Day 1: Tuseday, May 28th
Yesterday was my little sister's birthday, turning 11 years old. The packing for travel always seems to happen the night before. Last-minute packing and up around 6am, a reasonable time. The bus awaits us at our school and all, 80 students from three different years, get on the double decker. WE claim the chillest spots and off we go through Belgium, France; Calais to Dover. Not much special, everybody's messing around and making the most(?) out of the 9 hour drive...
P&O Ferries across the Channel and a nice stop in Canterbury for dinner. Then the moment comes, arriving on the parking lot are all our host families! The most nerve-wrecking moment of the week; which family will we stay with? "They have the biggest car, I hope I'm with her!" someone said. And so it turned out that 3 other guys and I went off to South Harrow with a Chrysler Voyager. A car I had last seen with my grandma in the States, I liked our hostess already!
It turns out, the area where they live has a lot of Indian and Pakistani people living there. Everyone has the same, normal house duplex, and you could go on for ever and not see anything different. But the odd thing is that I never fully realized how much money they put into their cars! Paved lawns with often two shiny cars in front of this somewhat, ordinary English house. It turned out that some classmates lived in the area and even across the street! So anyway, that evening we could enjoy a nice dinner, getting settled and hanging out with friends 'on the block'. Causin' trouble like a newly arrived gang, but only allowed out 'til 22:00! Our host family's kids slept with their bedroom doors wide open, but never woke up from our laughter. Lights out!
Yesterday was my little sister's birthday, turning 11 years old. The packing for travel always seems to happen the night before. Last-minute packing and up around 6am, a reasonable time. The bus awaits us at our school and all, 80 students from three different years, get on the double decker. WE claim the chillest spots and off we go through Belgium, France; Calais to Dover. Not much special, everybody's messing around and making the most(?) out of the 9 hour drive...
P&O Ferries across the Channel and a nice stop in Canterbury for dinner. Then the moment comes, arriving on the parking lot are all our host families! The most nerve-wrecking moment of the week; which family will we stay with? "They have the biggest car, I hope I'm with her!" someone said. And so it turned out that 3 other guys and I went off to South Harrow with a Chrysler Voyager. A car I had last seen with my grandma in the States, I liked our hostess already!
It turns out, the area where they live has a lot of Indian and Pakistani people living there. Everyone has the same, normal house duplex, and you could go on for ever and not see anything different. But the odd thing is that I never fully realized how much money they put into their cars! Paved lawns with often two shiny cars in front of this somewhat, ordinary English house. It turned out that some classmates lived in the area and even across the street! So anyway, that evening we could enjoy a nice dinner, getting settled and hanging out with friends 'on the block'. Causin' trouble like a newly arrived gang, but only allowed out 'til 22:00! Our host family's kids slept with their bedroom doors wide open, but never woke up from our laughter. Lights out!
Day 2: Wednesday, May 29th
Today was our first real day out on the loose. Each morning starts with everyone waking up around 7 o'clock, munching some cereal and British toast with peanut butter/nutella. Meet up with our classmates (with a longboard!) and we walk to the bus, through the endless streets of similar architecture. We're the last ones picked up, get the remaining seats and then are headed to the Greenwich, the O2 Arena!
At the GMT (+0:00) timezone we realized how great the British music history is. A half hour early till opening and we enjoy some late breakfast (Pancakes 'n Chocolate Truffle) at 'Garfunkel's'. We're late for the first time, and enter the British Music Experience.
Showcased guitars of legends, dance imitations and music all over. The highlight was definitely the interactive studio! Drumkits, great guitars and vocals all hooked up to famous song tutorials for you to record on that card. I love playing drums, it's great fun jammin' out there with everybody looking surprised at that calm kid. Tried saving a guitar tutorial to check out later on their website, but it's a pain. Too bad that their website has you register all you info and the recording didn't work for me.
Finally done there and we head off with our host family's pack lunches to central London! The assignment was to interact with the English of course!
