before the mobility
Looking for stereotypes
Before going to The Netherlands, we have asked the whole schools' communities to name the words that come to their mind when they think about The Netherlands. Here is the result of this survey (the words' size corresponds to the number of times each word appeared in the responses):
zaandam
On Monday 25th November, the exchange students from Spain, Italy, Greece and France arrived at St. Michaël College in Zaandam. Zaandam is a city in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is the main city of the municipality of Zaanstad. It is located on the river Zaan, just north of Amsterdam.
official welcome
The hosting Institute for our first mobility is Sint Michaël College, Zaandam. It offers general higher secondary education and university preparatory education to students between 12 and 18 years old. The school's population is 1300 students and 125 staff. They have been awared with the excellence award by the Dutch government and last year they were ranked #1 of North Holland for their *GHSE department in Elsevier's list of best schools in The Netherlands. One of the school's core qualities is the extra curricular activities which students help to organise.
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Miriam Ruigrok, principal at St. Michaël College, welcomed us with the following words:
"[...] Saint Michael, the archangel after whom this school has been named, is the leader of the heavenly angels. He shines as a statue on the cathedral, holding scales and balancing good and evil / right and wrong. Please allow me to draw a parallel between our / the Saint Michael’s College and the cathedral. If the dragon represents the devil who is beaten by Saint Michael, that could imply that our / the Saint Michael’s College as a school creates the opportunity for students and staff to be themselves and to become their own person. Keeping in line with Saint Michael our school wants to arouse decisiveness and the courage to act properly / with good intentions. We want to teach our students to decide for themselves what is good and what is evil / what is right and what is wrong. We want them to know what justice is and that you can achieve more together than on your own. |
The Saint Michael’s College is a school where you have the space and freedom to be who you are and where you can discover what part you can play in / what you can contribute to the world around you. In short, it is the place where you can become a “Michaelist”. Our core values are understanding, justice, cooperation, respect and peace.
In the upcoming week you will get to know more about Dutch culture, pay many visits to, Anne Frank, Rijksmuseum, Zaanse Schans, live life in your host families and thus get to know our habits and Dutch culture. You will discover that we are all citizens in this world with our own identities.
In this week we are looking for connections.
I wish you all the best this week and hope that you may start long lasting friendships. True friendship does not have boundaries or borders."
In the upcoming week you will get to know more about Dutch culture, pay many visits to, Anne Frank, Rijksmuseum, Zaanse Schans, live life in your host families and thus get to know our habits and Dutch culture. You will discover that we are all citizens in this world with our own identities.
In this week we are looking for connections.
I wish you all the best this week and hope that you may start long lasting friendships. True friendship does not have boundaries or borders."
urban development and industrial heritage
Erasmus+ partners visited Zaandam city and the City Hall. At the City Hall we had a warm welcome by the Director of Urban Development, a lecture about urban development in Zaanstad, an interactive lecture from the Municipal Archivist about the cultural heritage of Zaandam and lots of games and gifts!
In the following short film of 1927 we can see the beginnings of the industry at Zaandam:
the heritage of zaanse schans
The Zaanse Schans brings together many important elements of Dutch heritage. Numerous old mills and historic have been collected here and restored to their former glory. Along with old Dutch crafts like clog making, cheesemaking, and pewter casting, it provides a good impression go the Netherland's rich history. We visited the Zaans Museum, enjoyed a selfie tour of the area and attended workshops at the Weaver's house and the cooperage.
the windmills
The reason the Zaan district used to have so many mills has to do with the flat landscape, the location close to Amsterdam and the good waterways. These windmills use the wind to produce mechanical energy. A windmill can therefore mill, pump and saw. Windmills were important for industry in the Zaan region in the Golden Age. The exchange students attended a creative workshop and had a chance to make their own paintings of this important element of the Dutch culture.
the Zaans MuseumZaans Museum is a museum in Zaandam, Netherlands, located at the Zaanse Schans. It opened in 1998 to preserve and protect the heritage of the Zaan area. The museum houses cultural-historical and regional collections examining the residential and industrial culture. The Zaans Museum is linking the archetypal image of 'Holland' with the factual history of the Zaan region. We were lucky enough to be guided by some upper-level students of St. Micahël College.
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The artist Claude Monet visited the Zaan region in 1871. What he saw inspired him so much that he produced 25 paintings here. In 2015, the museum acquired a painting from the Zaan period (4 June – 8 October 1871) of the French impressionist painter Claude Monet, entitled 'The Voorzaan and the Westerhem'.
cooperage
the verkade company
Founded in 1886 by Ericus Gerhardus Verkade the Dutch biscuit company Verkade is a staple of industrial heritage. Its existence was rooted in the industrial development of the Zaan region. Let's find out more visiting a relevant Europeana blog post.
the heritage of GAMES
The SPECTRA department of St. Michaël College (a team of students taking care of all extra-curricular activities) organised a traditional Dutch games evening and we all had a lot of fun! We tried several games such as Koekhappen (bite-the-cake), Sjoelen (table shuffleboard) and many more!
the heritage of art and history
(a visit to amsterdam)
Amsterdam's name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the city's origin around a dam in the river Amstel. Originating as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world in the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century and became the leading centre for finance and trade. During our visit there we had a chance to discover more about the dutch history and the art of the Golden Age.
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the Anne Frank house
Anne Frank was a Jewish teenager who went into hiding during the Holocaust, journaling her experiences in the renowned work 'The Diary of Anne Frank.' When Anne’s sister Margot received a call-up for a labour camp in Germany, the Frank family, who lived elsewhere in Amsterdam, decided to go into hiding in the annex of the father's business premises immediately. On August 4, 1944, a German secret police officer accompanied by four Dutch Nazis stormed into the Secret Annex, arresting everyone that was hiding there including Frank and her family. They had been betrayed by an anonymous tip, and the identity of their betrayer remains unknown to this day. We visited their hiding place - now a museum - and were very moved by this dreadful story of discrimination and hatred.
the rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum dedicated to the Dutch art and history from the Middle Ages to the present day. During our visit there we had the chance to discover more about the Dutch cultural identity and to admire one of the emblematic paintings of the Golden Age, The Night Watch by Rembrandt. The Night Watch was painted in the 17th century as a group portrait of a militia company.
THE HERITAGE OF FOOD
During our visit there a had a chance to taste all kinds of traditional Dutch dishes and delicacies, like stews, stroopwafels and herring!
similarities and differences between cultures
Throughout the whole stay in The Netherlands we discussed a lot about the similarities and differences between our cultures and worked in international groups!
the closing ceremony
On Friday evening, the closing ceremony was held at St. Michaël College. All the students, teachers and families gathered to celebrated this week of unforgettable moments and valuable experiences. Ruud Stammers addressed all the delegations in their mother language and presented them with their certificates of attendance. The visiting teachers thanked the school and the families for the amazing hospitality. The students presented their work to the parents and we were all treated to some traditional Dutch delicacies!
Passing the flags
The Netherlands passed the participating countries' flags together with the Erasmus+ flag to the Spain delegation! Dank Julie wel! Our next meeting is scheduled for the beginning of March 2020 in Villanueva de la Serena! See you all there!