From 14 to 25 September 2024, 8 of our schoolmates along with 9 from La Salle College went on an exchange programme at Sophianum, the Netherlands.
On the first day, we took a long 14-hour flight from Hong Kong straight to Amsterdam. Although it was exhausting, we were all so eager and excited to go. We had another 4-hour bus ride to the city we were going to stay in for the next 9 days – Gülpen, Limburg. It was a small city close to the border of both Belgium and Germany. There we met our host families and continued our day. As everyone had different activities planned, like going sightseeing or getting to know more about our host, we all parted ways and played our hearts out.
The next day was the first rehearsal. Everyone had to arrive bright and early and we were still feeling jet lagged. With a few ice-breaking activities then started the 4 days long, 6 hours everyday rehearsals. These special rehearsals were for Sophianum’s 175th anniversary. They also invited some schools from other countries like Widukind-Gymnasium Enger from Germany and Anuban Baanthorrung School from Thailand. All the songs chosen were popular songs like Star Wars and Mary Poppins. All of us had a wonderful time!
The third day of rehearsals was the day before our concert and we explored Valkenburg. There was a huge play area where we played laser games and rode on chair lifts. We even managed to convince Dr. Harfitt to play the laser tag with us! The most exciting part was going down a fast slide called ‘toboggan’ where we sat on metal karts that glided along a metal track. It was such an exhilarating experience. After that, in the evening, we all went back with our host families who invited us to go bowling and barbecue.
We also toured a popular city called Maastricht and did some souvenir shopping. We had around 2 hours of free time to go around and shop. In the end, we came back with bags filled to the brim with souvenirs. Then during the weekends, we visited a zoo and were so excited to see the capybaras! They were so big and so adorable. With our host families, some of us went to BloteVoetenPark, which was a barefoot sensory park that required everyone to take off their shoes and walk barefoot, while some of us went to watch a musical. All of us had extraordinary experiences and had a delightful time.
Nearing the end of the excursion, we had to say farewell to our host families and depart for Amsterdam. Most of us were very emotional and cried while saying goodbye, as we honestly had a wonderful time, then we departed for Amsterdam for our flight home. There we were given a full day of free time and we used that time to the fullest. We explored famous museums and saw a lot of Van Gogh pieces. Then we spent the last day together in the hotel and packed up to get ready to go to the airport the next day.
All of us were very unwilling to leave such a wonderful country. We have made a lot of unforgettable memories together and will cherish this chance to be able to go there forever. This was how we ended this trip in the most wonderful way and it was definitely something worth doing. We all definitely recommend our schoolmates to take part in more of these activities as you can make wonderful memories with the people you go with.
- So Pui Shan 4E20 and Hailey Kwan 4F17
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