In October 2022 nine students of our school had the opportunity to participate in an ERASMUS+ exchange with our partner school in Assen (The Netherlands). Together with students from Spain, Slovenia and the Netherlands we worked on the international project “Green Art Nature” there.
On Sunday morning we met with our accompanying teachers Mr. Seltmann and Ms. Langer at the Spandau station to go to the Netherlands by train. The journey to Assen was really fun. There were many things to see and we could chat with our friends. Even though we had to change multiple times, the excitement was still high when we arrived in Assen. At the local train station our hosts welcomed us and took us to their houses immediately.
On Monday morning we rode to school by bike – as it is usual in the Netherlands. We were very impressed by the Vincent van Gogh grammar school. The building was so big and very modern. We played some games to get to know each other and walked around the school a bit. Then we made some Scottish dances, it was really fun doing it though it seemed silly at first. After some lunch we managed to create some artworks from material we found in the woods or in our host’s garden.
The next was a very hard day for our legs because we had a whole day of riding through the Drentsche As, just outside of Assen. Along our 24 km tour we visited the Hunebed, which was supposed to be an grave during the Bronze Age and a pingo ruin, a left-over of the last Ice Age. Afterwards we did some volunteering and cut some bushes. After lunch we were able to be creative once again and built our own Hunebed with the stones we found there.
But Wednesday was one of the most interesting days because we went to the TT-Circuit. The TT-Circuit is a big racing place for cars, motorcycles and more. On our tour through the paddock and the back offices we saw and learned all about the track. After that we went bowling and ate some typically Dutch bitterballen.
On Thursday we were creative again but this time we produced some art of ice sticks. This was very tricky because the first had to cut the ice sticks and later on glue them on a piece of paper to make a piece of art out of them. After lunch we went by bus to Groningen, a city that is close to Assen. There we visited a museum and learned how sustainability can be expressed in and through art.
Unfortunately, our exchange ended on Friday morning because we had to take an early train back home. We were pretty tired on the way home, but the exchange is a memory that was worth the long tour.
Maya Rotter, Phoebe-Fabienne Meier, Ms. Langer
