January 30, Tuesday

On Tuesday afternoon, at half past two, you could see them, three girls and eight boys from classes 8 and 9, waiting outside our school building for the cars that would take them to Arlanda Airport. Four of them in elegant dark suits and Malin on her crutches – after a football match.

Helpful parents brought us to the airport.
After checking-in at the SAS desk we had an hour to spend before boarding.
The wings of the plane – a DC9 Douglas – had to be deiced before taking off.
Up in the air we were ready for the meal of cold nudles and chicken!
The air was crystal-clear and Amsterdam with all its lights looked like a giant star of many colours.
A beautiful welcome!

We landed before time. Unfortunately one of our suitcases had been damaged so we had to spend a while in the airport office. But then it was time to meet our hosts, Stef, Henk and Harry.
They took us in three cars with all our luggage and off we went, 60 km to the north.

After one hour we reached RSG School in Enkhuizen where we waited for the host families to arrive. You could feel the excitement in the room before the pupils and the families met.
The symbol of our project is a moose and for that purpose a huge artificial moose had been placed in the big hall of the school. And to cheer us up every Swedish pupil had to have a photo taken with the host pupil – on each side of the moose. It looked rather funny.

And off they went one young Swede, sometimes two, with each Dutch family. 
Did they wonder what it would be like?
 

January 31, Wednesday.

At about 8.00 a.m our pupils arrived at RSG  by bike together with their hosts. A special room at the school was reserved for us most of the week. There we met our pupils every morning for about fifteen minutes to check things out. Much chatting this first morning.The tension from last night had changed into excitement and eager expectation.
First we learnt to know some of our e-mail partners and after a while the Dutch pupils guided us through the school. The first reaction from our pupils: What a big school! Big classrooms and how clean! No scribbling!
Then some refreshments in the staffroom.
All of a sudden very, very loud signals! Teachers and pupils were in their classrooms in next to no time. Being late is not allowed.
Pupils from class 9 went to a German class and those from class 8 to a French class. In the German class we showed a videofilm from Källtorpskolan and discussed differences between our schools e .g hot meals in the middle of the day, the teaching of home economics and the teaching of music at school. In the French class our pupils introduced themselves, interviewed Dutch pupils and took part in the lesson.
Twenty minutes´ break, the Swedish teachers, Mia and Gunvor, introduced themselves to the staff of RSG and talked about our cooperation.
Our pupils made a lot of interviews in the morning (they had prepared the questions at home). They were talking to: Henk Mickers, deputy headmaster, Henk Hensgens, German teacher, Harry Huisken, teamleader, Richard van Gelder, chief caretaker and Frederic Dorfman, French teacher. Dutch pupils were interviewed as well about their interests, school etc.
Next stop, the computerroom to write fair copies of the jobs. At the same time Henk Hensgens informed about the Moose Magazine that has recently been brought to light. A new step forward in our cooperation. The Moose Magazine is a discussion platform linked to our homepage.
At 12.45 lunch break. Much longed for. The pupils ate their sandwiches that they had brought from the families. Another new experience.
The next item of the programme: Puzzle tour.
Dutch pupils took the Swedish pupils for a guided tour in Enkhuizen. After about an hour the pupils, blue with cold, came back with their questionnaire. The group was escorted by Harry Huisken pushing a wheelchair. Malin was supposed to use it  (she was walking on cruches this week). But she didn´t have to, she was the quickest walker of them all! 
Back to the hostfamilies by bike. Evening at home.
Evalution by teachers.
 

February 1, Thursday

A short check-up: “Is everything OK?” And it was.
So we boarded our bus for a trip to Amsterdam at 9.
It was a foggy morning but when we were approaching Amsterdam the sun
came through.
The landscape was green, flat and looked like a park area.

Still in the bus Harry gave us a short background to the fate of Anne Frank so
when we arrived to Anne Frank´s House we could walk around on our own in
the small rooms in the attic where she and her family hid for 25 months during
the war. The girls seemed very interested and moved by what they saw and also
compared her situation to racism today.

Then we set off for the flower market and the shopping district. Swedish and
Dutch pupils went together and the consumption of pizza and hamburgers
suddenly increased in Amsterdam.

A boat trip on the canals is a must in Amsterdam. That´s the best way of seeing
the tall, narrow brick houses with an infinite variation of gables. And each one
of them has a hook at the top for lifting up heavy furniture when you move in or
out.

When the boat came back to its port our bus was already waiting to take us back
home before the rush hour started.
 

February 2, Friday.

