Transition Year Trip to Holland
(As told by Sarah McComish)
From Monday 6th October to Friday 10th October, 17 students and 2 teachers from Saint Aidan’s Comprehensive enjoyed an exchange trip in Holland with students from Kandinsky College, Nijmegen.
The following an outline of all the events that took place in Holland…
Monday 6th October
On Monday morning we all set off with two teachers-Mr. Ross and Mr. Mc Caul-to Holland for a student exchange.
The exchange was with class V4 in Kandinsky College, Nijmegen.
By the time we got to Kandinsky College that evening it had been a long day and we were all excited and nervous about meeting our host families.
That evening we enjoyed dinner with our hosts while getting to know them.
Tuesday 7th October
It was an early start on Tuesday morning for us as we had to get up at about 7:00am - 6:00am Irish time.
We enjoyed a traditional Dutch breakfast consisting of chocolate sprinkles on a slice of bread and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.
After breakfast we went to Kandinsky College with our host using various methods of transport including the bus, car, train or a bike. (The most popular form of transport in Holland is cycling.) Most Dutch students arrive in school at about a quarter past eight so that they aren’t late for class but us Irish students arrived just in the nick of time at 8:30 sweating and out of breath from the cycle.
At Kandinsky College we all got to know each other a bit better while doing a project.
We were split into six groups then each group was given a European country to do their project on.
The countries were: Ireland, Yugoslavia, Russia, and Turkey.
We had to prepare a PowerPoint presentation outlining the social, geographical and political changes in our given country from the 18th century up until the present day and then present it to the other groups and our teachers. In the end a winner was chosen.
The group who did their presentation on Ireland was chosen as the winners by the teachers and that group received a prize.
After all the fun in school we went home with our hosts.
That evening they had fun doing various activities with our hosts such as going shopping, watching a movie, eating out in a restaurant or going to the fun fair in Nijmegen.
Wednesday 8th October
We had another early start this morning as we had to attend school with our hosts.
Lessons started promptly at 8:30 and it is advisable not to be late. For four classes we got to see what it was like to attend Dutch school.
The first class was English or Economics. Their English teacher was American and she was a very enthusiastic teacher.
In English we all had to write a short poem then we had great fun playing a game of taboo.
Economics was harder for us to understand as it was taught through Dutch, but the teacher made an effort to speak in English for our sake.
Second class was Maths or English and as before English was taught through English, and Maths was taught through Dutch.
Third period was a study/free period. Normally during the study period students do their homework or study in a supervised classroom, but we asked if we could do our own thing so we went outside and played a game of football- Ireland vs. Holland.
Everyone had PE for fourth period. We got to play soccer, basketball, table tennis or go on the trampoline.
After classes we got a short lunch then made our way into Nijmegen.
In Nijmegen we did a walking tour then got some time to ourselves to go to the fun fair or go shopping.
That night we all went to a show of the Young Americans. It was brilliant. Everyone had a really great time singing, dancing and clapping along to familiar songs
Thursday 9th October
On Thursday we spent the day in Amsterdam.
It was about a 3 hour bus journey from Nijmegen to Amsterdam because of the traffic. But to pass the time we had a sing-off with the Dutch students singing against the Irish to see who could sing the loudest. The Dutch students sang traditional Dutch songs including their national anthem. And us Irish students sang songs related to Ireland such as: Galway Girl, The Hills of Donegal, My Lovely Horse, I’ll Tell Me Ma, The Fields of Athenry and of course Abhrainn na Bhiain.
After the sing-off we all joined together and sang songs worldwide hits that everyone would know such as: We Will Rock You, Disco lights and Hey Baby.
When we arrived in Amsterdam we went to the Rijks Museum where we were given a tour and got to see some famous paintings.
After the museum we went on a boat ride through the canals of Amsterdam. It was good because we got to see a lot of the city including Anne Frank’s house. The buildings were lovely. After our boat trip we got some time to ourselves to do whatever we wanted then we went back to our hosts’ houses.
That night we all got together and went to the Fun Fair in Nijmegen because it was the last night we were going to be together. It was a very fun and memorable night, for many reasons!!
Friday 10th October
It was a cold and sad morning on Friday as all of us put our suitcases onto the bus and said goodbye to our hosts and new friends.
When Mr. Ross and Mr. Mc Caul were finally able to get us onto the bus we went to the Liberty Park War Museum and got a tour of it. The museum was an exhibition of the events of both World Wars and the equipment used during them. It had models of tanks and cars on display as well as ammunition used by the fighters in both World Wars.
We then went to Eindhoven where we got some time to shop and have a look around the city before going to the airport and flying home.
It was a once in a life time experience and we will never forget it!!
We just cannot wait for the Dutch students to come to Ireland and show them how fun life is here in Éire!!!
Below are some photos from the trip
