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Here I would love to share with you our travels and adventures as international mushroom consultants. MEMOIRS about husband Pieter Vedder, who was a SCIENTIFIC PIONEER in Mushroom Cultivation Education. His practical handbook is in 9 languages and is called the MUSHROOM BIBLE: https://mariettesbacktobasics.blogspot.com/2020/08/modern-mushroom-growing-2020-harvesting.html

Friday, April 3, 2020

My Most Awkward Moments as Last Minute Substitute Interpreter at ISMS Congress

During a sight viewing afternoon tour, the wife of the I.S.M.S. Congress organizer in Braunschweig, Germany told me that the  Professional Interpreter could not be present... She said, but you can help us out! Sure I am fluent in German but...
What was I thinking when saying yes to translate the speech from Madam Burgomaster into English, Jacques Delmas would translate my English into French... both of us standing behind Madam Burgomaster at the ancient City Hall.
Here I am, to the right and Pieter center AFTER the disaster... YES!
Without any script and an obvious inexperienced Madam Burgomaster, that went on for about half a page. My train of thoughts, trying to memorize + translate could not keep up with that.
Back then, I did not have the courage for stepping forward and tapping that lady on her shoulder and saying: 'Please no more than a couple of sentences at a time, otherwise I loose track!'
And all that, in front af some 500 International participants of the ISMS Congress... wanting to just vanish!
International Society of Mushroom Science
That was on Monday, September 21, 1987.
Husband Pieter with Walter Huhnke whom I mentioned in my previous post: 1967 Pieter at Max Planck Society Germany's Most Successful Research Organization
Friday evening, September 24, felt more relaxed... nothing to interpret here!
Just enjoying a formal Banquet with the other participants without any lectures or speeches.

But I survived!

{My Own Design of Brass Mushrooms} | previous post about my sales at the ISMS Congress
{XIIth ISMS Braunschweig, Germany Plate of 1987} | previous post by me

42 comments:

  1. Hello Mariette, Translation is a specialized skill, and interpretation is even more specialized. I have done some translation/interpretation here, but only informally, and even then I often transmitted the gist of the speech instead of the exact words.
    --Jim

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Jim,
      It is a very hard job, even if you are fluent in both languages. Madam Burgomaster just went on way too long for keeping track of her. But it ended...
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  2. Liebe Mariette,
    das sind schöne Erinnerungen.
    Sonnige Grüße
    Elisabeth

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liebe Elisabeth,
      Haha, weniger schön da die Frau Oberbürgemeisterin viel zu lange redete und ich nicht mitkommen könnte mit die Übersetzung auf English. Und das alles bevor 500 Menschen aus aller Welt...
      Liebe Grüße,
      Mariette

      Delete
  3. Oh, goodness, I can't imagine the stress! My father and his wife have a friend who is an interpreter (French/English) in the House of Commons (here in Canada). It must be so challenging. Still, obviously you survived the experience! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Kim,
      It was one of those experiences that I never want to live through again, not the translation itself but without any printed text... When we both went to Budapest for one of those international mushroom congresses, there were professional translators and you had to put on a headphone and dial a certain number for a specific language. That's how all such international congresses got done back in time! We've talked once with such a certified person and they told us that you cannot do it for longer than 2 hours. It must really exhaust you. I recall always being so dead tired from an entire day doing training in Spanish or even Bahasa Indonesia... it wears you out!
      Yes, I survived and I learned from it for never ever accepting such a challenge without having it in print!
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. Dearest Anne,
      That it was and so glad it was over with after all those people staring at me for some information... Haha!
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  5. I was wondering if I was having problems because usually I get more comments. I checked all the settings and they seem to be Ok! Not sure what is going on!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Kelleyn,
      Guess I managed to go back and leave you a comment.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  6. Wow, what a stressful situation to be in at a moment's notice.
    I imagine not something you would want to repeat again at another conference.
    Such a coincidence that we both mentioned Braunschweig in our posts today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Sami,
      Yes it sure was and maybe I was too generous for saying yes to the organizer's wife, when she asked me.
      One always learns and next time I would demand being provided with the script, that is a complete different story and doable.
      This is not the first time that we are mentioning the same thing... but this is really special, on the very same day.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  7. Young lady! Adorable then and now. And NO you would never catch me in a fur.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Helen,
      Thank you and about a fur, I've only received a mink coat from my best friend who could no longer wear it, size-wise, neither could her daughter...
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  8. Indossavi un bel vestito.
    Buona domenica Mariette.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Caro Giancarlo,
      Grazie per il tuo complimento e anche vi auguro una bella domenica.
      Abbracci,
      Mariette

      Delete
  9. May have been awkward but you survived

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Jo-Anne,
      Yes, very awkward for the moment but I quickly got over that and enjoyed the congress.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  10. Well. Admire you for stepping up and trying! Pretty pink dress.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Janey,
      Well, getting off the bus where I gave a too quick and spontaneous YES, changing and standing in front of the crowd was a challenge! Thank you, loved that pink silk skirt with top and used it many times, a great travel companion too.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  11. Oh my, what a challenging experience! Even if you speak languages fluently, interpreting simultaneously is a really difficult task. It would have been helpful if Madam Burgomaster paused for you to interpret, but that wasn’t the case...! Glad you had much more relaxed time at the banquet :-) Ypu look beautiful in your pink dress!

