Die Berg

 

Wanneer'n mens 'n berg van beskou

Dan is hy lelik; al sy foute staar

Jou naaktelik in die oë, hy is baar

En plantloos, ru en klipperig en grou.

En ook -jou denkbeeld is geheel ontrou,

Want jy verlies die grote in die klein;

Jy sien 'n stukkie, die geheel verdwyn;

En op'n deel wil jy die hele bou.

 

So is die mens: beskou hom van te na

En al sy foute steek jou in die oog.

Maar soos die berg daar in die verte skyn,

Jy sien die grootste oor die klein verhoog:

So sal die mens'n ander kenmerk dra

In lig deur ruime perspektief verfyn.

 /Bosman - Die Berg  - collection of Gerrit Komrij/

 

 

My arrival

On Saturday we arrived to Amsterdam around half past eleven. In the morning on the plane we had a pancake and some yoghurt and fruit as breakfast with some juice, which was nice after a long movie night. After we got our luggage, we went to the arrival hall. When we walked in there, my best friends came running to me. My parents, brother, my three best friends, boyfriend, grandmother and uncle were all there, waiting for me with lots of balloons and flowers. It was such a big surprise and I was so happy to go home with everyone I love! At home a huge cake with a picture of the view from Lion’s Head was waiting for me, plus two other cakes and lots of delicious snacks. After a little while three more of my friends came, and a little after that quite some family friends arrived and even my neighbours came over. I handed out all the souvenirs I got for my friends, family and boyfriend and some of them even had presents for me as a ‘welcome back’. There was so much laughter, telling stories, having fun, eating and so on! It was an awesome surprise from my mom, and I’m so thankful that everyone that is important to me could be there that day, the day that my most amazing adventure ever ended!

 Warm welcome at Schiphol Airport

 

 Welcome home

 

 We are back home

 

 Big surprise at home

Again a big thanks to my exchange sister, my host family, Ms Stein (the exchange coordinator at Herschel,  Mr Court (the exchange coordinator Bishops), Mr Schreurs ( the exchange coordinator at Rijnlands) and my own family for making my trip the best experience ever, and thanks to all my friends and everyone who supported me on my wonderful trip to South Africa.

Fly away

At 21:00 p.m  we are all at Airport of Cape Town.  It is time to say Good bye! We get our last wishes on our flags.  We gave big hugs to each other... tears in our eyes... taking some last pictures ....  It is an emotional moment. It is much more difficult to leave than I have ever thought.


Writting on the flags

Good bye!

 

Holland is calling!

Now I am on the plane together with Maxime, Cemmie, Kian and Maarten. We had a warm special welcome on the KLM plane, because Maxime's mother is a stewardess during our flight. Probably we will be spoiled . We are going home after ten fantastic weeks in South Africa. We are said to leave behind our new friends but we are also quite excited to see our families and friends in The Netherlands.

 

Cemmie and me

Kian, Maxime and Maarten

My brother follows our flight on the internet.

Good bye South Africa! Holland is calling!
 

Tonight I  am going to fly back to the Netherlands after 10 wonderful weeks in South Africa. I was so fortunate to stay  ten weeks for an exchange in Cape Town, which is one of the most beautiful cities in a world. It has a fantastic location next to the Table mountain and  with amazing views looking over the Ocean. I lived with Steff's  family in Constantia.  It was a great experience to adapt to their life style. I know how important the braai is in South Africa,  because it is a social occasion where families and friends like to be together.

I am very happy that I studied at Herschel and I am proud that I could swim in their competition group and I could play flute in the assemble. I like the team spirit very much, how the whole school supports its teams. I did not mind that we had to wear a uniform, because that way everybody is equal, it does not matter where you come from.

I learned a lot about the rich history of South Africa. I visited the Vrijgrond Townships in Cape Town and Soweto in Johannesburg. Soweto is well known around the world as a symbol of the brutal apartheid. I cycled through the street where two Nobel Prize winners used to live: Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. I got a real feeling in the Apartheid museum of the meaning to be NON WHITE. After the tour in Robben Island I understood completely why Nelson Mandela is one of the most respected men in the world. It was an unique experience and not only learning history but to see the promise of South Africa's future. Everything is developing rapidly and there is a hope for a better future.

