Study trip: Art museum
Today the students that have Art (bild/estetisk verksamhet) as a subject went on a study trip together. We went to Gent to visit a Design museum. Firstly there was a 1.5 hour busride to get to Gent on which we received tasks in groups of about 4. Our task was to read about Kaj Frank, the artist/sculptor whose works where exhibited in the museum. Some other people got to read about Coca Cola since that was another part of the exhibition.
On this trip we were not only Upper secondary students but classes 8-10 joined us on this trip. So when we arrived at the museum we got some time to prepare short presentations about different parts of the exhibition, with the help of the information we received at the bus as well as information found in the exhibition. After about half an hour it was time for lunch so we all went back to the bus to receive our lunch bags with sandwiches, fruit, juice and a waffle.
We ate our lunch outside, since the weather is a lot warmer here, and then returned to the museum. When we got there it was time for us to have our presentations. Classes 8-10 divided into two groups and so we held two presentations about Kaj Frank. I think it went well and all of the people in our group had a lot of interesting things to tell of some of his work.
He was very controversial at the time he began designing and creating houseware, Finnish artist. His most famous things were created in the 1960s and similar things now exist in most of our homes, we now find them normal and common. He realised that there was a need for simplicity in objects we use at home since many people were moving into apartments and did not have the same storage space. This is why Kaj Franks products were so great, they were often stackable and easy to store, also easy to clean. He won the Grand Prix for his collection and 21.5 million products were sold in Finland and other countries, there is also a prestigeous design award in Finland named after him. This year it is a hundred years since he was born which is why the exhibition is moving around the world. This is just some of the information we presented at the exhibition.
When we had held our presentations it was time for sketching. We made sketches of some of his things and also drew our own versions of these objects, inspired by his main ideas of design. When we were done it was time to go home and many people fell asleep on the bus ride back home. All in all this trip was interesting and I learn't a lot about Finnish design that I did not know before.
English book fair
Today there was an English book fair in the reception and it will be there tomorrow too. It gives younger students at the school the opportunity to buy English books in different difficulties to support their education they receive at school. There were a lot of young people in the reception that seemed to enjoy looking at the new books.
Study trip: Chocolate factory
Yesterday, the 22nd of November, all of the boarding students went to visit a chocolate factory in Brussels. It was an in-service day which made it the perfect day for such a trip. Everybody went by bus into Brussels and at the chocolate factory a very experienced chocolate maker told the students about how he makes chocolate, how things work in the factory and also everybody got to taste the result. All the students seemed to have enjoyed themselves, it was a successful trip.
When it was time to go home many people took the opportunity to buy chocolates for themselves or relatives back at home. The factory owner also gave everybody some chocolate when they left which was higly appreciated. I borrowed some pictures from another student, Jennifer Widen, who also runs a blog about her year in Belgium. You can read it
here >>.
Halloween at the Boarding
On the 12th of November the annual Halloween party took place, something organised by students. It is a lot of fun and the whole of Upper Secondary (Gym 1-3) is invited.
Here at the castle people spent the whole day getting ready and planning their halloween-outfits, people really went all in on being best dressed. While we were doing this Marie-Laure, one of our House Parents, took the opportunity to take some photographs of us and so did I. It was a great night and as always really fun to be with all of the classmates outside of school.
SSB Autumn
It is November now which means we are well into Autumn on our way towards Winter. My friends in Sweden tell me about the cold back home, the huge jackets they wear everyday and their longing for sunshine. Now Belgium is not very far away from Sweden, but it is far enough for us here to feel a huge difference in weather and temperture. Autumn is here, yes, but the weather here is so much warmer and less extreme so many days we don't need to wear jackets, a warm jumper is enough! Today was a beautiful day outside as you can see in the pictures below, many boarding students choose days like this to take the train in to Brussels to stroll around or take a biking ride to a beautiful park in La Hulpe and enjoy the sun.
Dansk Julemarked
Today there was a Danish christmas market at SSB. People came to the school to walk around and look at things going on, purchase food and gifts as well as play with their children. I took the opportunity to walk around and take some pictures to show what it was like. There were things to do for people all ages. The kids were playing football with each other, participating in competitions (the price being a goldfish) or joining their parents walking around. Adults were playing with their children, socializing with fellow Danes or purchasing food. All in all, everybody seemed to enjoy themselves.
