9-10 December

Thursday wasn't too eventful during the day, however ice-skating had been planned for all the sixth-formers. I had already checked with Mr. Michaels to see if I could go and luckily I could. It was the first time I went ice-skating this winter and it was a lot of fun. It wasn't a big rink and I was using ice-hockey skates (I usually use other ones), however it was still a lot of fun. Mr. Pytel (business studies teacher) and Oliver were both amazing at ice-skating and it was really fun to watch. Friday was just a regular school day and we just followed all the classes. There wasn't much to do in the evening either, so I just spent my time on the computer and playing a bit of pool and watching TV with some people. However, I was very excited that it was finally weekend!

6-8 December

The weekend had finished and all the snow had pretty much disappeared, due to rain and the temperature. So it was a normal school day, no snow day. Not much happened on Monday, we just followed our regular classes. We did realise during DT that we really had to hurry up with our project or we might not be able to finish it. Tuesday was a lot of fun, because it was our St. Nicholas party! We'd missed it on Friday due to the snow day and decided to do it today. I'd alrady made my poem for Maurice on Monday, however he hadn't, and quickly 'made' one in his free period. During 8th period we had our party and it was a lot of fun. There were 3 other Dutch people and Mrs Lams. We had some hot chocolate and treats as we opened our presents. After that we had our business class with Mr. Pytel. He was also a great fan of St Nicholas and made us sing some songs. Wednesday wasn't too eventful. Maurice and I had to do a chemistry test, which we thought was way too hard for us to do without a book, so we were able to do it with a book and computer and we handed it in later. There was also no games on Wednesday due to the amount of snow that was still on the rugby pitches.

5 December

Today was Sunday, so our final day to relax. Nothing much was planned for today, just a quick visit to Sainsbury's (supermarket) and then I would get dropped off at Reed's. So, we had some breakfast at 9:30 and then packed our bags and put them in the car. Luckily I still sort of knew the way to Sainsbury's, so we got there quickly. We then went into the shop and got what we needed. I chose my St. Nicholas present for Maurice to give to me. after our shopping Maurice's parents dropped me off at Reed's and then they left. For the rest of the day I didn't really do much, just relax a bit in the sixth form house.

4 December

We had to wake up quite early this morning, because we were going to London today! We had some breakfast, which was surprisingly much nicer than a few weeks ago, which was nice. We then quickly went back to our room and then left for london. We went by car to Oxshott station and then took the train to London. The train ride took about 45 minutes during which Maurice decided to sleep and I listened to my ipod. We then arrived at Waterloo Station and first we decided to have a look at the London Eye, so we walked to it and inspected the queue. it wasn't too long, however, not all of us wanted to go in, so eventually we didn't. Maurice had also heard from Steve that Ripley's Believe it or not museum was also pretty fun. I'd already been there once and it was loads of fun, so we decided to go there. We eventually found it and went in. It took us a good few hours to get through it, but i for one really liked it, even though I had already been there before. It was already around 5 o'clock and we'd had no lunch, so we decided to get something to eat and then head back. We arrived back at the Premier Inn after a really fun day in London. We relaxed in our room for a while, then had some dinner and then went to sleep.

3 December

After a nice relaxed day yesterday I woke up today knowing it would be another snowday. There wasn't particularly much to do today, so Maurice would come to Reed´s by train at around 12. I had some breakfast and went to the 6th form house. When Maurice had arrived we were discussing what to do today. I wanted to at least go somewhere, because if we stayed at Reed's all we could do was prep or clear snow. So, we decided to go to Cobham like yesterday again. Luckily, I knew how to get there and it took us some 20 minutes to get there. Once we arrived we had a look at some shops and then went to Starbucks. Seeing it was a blistering hot summersday, I had a frappucino. After Starbucks we went home, which for some reason took way longer than the way to Cobham (even though we took the same route!). After arriving at Reed's we played some pool and went on the computer. At around 9:30  Maurice's parents and his brother Sander arrived and we could quickly leave, as Maurice and I both had our bags ready. We were staying at the premier Inn again we had stayed at the first time we came here. I was very tired for some reason and fell asleep immediately when I hit the bed.

