Eindhoven Heroes

Eindhoven Heroes



















This is a new project to create opportunities for me to speak Dutch. It’s early stages at the moment and from the first outing I definitely need more practice speaking Dutch. The people who stop and talk Dutch with me are Heroes in my mind because they are helping some one.

Here are the Heroes.

Yoram

Yoram

Yoram helped make my Dutch more comprehensible by reviewing some of the questions I wrote. He was also patience and spoke Dutch most of the time with me.










Eindhoven Hero

















Dennis

Dennis

Dennis had just got some dancing shoes. He lives in Eindhoven and I think he was just going to some dance practice. He really likes dancing. Dennis also helped me rephrase a sentence.











Eindhoven Hero

















Naomi and Eileen were out together. They live very close to the centre of Eindhoven and they like the atmosphere and life of the Eindhoven. It’s smaller than other cities, so the dynamics are different. Everyone, is interconnected in some way and that’s great. They were just going to do some shopping.


Naomi

Naomi


















Eindhoven Hero


















Eileen

Eileen
















Eindhoven Hero


















I’ve got someone to look over my questions again. So the Dutch will be better next time. This is just the start, so I don’t mind that the conversations reverted to English but as time goes on, I want the conversations to stay in Dutch. That’s something that I’ve got to work on.

Thanks to all the Heroes.

Tot ziens.

Original Eindhoven Heroes Idea

Dancer - Traditional Dance Day in Antwerp

French Dancer, from near Toulouse

















These are from a weekend in Antwerp. My girlfriend had taken me to a bar on the Grote Markt. In the square, a group of people was attracting attention. People were getting their photos taken with people dressed in traditional costume. I thought it was an Antwerp thing.

Later, when I talked with them, they told me that they are part of a folk dance festival. They came from the mountains in SW France, somewhere near Toulouse. Their costumes look gorgeous!

And they loved having their photos taken, especially the young woman

French Dancers, Antwerp

Matador pictures.

The Homeless Man




































The Actor










































The Falun Gong supporter





























The Bin Man




























The Musician two







































The Gay Man







































The Musician





























The Mormon Follower






































The Convenient Store Worker





















The Pool Player

The Mystery of Strangers

The Pool Player - Taipei 101 series

















What do you know about him?

What is he like?

What does he do well?

What can’t he do?

What are his beliefs?

These questions can never be answered satisfactory, unless you actually made some sort of contact with the stranger. It can be fun to wonder about strangers. Crazy stories can be invented about them but they won’t answer the above questions. The only way to start answering those questions is to talk to them and then, and only gradually will some of those answers reveal themselves to you.

Eindhoven and collaboration with 'the Dossier'

Jenny and Nicole











This Wednesday I teamed up with Jane from ‘the Dossier – Dutch Creative Files’ to meet strangers on the streets of Eindhoven.

Jane runs ‘the Dossier – Dutch Creative Files’, which is a web magazine on creative people and happenings in Eindhoven. Jane wants to make the site more interactive and is experimenting on ways to do this. Meeting strangers on the street is one way she wants to explore.

Jane is also looking at other avenues to make ‘the Dossiers’ more interactive, such as events and meetups. So if you live in the Eindhoven area and are into ‘creativity’ keep an eye on ‘the Dossier’.

For the interviews click here.

Levi
















Martijn

More Strangers from Taipei 101

The Jiu Bar Owner















Here are some more strangers from the Taipei 101 project that took place last year.

The photos remind me of the adventures we had doing the project. The first guy is an owner of a jiu bar (brothel) in Linsen North road. This area is famous for being a redlight district and we met this guy at a roadside restaurant in the area.

He was with mates and they were having a big seafood dinner with beer and whiskey. In the photo he is receiving a gift that Lewis donated. He gave us a lighter from his 'jiu bar'. There was some tense when we did the interview. We also met a Japanese architect who was with the party. He introduce us to the 'oldest' whore of the area, who was also at the restaurant. Unfortunely, she didn't want to be part of the project.











The Betelnut Girl

Betelnut girls are famous in Taiwan for wearing next to nothing. Unfortunately, we were in Taipei and they have laws against this (only for Betelnut girls, normal girls can be as sexy as they like). This one couldn't stop laughing at us. She thought we were mad.











The Coffee Shop Worker


A very helpful and friendly girl.











The Bus Driver receiving a gift



A very happy bus driver who made both Lewis and I laugh a lot.











The Bus Driver and Lewis

My first British Stranger

Mary

“As we left Christchurch, the roads were cracked and looking back, we saw fires burning there”

Mary was in Christchurch when the big one struck. Luckily she survived to tell the story and more importantly for us, to open her guesthouse.

Mary is a genuinely warm and charming woman, very chatty and worldly. She’s also a great cook and we loved her English breakfast. She runs the Gladstone Guesthouse, a homely place away from home. My girlfriend loved the room we stayed in, full of comfort and not at all like the sterile rooms you can get in some hotels.

If you ever need a place to stay in Faversham, Kent, than I'll definitely recommend the Gladstone Guesthouse for comfort and for Mary.