...meaning; we (read: 'I') had to ask people about what the 'London slang' was called, and for some examples. Not so fast, that wasn't all. What made it time consuming were the pictures that we had to take at the places shown. Each picture containing the WHOLE group and a stranger, meaning you'd need another stranger to take the picture! From the touristic hotspots like the Big Ben bridge & Piccadilly Circus to harder spots, another bridge and Fortnum & Mason. Also, each group was given a Dutch magnet to exchange with random people, just like the red paperclip. We ended up putting that off to the end, until we came across the Piccadilly Market, where we were certain to find something. Out of nowhere, the first person we spoke apeared to work at a stand, and she traided us the cheap magnet for a 18 pound 'quid' fossil! Typically British and special, so that gave extra points! #Awesome. We got done quick by asking a kind police officer and even had time to check out M&M World, very commercial but a place to have seen.
Today was our first real day out on the loose. Each morning starts with everyone waking up around 7 o'clock, munching some cereal and British toast with peanut butter/nutella. Meet up with our classmates (with a longboard!) and we walk to the bus, through the endless streets of similar architecture. We're the last ones picked up, get the remaining seats and then are headed to the Greenwich, the O2 Arena!
At the GMT (+0:00) timezone we realized how great the British music history is. A half hour early till opening and we enjoy some late breakfast (Pancakes 'n Chocolate Truffle) at 'Garfunkel's'. We're late for the first time, and enter the British Music Experience.
Showcased guitars of legends, dance imitations and music all over. The highlight was definitely the interactive studio! Drumkits, great guitars and vocals all hooked up to famous song tutorials for you to record on that card. I love playing drums, it's great fun jammin' out there with everybody looking surprised at that calm kid. Tried saving a guitar tutorial to check out later on their website, but it's a pain. Too bad that their website has you register all you info and the recording didn't work for me.
Finally done there and we head off with our host family's pack lunches to central London! The assignment was to interact with the English of course!
...meaning; we (read: 'I') had to ask people about what the 'London slang' was called, and for some examples. Not so fast, that wasn't all. What made it time consuming were the pictures that we had to take at the places shown. Each picture containing the WHOLE group and a stranger, meaning you'd need another stranger to take the picture! From the touristic hotspots like the Big Ben bridge & Piccadilly Circus to harder spots, another bridge and Fortnum & Mason. Also, each group was given a Dutch magnet to exchange with random people, just like the red paperclip. We ended up putting that off to the end, until we came across the Piccadilly Market, where we were certain to find something. Out of nowhere, the first person we spoke apeared to work at a stand, and she traided us the cheap magnet for a 18 pound 'quid' fossil! Typically British and special, so that gave extra points! #Awesome. We got done quick by asking a kind police officer and even had time to check out M&M World, very commercial but a place to have seen.
Day 3: Thursday, May 30th
Today, we're getting up early because it's a long little drive to Cambridge! I found out later my friend Wouter from Holland had been here all week, what a pitty I didn't know. But taking everything into account, it still was an amazing day. Started off with one of those loveable, great tour guides who could make tour entertainment his life. With an hour to go, he showed us all around the center, mainly colleges, buildings and special places. Many discoveries have been claimed to be invented in Cambridge. A lot of the 'greats' who had educated themselves at Trinity or King's College, for example Erasmus, Newton, Francis Bacon and more famous alumni who'd been in that spot. Also, he showed us a tree that was proven to be related to the one that the apple fell from over by Isaac Newton! The Trinity College, though I realized my dad had taken me here before, I remembered the film 'Chariots of fire', whilst imagining the 'Great Court Run' for freshmen. No one is allowed to walk on the grass there. Only Fellows (masters), and the lawn mowers are allowed to. Rens (friend on the photos) and I therefore had the idea and 'yolo-moment' to pluck some of its grass to take home!
We then continued with something called 'Punting'; using a boat you'd imagine in Venice, able to seat about 12 people plus the guide with his/her pole. The man, whom I thought looked a lot like 'Edmund' from Narnia, showed us around the Cambridge waters on a Punt. Though he does this everyday, the ride was quite 'quaint'; terribly amusing yet wet. The stories of how daring these idiotic students are in climbing up towers and such, are stunning and humorous. It seems the rich colleges with their secrecy and wealth of about 4 billion pounds still have a great sense of humor!
If this is not already too boring for you, it should get more 'exciting' now.. The day over there wasn't exactly finished yet...