2 December

I woke up this morning and I immediately looked out of the window and everything was covered in snow. Then I heard someone knock at the door. First I thought i had just imagened it, but after I had heard it for the second time I quickly got out of bed and opened the door. It was Mr. Gray, who told me there was no school today, due to the snow! I was thrilled, however, I couldn't jump back into bed and have a nice lie in because we had breakfast at 8:30 and a meeting at 9. I got dressed and went to the sixth form house. I then had some breakfast in a very quiet cafeteria. At 9 we had a meeting, at which Mr. Michael told us what we were supposed to and were able to do today. There was a walk to Cobham in the morning, which I decided to participate in. It was a lot of fun and I had a nice warm hot chocolate at Starbucks. When we got back we had to do some prep, which I then did. After prep we had snow clearing, which all the 6th formers had to participate in. However Mr. Michael was not in charge of this and didn't really care, so every one including me made themselves scarce to not have to do snow clearing. The rest of the day I just relaxed and had some dinner. Conclusion: I love snowdays!

29-30 November + 1 December

The weekend had finished and it was once again Monday. It was already getting pretty cold and my tutor (Mrs Evans) said that the English were obsessed with the weather and that they expected snow tomorrow. The rest of the day wasn't too thrilling, I didn't have any tests for Holland this week, which I was very happy about, so I could really relax this week. Tuesday had finally arrived and when I woke up the first thing I did was look out of the window to see if it had snowed; and yes! it was snowing! I heard it was a mufti day (no uniform) today, which made it even better. It wasn't snowing too much, but just enough for a little snow to settle and make everything white. I also heard that some of the Dutch kids were going to be celebrating “Sinterklaas” on Friday and that I had to buy a present for Maurice. I also had a look at the weather forecast for tomorrow and it predicted more snow. Then Wednesday came and this time it was snowing really badly. A good 10 cm of snow had already formed, however there was still school. It was, however, once again a mufti day! After lunch, because there was no games in the afternoon, Maurice and I decided to go to Guildford and buy presents for “Sinterklaas”. We already knew what we wanted, so we bought our presents and quickly went back to school before it got dark. Maurice was immediately picked up by Steve and I went back to the Sixth form house and eventually to bed.

28 November

It was Sunday and the weekend had almost finished. We once again could not have a 'real' lie in and got up at around 9 o'clock. I had the same big English breakfast as yesterday and we went back to our room after breakfast. We could relax for a short while before we had to leave to visit some friends we know from my school in Ireland. Vanessa and I were together in senior infants, William was in junior infants, and after that year they moved back to England.  They live in Tonbridge, which is about 45 minutes away from the hotel we were staying at. When we arrived it was very nice to see them, because I hadn't seen them for ages. I also met Bart, their dog, again who is very hyper but funny. We played a bit of football, watched some football on TV (Chelsea-Newcastle) and went on the computer for a little while. After lunch we had to leave again and we dropped Maurice off at his host family and then we drove to Reed’s. I arrived back at the Close at around 6 pm, and my parents and my brother Martijn had to leave soon afterwards, so that they wouldn't arrive back home too late. The weekend had finished.

27 November

Maurice and I wanted to have a lie in on Saturday morning, because we had gone to bed quite late, but that wasn’t really possible because breakfast was served till ten, so we were still very tired when we got up at nine. We had a nice English breakfast, which like the dinner the previous night was better than at the other Premier Inn, I thought. We went to our rooms and went on the internet to have a look at what we could do that day. We already knew that Mercedes-Benz World looked very nice and after having a look at the site we decided to go there. When we arrived it all looked very impressive. There was a big racing circuit and a huge building with inside a lot of Mercedes cars and lots of other things to do and see. It was possible for anyone over 1.50 m. tall to take a driving lesson, so that is what we did first! It was loads of fun, only it was an automatic, which made it 'easy'. However, when I was talking to the instructor about the World Cup I almost lost focus and nearly missed a stop sign. After our driving lessons we had a look in the car museum and after that went on the racing circuit with a racing driver. This was so much fun and very exciting. After our fun day we had dinner at the Pizza Hut and went back to the hotel. It had been a great day!

