AMSTERDAM

What a day! A terrible weather! Rainy and windy non-stop all the day long. But despite of the weather, we must say that Amsterdam is an awesome city. It is unique and charming.

We have met at 9 in the morning at school, and we were with all the students participating in the exchange: the Polish, the Basque , the Catalan and the Dutch.

We have gone to Amsterdam which is at an hour and a half drive.

Once there we have been divided into three groups and two groups have been taken to the Van Gohg Museum and the other group to the Rijksmuseum. We have seen some of the major masterpieces of the Flemish painters. I, personally, couldn't believe my eyes!

In the Van Gohg museum we have had the oportunity to see some of the personal material that Vincent used for his paintings. There were also some of the letters that he wrote to his family and friends.

And some of our students around the museum:

And the students at the Rijksmuseum:

And visiting the biggest library in the Netherlands!

Then, we have headed to the centre of Amsterdam. We got to the DAM, the heart of the city. Once there, we have gone to have lunch, most of our students to McDonals (of course!) or KFC, for a change. After that, some have walked around the typical streets of the city centre and visited some of the typical shops. The fact is that most of us have tried to find somewhere inside to be protected from the rain and wind.

Finally, and before leaving Amsterdam, all the teachers have been invited to dinner (at 5!) by our host Dutch colleagues! Thank you very much indeed! You are very welcoming!

FAMILY DAY

Today is the family day, and we have met some students at school in the morning because some of the Dutch students and teachers are performing a concert of varied music. We have heard songs of different styles such as Bruno Mars, Selena Gomez, The Passengers and some classical pieces of music at the piano. Amazing!!!!

And guess who have found today in the city centre???? Sintarklaas!

Some of the activities that Dutch families have organised for our students are very exciting. For example, some of them have run in karts, other have played pool, or have been horse-riding, some computer games have been popular too, and board games or a couple of them have baked cakes and cookies. A group of girls have gone shopping to the city center and then, McDonals, of course!

And the teachers have relaxed in Nijmegen with a nice cup of hot chocolate and muffins...

Nijmegen

Our programme today includes an Art class and a city walk around Nijmegen. Today we have slept a bit more because the Art programme started at 10:00.
Look who we have found outside the school. 

We have met all our exchange partners, the Polish and the Basque students. We have been put into different groups and all the students had to paint a portrait of their Dutch brothers and sisters. We have had different Art teachers who have given us the general guidelines for us to do the task. Then, we have been given the canvas, the brushes and the paint and... You'll see the result in a moment.

The instructions:

The work:

 

The portraits:

And the Polish students' portraits. Can you see the difference? Well, you must know that these students are in a renowned Polish are school, so the comparisons are not fair!

This is the group picture at the school big hall.

Then, students back to their bikes to the city of Nijmegen which is about 6 kilometres far from our school. There, the students had to do a city tour guided by their Dutch students, and they had to come back when they had finished the tour with the images of the places they had to visit nd a short explanation of the place.

Some of these places are:

Then the students have gone with their Dutch partners again and they have all gone home where they have arranged to do different activities such as going to the cinema, meeting some friends, go to the bowling, etc. The teachers have been invited to have dinner at one of the Dutch teachers, Magda and her adorable family where we have eaten the typical Dutch soup: erwtensoep. Delicious!

After, some of our students did sone other things:

Now, we want to show you an important character for Dutch children: Sinterklaas, this man in the picture comes to every Dutch house on the 5th of December and leave presents for the Dutch kids. But do you know where Sinterklaas comes from? Spain!