Memories from the Netherlands

The last day L

            On Friday morning, the Spanish were the first to leave, an hour before the English, the Italians left at 9 and the Germans got a lie in and left at 12. Everyone was so sad that the week was finished but were happy because of the memories we had made. A few of the people in the Enghelish group and their exchanges cried because of they had to say goodbye. We left for Einhoven airport from Commanderij College and got there with a little bit of time to spend at the duty free! Einhoven to Standstead felt like a short flight and the drive to Oaklands felt like even shorter. We were so glad to have the weekend to rest and we were grateful for the half term holiday ahead of us!

Thank you to everyone for such an amazing trip! J

Memories from our trip to the Netherlands

The 4^th day

            Thursday, we cycled to school again and went to Den Haag to visit a prison gate museum, the humanity house (where we experienced the life of someone having to leave their home country) and Madurodam (a model village).

In the prison gate museum, we saw how people in the olden days stayed whilst awaiting trials. We saw the different rooms accomadating the rich and poor and the different methods used for torture. Everyone complained about the stairs as their legs were aching after Wednesday’s work out session!

The humanity house was unlike any other museum anyone had seen. It was an interactive tour where, in pairs, you would experience what life would be like if you were forced from your home country because of natural disaster, war and other issues. This experience was very life like and thought provoking because they used your own personal names and pictures within the tour.

The afternoon was baking hot so we were all glad that the model village was outside. We saw key parts of Holland including the airport and traditional wind mills. We got to drive remote controlled mini boats and we went to the food of Holland land café afterwards. There was a massive clog that we were able to sit in and take pictures in, which I’m sure everyone will remember!

The coach ride home was both sad and happy; happy because of the great day we had had but sad because it was the last night we would be together. Different groups had different activities planned for that night and we parted ways with smiles on our faces and many pictures. The group we personally were with went out to eat at a Chinese buffet, which was AMAZING! The food was great (especially the ice cream) and it was a great way to say goodbye to everybody.

Amazing memories from our trip to the Netherlands

Our Second Day:

            On our second day we went to Tilburg to a very exciting dance and drama workshop. We learnt how to turn everyday actions into an interesting dance, practiced communicating without speaking (which was useful as it was sometimes hard to overcome the language barrier) and learnt to walk with confidence in ourselves – it was very fun and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.

We had lunch, which our host families had prepared for us, and the groups we had been put into allowed us to mingle and make new friends with the other nationalities.

That afternoon, we went to Denbosch where we had ice cream (the weather was glorious), enjoyed looking round the historic city and bought many souviners for our families and friends back home. After the long coach ride home, everyone went back to their host families houses for dinner before going out to enjoy evening activities. Many of the groups made the most of the wonderful weather by having BBQ’s and water fights - cycling isn’t quite as enjoyable in wet shorts!