25+26 November

On Thursday I woke up thinking it was a normal uniform day. However, when I came to school, everyone was wearing casual clothes. Maurice told me that you could wear casual clothes if you paid 1 pound. So I quickly went back to my room and changed my clothes. When I went to tutor class I had to recite a poem, so I did a Dutch one, which was pretty funny. I also had my big Latin test, but fortunately it wasn't that hard and I think I did very well. My IB test also went pretty well. My parents were also coming this weekend and we were already planning things to do, like going to the Mercedes-Benz world, which looked fun. Maurice was going to stay at the hotel with us, so we were really looking forward to it! Then finally Friday arrived and Maurice and I were very excited for the weekend. Not much had happened at school that week and I expected my parents and my little brother to arrive at around 6 pm. However, they were already there at 4 while Maurice and I were still playing pool with some people. We quickly went to the Close, I packed my bag and we all headed for the Premier Inn in Epsom. We had a very nice dinner (much better than the other Premier Inn) and afterwards Maurice and I went on MSN very long and watched some TV. After that we went to bed.

22-24 November

It was a nice couple of days here at the beginning of our third week. I feel that we have finally settled in here. I understand most of the customs and all the classes are becoming routine. We had a physics test on Wednesday, which didn't go as well as some as the other tests. I had rugby practice on Wednesday too, which was a lot of fun again. I am still missing football, though, and I hope I can play it again soon. I have, however, played with the football that I bought a few times, only it would be fun to play a match. I also had to study really hard for my Latin and IB tests, especially Latin, which was really important. So I went to sleep on Wednesday, hoping it would be easy.

Sunday (21st November)

It was still uncertain today whether Maurice and I could go to the new Harry Potter film, along with the other boarders. However, when I went to breakfast at ten o'clock today I found the person in charge of the trip and asked him if we could go. Fortunately we could, and I texted Maurice telling him we could go. However, because Maurice wouldn’t be able to get to Reed’s on time, he decided that he would go straight to the cinema. The problem was that I didn’t know which cinema we were going to and by the time I had found out which one, it was too late for Maurice to get there in time. Despite that, the film was very enjoyable. I thought it wasn't as good as some of the other ones, but it wasn't bad. We returned at around four o'clock, and I had dinner at six. After dinner I did some homework and did some studying for important tests. After that I went to bed, the weekend had finished.

Saturday (20 November)

I woke up today thinking I had breakfast at 10 O'clock, so I leisurely got up at 9:45 only to find out when I was ready to leave the house at 10 that breakfast was at half nine! After having some food to compensate for the lack of breakfast I changed for my rugby match which was at 11:30. The match was against St. John's Leatherhead which, apparently, is a very good team, so we knew we wouldn’t be able to win. Eventually we lost, despite a lot of big chances on our side. I had two really good tackles and one really nice run, so I was thrilled! After rugby I decided to go to Guildford to meet up with Maurice, which was fun and I bought a football. When I got back I played with the football a little bit and played a bit of pool. I then went back to the Close and to bed.

18 + 19 November

The final two days of school 'till the weekend. They were quite a lot of fun. I didn't really do that much, just had a nice relaxed two days of school. Our pooltable is coming on nicely; we've nearly finished the door! We also had a nice/funny/eventful big break on friday. Friday is from now on also my favourite day for lunches; because it is pretty much only junk food (but I do always take fruit with that!). We're also finally showing our business teachers that we are actually good at it; we played als teacher and taught the class for a little while (which was a lot of fun). We also taught the students some dutch phrases which was pretty funny. Chemistry is becoming very hard to understand, but we will try our best. I also had a really fun football match on friday with a lot of different people and I hope I'll do that more often. But for now: finally weekend!

