Day 15

I almost arrived to late at school, but luckely we were just on time. I thought I had a Math test today, but when I went to mr. HB he said he didn't recieved one.
Today nothing really special happened. It was just a normal day of school and after that I had my second hockey training. My hockey isn't going that well, because the heat isn't berable... It is soo hot! The hockey is indoor, but they don't have airco... Hope I'll get used to it sometime. The team is really nice. The girls are very sweet.
When I got home I swam together with Ewald. The pool is my life! I love the refreshment. Hope I once get a pool!

Garden Route 7-11 Feb

This was one of the best trips we did! It was amazing. The trip started on Monday the 7th of February. We all met up at Bishops, the boys school. The bus was running late, so they told us we could go into the Chapel meeting of Bishops. When Ewa, Pupi and I walked in we all felt very uncomfortable. Every guy was in uniform and we just walked in with our shorts and t-shirts. They were all looking at us which made it even worse. Chapel itself was very interesting to experience. They have a talk about God and pray. When it was finished, they told us that the bus would be there in about 5 min. When the bus arrived we all went in and the adventure of the garden Route started.

After driving for about 2 hours we arrived at Cape Algulhas. Cape Algulhas is the most Southern tip of the whole of Africa. Legends say that this is the point where the Atlantic and Indian oceans meet, but the people of Cape Town think that is at Cape Point. Though this was a beautiful spot, with an amazing view.
When the Cape Algulhas adventure finished, we continued our journey to the Game Lodge in Alberinia.The Game Lodge is a huge nature area. In this area they take care of a lot of animals. They make sure they eat enough and they still let them hunt. The people from the Game Lodge also give them a lot of free space so they can walk around. We saw a lot of animals for example: giraffe's, zebra's, cheetah's, buffalo's, springboks's, rhino's and a lot more. We also saw lions, which live in a big area, but have a fence around it so they don't eat other animals. After our safari we got a lovely diner and went back to our Guest house where we were going to stay that night.

Tuesday morning at 7 o'clock we drove back again to the Game Lodge. We went into the park again, so we could see more animals. We also saw the elaphants and some other animals. When we finished that trip we had breakfast and than went to the reptile house. We saw big variety of snakes, and also saw crocodiles and aligators. They are amazing animals to see, but I would never ever want to be attacked by them. After about an other hour drive we arrived at the Ostrich farm. At the ostrich farm we got the opportunity to get a hug from the ostrich, the ostrich just put his neck around yours, and we also got the opporunity to ride them. Riding them is very difficult. They are very fast and when they run they run very bumpy. Though it was an amazing experience it only lastet for about 30 seconds. We went on and drove to the Congo Caves. The Congo Caves is a huge cave underneath the ground. We chose to do the adventure trip and that actually is kind of scary, because you have to go under the ground for about 1.5 hours and you have to go through very small caves. The smallest was 30 cm.. The Chimney. We all came through, but still it made you feel very claustrophobic. When we finally saw the daylight again everybody was very glad.

Wednesday was a very relaxed day, actually just for me. The others all got an adrenaline rush by the bungee jump. It started of slowly. We went to a place where we could canoe. It was a very peaceful place with a wide river without any tendency. We just canoed a little and than found a spot with a swing and all the guys went on that. After about 30 min we all canoed back and than drove on to a place with a lot of stairs on a hill. You had the most amazing view over the ocean. Than the exciting part for everybody except me. We drove to the Bungee Jump. This is the highest Bungee Jump of the world. It is 216 meters long. Everybody was very excited and I was glad to just be the one that will take the pictures. After everybody's adrenaline kick we drove to the Backpackers of Tsitsikamma.