With the same group we had been enjoying England the whole time, we now had to fill in a lousy assignment and make more pictures of colleges/churches. My *less humble moment* greatly divine genius idea was to ask the Punters who'd been our guide to answer the questions! Brilliant. That got us done in no time besides the effort we made to get a picture at the closest building we had to make a picture with, and enjoy Cambridge the rest of the time (it gave us a slightly good chance at the prize). So, we went shopping with the girls and walking 'round, minding our own business. All of a sudden, a wild idea popped up for them to go to Starbucks, while me and Ena went exploring the mall more. I checked out my own store; JD Sports, found WiFi, my 2nd cousin's American Football team (New England Patriots) caps, and some cool pairs of crossed Nike Blazers & Dunks; Nike AC QS (Vintage Quickstrike)! After the amazement of Patriots caps and an Instagram later, I went to the Vans store. There, I talked with one of the employees: 'Daniel', and we had a really good time just talking. He also ended up being from Boston (Patriots fan), which I think was funny.
I ended up coming back to the Starbucks, my friends had already gone to the meeting point, of which I had no map of, nor phone network, just limited internet, good English and a brain that told me: "Go back to where you started." The group ended up panicking and I was kinda lost cause they had chosen a random square to meet up at. At the end of the day (5 minutes later), all turned out well, except for some irritated teachers...
Today, we're getting up early because it's a long little drive to Cambridge! I found out later my friend Wouter from Holland had been here all week, what a pitty I didn't know. But taking everything into account, it still was an amazing day. Started off with one of those loveable, great tour guides who could make tour entertainment his life. With an hour to go, he showed us all around the center, mainly colleges, buildings and special places. Many discoveries have been claimed to be invented in Cambridge. A lot of the 'greats' who had educated themselves at Trinity or King's College, for example Erasmus, Newton, Francis Bacon and more famous alumni who'd been in that spot. Also, he showed us a tree that was proven to be related to the one that the apple fell from over by Isaac Newton! The Trinity College, though I realized my dad had taken me here before, I remembered the film 'Chariots of fire', whilst imagining the 'Great Court Run' for freshmen. No one is allowed to walk on the grass there. Only Fellows (masters), and the lawn mowers are allowed to. Rens (friend on the photos) and I therefore had the idea and 'yolo-moment' to pluck some of its grass to take home!
We then continued with something called 'Punting'; using a boat you'd imagine in Venice, able to seat about 12 people plus the guide with his/her pole. The man, whom I thought looked a lot like 'Edmund' from Narnia, showed us around the Cambridge waters on a Punt. Though he does this everyday, the ride was quite 'quaint'; terribly amusing yet wet. The stories of how daring these idiotic students are in climbing up towers and such, are stunning and humorous. It seems the rich colleges with their secrecy and wealth of about 4 billion pounds still have a great sense of humor!
If this is not already too boring for you, it should get more 'exciting' now.. The day over there wasn't exactly finished yet...
With the same group we had been enjoying England the whole time, we now had to fill in a lousy assignment and make more pictures of colleges/churches. My *less humble moment* greatly divine genius idea was to ask the Punters who'd been our guide to answer the questions! Brilliant. That got us done in no time besides the effort we made to get a picture at the closest building we had to make a picture with, and enjoy Cambridge the rest of the time (it gave us a slightly good chance at the prize). So, we went shopping with the girls and walking 'round, minding our own business. All of a sudden, a wild idea popped up for them to go to Starbucks, while me and Ena went exploring the mall more. I checked out my own store; JD Sports, found WiFi, my 2nd cousin's American Football team (New England Patriots) caps, and some cool pairs of crossed Nike Blazers & Dunks; Nike AC QS (Vintage Quickstrike)! After the amazement of Patriots caps and an Instagram later, I went to the Vans store. There, I talked with one of the employees: 'Daniel', and we had a really good time just talking. He also ended up being from Boston (Patriots fan), which I think was funny.
I ended up coming back to the Starbucks, my friends had already gone to the meeting point, of which I had no map of, nor phone network, just limited internet, good English and a brain that told me: "Go back to where you started." The group ended up panicking and I was kinda lost cause they had chosen a random square to meet up at. At the end of the day (5 minutes later), all turned out well, except for some irritated teachers...