15,16 and 17 November

This weekend was loads of fun and I was sad Monday had arrived. These three school days were also pretty fun though. We have made excellent progress with our DT project. However on Wednesday we made a very silly mistake (hard to explain). We also forgot to make our prep twice however we handed it in the next time so it was all fine. I also had rugby today which was a lot of fun again. We finally had a very serious one and a half hour training. I think I did quite well and I am looking forward to the match against a big rival of Reed's on Saturday. We also have to find out if we want to go on the Sunday trip which is going to the Harry Potter movie. But I think I will go with Maurice some other time. We also had a big Dutch test on Tuesday which went quite well and today (Wednesday) I am learning for a Maths test which will be quite hard.

14 november

I could have a really nice lie in today (I really deserved it, I think!). I had a nice brunch at 10 o'clock; English style! (baked beans, sausages, etc.) I then had to decide whether to go to a rugby match (Wasps vs. Bath) or go to Guildford with Maurice. Eventually I chose the rugby match, because Maurice wouldn't arrive till 3. Before I went to the rugby match I had some nice chats with people in Holland on MSN! We left Reed’s to go to the rugby match at 1 o'clock. The game was loads of fun, even though it was really cold. It was so cold you could see huge clouds of steam coming from the players each time they were in a scrum. The match ended in 18-16 and after the match had finished, we rushed back to Reed’s so that we wouldn't arrive late for chapel. When we arrived everyone had a quick bite to eat and I went to chapel with Maurice. After the remembrance mass in the chapel, Maurice went back home and I did some homework and went to bed at 10:30. A very nice Sunday!

13 november

Today it was finally weekend! I had already made plans with Maurice to go to Guildford (a small town near Cobham) by train. However, it seemed that finding the train was hard enough! After asking a few people, we finally found the train. Just before we got onto the train (and were still looking for it) we got a call from Steve (Maurice's hostfather) who said he had two extra tickets for a football match and we could join him! After we had visited Guildford we took the train to Woking and met up with Steve. We then took another train and the Underground and arrived at 'Boleyn Ground'. The match (West Ham-Blackpool) ended in 0-0, however, it was still a fun match and a nice experience. After we had left Boleyn Ground and had managed to wedge ourselves into the Underground we arrived at Woking train station and had some dinner at KFC. Maurice and Steve then left and I was on my own to get home. I had managed to find out which train I needed and bought a ticket. After about 40 minutes I arrived back at Cobham and Mr. Balls drove me from the station back to Reed's. Conclusion: a very fun Saturday!

12 november

Today was pretty much the same as all the other days. Woke up, had breakfast and went to class. I had 3 hours of DT (Design and Technology) today, so Maurice and I were really psyched to start our pool table. At the end of DT it was looking really good and is actually starting to resemble a pool table! I also heard that I have a rugby match tomorrow, which should be a lot of fun. There was also fireworks (Remembrance Day to remember the fallen soldiers of WW I) and a big bonfire tonight, which was also fun to watch! After the bonfire I did some homework and went on the computer. The weekend is finally here!

11 november

It was another nice day at Reed's today, only today it looked like there was a tropical storm here! (very windy). Maurice and I were a bit late for breakfast today, which meant no English breakfast, only some cereal. We had our ANT test today, so I had studied hard yesterday and also studied a lot in my free period. I also asked Ben (who does swimming) if I could join swimming practice and he said that was o.k. and during 8th period we had our ANT test, which went fine. However, it went on quite long, so I'd missed swimming training, too bad! So Maurice and I walked back to my room discussing the test. Maurice then left for skiing and I went on the computer. I then had some pizza for dinner and did some homework. After I felt I'd done enough homework I went back to the prep room and went back on the computer. At 10 o'clock the prep room closed and I went back to my room and to bed.

