Don't want to leave!

Hi there!

It's unbelievable how incredibly fast this exchange went! It's absurd! I can still remember the day we arrived and now it's already the day of departure! However this exchange has been so amazing, I have made some of the best friends in the world, who I really am going to miss once I'm back in Holland... Also this last week has been so much fun! I can't believe I'm leaving in about four hours from now!

In my last post I already told you about me participating in the Cross Country House Competition for Bristowe, we became third! Quite good as we have to compete against some of the best runners of Reed's! In the evening we had dinner with all the boarders. On tuesday I started with letting people sign my flag, on saturday Ida and I bought a flag of England and I let people sign my flag! It's looking very good already and it's going to be a great memory! I will post a photo of it as soon as it is finished! In the afternoon I went to the Astros (the hockey pitches) with some friends to see the House Hockey, it was good fun and I really enjoyed it! The evening was an evening as usual, making prep and than a bit chilling.

Wednesday, yesterday was my last full day at Reed's, it was a really good day! First of all, it was mufty day, which means that everyone gets to wear whatever they want as long as they pay one pound, the pound is going to the Calabash project this summer. During small break Lucy bought me loads of small cakes! It was so sweet!  It was fun, during lunch everywhere South-African music was being played and we got a nice lunch aswell! In the afternoon as it was games day I went to play hockey, however because it was the last training before Eastern the team got to decide whether we wanted to play football or hockey, ofcourse all the boys chose football, so we had to play football... (I am really really bad at football (soccer) ). After the training some friends and I went to watch the hockeymatch between Reed's and a South-African school. Sadly they lost with 2-1, but it was a good game to watch! We had fun, though it was very cold! Afterwards everyone went home, because the buses left, so we (the boarders) went for dinner after which our last night at Reed's would start... The evening was fun, though a bit boring, I got many of the boarders to still sign my flag, I talked to all my friends here and I went to bed quite late... Oops...

This morning Lucy and Chloe were waiting in front of my room when I came back from breakfast and they gave me a really cute bracelet, I'm really going to miss them! My mother will be here around two and than we'll be going into London for one more day, tomorrow evening I'll be flying home, it's going to be weird to be having to say goodbye to everyone soon!

I will update you when I am back in the Netherlands!

Laura

The last few days have officially begun...

Hello everyone,



Look at the picture!



My last few days at Reed's have officially started now, it's monday now and this thursday I will leave Reed's and this amazing adventure behind me!



Let me start with friday, the day started as usual with tutor period. During my third and fourth period I had my dutch test, which went quite okay. After my test I went back to my lessons at Reed's. I only had a double Business Studies period left, so my schoolday finished pretty quickly. In the evening we watched a movie, like every friday night. This time we watched Inception. My last movienight at Reed's was really good!



Dinner at Ask Italian



On saturday Charlie, Tijn and I went on an adventure to Brighton! It seriousely was an adventure as we weren't that good with planning and trains... In the morning we left way too late for the train from Oxshott to Clapham Junction, we ran to the station, uggs all muddy (it's wooded area), because it had rained the night and day before and as we arrived at the station, you would never guess it!? The train was still there! So we think, let's buy the tickets very quickly! And as we were buying the tickets (the woman behind the counter was so horribly slow) the train left... So we had to wait for another half an hour and take a different route to Brighton. We took the next train to Wimbledon, from where we took the tram to East Croyden, where we finally got onto the train to Brighton!! We left at 9.45 and arrived around 13.00 in Brighton, so that journey took us for about three hours... But then we finally arrived in Brighton, where we met up with Leonie, Ida and Steijn (Lewes Exchange). We walked to The Pier through some small streets and at The Pier we had lunch. After lunch we went upto The Pier through the arcade halls and all the way at the end of The Pier there were some attractions. Ida, Charlie, Steijn and I went into one of those attractions, namely The Booster. It's an attraction in which you go 40 feet up in the air and make loopings while flying over the water of the sea! After we had been to The Pier boys and girls split up (just like the first weekend, but Leonie had already left today) and Ida and I went off to the Starbucks, we had a cup of coffee, because it was soooooooo cold! We chatted and got each other up to date about our exchanges. Afterwards we went shopping and when we were walking in the Hollister, we saw a boy Ida knew! (He worked there!) So Ida said "Hi" and then we left again. (he was good looking, but if not he wouldn't have worked at Hollister) We went to some other shops and I bought a nice top. Around six in the evening we reunited with the boys again and went to the pizzeria Ask Italian Together! I had a pizza, which was really good!  We had a nice table and had so much fun that evening! We were supposed to get onto the seven o'clock train, but we were still having dinner then, so we got onto the train an hour later, the eight o'clock one! We said goodbye to Ida and Steijn and left. We got onto the train to Clapham Junction in time! But when we arrived at Clapham Junction there were no more trains to Oxshott, because of work on the rails... So we got back to Wimbledon from Clapham Junction, from where we got the train to Oxshott. In total it took us for about 2.5 hours on the way back. We came back around 22.30. The travelling took a long time, but it was definetely worth it, it had been a very good day!