Day 4: Friday, May 31st
Alright, I'll keep this one shorter. It's getting late here too... After a night of delicious carrot cake, Egyptian Rat Slap and good conversation, we woke up and said our goodbyes, off to Wembley stadium! On our schedule was a VIP tour with yet another great tourguide, who knew his Dutch soccer team well... "Aah, so you're from Amsterdam. Ajax! ...are there no kakkerlaks?". Just being one week after the UEFA championship finals in Wembley, we walked the dressing rooms, the hairdryers for Christiano Ronaldo, the journalists' hotspot and seats of Prince Charles. Satisfied with Ajax having won three years in a row, we left with a fact to remember; Wembley stadium has 2.618 toilets, more than any other venue in the world!
Then back to the city center to explore the sunny London; St. James park, Trafalgar square (fountain) and more relaxed parks! A final Italian dinner where our pounds die and we finish our week with a London musical: 'Some like it hiphop'! I've literally never been to anything so well choreographed, sung, told and put together as the musical produced by ZooNation's Dance Company! Half way in the two hours at the break I barely hesitated giving a standing ovation, THAT good. There was one thing I found 'strange' about it though, one of the main characters was called 'Oprah'. She was on the big side, black and had her own song in which this girl Oprah was being praised or exalted or something having to do with admiration. I found it weird for there to be such semi-subliminal message in the piece like South Park had once made an episode about. Anyway, from that spectacular show we head home, late at night. We all start sleeping after the ferry around 03:00... and wake up to the familiar sight of Amsterdam and the knowledge that normal life is back.
Alright, I'll keep this one shorter. It's getting late here too... After a night of delicious carrot cake, Egyptian Rat Slap and good conversation, we woke up and said our goodbyes, off to Wembley stadium! On our schedule was a VIP tour with yet another great tourguide, who knew his Dutch soccer team well... "Aah, so you're from Amsterdam. Ajax! ...are there no kakkerlaks?". Just being one week after the UEFA championship finals in Wembley, we walked the dressing rooms, the hairdryers for Christiano Ronaldo, the journalists' hotspot and seats of Prince Charles. Satisfied with Ajax having won three years in a row, we left with a fact to remember; Wembley stadium has 2.618 toilets, more than any other venue in the world!
Then back to the city center to explore the sunny London; St. James park, Trafalgar square (fountain) and more relaxed parks! A final Italian dinner where our pounds die and we finish our week with a London musical: 'Some like it hiphop'! I've literally never been to anything so well choreographed, sung, told and put together as the musical produced by ZooNation's Dance Company! Half way in the two hours at the break I barely hesitated giving a standing ovation, THAT good. There was one thing I found 'strange' about it though, one of the main characters was called 'Oprah'. She was on the big side, black and had her own song in which this girl Oprah was being praised or exalted or something having to do with admiration. I found it weird for there to be such semi-subliminal message in the piece like South Park had once made an episode about. Anyway, from that spectacular show we head home, late at night. We all start sleeping after the ferry around 03:00... and wake up to the familiar sight of Amsterdam and the knowledge that normal life is back.
Day 5: Saturday, June 1st
...yeah, you could call this the afterparty.
Directly afterwards that morning, I walked to Amstelstation with my luggage, took the next bus and slept for two hours at home. That afternoon/evening was another event that I was planning to attend all day. EO's annual 'Jongerendag'. About 35.000 people, mostly teenagers came to the GelreDome for this event. A bunch of well known artists were invited to rock the stadium. The sad thing about it, was that we had bleacher (in the stands) seat, rather than on the field, plus I was terribly tired. Other than that another great day for me to end the week with!
...yeah, you could call this the afterparty.
Directly afterwards that morning, I walked to Amstelstation with my luggage, took the next bus and slept for two hours at home. That afternoon/evening was another event that I was planning to attend all day. EO's annual 'Jongerendag'. About 35.000 people, mostly teenagers came to the GelreDome for this event. A bunch of well known artists were invited to rock the stadium. The sad thing about it, was that we had bleacher (in the stands) seat, rather than on the field, plus I was terribly tired. Other than that another great day for me to end the week with!