First Week, First Impression!

After five days of getting to know my surroundings, host parents and great weather, I went off to Laar en Berg the one school I will be working at for the next ten months. ATC is the other school, which I visted on Thursday but for Monday to Wednesday I spent at Laar en Berg. My 'buddies' who are incharge of making sure Jody and I are happy are fantastic individuals who were very excited to meet us and help us out. At Laar en Berg Andre and Floor are our buddies while at ATC are Marijke and Dennis. During this week we have discussed exactly what they want from Jody and I and what we can expect to do. This ranges from helping out at the tuck-shop to teaching english and drama lessons.
My first impression of both schools was the vast difference in the relationship between student and teacher as well the way the school as a hole is run. Coming from Wynberg where hair is short and neat, we wear a uniform with a blazer and a tie and when ever we leave the school grounds or on special occasions the blazer must be worn. There is a big emphasis on keeping your uniform neat for example polishing your shoes and tucking in your shirt. Hands in your pockets is no allowed while you are in school uniform as it makes you look tatty. Manners play a big role at Wynberg and every boy should greet ever teacher or adult and stand up and do so if they are sitting. Before every lesson all the students in a class should stand up and greet the teaher before sitting down and getting out their books. Quite a vast difference is the fact there is a Wynberg Boys' High School and a seperate Girls school which is common in South Africa to have all boys or all girl schools. Sport is another huge diversity as in Holland all sport is at club level while in South Africa all sport is played at school. Wynberg offers a huge range of sports to choose from as well as other extra mural activities while here as soon as the students are finished with school they go home. So we try to become more involved with our schools in South Africa and at Wynberg especially.
So from what I have seen so far the schools are set up so differently and many things that seem normal here and to any Dutchman seem wierd to me. But I defiantly have enjoyed my first week of getting to know my new work places and trying to remember already forgotten names of the so many introductions and my new way of life.

I have found the bike lanes are fantastic and I love cycling everywhere. This coming week starting tomorrow I am off on a ski-trip organised by ATC to Saalbach in Austria which I am thoroughly looking forward to!

               Where to park your bike at Laar en Berg but not in the usual manner.

Visit to Naarden

On yet another beautifully freezing cold day Ellen my host mom as well as their neighbour took me to a nearby town only 15 minutes away. Naarden is up there as one of the most stunning town's I have ever seen. This 662 year old fortress city is completely surrounded by water which was used as protection against enemy's such as the Spanish in 1572 in the 80- year war, the French under comand of Louis the XIV in 1672, and again the French in 1813 but this time being led by Napoleon Bonaparte. It was also used as a fortress in both the world wars. There are six Bastions that give Naarden its famous star shape when you get a birds eye view of the city.

I was fortunate enough to visit the museum there and learn all the great things about this city as well as receiving a show put on by the locals at the museum. They all dressed up as the old soldiers of Naarden did and fired a canon just how they used to. Except instead of a conon ball they used hay, for obvious reasons. They said these old canons were able to shoot targets up to 800m away! On a good day that is.

Really enjoyable and a must see!  

Arrival in the Netherlands

I left my home in Cape Town where I had lived 18 years of my life on Tuesday the 14th of February. I Flew from Cape Town to Johannesburg, where I had a five hour wait before I set off to Dubai. While in Johannesburg I met up with Jody the other gapper from Wynberg Girls. I got very anxious as a computer fault at the airport displayed that all the flights were delayed but thankfully it got sorted out and my flight was on time. It was a seven and a half hour flight to Dubai, where we had a three hour wait before we caught our final flight to Schiphol International Airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands! I had been in airports or in the air for a total of 24 hours and I was very glad to have finally arrived. My host parents the Scholten's met me at the airport and then took me to there house where I would be spending alot of my time over the next ten months. I was home, in my new home.