Shopping with Ida :)

Sunday was very boring, I had been revising all day long, because of my ANW (General Science) PTA (a sort of exam). In the evening we had a longer chapel service for just the boarders, it lasted for about an hour. It was doable, not amazing.

Today was a good day! The day started with the first period assembly, my last one already... During period 5 and 6 Tijn and I made the ANW PTA, it went quite well, I have a good feeling about it! In the afternoon I  was participating in the Cross Country House Competition. I was in the A team, runner number 2. (You could be in team A or team B, every team had six runners.) The running went quite well, but it was so horribly cold and I didn't bring a long-sleeved shirt or leggings with me to Reed's! So I ran in my T-shirt and my hockeyskirt in the freeeeezing cold... Not that great! The track we had to run was longer than expected, it took me about 5 to 7 minutes I think. We had to run around the complex of Reed's. It was quite good, but the track was quite hard aswell! We had to run up and down and the last bit was muddy and upwards, quite annoying when you're already tired....

Now it's evening and this was my last post at Reed's as in still having nights to go here. On thursday I will update you with my last post written from Reed's before I leave!

Laura

Let the last week begin!

Hi!

I almost can't believe we have only one week left! Until now it's been so amazing and I'm sure I'm going to miss it when I get home! But for now, let's enjoy that last week left here in England!

As I already told you in my last post, on monday we went to the UCAS convention. In the afternoon we came back to school and I had normal lessons in the afternoon. My lessons finished at 15.35 after which I chatted with some friends. After dinner we had prephour (homework hour), I decided to make my homework in the preproom. It's mainly chatting and fun in there, so I didn't get much done that evening, but it certainly was fun!

On tuesday I went on the economicstrip! We were told to wear business attire, because we were going to visit Morgan Stanleys in the afternoon.

In the morning around 8.30 we left for Oxshott trainstation with the group, we took the train to Waterloo Station in London. From there we took the tube to Bank, where the Bank Of England is located. At the Bank Of England we got a talk and we were allowed to walk around for a bit. It was okay. After we had been to the Bank Of England we took the tube to Canary Warf, where lots of offices are located. We went to the Morgan Stanleys office. Of course it was all very chique. We were given lunch at Morgan Stanleys, though I must say, it wasn't that much, but again it was okay. At Morgan Stanleys we had to listen to two talks. One about investment banking and one about how you could get into Morgan Stanleys and what kind of things you can do at Morgan Stanleys during your university time. After the talks, which were quite good, we took the tube back to Waterloo Station, where we got some free time, because our train wasn't there yet. So some girls and I decided to get a Starbucks and just wait until we could get onto the train. In the end I quite liked the trip, it had been a good day!



With Fleur at Reed's!



Wednesday, a day I had been looking forward to since the beginning of my exchange, why? Because my sister, Fleur, came to Reed's that day!! Finally we got to see each other again after 3.5 weeks! I was so glad to see her! Of course we hugged when she arrived and then we went inside with her whole class. My sister is on London Trip this week, on tuesday another class was here, on wednesday my sister's class was here (!!!!) and today another class is here at Reed's. After we had welcomed them in the morning, I went back to class and my sister had cricket. After cricket I picked her up and showed her my room and the whole Sixth Form House. In my room we chatted for about 45 minutes, but still it didn't seem like we had had enough time! Afterwards we had lunch with the whole class again and after lunch Charlie, Tijn and I divided the group in three smaller groups and we gave the groups a tour around the school! It was fun and it was certainly good to catch up with my little sister again!!

