Sunday November 27th
On Sunday we had to be at school at 10.30. When we arrived we were welcomed by the teachers and after that we went into a class room, where we got our instructions for the day.
Because we didn't know each other, we had to do all kinds of games. We first started in a circle, where we had to introduce ourselves. After that there were games including memorizing each others names and standing in a row, sorted by height and then by birth date. When we finished the games we were divided in groups, which we would spend the day with. During the day we had to cycle through The Hague and come up with some questions, which we would talk about in the group, later that day.
The first thing we saw on the cycle tour was the World Forum and the Yugoslavian Tribunal. The thing that struck us most were all the flags of the different countries at the World Forum. After the WF we cycled further and took a picture in front of the old city-hall. We ended up meeting another group in town and had lunch at Bagles&Beans.
After lunch we passed the Binnenhof and saw the Ridderzaal and the Hofvijver. Then we went to see the Vredespaleis and the eternal peace flame. We liked the eternal peace flame a lot, because around it were stones which represented all the countries.
Around 15.00 o’clock we returned to school to evaluate our day. Esther and Floor showed a short film about the Netherlands. After that we had to come up with possible questions for the project. Then we called it a day and went home.
By: Eva Devantier, Andriws Gonzalez, Willemijntje Heesen and Aksel Vester Augsburg
Monday November 28th
Today we met the principal, and we talked about what we had done so far, and differences between the Dutch and Danish school systems.
We had a tour of the school, and we explored the auditorium.
Then we attended different classes, one taught in Dutch and one taught in English, it was very interesting to observe the differences and similarities in teaching in Denmark and Holland.
Then we had lunch in the Oranjekamer and we tasted some very extraordinary Dutch specialties.
Then we had a lecture about surveys and research, and we discussed the plan for the projects, in the Haag, in between and in Copenhagen.
Later we went glow in the dark mini-golfing.
After the mini-golf we went to Juliet’s place, where we had a delicious dinner.
It was really nice to get to know each other in a less formal way, we had a lot of fun and it was really nice of them to open their home to us like that.
By: Anouk de Roos, Maria Cecilie Barkholt, Esther Speksnijder and Asta Christensen Otto
Tuesday November 29th
When we came to Shell we had to show our passports. So you see the security level is really high. They told us what Shell does and their Goal Zero. They already reduces their amount of deaths at Shell per year from 80 to 20. Teamwork was also a very important part of the tour.
We had to do several exercises. One of them was choosing the right method for an oil drilling project in the Philippines. Another was defending an egg from breaking when it hit the ground. We had a really good lunch which was paid by Shell. At the end we had a tour in the building. There was a interesting monument of people who died during WWII.
At 15.00 we arrived at the City Hall and got something to drink and to eat. After that, a guide explained us about the building and its functions. He told that it’s famous for the architecture and he told about the good organization systems.
He guided us to a room where we met Ingrid van Engelshoven. She is Deputy Mayor, the Hague's alderman for Education and Public Services as well as the Haagse Hout district. We could ask our prepared questions and she answered those well. Those were about the difference between the school system in Holland and Denmark. EG: the use of computers and the relation between the teachers and pupils. We also told about the problems with the integration and The Hague as a city.
When we were finished we watched 2 short films about The Hague. It was without a speaking part, just with photographs and music. It showed beautiful The Hague.
After the films the guide showed us The Hague Municipal Council. Major plans in the fields of spatial development, the economy, welfare, infrastructure etc. can be implemented only if voted for by a majority of the Council. The Council also decides how the munipality's resources are to be allocated.
Then we went to the roof by elevator. In the elevator there was a transparent wall, so we could see how high we went. That was quite spectacular!
On the roof it was getting dark, but we could still see a beautiful sight of The Hague. That was also about the lights of all the buildings around us.
We went down again and said thank you and goodbye to the guide.
By: Sjoerd Berning, Jonas Ravn Trolle-Christensen, Amanda Gammelby Qvesel and Floor Englebert
Wednesday November 30th
We will tell you something about our day in Amsterdam! It was the best day we had so far we think!
We had to be at the train station in the morning at 8.45! The trip with the train took may be an hour! And then we were in A'dam! First we had to take the train to the Leidseplein! And when we got there, mr. De Graaf and the brother of mrs. Smit were there to give us a tour through A'dam! We went with the brother of mrs. Smit and he showed us a lot of things like het Begijnhof, a camp that's called ‘Occupy’ and he also showed us the red light district! The tour was really interesting!
After the tour we went to a drug church. The pastor of this church helps the drugs addicts in A'dam. The pastor and a former drugs addict told us about using drugs and the bad things it brings.
When the man finished the drugs story we had some free time! Everybody went shopping!
After the free time we went to a Chinese restaurant! The food was really good and we had a great time with each other! After dinner it was time to go home. This was a great day we won't forget!
By: Sanne Remijnse, Ursula Vossen Mandal, Juliet Parker and Marie Wittrup Jensen
Thursday December 1st
This morning our teachers said we could sleep out a bit. We had a long night the night before because we went to Amsterdam. That’s why in the morning everyone was taking it easy. There was a cycle tour planned between 10:00 and 12:00 in the morning, but also for that we were way to tired. So instead we had some more free time for ourselves. This was also one of the Danish’ people’s birthday (Aksel). We celebrated that with the teachers in the cafeteria of our school. Around twelve everyone went out to have lunch and relax for a bit. Later on we came back to the school. Mr Orie and his Danish colleague mr Aarhoff, judges at the Jugoslavia tribunal gave us a presentation about their work. When the presentation was finished we finally heard which subjects our projects where going to contain and in which groups we were divided. After that everyone departed from school. Everyone told to Aksel we were going to our own places and have a quiet night. But later that evening we gave him a birthday surprise party. We ate dinner together and after that we had a drink with all. We think that the night was quite succeeded and our day was complete.
By: Dominique Todeschini, Alice Esther Bier Zandén, Thomas van Dommelen and Emma Koppel
Friday December 2nd
The last whole day of the exchange. We came to school at 8.30, where we went to the computer room and got in our new groups to work on our projects. First, we had this big subject which we had to narrow down. Having done that, we made one main question about our topic. That question was later divided into five sub-questions. The next step was stating our hypotheses. For each question, we shared our thoughts within our group. We had many different opinions, but in the end it worked out just fine. The last step was making our time plan for the time coming. During the in-between time between this week and the final week in April, we also had some things to take care of: the actual research of our project. We made a plan for looking up information, spreading questionnaires, where and to whom, interviewing specific people, divided the roles and set the deadlines. We took a few more minutes putting all steps in a presentation: the main question, sub question, our hypotheses and the time plan.
When all of the six groups were ready, we start presenting our plans. After each presentation we were told by both the students and the teachers what was good and what needed some work on. Not only did we get feedback on the contents of the presentation, but also on the way we presented it. Rounding of the week, we used the tip-top-flop, giving a tip on what needed some improvement, saying what was the most fun part of the week and what was the least fun part of the week. We received a certificate for the exchange, and thanked the teachers.
Leaving the building, we were all looking forward to the final evening together. Three people went off to prepare dinner, and the rest went off to buy oliebollen. In the evening, we had a lovely dinner, nice music, but most of all we had a great time. At the end of the night, we hugged each other goodbye, and prepared for the final day: the day of departure.
Annemartijne Sevenster, Kamma Bay Eriksen, Kasper Uleman and Sigrid Anker Bryndorf