10 November

I pretty much had the same routine as yesterday, waking up around seven  and then having my breakfast with Maurice. After I’d had breakfast, I started walking to tutor class when suddenly my pants started vibrating, it was my phone. I was wondering who was calling me, probably my mum again. It turned out it was Caroline calling me during her KCV lesson to see how I was doing. I talked to pretty much the whole class, including Ms. Salomonson! After tutor class I also had chapel, which was fine, not very interesting though. We then had the usual subjects, including DT where Maurice and I started building our pool table! After lunch break we had a talk with Mr. Clapp about what sports we want to do during Games, a class in which you do a sport of your choice. I did rugby and Maurice did hockey.  After rugby training, which was a lot of fun, I had a look at Maurice’s hockey match, their hockey skills are very good and  I then went back to my room.  At 5:30 I had dinner where I ate Toad in the hole (couldn’t identify what it was exactly, it looked like it was two sausages with pastry around it). I then made some homework, went on the computer and went to bed.

2nd day at Reed's

I woke up again at 7:30 and got dressed for a nice day of English school. I walked to the school looking smart in my suit and wearing a tie. I met up with Maurice in the cafeteria and had a nice bowl of coco pops. After breakfast I had tutor class, where I knew a few nice people from the previous day.  I then had my usual subjects. These were all a lot of fun and very interesting too, especially DT where Maurice and I are building a small pool table. Chemistry is also quite nice only it is quite hard compared to chemistry in Holland. We also had a free period in which I could chat with some people from Holland and catch up with all of them, (which I finally found out how to do because nearly all of the sites are blocked).  After school I hung out with Maurice for a short while in my room and then went to rugby practice. It was loads of fun, it just took a while before I got the hang of it again,  it had been a long time since I’d played rugby. When I came back from practice, Maurice had to leave to go home and I started making some homework. After I’d finished my homework I went to the prep room to chat with some people from Holland, and at 10 o’clock I went to bed. It was nice day again and I´m finally going to bed at decent times.

1st school day at Reeds (9 November)

I woke up at 7:20 and left The Close (the name of my boarding house) at 7:50. I walked to the cafeteria with some of the South African gap year students and met up with Maurice there. After we had had a small English breakfast we left and went to find our tutor and get our timetable. We couldn’t find our tutor, but we finally got our timetable and left for assembly. After that, I went to experience the classes I had chosen; Science, Chemistry, Design and Technology and Business Studies. I finally found my tutor and went to General Studies (in Dutch studieles) and met two really nice guys, one of which was a really good swimmer whom I'll ask if I can join the school's swim trainings. I also met the person in charge of the rugby squad, who told me he would like to have me on the team. This is going to be a lot of fun, seeing I did lots of rugby in Ireland. I also saw some people playing football or training and I'll see if I might be able to participate. All in all a very good first day at Reeds!

2nd Day in England (8 November)

We had all had a good night’s sleep and woke up at around 8:30. We were very hungry and we all enjoyed a big English breakfast, bacon, eggs, beans etc. I was in the mood for a nice English breakfast, since I hadn’t had one in ages, however it was quite disappointing, it was pretty much the same as yesterday and the quality wasn’t great unfortunately. Before we went to Reed’s,we made a little shopping trip to Sainsbury’s, a big chain of English supermarkets, so that my family could enjoy some nice English things when they were back in Holland, such as; cheddar, polo’s and cheerios and we must not forget traditional English custard. After that we left to go to Reed’s. It was very quiet and empty when we arrived. After Maurice had also arrived we got the big tour from Mrs. Lams, the Dutch teacher at Reed’s. She is a very kind woman. It all looked really nice and exactly the same as when I visited 2 years ago. I then got to see my room that I would be living in for the next 6 weeks, and also met the housemaster, Mr. Balls, who was very nice and friendly. After I had unpacked I had a nice dinch in the pub, which was delightful. I then said goodbye to my parents and brother and sister. I had finally arrived at Reed’s.

Aankomst in Engeland (7 November)

I arrived at the Premier Inn at around 8 o'clock. I met up with Maurice who had just had his dinner there, apparently it was typical English pub food. We were all hungry and my family and I all had some dinner in the same pub. I had fish and chips which was...typically English, fatty, greasy and a big portion. After our dinner we had some drinks and desserts with Maurice and his family and afterwards we went to bed.