Six things you didn’t know about me

Already more than a month ago, I was invited by Oscar Quevedo from Quevedo, a port and wine company in the Douro, to take part in an internet meme. The idea is to write six things about yourself people don’t know about you, and then ask six more people to do the same.
Well, since it is the time, at the beginning of a new year, to state your intentions and wishes for the new year, I decided to write a short entry today. I will mix intentions and things you don’t know about me a little, giving you an insight in my plans and hopes for 2009.
There we go….

1. By training I am an historian; I studied medieval history from 1981 till 1986 at the University of Utrecht and got my masters degree (then called doctorandus, drs. for short). So technically I am drs. Mariëlla Beukers ;-). One of my deepest wishes is to write a book on the history of wine in the Netherlands. That book will of course focus on wine trade and wine consumption, not on wine growing, since Dutch vineyards are only a couple of years old. There have been vineyards here in the Middle Ages, but not much reliable sources are available.

2. My day job, which brings in the money, is completely outside the wine profession; I coordinate a small educational publishing department. Earlier in my career, I have worked at the Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam. Finding a new job in either the wine world or the cultural/museum sector is one of my goals for 2009 (I had the same goal for 2008, alas).

3. Next to writing for Wijnkronieken, I have had a few assignments as a wine writer and an editor for wine related websites. I am very proud of those assignments and hope to expand in that area. At this moment a friend of mine is working on logo’s etc… for Wijnkronieken and Vinifera Text, the name under which I plan to broaden my activities. I hope to show you the first results of my friend’s work in a few weeks.

4. In November 2008 I initialized the social network group Vrouwen in de wijn / Women Wine Professionals on Linkedin. I hope to bring together women working in the Dutch wine industry, sharing information, exchanging experiences etc… Our first meeting will be on January 14th 2009, at the Dutch trade fair Wine Professional.

5. Besides wine and writing about wine, I love walking and hiking. A few times a year I plan a short walk (15-20 km) with my friend Ottelien and I would love to have the time to go out more often. In 2009, I hope to do some ‘wine-walking’, either in my own country or abroad.

6. Years ago, I have done some extensive courses in origami. Nico and I even visited the Japan Origami Society in Tokyo and had lunch with the director. I still love to fold some cranes, just to do something creative other than writing/typing. And Japan is another interest of us both. We have been there three times, and hope to go there again someday. It seems the hiking is great in Japan – but the wine disappointing 😉

And now the people I would like to hear six more things about which I didn’t know:

– First of all my friend Ariane, cook at De Herberg de Ketel en de Kurk (Inn of the Kettle and the Cork);
– then Ed, fellow wineblogger at Wijnerij;
– and Petra, internet entrepeneur pur sang and blogger on Drinkblog and Meisje van de Slijterij;
– Vinama, a Belgian wine blogger who is very knowledgable and whom I don’t know well enough;
– Paul and Ellen, on the Ministry of Food and Drink (Ministerie van Eten en Drinken);
– and Paul, who lives in France and blogs about his life at De Herberg (The Inn).

Photo: One of the Three Kings, who in Catalan tradition send their gifts to children on January 6th. This king was part of a Christmas group on Pl. Sant Jaume in Barcelona.