From the 2nd until the 6th of February, our class (9e) had an exchange with a class from the Christelijk College Groevenbeek in Ermelo, a small town in the Netherlands.
Day 1:
Goodbye Dortmund, let’s get ready for a two-hour journey to the Netherlands! In the bus, we were wondering what this exchange would be like, how we would get on with our exchange partners, the family…questions upon questions.
In the end, all worries were needless. We were given a warm welcome and also experienced a great variety of sports in the following.
At the end of the day, it was finally time to go to our host families who did their best to make us feel comfortable. Thank you very much for that!
Day 2:
Tuesday, or should we say cycling day? As many Dutch students cycle to school every day, we had to take on this challenge for the whole week as well. The positive aspect: school in the Netherlands starts at 8:30 a.m. Anyway, Christelijk College Groevenbeek is a highly modern school compared to ours. Could you imagine having smartboards everywhere in our school?
At about 10am, we left Ermelo and went to Harderwijk, by bike of course. Despite some little accidents, everyone arrived safe and sound and had a nice time in the interesting city. In the evening, we went to a pizza place in Ermelo, an appropriate award after all the cycling.
Day 3:
Amsterdam, here we come! An impressing metropolis which has plenty to offer, e.g. the famous Van Gogh museum. Well, a museum is not the most exciting place, but still interesting. And when do you have a real Van Gogh painting in front of you? After the museum, we had some leisure time. For most of us, it meant: shopping, shopping and…shopping. But that was not all. Never end a day in Amsterdam without having seen the famous Ajax Stadium. It’s definitely worth the visit.
Day 4:
That day, we realized that this exchange was not only about having fun. Cue: assignments! We had to prepare some presentations with general focus on the differences between Germany and the Netherlands. However, it wasn’t really exhausting work. In the evening, we were even more proud to present our results in front of all the parents.
Day 5:
Creating beautiful collages, reflecting the past week and smiling for a last group picture. Then, it was already time to say goodbye, one or another even had to fight with his tears. But don’t worry, we will see each other again in April.
At this point, we would like to thank everyone who made this exchange possible. We learnt that it is not as hard as expected to communicate in English. Once you speak the language, it gets easier and easier. Many thanks also to Ms Nieberg and Mr Lindner who accompanied us and always showed cheerfulness during the week. Together, we will give our best to let our new Dutch friends enjoy a memorable time in Dortmund.
Once again:
Thank you! Dank je wel! Dankeschön!
Kathrin Otto & Marc Künker
