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A visit to the Netherlands
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“The most permanent lessons in life are those, which come not of booky teaching but of experience” – Mark Twain. In the 21st century, out of the box thinking is of essential importance. It was on these ideals that a few students from St. Peter’s School, Panchgani signed up for participation in a cultural exchange destined for the Netherlands.
My visit to the Netherlands began with a bag of mixed emotions. I was sad that it would be a long time before I saw my Finnish friends again, but also eager anticipation for what was to come.
Our arrival in the Netherlands was warm in a way as we were a bit dis-oriented and suddenly out of the blues we heard someone call out our names. Those were my first hosts in the Netherlands, wih whom I stayed for 4 days. They wre very hospitabale and I had a ball of a time at their place which was followed by a visit to their friends where we spent another 3 days.
The Netherlands was very beautiful. There were a lot of places to visit. The people were very warm and not that formal. The children of our age-group were more or less independent. Nevertheless, their lives were very orderly. I visited many educational institutions one of which was the Stedelijk College in Eindhoven. I found the educational system there very intriguing. I realized that the students were very hard-working when they wanted to be. I also found it quite amazing that the students could discuss Shakespeare and his plays and also speculate theories around the questions postulated in the class room. I found that many of the students were radicals. When they needed to study they slogged like mad! The weather was very pleasant and so were the people.
On the whole, I enjoyed myself and I can say with much conviction that a cultural exchange as such is much more innovative and is more of a learning experience than an educational tour as such. If I had the opportunity to visit any of these places or even other ones on the same grounds, I definitely would.
Dheeraj Waran
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Summer visit 2009