South Africa has a beautiful nature. During our Excursion in Cederberg I saw the most spectacular rock formations with an unforgettable sunset with a brilliant colour combination of blue, pink, purple and orange. I will never forget the moment when I swam through the waterfall on Elandspad and I looked up: I could see breathtaking sunrays through the water drops. We also visited Cape Point, the extreme southern tip of Africa where the view was incredible. I found that the Ocean is amazingly beautiful and  magnificent. When I surfed I could feel  its power and it remains a special moment for me to be on the top of the world.

The wildlife experience during the Garden Tour was fantastic with an elephant ride, croco cage diving, stroking different animals, bungee jumping and a safari tour.

The best aspects of this exchange was meeting new people and starting new friendships.  It is a nice feeling to meet local people and get to know them and their reasons for loving South Africa as much as they do. They have a big hart and a warm hospitality. My exchange was an amazing adventure and it is an experience for a lifetime. Now I can also thank for it in Afrikaans:

"Dankie aan almal vir hierdie wonderlike avontuur, vir hierdie fantastiese reis van 'n leefty"

Good bye South Africa!

The tenth week
 

After a lovely weekend together with my host family in Hermanus, my last week of exchange started on Monday. It was very quiet in school, because grade 8 and 9 students were on camp and for grade 10 a 6 days long outing was organized by Herschel. Actually we were invited to do it, but we did not join because we would have to be back on Thursday evening and we would only have Friday to pack our bags and say good bye to everybody. Our schedule was also different because some of the teachers were not in school and grade 11 students were busy starting to plan their big research essay. It is similar to a “profiel werkstuk” in Holland. So this Monday we had a great time together and we realized that the time of going back is getting closer and closer. We talked a lot about the last weeks, about the nice memories and we wrote good wishes on each other's flags.Tuesday after our normal school day I went to Cavendish with Tabs. I bought my last souvenirs there and we ate something together. This shopping centre became one of our favourite places, because it’s just a few minutes walking from school. Tuesday evening we had a nice supper at home and we chatted a lot. It was our last evening together, because Jeff was going on rugby tour and Paulie had a camp from Wednesday till Friday. Luckily Paulie is back before I am flying back to Holland. Wednesday we were ready around 12 o'clock in school and we went to the Waterfront together with Cemmie and Trini. This time Maxime could not join us because her mom arrived in Cape Town and they just wanted to do something together. I like that place so much! There are many little shops and restaurants with a beautiful view. We took a nice picture at the frame in the Waterfront.

 At the frame in the Waterfront with Cemmie and Trini.

 Beautiful vieuw at Waterfront

Thursday after school I went to Constantia Village and Montebello with Elise and Steff to buy  some nice handmade souvenirs. This lovely place is only a few minutes from our house.In the evening I packed my suitcases and printed out my boarding pass. I could hardly believe that Friday I am going home. Friday was our last school day at Herschel. We had to keep a speech in front of the whole school about our experience of our exchange. We also thanked everyone for our beautiful programs. After school we went to our favourite sushi box near our school with a whole group of friends. It was so nice to be together one last time, but it was also sad because I had to say good bye to them in the end. When we were all at home I gave my host family a photo book as a present and a thank-you for my exchange. They were really happy with it, looking at all the memories of last year. We went out for dinner to a cute little restaurant and got some frozen yoghurt after that before we drove to the airport.  



 With Steff and Paulie in the restaurant





The tenth weekend

This last weekend we went to Hermanus, a beautiful little town 2 hours driving from Cape Town! We stayed in Andries’ mom’s  house, which is on walking distance from the beach. I went together with Steff, Julien (Steff’s boyfriend), Paulie and Andries. As soon as we arrived we went to the beach for a swim. Hermanus is so gorgeous, such a pretty place! After our swim we went out for dinner in a nice little restaurant, where Phi’s dad, Gus, joined us. Back in the house we chatted for a while, but then we went to bed; Steff and I slept in bunk beds. The next morning we went to the beach again and had a good cold swim. After that Steff and Julien showed me the other beaches. When we got back to the house,  we quickly packed our stuff, looked around the town centre, had an ice cream and a drink and left to see Jeff’s rugby match. Rugby is a really cool sport to watch, but I’d definitely not want to participate! However, Jeff’s team played really well, they won the match! In the afternoon we went back to Cape Town to go to Matt’s (Steff’s friend) get together. Here I got the opportunity to say good bye to everyone who I wouldn’t see anymore during the week.