Routines at the castle
This is a short and general summary of some of our routines and rules here at the castle.
At the castle we have certain times that food is available to us. All of out meals are served in the food court, the same place that the whole school has lunch.
7.15-8.00: Breakfast.
8.15: Most classes start at this time.
11.00-13.00: Lunch, depending on when your lunch break is scheduled.
15.15: Usually when the last lesson ends.
15.15-16.15: Snack time/Mellanmål for the boarding students.
18.30-19.30: Dinner.
This is usually what an average day looks like and in between these times we do our homework, hang out with friends or do extracurricular activites.
However, as boarding students we have to take responsibility for ourselves and some of the chores are on our own shoulders. Once a week our rooms are vacuumed and cleaned but we have to make sure our rooms are not to messy and that things are in their right place. Every second week we are given new bed linens so we change that ourselves. Cleaning our clothes is something we don't get helped with. There are several washing machines and tumble dryers available for us so we can clean our clothes whenever we like. If we feel hungry at other times than the common meal times we are able to use the boarding kitchen on the first floor to make our own food, noodles for example. Another responsibility we have is to get up in the morning and not miss any lessons.
Since there are 46 students living at the boarding it is necessary to have some rules of when we have to be back home.
Sunday-Thursday: We have to be home by 23.00
Firdays: We have to be home by 02.00
Saturdays: We have to be home by 01.00
During the weekend we can ask for permission to sleep over at a friend's house but then we need the permission from both that family as well as our own parents. If it is to be approved it has to be sent in before noon on thursday and then we don't live at the castle during that/those days and follow the other family's rules.
This may all seem complicated and hard to get, and I also thought so in the beginning, but once you've lived here for a while it really comes naturally and routines fall into place.
Study visit: Brugge
I asked my friend Otto Cardell in Gym 2 if he could help me summarize their study visit to Brugge.
All of Gym 2 went to Brügge for a study visit on the 9th of September. I had not heard much of Brügge before, the only thing I knew was that they have a pretty good football team (Club Brügge). But as it appeared, Brügge was really a noteworthy town.
Our trip begun with a 1.5 hour long bus trip which was kind of fun since the bus driver played loud music the entire trip. When we arrived at our destination and got off the bus we were given a snack bag each as well as 10 euro for lunch which was very generous. While we ate our snack we started our walk by walking through a small community that looked almost like a town in medieval China. We crossed several small bridges and passed high medieval houses that almost looked like buddhistic buldings.
When we finally arrived in the central quarters of Brügge it felt as if you were pulled back 500 years in time. All of the buildings were low with small decorations. Here and there were signs hanging that said things like ”Carpenter” or ”Bakery”. Pretty much all around the inner city there were canals flowing between houses and it really made you understand why Brügge is compared to Venice.
The first thing we went to see was the enormous church. We got to know before hand that we were going to ascend 366 steps of stairs to reach the top. I can assure you that it was a lot more than it sounds! After about 250 steep steps one started using one’s hands to be able to climb. When we reached the top we were met by a mighty view. With the church bells just a meter over our heads you could look out over the thousands of densely built houses that practically covered all ground space, this made it look like a huge puzzle with rooftops in different colours. Before we went down the 366 steps the church bells began ringing, which made it even more majestic.
After this it was time for lunch. I spent my 10€ at Subway with some other boys in my class. This might not have been the most charming place where one could take the opportunity to eat when in Brügge but never the less it tasted good.
Before we went to eat lunch we were divided into groups and each group got a quiz paper about Brügge. The task was to, during the lunch break, walk around in Brügge and try to find the answers to questions like ”What does french fries cost at Grote Markt” and ”Who made the famous statue in ”Our Lady’s Church?”. The group with the most correct answers would win a price and my competitive side took over, obviously I wanted to win. I can admit to using google at a point. We were far away from winning in the end so it didn’t really matter.
Our study visit was ended by a sightseeing trip on a boat through the inner quarters of Brügge. It didn’t really matter that you couldn’t understand much of the Guide’s bad English since you could reach over and feel the water, pretending to be in Venice. Around 5 o’clock we took the bus back to Waterloo with loud music in our ears.
As you probably understood the study visit to Brügge was very successful and I really hope that we will go on similar trips in the future!