8.15 meeting with the Swedish group.
Discussion about the radio programme last night. Everybody was not satisfied with the contributions. 
Planning today´s study visits together with teachers and Dutch pupils.
Off we all went by bike in wet snow. Snowfall is not very common in Holland.
Group 1A + 1B went to Koperwiekplein (a shopping centre in a new housing estate) and to the Old Town to compare prices. In the Old Town they made an interview with the manager of the department store Hema, Mrs A. J Macke as well. We compared Dutch prices to Swedish prices in flowershops, CD-shops, a sportsshop, Expert, a drugstore, a New Age shop and in some others. To sum up: most things are cheaper than in Sweden.
Group 2A went to bulb grower Botman and made an interview and visited bulb grower Oud.
Group 2B visited a bulb auction in Bovenkarspel. They came back with a huge bunch of tulips.
Group 3 visited the Town Hall and made an interview with Mr van Doornik, town councillor for tourism and recreation.
12.45 Back in school and lunchbreak. Sandwiches.
The programme of Friday afternoon:
Interview with the local newspaper. Swedish and Dutch pupils talked about differences between the countries and the schools. The Swedish pupils emphasized the strictness and the cleanliness in RSG and that they liked Enkhuizen and Amsterdam just as much.The teachers talked about the advantages of the cooperation and the Moose magazine. 
Today the Headmaster Mr. B. Sluis was interviewed by two of our pupils. They talked about the schoolsystems in Holland and Sweden. All our pupils were praised for their ability of  talking English.
During the the last working-period of this eventful week working pace was very high. All the Swedish pupils had to finish writing their daily reports and fair copies of the interviews, that means a summing up of  a week full of new experiences.( You find the result on http://www.home.swipnet.se/kalltorp/ International cooperation.
The Dutch pupils wrote contributions to the Moose Magazine.
In the afternoon the depth of snow was about 5 – 6 cm. And people were out shovelling away the snow in front of their houses. Even the streets had to be cleaned.
 

February 3, Saturday

At 11 o´clock they came biking from all directions, the Swedes and the Dutch, to
fight out a match of Dutch “korfbol” and one of “trefbol”, where you should try to push down the mattress of the opposite team by throwing balls on it.
The Swedes won both matches!

It had been snowing heavily all day but again they came on their bikes in the afternoon to the“Dromedaris” – an old defence tower in the port. The first floor has been changed into a café. There were lots of candles and a beautiful view of Enkhuizen.
There we gathered, pupils, teachers and host families.
Henk pointed out in his speech the importance of making friends across the borders
to improve understanding and tolerance between people from different countries.
We also had a chance to look at the video that had been recorded during our stay.

And so it was time for us to thank the teachers and the host families for receiving 
us in such a generous way. Our pupils handed over some souvenirs from Järfälla and we wished the Dutch pupils welcome to Sweden in May.
Everybody seemed to be pleased with the visit to Enkhuizen, both families and
guests.

After the meeting in the warm and cosy café in the “Dromedaris” it was time to
take the bikes back home for a nice Saturday evening with the families.
 

February 4, Sunday.

When we woke up this morning it looked like Sweden outside the window. At least 10 cm. snow. Last night fifty flights from Schiphol had been cancelled because of heavy snowfall. That´s why we were going to start our trip home a bit earlier this morning.
At 7.30 a.m we all met at the school together with our hostfamilies. After we had said goodbye we all stepped into the cars, driven by the most excellent drivers in Enkhuizen, Henk, Stef and Harry. The roads were a bit slippery and the landscape looked grey. After about an hour´s drive we arrived at the airport safe and sound.
The usual routines: check in, tickets, passports a.s o. Everything quite in order!
We had to walk a lot, this airport is gigantic. Departure on time.
At 12.15 on the runway at Arlanda and after a while we were welcomed by the parents.
 

We would like to say thank you to

* our pupils who have done a great job in Enkhuizen and behaved so well, it was a pleasure to work with you        
* our colleagues at RSG, especially Henk, Stef and Harry who have made all the preparations for our stay and given us much inspiration and many new ideas
* the host families who made our pupils feel comfortable
* our Headmaster Gunnar Rydwik who gave us the opportunity to go to Enkhuizen together with pupils
* our colleagues, especially Leif and Brindusa who helped us by taking responsibility of our groups when we were away
* Nils Eng, the system manager at Källtorp, who didn't get a night's peace since we left because of the work of uploading pictures and information
* The Trade Association of Kallhäll, who is very positive to cooperation with our school and has given us some financial support to our visit in Enkhuizen, Holland.

Gunvor Lager  and   Mia Herou
Teachers at Källtorpskolan