    Happy weekend, Mariette xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Tamago,
      Yes, you are right, simultaneously this was impossible to do but we got past that and enjoyed the banquet later.
      Thank you for the compliment!
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  12. Buongiorno e buon inizio settimana!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dearest Mariette,

    So glad you got through this ordeal and must have been challenging keeping up with Madam Burgomaster. You look beautiful in your lovely pink dress and must have been enjoyable at the banquet, after all that. Thanks for your kind visit to my blog and so lovely to touch base with you again.
    Stay safe and well
    hugs
    Carolyn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Carolyn,
      Thank you for your compliment and yes, that was quite a relief for having that behind me!
      Wishing you and yours also the very best.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  14. Hola Mariette, qué gusto visitar un blog bonito y didáctico. No sé el idioma, pero espero aprender pronto para poder comprender tus post.
    Saludos desde Perú.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Querida Nury,
      Pero hay un botón de traducción en la parte superior derecha en mi blog...
      También puedes disfrutarlo en tu propio idioma.
      Abrazos,
      Mariette

      Delete
    2. Yeeee Mariette lo hice. Me gustó mucho. Creo que no me atrevería a ser traductora. En el colegio se me hacía muy díficil aprender inglés y hoy en el cole de mi última hija le enseñan aparte de inglés, el idioma chino mandarín, te imaginas? Admiro tu vocación de traducir y qué lindo lograste salir victoriosa en el banquete. Te confieso que imaginé que haría yo si estuviera en esos momentos. Te felicito.
      Un fuerte abrazo. 🌷😘

      Delete
    3. Querida Nury,
      Gracias y sí, superé esto y el banquete fue un ser divertido y relajado juntos; ya no hay presión. El mandarín es todo un desafío para el uso de esos caracteres alfabéticos. ¡Admiro a cualquiera que domine eso!
      Abrazos,
      Mariette

      Delete
  15. Debió ser muy complicado, desempeñar ese trabajo.

    Besos

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Querida Ventana de foto,
      Seguro que sí y especialmente sin ninguno de los textos impresos delante de mí...
      Abrazos,
      Mariette

      Delete
  16. Liebe Mariette,

    das sind ja wieder tolle Bilder! Oh und in Braunschweig ... Du schriebst ja schon mal, dass Du unsere Stadt besucht hast. Da muß ich gleich noch zu Deinem vorherigen Beitrag, um die Zusammenhänge besser zu verstehen.
    Im Moment geht es mir mit Deinem Blog wie vor einiger Zeit mit meinem - er läßt sich nur sehr schwer scrollen, es dauert lange, bis ich ans Kommentarfeld komme.

    Liebe Grüße
    Sara

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Liebe Sara,
      Ja, wir waren in Braunschweig und ich hatte schon mal etwas darüber geschrieben.
      Danke für deinem Besuch hier.
      Liebe Grüße,
      Mariette

      Delete
  17. I'll start by saying what a handsome couple you two are and were !
    Very difficult job you had ahead of you, but it was probably given to the ones that could too ! This is how it usually is.
    I translated a few times and it is no easy job. My Sister in Law is a great translator by profession and she says it's difficult.
    Dear friend keep safe and well indoors.
    Thank you for your kind words for my BIL's passing. I so appreciated.
    Fabby

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Fabby,
      Thank you for your kind words! Yes, my neighbor translating from English into French was usually very good at it but he depended on me. It sure is hard for being a professional translator, for catching all the technical and scientific words and meanings.
      You are more than welcome and our thoughts have been with you and your family, may times soon return to normal after us staying indoors as much as possible.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  18. Oh, dear! I would not like to find myself in such a difficult situation! Although I was used to translate from both French and English into Greek during business meetings it was always for less than 20 people and between colleagues and business partners.
    You were very brave, my dear friend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dearest Marie-Anne,
      Well, as awkward as it was, I learned from it as to never ever being too gracious for doing this without any written document in hand...
      Yes, colleagues and the ones you do business with are your own crowd and there is no pressure.
      We all learn from such instances and I was able to shake it off rather soon.
      Hugs,
      Mariette

      Delete
  19. Debió de ser todo un reto y a la misma vez interesante hacer de traductora seguro que lo hiciste bien no todos valen para traducir y tu sabes hacerlo.
    Un fuerte abrazo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Querida Alicia,
      Fue toda una experiencia de hecho y la señora Burgomaster sólo siguió leyendo... ¡No podría seguirle el tiempo sin ningún texto impreso! Normalmente me encanta traducir.
      Abrazos,
      Mariette

      Delete

Thanks for your visit and comment.

Mariette...

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