Weekend in Hermanus

On the beach in Hermanus

Beautiful beach of Hermanus
 

On Sunday Elise took me to Kalk Bay.  It is essentially a fishing village. It has still a lively working harbour and one of the best place to buy fish straight off the boat. We looked  around and we visited lots of shops to buy souvenirs for my family and friends. There were so many cool ‘Africa shops’! We also went to a little cafe for a coffee and a piece of cake. Kalk Bay beautiful harbour where we took some pictures. It is almost impossible to take a bad picture here.

Kalk Bay

 

The ninth week

On Monday I did not go to school because I got an invitation from Eugene's host Mom to climb Lion's  Head. It is a mountain in Cape Town between Table Mountain and Signal Hill. Lion's Head peaks at 669 metres above sea level.  It got his name because the pick looks like a proud lion looking at the city. It was quite heavy to climb up.  It was a little bit foggy but anyway the view from the top of Lion's Head was spectacular and I took great photo's of the Cape Peninsula and Robben Island.  At that moment on the top I thought this is the best view what I have ever seen in my life. I am very thankful for this unique excursion.

On top of the Lion's Head

In the evening we had tickets for a Show at Bishops Memorial Theater.  Bishops presented Herman Charles Bosman's play "Cold Stone Jung", directed by Wayne Tucker. It was a historical performance played in The Pretoria Central Prison.  Mitchel Christy, the exchange partner of Kian played the main role - the young teacher who is sentenced to death for murder. He played so extremely good that we had a feeling that we were with him at the prison.  Elise's nephew, James also played very well. It was an unforgettable show and incredibly high standard for a boys high school. This show will be played at the Festival in Edinburgh in August. On Tuesday Trini's host Mom organized a wonderful outing to Stellenbosch  and to Franschhoek. We visited at first The Stellenbosch Village Museum, where we could look around in four different houses: The Schreuderhuis / 1709/, Blettermanhuis / 1750/, Grosvenor House /1782/ and Omi Berghouse / 1850/. Each of these houses represents a different historical period of  Stellenbosch.  These houses have been restored and furnished and decorated to illustrate the style of the certain historical period.  We found a pleasant cafe next to the museum for a cold drank.

Fun together in Stellenbosch

Then we went to the Rupert Museum  which has a beautiful  location in the middle of a picturesque vineyards and next to the bank of Eersterivier.  It is a fine art gallery with paintings of the best South African artists such as: Maggie Laubser, Irma Stern, Walter Battiss. I liked these paintings very much. Some of the statues were also very interesting. Our next stop was in Franschhoek which is known as the most beautiful wine valley in the world.  It is a lovely place surrounded by mountains . It was settled by French refugees in 1688. They settled their farms  there and started wineries. The name "Franschhoek"  comes from the Dutch phrase "Fransche Hoek". The Dutch referred to the area as the "French corner" because of the significant number of French nationals living there. We passed by The Huguenot Monument which is situated  at the top end of Franschhoek. The memorial monument honours the history of the first settlers. It is also in a scenic setting with mountains in the background and gardens to the front. Beautiful and peaceful place. We had a nice lunch in this lovely village.  After lunch we walked around and we bought some little presents.

The Huguenot Monument

Wednesday I had a regular school day. In the evening we went to see the musical "Love Across the Universe". The music of the Beatles and the Vietnam War form the backdrop for the romance between an upper class American girl and a poor artist from Liverpool. This was a fantastic show!So much talent in Hershel!
Thursday I stayed all day at home because I had to catch up with RLW homeworks. Friday early morning Andries and Jeff left to Hermanus, beacuse Jeff had a rugby tournament there. I went to school with Steff but straight after school we headed to Hermanus. I was excited about this weekend, because this is my last weekend together with my host family.