In the morning all the students taking part in the exchange programme played volleyball. There was even a teachers’ team that tried to do its best… At lunch time everybody left and the students went home to prepare a lot of different dishes for the evening event.

We all arrived back at school at about 18.30 where we first got to eat lots of delicious things. Then the party started with: song performances (by exchange students and the Nehalennia teachers’ band), disco music and dancing, chill out lounge… I’m quite sure: Tomorrow it won’t be easy to leave…

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This morning the buses left school at about 7.30. On our way to Amsterdam we had the possibility to see a lot of the Deltawork buildings we had heard of the days before. When we arrived (about three hours later) we went for a boat trip and got some first impressions of the city. The final destination was the National Museum, a sight where a lot of famous paintings (such as the Nightwatch by Rembrandt) can be admired. But before entering the museum there was a security check and we had to get rid of our Swiss army knives and all our jackets and bags…

After having visited the museum and looked for all personal belongings we went for a walk to the city center and were shown some of Amsterdam’s oldest houses. About three hours later and a lot of shopping bags heavier we all hurried back to our bus. We had a great day.

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This morning the buses took us out to the beach at Oranjezon where the whole exchange group (about 200 students and 20 teachers) went for a walk by the sea. We all enjoyed the light breeze while strolling through the sand and a vaste variety of different seashells… About one hour later the buses picked us up again and drove on to the deltapark Neelte Jans. We first got  a lot of information about the storm surge barrier (film), then we visited the barrier inside. We were very lucky: Suddenly the sun showed up…

After the lunch break we went for a boat trip in the Oosterschelde. It was quite fresh but we got beautiful views. A lot of us hoped to spot a seal or a sea lion but the tide was high, we didn’t. But when we finally left the boat we got the chance to follow a small show with tame seals at the deltapark

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This morning we all met at school again. The Dutch teachers gave us a lot of information about “the Netherlands and their struggle against water”. They also told us some facts about the flood of 1953 that explained the background of the film “the Storm” made in Zeeland. Afterwards we went on experiencing some more games often played in the Netherlands. At a quarter to eleven five buses arrived. They took us to Vlissingen where we got the chance to watch the film “the Storm”. The facts learnt this morning now got alive in a very impressive way…

After a lunch break we all went for a walk on the beach of Vlissingen. Unfortunately the sun didn’t show up. It stayed grey but it didn’t rain… On the way back to school a lot of the students arranged to go bowling together tonight. They’ll certainly spend another unforgettable evening with their new Dutch friends…

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On Monday morning the Dutch and Swiss students and teachers all met at Nehalennia school in Middelburg. The Dutch students introduced their country and area through a lot of different presentations and activities: They made us pronounce Dutch words, play traditional games and even experience the “Klompen” dance. We also got the chance to try Dutch cheese and sweets and learnt a lot about the Netherlands and Zeeland.

After a short lunch break we went for a city walk where we had to answer different questions about the sights of Middelburg. At the end of the afternoon all the students and teachers taking part in the exchange programme got a warm official welcome in the city hall of Middelburg.

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After our arrival in Middelburg all the students spent the rest of the day with their host families. Some of them went for a bike ride. Others strolled around in town and had a look at the historical buildings. Some families even took the students out for a walk on the beach. A couple of students got the chance to try typical Dutch dishes or to spend the evening with other Dutch families and students. Anyway the next day everybody seemed relaxed and happy about the first part of the exchange…

On Saturday evening at 7.15 pm we all met at Andelfingen train station. There were quite a lot of people who came to wave goodbye: parents, teachers, friends… Fifteen minutes later we went on the train in direction of Zurich. There we took the night train to Amsterdam. We all found our places very quickly but the compartments weren’t too spacious so that it was a bit difficult to put in all our suitcases, bags…

But after these short turbulences we all felt good and enjoyed the trip. Of course we didn’t sleep really much … In the morning we got to know that the train wasn’t on time. So we we arrived in Middelburg one hour later than expected. When we finally stepped out of the train all of us were quite nervous. But the warm welcome of the Dutch students and teachers let us forget these thoughts very quickly. After about five minutes everybody had found their families and new friends and the platform was empty and quiet within some instants.

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