Sport and Culture

Due to the serious lack of sport at the schools here I have had to look elsewhere to stretch my legs. So naturally I joined an Ultimate Frisbee team. Sadly though there were no teams in Hilversum so I had to look further. Utrecht! And UFO... Utrecht’s Frisbee Organisation. This does mean I have to travel twice a week to Utrecht by train but luckily or apartment is right next to the station. Practises happen late into the evening so I sadly get less sleep but I am happy non-the-less. Once a month we compete in a league competition day which can be held all over the Netherlands. On the 1^st of April we play in Groningen which is way up north. This way I get to see the Netherlands as well as play Ultimate! Absolutely fantastic.

On the Cultural side Laar en Berg hosts a concert once a year called ‘Eighty Decibels’ or 80dB for short. This year was the 30^th concert held and once they found out I could play the violin they roped me in. I thoroughly enjoyed the three nights of performances and the four songs I got to play. I really believe we at Wynberg should host an evening once a year of this type. Where all the bands are formed just for the event and the music played has variety. I’m not taking anything away from the bands or the choir at Wynberg, I would just like to see something more contemporary and upbeat.

Amsterdam, the Return

'Brilliant' doesn't begin to describe just how great my year has been so far. Opportunity after opportunity has come my way and being a South African, I keep saying "Ya, asseblief!" Today I went to Amsterdam for a field trip with Laar en Berg to see the Anna Frank Museum and the Joods Historisch Museum.

It had been over a year since I had been to Amsterdam and I was looking forward to going back there as it is a beautiful city. I was also interested to see if I could still find my way around the city of canals and narrow roads with the typical squashed Dutch buildings on either side. We took the train from Hilversum to Amsterdam Central station and then walked through the city to the Anna Frank Museum. Although I had been there before it still made me feel sick with amazement of how evil humans can be. The Joods Museum was just as eerie as it explained all the hardships the Jews faced over the years in Europe just because they were ‘Jews’. Our tour guide at the museum only spoke Dutch which was fine for the learners but I got very lost, so I just read all the exhibits they had on display.

 

After that we visited an Old Portuguese Synagogue where all the boys had to wear the little Jewish hats before we could enter. It was a miracle the synagogue managed to survive the War and it was in very good condition considering. It was three by the time we had finished and Jody and I were free to leave the group and explore Amsterdam. This is what we did...



We had already seen much of Amsterdam’s picturesque scenes of swans in canals and Dutch houses with bright wooden shutters while walking from museum to museum. And for obvious reasons besides cash money we did not want to visit another museum. Except for the Heineken Experience tour but we did not know where to find it and sadly it wasn’t on the map we had. So naturally we went to the red light district. To take a look see.



My description of Amsterdam in one sentence: Pleasantly Enticing Neighbourhoods Incredibly Stunning!

You just have to read between the lines or go down a metaphorically ‘dark’ alley to see the other face of Amsterdam. Quite revolting.



Amsterdam is still an absolutely gorgeous city; it just has a couple of pimples. Yet who knows what could happen in a couple years? Maybe all this city needs is a little squeeze...  

 

Something fishy in Volendam

It was a bitter cold day with dazzling grey skies all around, so naturally it was a good day to go out. My host parents Peter and Ellen took Bart their son, Jody and me to Volendam which is just north of Amsterdam. It is said that more foreigners have visited Volendam than actual Dutch people.  This is very much like Table Mountain in Cape Town. We live next to and see the mountain every day but there has definitely been more tourists who have visited the top of the mountain than locals. I truly believe that locals need to be tourists in their own cities every once in a while as they miss out on things that other people travel half way across the world to see.

Back to Volendam which is a small typical Dutch town that has all the dutchy things you expect to see while in the Netherlands from clogs to cheese! And the renowned Haring...

 This fish which is eaten in a style that would make all mothers cringe is considered a Dutch delicacy. Picked up by the tail, the slimy trawl slips off your platter and dangles in the air menacingly. You then must lift the critter above your head and slowly lower it into your mouth and let it slide right down your throat.  Fortunately I had a strong stomach and survived the two mouthfuls I managed to convince my mouth to receive, as judging from the on-hand barf packet next to the stall we purchased our Haring from, others weren’t that strong.  

