and paintings. Then, with the sun still shining on the cornfields and the weavers’ houses, it was the end of another Powwow. My thanks for the fantastic response to the event, to your enthusiasm, and to the staff at the Vincentre and Auberge for making the day so enjoyable. And, as they say at the Oscars, “to Vincent, without whom none of this would have been possible….”
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ProZ.com users and members who attended
 : organizer  : photos  : report  : host |
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Postings from ProZians who attended this event Apr 21 '11 Inge Dijkstra: (POW)WOW!
I believe it has all been said, but thank you so much, Nigel, Annette (and Albert) for a great day! I\'ll be back ;-))) | Apr 18 '11 nordiste: Bravo and thank you!
for a wonderful time in Nuenen with Vincent. | Apr 18 '11 Nigel Saych: Postscript
Your messages are wonderful; a day like this needs not just people, but people who enjoy meeting each other, who like learning something new and who are prepared to contribute to a good day out. Not to mention a great meal and possibly a glass or two..... Vincent and I were honoured to welcome you to Nuenen last Saturday; it was you who made it a success, not us. And of course our thanks go to the Vincentre and their guides and volunteers for making us feel so welcome. | Apr 18 '11 Gerwin Jansen: Thank you, Nigel & Annette and all who attended this powwow
Nigel & Annette, for creating a situation in which my eyes were opened for the wonderful history of Vincent\'s life in the village next door.
I used to take that for granted, but now I\'m more aware of how special it is that he lived 6 km from my place.
And for bringing us together in such a nice atmosphere and picking an excellent restaurant.
My colleagues, for making this day succeed just by showing up. I\'m happy to have met you all! | Apr 18 '11 Irina Rosenbrand: Thank you for your generosity, Nigel
Thank you, Nigel, for sharing with us the good will you earned at the Vincentre with your work for them. It was such a generous act to arrange free entrance for all of us to the centre and the guides too! Plus drinks for over 40 people! And then attending to everybody\'s needs at the restaurant, making sure everybody had a good time. I should stop now before I start comparing you to a mother hen fussing over her chicks :-)
Irina | Apr 18 '11 Evelien Snel: Thank you!
Thank you for this great day! | Apr 18 '11 Christine Gardner: Great day
Thank you so much for our great day out \'onder de rivieren\' in the company of so many interesting people and of course Vincent himself! | Apr 18 '11 Titia Meesters: Thanks!
Thanks Nigel en Annette, it was a great day - really nice to catch up with \'old\' friends and meet many new people. Nuenen was wonderful and the wheather was fantastic, it was perfect! | Apr 18 '11 Marga Demmers (X): Great day
Thank you, Nigel, for a wonderful day out with fellow translators. I had a great time getting to know Vincent and having an excellent dinner in good company. Still haven\'t stopped laughing... | Apr 18 '11 CZ-Taal: Van Gogh
Thanks for this fantastic powwow Nigel. Great to meet so many people and to meet Vincent! | Apr 18 '11 Femke Hubers-Meulepas (X): What a great first powwow!
And it will definitely not be my last, thanks to a perfect organisation, brilliant weather, and of course al those friendly Prozians! Thank you so much! | Apr 18 '11 Anne-Marie Kalkman: Duizendmaal dank!
Nigel and Annette, thank you very very much for the super nice pow wow. Very well organized and great food.
Anne-Marie | Apr 17 '11 Elena Carbonell: Very nice indeed
Thank you Nigel for a brilliant organization!
The guided tour and the Vincentre was very interesting.
The weather was fantastic thanks to Albert\'s efforts.
The food was brilliant and amazingly cheap! | Apr 17 '11 AllisonK (X): WOW!
What a great day - thank you SO much Nigel for arranging this, and organizing it so perfectly - tour was great, Vincentre very interesting and dinner was excellent! I will definitely return to Nuenen! | Apr 17 '11 Monica Santoro: Thank you Nigel!
In the Netherlands, in a powwow, people from Germany, Italy, France, USA, Belgium, Brasil, UK, Argentina, Spain and so many other, I´m sure...That´s what the translating community is all about and it is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!! It was a pleasure to meet you all. We had a great time. | Apr 16 '11 Interlangue (X): Cheers
Brilliant organising Nigel, thank you.
It was great to meet some of you again and a pleasure to meet new people too. My thanks to all those who attended and made my day! | Apr 16 '11 Interlangue (X): Cheers
Brilliant organising Nigel, thank you.
It was great to meet some of you again and a pleasure to meet new people too. My thanks to all those who attended and made my day! |
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