Thursday started of quite exciting.. At least I thought so. We went to the Tsitsikamma Foefie slide. When we started off I thought that it would be a lot of fun, because you go down very fast while you are hanging very high above the ground, but it was actually not as much fun as I thought. It was nice to do, but not very exciting. There was only one really long one and that one was nice, but the rest was quite short and so you didn't go that fast. Although I had a lot of fun with our group. We just joked and laughed and ofcourse screamed. After the slide we went to a nature park where we stopped at the beach. The girls just lay in the sand and tried to tan a little. that was very relaxing. When we got back in the car we had a long ride to go. We drove to a place somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It was a farm with a few houses where we slept in. We went canoeing again and the guys where jumping from the little hill into the water. It was a fun evening.

Friday morning we had to wake up at 4 and be in the car at 5 for the shark-cage diving. Unfortunally I also had to go there, without even going onto the boat to the shark-cage diving, but luckely Simon and an other guy went with. While the rest was on the boat we three together with the tour guide went to Wimphy for breakfast. Was quite a good meal. After breakfast we drove to danger point. Danger point is the place where a ship called Birkenhead wrecked. You had a very pretty view at the ocean and we also saw a very small lighthouse. When we finished up there we drove back to the shark-cage diving point. We still had to wait a little, but than they arrived. They said the sharks were amazing, but the boat trip was kind of annoying, because everybody was vomiting... We than drove to the Aloe Ferox factory, where we got an explenation about the aloe ferox plant and about their product. I also bought a present for my mom. We also visited Hermanus, where we walked through the market and had some lunch, and we went to Betty's Bay where we saw penguins. Than we started our way back home. When we all arrived I went home and swam. I changed quickly and we went to the Bishops Valentins's picknick. The dirty skirts were the performance of the night and I had a lot of fun. This week was amazing!!!

Day 17

This morning I had to go to school on my own. This was, because Inge is ill. It was quite scary, because you don't know that many people after a few days. Luckily Inge organized that Sarah (Inge's friend) helped me out.
The school started with an Assembly. After assembly it was a normal school day where I followed a few lessons. After school all the sports started. I chose to participate in hockey and tennis. I didn't really know in what squad I had to participate, so I just watched the swimming first. Then a girl came to me and said that I had to go and join their hockey training. Hockey was very nice, but the heat makes it quite different. You are soooner out of breath. I did enjoy it. After hockey me and Sarah went to tennis. They also let me join their tennis practice which was quite nice. Sports is so different, because you don't have to leave school to go to your club.

Day 16

We didn't do a lot today. We were all very tired and so made it a day we just relaxed. We swam a lot and tanned. WE also had a 'braai' with some nice toasts in the barbeque.
At around 5 o'clock, Inge, Ametje and I drove to Blouberg where you have the best view on the Table Mountain. From that side you can really see the table figure. This is the spot where all the well known Table Mountain pictures have been taken. We took some pictures and bought a nice milkshake.

Day 15

We woke up early today to go to the Biscuit Mill. The Biscuit Mill is a big market where you can buy a lot of food and drinks. A lot of people just get there to have breakfast. We walked past all the nice tables and we bought ourself a roll. There was also a Dutch person that was selling Dutch stuff, such as 'broodje kroket' and 'poffertjes'. Inge had a 'broodje kroket as breakfast and I had a roll with egg and bacon. It was a lovely place and also really crowded.
When we had finished our breakfast we went looking around and after that Inge and I had an appointment with Greg and Reinier to play squash. When Inge and I where already at the squish courts, Greg and Reinier called us and said that they could only come in a half an hour, which would be to late, so Inge and I just played some together.
Finally home, we had to change quickly, because we were about to go to a party. It was a party on a boat and It was quite nice. I met some new people and just talked. the boat was supposed to leave the harbour, but the weather was to rough so we just stayed inside. Today was a busy day, but really enjoyable.

Day 14

Today was the last day of this short schoolweek. It was fine. I experienced that school becomes better and better, because there actually is something else to talk about than what is going to happpen this year. It is also better, because I got to know some more people.
During the tutor period Inge and I handed out our brownies, and everybody liked them. We heard the whole day if they could get an other one.
We also had schoolpictures today. At the classphoto, we had to line up from tall to smaller, adn you know what? Ewa and I were the tallest of our class, so we had to stand in the middle of the classphoto. It was quite funny.
Yesterday Inge made an appointment with a few friends of her to go to Cavendish and watch a movie. We went together with Tayla, Kati and Saskia. We quickly changed our clothes and ran to Cavendish, because we were late. It was lots of fun.
In the evening Inge said that she wanted me to experience Frequency. Frequency is a church thing where a few people of our age come together and mainly chat with each other. You also have a mis, but that is only really short. It was a nice thing to experience. Ametje than came and picked us up.

