Although it is not a habit of the secretary to fill the pages in the newsletter, it seems to be a good opportunity to introduce myself to the club as the new secretary.
First of all, my name is Mika Verheul. Now by saying that I hear some of you wondering whether it is actually Mika, Meeka, Mieka, Mieke or Miek, as everyone seems to spell it in a different way. In addition to this my initials might further confuse you, as you may eventually find the initials ‘J.M.W.’ on my official documents, which stand for Johanna Maria Wilhelmina which in turn doesn’t seem to relate to Mika. To help you out, I can assure you that the name my parents gave me at birth was Annemieke, a very common Dutch name, from which the nickname Miek was derived. Indeed, as you might have guessed, this wasn’t very helpful during the immigration process. My surname is Verheul, which probably requires some Dutch tongue exercises but can be freely pronounced as ‘Fair-hull’ and also requires spelling.
Because I got annoyed by all the spelling I decided to simplify my name a bit by using just four letters in a made up name ‘Mika’, which, as I found out later, happens to be the artist name for some obscure transsexual Japanese musician. But no worries, whatever way you spell it, I won’t take it personally. Maybe just call me ‘Sec’ as a suitable abbreviation for the one providing minutes?
I moved to New Zealand three years ago, together with my hubby Hans Wiskerke. Having lived in The Netherlands for a comfortable 40 years, we were looking for a change of scenery and believed Wellington and its vicinity to be the right place. No regrets so far. For more information about our first impressions of New Zealand and our experiences with the WTMC, I refer to the story ‘How to become a NZ tramper’ in the 2009 WTMC journal.
I’m a medical doctor and like to combine different tasks and activities, which so far resulted in having three part time jobs: medical doctor at The Traveldoctor, sports massage therapist at Bodybalance clinic, and swim teacher in Johnsonville.
Regarding my qualifications for the role of secretary for the WTMC I could bother you with an overview of more or less relevant facts, namely that I have several years of experience with official meetings in The Netherlands, as a secretary of the University Rowing Club; as a secretary of the National Recreational Rowing Federation; as a board member of the Regional Youth Health Board; and as president of the Works Council in my former job.
But maybe I applied for this position in the committee because of it being a unique and pleasant way to better my English? Being involved in the activities of the club for a couple of years now, I still struggle with the pronunciation of words like ‘road ends’ and ‘rodents’, ‘pegs’ and ‘pigs’.
Therefore I hope to get some useful clues by listening carefully to the other committee members when they discuss these subjects during the meetings. Also, in writing I am pleased to know that the committee and the club members will read and review my notes and minutes. Without any doubt the WTMC with its inside information and motivated and experienced people can easily compete with a communication course at Vic University.
By the way, I am sure the WTMC found a good secretary in me because the job description states that the secretary is responsible for the club’s common seal: I love seals!
Looking forward to meet you all within the positive buzz of the WTMC,
Mika Verheul