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Connecting: Our friend in Holland |
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Connecting: Our friend in Holland |
In early May I was contacted by a woman in Holland who saw our homepage and thought it was nicely done. She offered to write to my students and talk to them about the country where she and her husband now live - Holland. Here are some excerpts from her messages to the students. Look at all the curriculum possibilities!
Hi Patti,
I had a few ideas for things we could "chat" about next term. Tell me what you think.
1/ Recycling. We have to recycle paper & glass & some towns here have to sort their trash into seven(!) different bags. It might be nice to see what other countries do to help the environment.
2/ Living below sea-level. Most of Holland is below sea-level & they have all sorts of complicated devices to keep the water out.
3/ Anne Frank. I guess you have a copy of her Diary in the school library. She lived about 10 minutes from here (walking), and the charity which runs the Anne Frank house does lots of activities about children in war-zones, child refugees etc
At some stage next term I'm moving back to Britain (Bristol). That's the town where they've just launched a replica of Sebastian Cabot's ship, the Matthew. We could do something about New World / Old World. I don't know much about the area at all, so I'm sure there are other things I could find out.
By the way, Is Field Day like our Sports Day? It happens at the end of the summer term and you have races & sports and prizes etc. And maybe someone could tell me what Memorial Day is. We had a holiday last week which was Whit Monday - the Christian feast of the holy spirit. At first I thought that's what your holiday was, too.
best wishes,
Liz
Dear Tracey,
I'm glad you wrote again. I know you had Field Day and Memorial Day, but I don't know what they are, so maybe you can tell me. Did you do anything nice on Memorial Day. It's pretty nice just having a day off school, isn't it.
bye,
your Key Pal,
Liz
We live in Amsterdam, which is in Holland. Today (Monday) is a holiday, and I have been out on my bike. Almost everone in Holland rides pushbikes - grownups too. It's a lot of fun! Anyway, write again and tell me a little bit more about yourself.
best wishes,
Liz
Hi Tracey,
Many thanks for your mail. I think it's going to be nice writing to you. I live in Amsterdam in a house built in the 1700's.
Elicia,
It would be nice to make friends. I have lots of questions about America.
>I also think that I will make a story of your country.
I think that's a good idea! The first thing to know is that we had a
special
Holiday here on April 30th. It's called Queens Day and it's the birthday
of the lady who used to be Queen (she's called Juliana). When she got too old
to be queen they kept the holiday on her birthday because the new queen's
birthday is in January when it's cold and rainy (the new queen is called
Beatrix). On Queens Day everyone collects up their old junk and stuff and
sells it on the street. It's like a huge yard sale all over the country.
If you can sing or play a musical instrument you can do that too. You get to
keep the money you make.
Thanks for writing, write again soon!
best wishes,
Liz
Across the road is a building called the West Indies House. A long time ago it belonged to the West Indies Company and one day a man called Peter Stuyvesant went there to receive his orders to go to America and start up a city called New Amsterdam. I guess you know that New Amsterdam is now called New York. And it all started in the building across the road from me.
Better go now Your Key Pal Liz
You can do a guided tour of the building I work in (full of art). It's at http://tour.ing.nl/uk/
regards,
Liz
It's not too warm here, it's about 14 degrees C - I don't know what that is in Farenheit, maybe about 57. It's supposed to be a lot warmer. It's just about the end of tulip time here in Holland. The tulip is a major thing here. Almost all the tulip bulbs you can buy anywhere in the world come from here. When I went on the plane to England the other week I could see whole fields full of tulips from the air - all different colours - very pretty.
I live in Amsterdam. Its a very strange city because some of the streets are canals. In the winter when the canals freeze people go skating right in the middle of town. In the summer there are a lot of boats. You can rent a kind of pedal boat. Two people sit in the front and pedal and there's room for two more people on the back. It's a lot of fun. Today I had to go across town on the tram (is that the same as a streetcar?). That's quite fun too because everyone has to get out of the way of the tram.
Do you have plans for the holidays. Sometimes we go to the coast for the day. The beaches here are really sandy and there are lots of beach cafes where you can rent sun loungers and windbreaks or the grownups can just sit there while the children play. Sometimes there are organised games for the children.
It isn't the ocean like you have. It's called the North Sea. England is on the other side, though you can't see it. I come from England, you know.
best wishes,
Liz
Dear Elicia,
Thanks for writing. Shall I tell you a bit more about Holland? Everything here is very flat. Most of the land is below sea-level and they have a complicated system of walls (called dykes) and pumps and canals to make sure the sea stays out.
In Amsterdam there are a lot of canals even in the town centre. In summer you can take boat trips. If you have your own boat (I don't!) you can park it outside a cafe and sit in it to drink your coke or eat your lunch.
In the winter the canals sometimes freeze and people go skating. If it's really cold there's a special skating race called the eleven cities race. The race starts before daylight and they skate through eleven towns. It's about 150 miles! This year they had the race for the first time in eleven years. My boss was in it and it took him 14 hours to finish. He got a medal, though. If you finish the race Dutch people think you're a real sporting hero. You can see why - it's a really tough thing to do.
I hope you enjoy your field day!
best wishes,
Liz