Day 13

Today was another schoolday. When I got to school I started of with a tutor period (your tutor is the leader of the class, in dutch your mentor). After that we had a short cusumor lesson where we had to fill in our name and some background information.
After that there was a big church meeting planned. We walked to a church near Herschel with the whole school. During this miss, you just listen to some stories, and sing some songs. It was quite interesting to see that you go to a church with your whole school.
When church was finished it was a normal school day. I attended a few classes and it was a lot more interesting than yesterday.
The rest of the day was not very active. Inge had squash and I went to see her playing.
At Herschel some tutors say that you can have a baking thursday. That means that every thursday you bake for your tutor group. During our tutor period today, we said we would bake something for the class tomorrow. We baked some brownies. I think that is a nice concept, that you bake something.

Day 12

From now on I have to wake up at 6 o'clock every schoolday. That is quite tiring I think, but I hope I'll get used to it. Today was the first time. I woke up really easily, probably because of the excitement. I quikly put my uniform on. A uniform is quite nice, but I think I prefer my own clothing.
At school it was all a little weird, because it was their first schoolday of the year. Their year start in January, while we start in August. We had a big assembly, where they told all the things that was going to happen this year. Their schedule is really different. For example: their school has assembly's on monday and wednesday and they will all have a block test on friday. In every assembly they will tell what is going to happen that day and week.
This school day I followed all the lessons that Inge was supposed to have. It was kind of boring for me, because we only talked about what the plans where for this year.
When we got home after the first day, Inge and I were literally exhausted. When we got some more energy I jumped in the pool for a quick refresment.
Today was okay, but I hope tomorrow will be much better.

Day 11

We had to go to school today to sort out my uniform and to fetch Inge's books. I got to see the school and wow it is such a beautiful building. It is a old building and quite big. I didn't got to see the inside yet, but the outside is really pretty.
When we got Inge and Natasha's books, we walked down the second-hand shop to get me a uniform. That uniform is so pretty... Actually it is just a blue dress, with a blue blazer, but the colour blue is not that nice. I also got a sports uniform, because I'm planning on playing hockey and tennis here.
We also went to Cavendish today. I met an other exchange student calle Gouanita. She stays with Tennesee(friend of Inge) and she comes from Columbia. We went to McDonalds and I bought a medium fries, a medium coke and 6 chickennuggets. And GUESS WHAT?!?! It was only 3 euro's.
Tash came back home with us and we went for a swim. We also had to help Ewald to cover his books, because he did it all at the last moment and he actually had to go to bed. Then Tash got fetched. Tomorrow my first day of school. I'm so excited!

Day 10

Today was the day of Lize's birthday Beach Bach. We first went shopping to buy her a birthday present and than we went to Clifton Beach. WE also baked cup-cakes last night, because it was Chloe's (friend of Inge) birthday. When we went to fetch Ewald we also drove past and we dropped them at here house. She wasn't there, because she was having a tennis tour, but she would come home this night so we said to her maid that they were for her. At Lize's Beach Bach were a lot of people, and I was really excited, because I really wanted to meet new people. We just chilled and talked at the beach and we ate some pizza. It was really nice.
In the late afternoon we got home and Inge called Natasha, a friend of her. She came to our house and she slept over. We just relaxed and talked. She is really sweet and also really hyper. Though I had a wonderfull day and now I got more excited to start school, because I got to know some new people and they were all really sweet.