Today my day sadly enough started normal again... At 8.20 we started with registration and afterwards we had House Meeting. This monday we have a House Competition, so teams were chosen and guess what?! I'm on the team! I will inform you about it on monday, but I think it certainly is going to be fun! I used my first two periods to study for my exam CKV the third period. During small break we welcomed the third class of the RLW year 2 trip. Then during 3rd and 4th period (the periods are different here than at the RLW) we had to make the test, it went quite well! During big break we had to split up the group and give a tour, just like yesterday. In the afternoon I had economics, which was very boring today... Today I need to revise for my dutch test tomorrow! (We're all so happy we have to make the tests of the RLW over here! -_-) This was about it, the past two days were quite a lot of fun!

Let the last week begin!

Laura

Adventure all the way!

Hi!

As you can read from the title, the past few days have finally been quite ADVENTUROUS! From friday until monday I actually haven't had any rest!

It all started on fridaynight with movienight! In the evening I hung out with some friends from the boarding house and around ten in the evening we started watching a movie. We watched a movie, which I am not really sure of what the name was anymore, but I think it was named Outsourced. It was a movie about a guy travelling back in time for about eight minutes to find a bomb in a train that had exploded that morning. The guy kept going back in time the whole time, which made the movie quite repetitive and therefore boring. Around 00.30 everyone went to bed and I had a good nightrest, because the next day was going to be fun!

In London with Chloe

On saturday around ten in the morning Hannah arrived at the boarding house, her mother drove us to the trainstation in Oxshott. We got at the train of 10.30. The train ride took us for about 40 minutes and when we got to London Waterloo we waited for Chloe. After about ten minutes Chloe arrived and we were ready to get to Oxford Street!! We took the tube and went shopping! We visited all kind of shops like Forever 21, Hollister, River Island, Gilly Hicks and loads of other shops! I bought a dress and a really nice top. We had lunch at this little cafe where they sold really good sandwiches for a pretty low price! In the afternoon we also went to Starbucks to get some coffee, where I ofcourse had a latte machiatto vanilla. That's was again such a good choice! Hannah bought a nice bag and Chloe bought a really nice cardigan. I really enjoyed the day! Around six in the evening we got back to London Waterloo and Hannah and I took the train back to Oxshott, where her mother was waiting for us. I was quite happy we didn't have to walk through the woods as it was very muddy! I got back at school around seven, where I had late dinner. In the evening I wanted to go swimming with some of the boarders, but we weren't allowed to go swimming without parental supervision... So we couldn't swim... We went back to the boarding house and played some funny games, whereafter we played the Xbox kinect, but we got a bit bored with playing games and so decided to watch a movie! I liked the movie and it was good fun! I really enjoyed it!!



Mercedes Benz World



On sunday I went on a sundaytrip with Charlie and Jeremy. We left around 11 o'clock and went to Mercedes Benz World. I was the only girl, but it still was good fun. We saw all kinds of cars, the history and how it is built, the future tech of the cars and there were some games about cars you could play. All the cars were Mercedes Benz cars, but I think you already understood that. After we had been to Mercedes Benz World, we went to Tesco's. Tesco's is this huge supermarket in England. I bought some food and some drinks and I bought myself lunch. We got back at school around two in the afternoon, it was good fun!



Starbucks



Today the day started with registration (like every day) and assembly (every monday). It started with a movie about Calabash 2012. This is a project for which Reed's School raises money all year through. In July 25 lower sixth pupils are going to South-Africa to help schools and children there. We also all got some waterbottles to fill with pennies and pounds, next week wednesday (my last day here...) the bottles will be collected and the money will be saved for Calabash 2013. I think this is a really cool project, especially because they save money for something where the pupils themselves are involved in aswell.

After small break around ten we left for Surrey University with all the lower sixth pupils. At Surrey University there was a UCAS convention today, universities from all over the country provided a desk with information about their university. I wasn't searching for anything in particular, but I looked at the different studies they provide here. Afterwards we went to Starbucks, because they had a Starbucks at the university! Ofcourse I took a latte machiatto vanilla again! Around 12 o'clock we went back to school and in the afternoon we had normal lessons.

This was it about the past few days!

Laura

Half-way through!

Hello there!

SNOW!

