Tweet12-02-2011 om 14:34 by Sueli Brodin

To all of you expats, foreign students, internationally minded Dutch and non-Dutch residents in the Maastricht region: Are you already on Sam Welie’s mailing list?

Sam will regularly send you all sorts of tips, inform you about all sorts of events and help you get involved in all sorts of activities in the area. She has a special gift for bringing people together and making everyone feel part of the community at large.



Originally from the UK, Sam works both for the Limburg Development and Investment Company LIOF and Maastricht's International Service Desk. She has been living in the Maastricht region for many years, speaks and writes Dutch like a native and knows her way around. Her mailing list is just one of her personal projects and it is an remarkable achievement. Sam makes things happen.



This time, she simply sent a message to her mailing list:

“How about another get-together: Wednesday 9 February, 20.00 hrs at the Poshoorn, Stationstraat, Maastricht? Totally informal, anyone and everyone welcome, pay for your own drinks etc. Pass the word on, and bring your friends, both Dutch and non-Dutch”

and more than forty of us showed up, a cheerful bunch of men, women, students, professionals, newcomers, old-timers, from Canada, the UK, Peru, Colombia, the US, Iran, Japan, Italy, Amsterdam, Maastricht..



It was a pleasure to see some familiar faces and catch up on the latest news. I congratulated Ben Willems on his new practise in Chinese medicine in Maastricht, which he told me is doing very well and was happy to learn that my Japanese friend Mitchy, a foot reflexology therapist, is about to be accepted as a member of the reflexology association in the Netherlands.


Several foreign students from Maastricht University had heard about the get-together through Crossroads and the university’s Knowledge Centre for International Staff and decided to join in, because they felt the need to get out of the student bubble and meet the “community”, which meant not only the international community but the Maastricht community at large.


Most conversations with new acquaintances started off with the usual questions: “Where are you from?” and “What has brought you to Maastricht?” and continued with “How long have you been here?”, “How do you like it?” and “How long will you stay?”



We talked about our lives, our jobs, hobbies, travels, and level of involvement in local activities.

“I wanted to come to mainland Europe, close to other European cities, and study in English and that was possible at Maastricht University.”

“In Maastricht, you’re 2,5 hours from Amsterdam, but you’re also 2,5 hours from Paris!”

“I’m from Canada but hope to be able to stay, because I have an Irish passport through my father.”



“I’ve been living here for ten years but haven’t had a chance to learn Dutch because my foreign colleagues speak English among each other and my Dutch colleagues from Maastricht speak the Limburg dialect.”

“It would be very nice and helpful to have a host family scheme in Maastricht for foreign students. It would make us feel less isolated.”

“What a great mix of people tonight! From many different backgrounds! Are there often evenings like these in Maastricht?”



The atmosphere was open, easy-going and our lively conversations lasted until late into the evening. Many of the non-Dutch speakers were pleased to learn about local resources and events in English still unknown to them, such as the “English no Problem” performances offered by Theatre company Huis van Bourgondië, or Charlzz.com, the new website in four languages for leisure actitivies in the Meuse-Rhine euroregion, or PechaKucha Night, an open platform for creative minds.



I too gathered valuable tips that evening, and found out about De Groene Lekkerbek, a home delivery service for organic food based near Valkenburg, Partners in Welzijn, a Dutch language programme for foreigners in Sittard, or Bon Bini Valencia, a new shop in Maastricht specialised in Spanish products and grilled/marinated meat.



When I came back home that night, there was a message waiting for me in my mailbox. It came from a friend from the International Women’s Club and read: “I am renting an apartment to a Japanese man. He is a very nice person and is living here alone. His wife and kids are living in Tokyo. For him contact means something special. I would like to do him a favour. Can I tell him about your [sic] PechaKucha website?”

“Of course,” I wrote back to my friend, “and please also advise him to send his contact details to Sam Welie, so that she can add him to her mailing list.”

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