Day 9

Today we went waterskiing again. This time it went even better. I could slalom on my two ski's and I stayed up for a long time. Jess and I went on the bodyboards again today. At about 12 we were supposed to be at the house again, but it became 1 and so we had to run to pack our bags and clean the house. A little bit of stress, because all the exchange students were going to Jack Parrow. He is the country singer(rapper) from South Africa and he was having a concert in Kirstenbosch.
By the time Greg's, Inge, Ewald and me arrived, Ethan, Simon, Lize and Ewa had already left. They already left, because when Lize woke up this morning she saw that her legs were completely red and purple on spots. That happened yesterday, because she forgot to put sunblock on her legs and so they got extremely burnt. They went to the pharmacy this morning, and they said she had to see a docter, but because it is sunday there isn't a docter open in a small village like Langebaan, so they drove back to Cape Town.
After all the packing and cleaning we finally got into the car and we came home at like 5 o'clock. We still had to change our clothes, because it was going to be much cooler in the evening.
When we arrived at Kirstenbosch we started looking for Ewa and Lize, because they left a spot open for us. When we found them, they were there with all the other exchange students and Lize's boyfriend. Lize told is she was 2nd degree burnt and she also got a sun stroke.. That didn't sound good. Now she has to wear a long pants for a while. The burn also really hurt so nobody was allowed to touch it.
Jack Parow itself wasn't that awesome, but I enjoyed it. After Jack Parow we went home and chatted. Tomorrow Ewald has to go to school already, because he is a government school. He goes to school to Rondebosch, and Herchel is a private school and private schools start only on wednesday.

Day 8

We waked up early and we prepared ourselfs for a big day. We will go watersporting. Greg's family brought a rubber duck, but they first had to organize a license, so that took a while, but when he got it we went to the other side of the water, where that peninsula is. There is a really small beach where we put our stuff down. We divided in two groups and the first group went waterskiing first and the other watertubing. I started with Inge on the tube, and it was lots of fun.
When we went on the boat to go waterskiing it was quite nice seeing everybodt trying and succeding. I was one of the last to try and I thought I couldn't do it, but when I was in the water and he started to speed up I was up after the first time. I stood up for like 5 min. It was so nice. The next time I also got up. Then we went back to the beach and had some food.
All the exchange students went for a walk, but I didn't felt like it. Jess asked me if I wanted to go with her on the boat while she was wakeboarding. She is so good. Then I also got to try it, but that just didn't work out. It is a lot more difficult than waterskiing. We two also went on the bodyboards and we tried to get each other off the boards. I really enjoyed this day.
We got back somewhere in the late afternoon. We chilled, and then we had dinner. After dinner, we played a dutch game. It is a game that the audience choose the murderer, a weapon, and a place and tells that to the first person of the group. he has to act those things out to the next person, who ofcourse came from a room where he/she couldn't hear what the audience said. If you knew what it was you shook hands and you would act it out for the next person. And for the next and so on. The last person has to say what he/she thinks it all was. It was lots of fun.
Then we all went to bed, because we were quite tired of this active day.

Day 7

We left the house today to go to Langebaan. Before we left, we packed our bags, because we were staying there for the whole weekend. Langebaan is about a 1.5 hours drive up North. This village connects to water. It is not exactly to the open sea, because a peninsula about 100 m over the sea blocks it from being that.It is the holiday house of Inge and we are going to stay there with all the exchange students.
When we arrived with Inge, Ametje, Mark, Ewald, Greg and Reinier we played some tabletennis, and Inge, Ametje and I went to the supermarket. When we got home Ethan and Simon arrived.
We didn't do much during the day. We played a lot of tabletennis and in the afternoon we went to the beach to have a look at that. The wind was blowing, so at the beach you could see a lot of kitesurfers. They all went for a swim.
Back at the house, Ewa, Lize and family arrived and also Greg's family. We had dinner and after dinner it was already quite late. Everybody went to bed early, because we knew we were going to have a hectic weekend. I really look forward to that.