Another three days have past already! The time is flying!! I have already been here for almost three weeks, which means that I am already half-way through! I only have two weeks left!! This week has been fun until now. Monday though was a bit of a boring day, I must say, the most boring day of the week... However every monday we have got general studies and this monday the psychology class, which I am in, got a lecture about criminology, at the end we got a dilemma, which we had to judge. It turned out that the man who gave the lecture had been in prison for twelve years for the dilemma! On monday evening it was parents evening, so lots of girls, including my friends, stayed over for dinner! We had lots of fun during dinner!

The candy, it's not even all of it...

Wednesday morning we had chapel again. One of the upper-sixth students gave a speech about christianity. It was a pretty good speech. In the afternoon I again had hockeytraining. While we were playing a match against the under 16C's it randomly started snowing! For the first time in my life I ran around in a skirt and a T-shirt through the snow! It was fun, at a certain moment the sun shone and it snowed at the same time. Sadly the under 16C's beat us, while our team (under 16B's) was much better... In the evening we had movie night! We had loads of candy and we watched James Bond Skyfall! It's such a good movie and watching it all together was fun!

This morning we had a house meeting, not anything particularly special was mentioned. After that I had a normal schoolday and in the afternoon I went to a shop near Reed's with some friends again. We all bought some food and drinks and then went back to school. I have just had dinner, where we had pizza! Quite good!

In the evening I went to a play at Reed's! It was a good play performed by the drama group.

Bye!

Laura

Wonderful Weeks at Reed's!

It's already been two weeks since we left the Netherlands behind for 5 weeks in England! Until now it has been WONDERFUL!


While walking through Guildford...

Friday was lots of fun, some friends asked me if I wanted to come for dinner at the curry restaurant in Oxshott. I thought it was great they asked me, so I said yes! After school we first went to a friend's house where we played some games and chatted, around 5 o'clock we left for the curry restaurant. (We went there so early, because I had to be back at school before registration at half past six.) I had Chicken Tikka Masala (I think you write it like this, but I'm not sure) and it was really good! In the evening we had movienight with a part of the boarders, which was fun!

Guildford

 From saturday until sunday I was staying at Ella's place, one of my friends at Reed's. She picked me up around one o'clock and drove to her house. We had a lunch and watched Mean Girls. I have already seen it for about a thousand times I think, but it will always stay a good movie! In the evening Ella had a concert (she plays the French Horn), which was quite good! It lasted for about two hours.. After the concert Ella, her mum, her dad and I went out for dinner at a thai restaurant named The Anchor. We had lots of fun, as we all took Phad Thai with chicken. An easy meal for the kitchen! After dinner we were really tired and both went straight to bed, we were exhausted!!

Ella

On sunday it was Mothersday in England! So Ella surprised her mother with breakfast at bed. We also had breakfast and afterwards dressed up. Around twelve o'clock we left for Guildford, where we went shopping. I sadly didn't buy anything, but Ella found a pretty black dress. We had lunch in Guildford at Pret, a little shop which sells really good sandwiches! It was delicious! After lunch we went back to Ella's place, where Ella and I watched an episode of the series Sherlock Holmes. It was fun! We had dinner and before I knew it it was already time to go back to school! This surely was a succeeded weekend!

This morning we had two assemblies. One just for the lower sixth form about the results and one for the whole school.

Laura

Just the casual routine...

So we're almost three days further and I must say that in the past two days not really anything spectaculair has happened.

Tuesday was okay, but not much happened that day. I went to school, followed lessons and played hockey with the boys in the afternoon. The hockey was fun, because we had to play a match against the under 18C's (I'm in the under 16B's), there was only one tiny problem, they are all a bit bigger than me...But still it was very good!
On wednesday I had a normal schoolday again, my day started with psychology, where we had to make a pamphlet about a certain treatment. It was enjoyable and I revised it at the same time.
Every wednesday afternoon is sports afternoon, so I played hockey again. But this time not just with the under 16B's, no, we also had to train with the under 18B's... And than you're the only girl playing... but it was fun, I had a good time!
For if you got a bit confused with all the A's, the B's and the C's, it's different than in holland. the under 16B's is the same as the B2 in the Netherlands. The under 18B's is the same as the A2. Ander the under 18A's is the same as the A1 in the Netherlands.

This morning everyone at Reed's was pretty nervous, because they all got their results of a couple of important tests they had done in January, everyone was prepared for the worst, but as a matter of fact in my tutorgroup the results weren't all too bad!

See you next time!
Laura