Thankfully after that experience we got hot chocolate which is a hundred times better here in Europe than anywhere else I’ve been. I then treated everyone to some poffertjies which are brilliant little Dutch pancakes! Taste like little sugar coated droppings from heaven.  YUM

We then proceeded to try blend in as the native Dutchman and what is a better way than dressing up. There was a fantastic shop where they dressed you up like a 19^th century Dutchman and take photos of you, clogs and all! After wearing clogs I must admit I think the person who invented them must have had feet of steel or they made it as a birthday present for their mother in law.

Another great episode for me in the Netherlands! I am thoroughly enjoying my time here. I do realise that it’s off to work tomorrow, if I can even call it that! J       

Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria

Snow, snow and more snow! A completely fantastic week of snowboarding, making friends, après ski, snowball fights, dancing to German tunes and just having an absolutely fun-filled time!


On Friday the 24th of February at 8pm in the chilly evening I joined a group of about 30 youngsters from ATC on a trip to Saalbach-Hinterglemm in Austria. Dennis and Marijke our 'buddies' at ATC were on the trip which was great as I got to know them alot better. The trip took 14 hours right through the night. I was positively exhausted from my first week in a new country, so sleeping on the bus wasn't the usual challenge. I managed to overcome: the clambering over chairs, singing that was really trying hard to sound like screeching and incessant giggling of Dutch teenagers. But I made it, and soon found out who I would be rooming with for the week.
Thomas, Max and Olivier who can be described in three words: Fantastic Mad Dutchmen!
I really got on well with them as did they with me. Within minutes of our arrival our room looked like a nuclear waste plant. So I felt at home ;)
Getting to know the rest of the group took time, which was luckily on my side. I found them loads of fun to be with and easy to fit in. I am sure that I made some great friends over this past week.


Back to my day of arrival and I was just as tired as when we had departed the night before. It seems when you are 1,9m tall, sleeping in a chair designed for Napoleon Bonaparte doesn't give you rest but instead back, neck and spine pain mixed with cramp in your legs from lack of movement and of course the sleeping bollocks which hinders walking. Enough about the negative aspects as they were completely forgotten once the fun started.

For the rest of the first day we just tried on our snowboarding and ski boots and got our rooms sorted or in my case unsorted. Jody as well as 3 others on the trip needed skiing lessons so Dennis planned to take those who needed into town. He failed to mention what sort of path we would be taking and the hostel we were staying at was halfway up a slope with one road down, or so I thought. We went down a single track path which was under a meter of snow! Getting down took a while. Then I got some sleep in... wait for it, a bed that was too small for me! While other students went to town or bought a day pass to go skiing.

The Sunday morning, our first day on the slopes was cold, overcast and snowy but that meant that the snow on the mountain was plentiful. Falling has never been so much fun. Landing in the fresh powder was great especially seeing that was where I spent most of my time on the first day! But I soon got back my long forgotten and dusty snow legs and I was speeding down the many slopes that Saalbach and Hinterglemm have to offer. Keeping up with all the students who had a lot more experience than me was not as hard as I thought it would be. Which was a relief! The weather stayed pretty much the same until the Wednesday when the sun and blue sky started to break down the clouds. And on the Thursday and Friday the sky's were utterly clear and the views on the mountain tops where absolutely magical. Snowboarding is and will be for a very long time one of the top most enjoyable things for me to do.










The good news was the fun didn't stop on the slopes! Every night the students would go out to a club in the town, and I'm not over exaggerating by saying every night. It really happened. The generic meaning for 'mad' was not the only reason I chose to use it to describe my roommates. MAD as in 'Mutually Assured Destruction' was more what I was going for. And this goes for the group not just my roommates. They quite literally party till they drop. How they lasted the week I don't know but my less hardened body only managed 3 nights which were very memorable! (In a good way!) Especially our last night out which was dress-up night. The theme: Swap sex and/or Animals. So naturally I went as a cross-dressing bunny! Loads of fun.



By the end of the week I was more shattered than ever before. And although I was sad to be leaving I was looking forward to catching up on sleep and finding that thing called peace and his buddy quite.

I want to thank ATC and atscholen for this great opportunity, I was much appreciated. And then to Dennis, Marijke and the other staff a big thanks too for always being willing to help out. And most importantly thank you to all my new friends at ATC, you're great and I will never forget this trip!

HÄÄÄÄNDIG!