Day 6

We had made all plans for today. We were supposed to wake up early and go to Muizenberg to surf, but Inge and I were to tired. Ametje tried to wake us up, but we just didn't had the energy to get out of bed. So we didn't go surfing, but Ewald, Ethan, Reinier, Greg, Simon and Jess did go. At ten o'clock we came out of our bed and quickly dressed. Then Mark brought us to Muizenberg, which is about 1 hour drive, and when we finally arrived they all just came out of the water. Though they did had some other plans, which we were going to join.
We drove to Kalk Bay and stopped there for some food and to look around. It is a place with a small harbour. We also saw some really nice seals swimming around in the harbour, really close to the land. When everybody was finished eating we drove further to Simon's Town. At the statue of the Dog Simon were a few people that sold some african stuff. I bought a few souvenirs and took some pictures of the view.
We also went to Boulders Bay. That is a beach where you can see penguins. Yes, I know, there are also penguins that live in warm climates. I didn't know that at first. We walked a route, on which you could see all the penguins walking around through the bushes. They were so cute.
When we got enough of the penguins Inge, Ewald and I drove together with Greg's family to his house. There we swam a little and during late afternoon/evening Ametje came. We decided to stay and have dinner with Greg's family, which was really plesant. We asked Greg and Reinier if they wanted to sleep over and they said yes.
While we were driving back home we made a quick stop at Chanels (the exchange student of Reinier's sister last year) house to meet her.
When we finally arrived back home we went to bed, because we had to wake up early the next day to go to Langebaan (Inge's holiday house, where we would go to with all the eschange students for the weekend).

Day 5

Today Inge, Simon, Ethan and I woke up and just relaxed in the morning. We were planning on going surfing, but it was a little difficult for Mark (father Inge) to pick us up. When Megan came to fetch Ethan and Simon, she was quite dissapointed that we couldn't go with. So we tried to arrange it a bit more and so Mark told us he had a little gap so he could fetch us at Muizenberg. Inge and I first went to the supermarket and while we were there Ethan called us and said that they were at Muizenberg, but that the waves were not good to surf. After all that arranging...
When we came back home, we baked a pizza for lunch. After lunch, Cynthia (Greg's mom) had arranged a picnic with all the exchange students and some friends. It was at Clifton beach. Unfortunatly, the wind was blowing and so all our food flew away. So we moved up a bit where we were a little bit more sheltered. Nevertheless, it was a fantastic time and I got to know some more people. We just played some games and had supper (dinner).
At home, we jumped into the pool to get rid of all the sand. The pool was quite cold, so we got out soon again. It was a very relaxing day and I really enjoyed it.

Day 4

Today Inge and I had trouble getting up early. When we finally got out we went to the Pick n Pay shop to buy a picnick for the day. When we got home Greg and Reinier where waiting for us and we left to the Castle, which the dutch build. At the Castle, we met Ewa, Lize, Ethan and Simon. Toghether with all 8 of us and Ametje and Ewald we went inside. We followed a tour for a while, but then they went to slow we went on our own. We could do that, because the South-Africans knew enough to tell us. We waited a little while and then at 12 o'clock a few people where pretending to be from the army and where saluting a few minutes. mThe where like performing a little piece of early reality. It was quite nice and after that the fired a really, like really small canon. The small canon though made a very hard sound. After the Castle we drove to a garden where we had our picnick. It was really nice. After the picnick we went to Longstreet. At longstreet was a little market with all kinds of African stuff. It was nice to see it and I bought a few things. When we were all finished up there, we drove to the aquarium. We saw a large variety of fish and it was beautiful to see it. We even saw penguins. After the aquarium we had made up a plan, which consisted of that all the eschange people went to our house for a swim. They all came and it was really cool. I really enjoyed it. In the evening Simon, Ethan and Megan were the only ones left. After a quick discussion we arranged that Ethan and Simon could stay for a sleepover. We played some games and we watched a movie. After all the fun we also had to go to sleep.

Day 3

Today we woke up at 9 o'clock. We were making ourselfs ready for going to Ratanga Junction. That is the big theme park here in Cape Town. Megan (mom of Ethan) was supposed to pick us up at 10 o'clock, but that became 10.30 am.
When we arrived we saw Greg and Reinier waiting for us. We also saw Ewa and Lize and met two friends of Lize. We spent a long day in Ratanga and we did a lot of attractions, for example: The Crocodile George, you go in a round boat and you turn around in the rough water which may cause you getting. We also went on the Monkey Falls. You go with a tree stem boat through the water and you fall down a 8 meter lane. Really cool and I got completely soaked. We also did a lot more attractions. I really enjoyed it.
After the Ratanga we went to Canal Walk. A massive shopping centre. It is a beautiful one. I had to find a pair of flip-flops so we like literally walked through the whole shopping centre to find my size and we finally found a pair. I also bought my school shoes up there. Those shoes are brown lace-ups, quite ugly.
Then we went home and Greg, Reinier and Jess (sister Greg)came with us. We went swimming which was really nice. I really enjoy the fact that when you get home here you can swim.
In the evening we had dinner with the family. After dinner I played a card game with Ewald, Inge and Ametje. It was really nice. I really enjoyed my second day in South Africa.

Day 2

Today I woke up quite late. After having breakfast and just a little relaxing, Ametje (Inge's mom), Ewald ( Inge's brother), Inge and I went to drive a little through Cape Town. We went up the mountain next to Table Mountain and we had the most amazing view all over Cape Town. You could see the stadion that was build for the Soccer World Cup.
The weather is also lovely, though Cape Town is a windy place. Then we went on and drove to the Waterfront. That is one of the tourist places in Cape Town. We ate something at the Quay 4. We were there with the family of Ethan and Greg. It was really nice. I ate some fries with chicken.
After lunch we went walking with all the kids through Waterfront. It is a lovely place. There were all people that were performing and it was really nice to see. We saw a big statue that was build out of Coca Cola crates.
After a smoothie we went to the beach. At the beach was a Red Bull surf competition, but we only saw the end when Jordy Smith (apperently a really good surfer) was doing some tricks. It was quite nice. Then we went home and went to bed early.

Day 1

Today we had to be at the airport at 8.30 am so i woke up at 7 o'clock, just to make sure I had everything and so we were on time. We met the rest of the group at the airport. The group consists of Ewa Sillem, Simon van Baal and Reinier de Rooij. We had a drink at Starbucks and than we said goodbye. We had to do the rest ourselves.
When we went to the security and sat in the airplane we heard a luggage car drove into our plane and that damaged a important part so we had to get out of the plane and the told us that our new boarding time was 12.15 am. We just chilled at the airport and waited.At 12.15 am we still couldn't board and at like 1 o'clock they finally annonouced that we could board and go in our palne, which was ofcourse a new one. We took off at 1.30 and so we were finally in the air.
In the plane we didn't do a lot. I just watched a movie and chatted. When we finally arrived at Cape town airport we were one of the last who left the plane so at the passport check we also had to wait for about a half an hour. So it was already 2 o'clock in the morning.
Finally we saw our families and ofcourse our own exchange students which I missed a lot! Than we drove home. My family is really nice. When we got home Inge (my exchange student), Ewald (brother of Inge) and me swam in the pool. It was really nice. When we got out and i had taken a shower it was already light again. I got to go to sleep at like 7.00 am. Though I'm really excited for the exchange!

Begin of Exchange

I'mgoing to South Africa on exchange. I'm really glad my school, Rijnlands Lyceum, made this possible for me. I was chosen to go to South-Africa togheter with my friend Ewa Sillem. My exchange partner is Inge Rist, and she truly became a friend of mine. I really enjoy being with her. I hope we wil have lots of fun. She already went to my house in Holland for 8 weeks, and we had a fantastic time togheter. Now it is my turn in South Africa, where life will be completely different. We will go to school there. The school is called Herschel and I have to wear a uniform which is not what I'm used to. I think this is going to be an awesome experience, and I'm going to make this 8 weeks so nice that I will remember it andthat is is going to be a time of where I can look back to as a wonderful time.