Last week at Reed's

My last week at Reed's was about to commence. These joyful tidings were to end in just 7 days. Never before had I experienced such a peaceful environment and mind relaxing atmosphere. I had found my inner self and wanted to retain this state of calmness by practising the art of Feng shui. I have also found God. I realized that I didn't want to be alone anymore. I wanted someone near me to keep me company and to look after me, someone to talk to when I felt lonely and abandoned, someone to ask for forgiveness and advice, in times of war and in times of peace and I wanted to feel safe again, without looking behind my back every two seconds. In the Chapel at Reed's the priest showed me the way to the safe haven. When I arrived there, a huge weight fell of my shoulders. I feel relieved now... I highly recommend this to everyone, every person on the whole wide world is equal and deserves this top priority. All you have to do is call 0900-sponsor-god or visit www.Ican'tfindthewaytoJezus.com and everything will turn out just fine.

As you have probably noticed, the text above was sarcastic and satirizing, except for the part where I say I had a good time ofcourse. The Chapel did leave an impression, but not quiet the sort of impression that is described above, unfortunately.

This week wasn't contoversial at all; It began with an assembly (like every week), a short summary of the week before. This time however, there was a small guitar performance by one of the sixth formers. An electric guitar version of alla turca by Mozart, accompanied by the piano. Quiet amusing, it certainly was lads! 

Some surprises came along this week, for which I was unprepared. My flight back to Holland was on saturday. Funny thing was though, I had to leave on Thursday because the boarding house was closing! I was startled... What to do now?!? A solution came to me within a second. Ask God! And so I did. God told me to stay at Alicia's on Thursday and at Sophie's on Friday, and so I did.

On Thursday Anne-Lot and I received a wonderful tie, with Reeds's logo and Rijnlands Lyceum Cobham's logo on it, a very kind gesture.

After school, we went to Alicia's for a last small party with the dutch squad. That night there were a few misunderstandings and fights (two of our friends got sent away, everyone got depressed and we argued for the following two hours), but apart from that, we had a good time to my surprise.

Next day we got up early because we had a long day ahead of us. Watch out London, here we come! Joachim, Anne-Lot, Frank, Sophie and I shopped till we dropped, literally. We did shop a lot but we didn't buy a lot. There was actually one belt that I liked, but it wasn't available in my size. Frank had to catch an airplane so he wasn't able to fully enjoy this day. At the end of the day we dined at a sushi bar. I had never done this before so it was a new thing for me. All kinds of different dishes passed by. You just had to grab one, and enjoy! I had eaten sushi before so I didn't look a doosh-bag, trying to eat my Japanese food uncoördinated. I could not have imagined a better ending to my exchange than this; a sociable dinner with new friends, because what's more important in life than friends?

Later,

I'm out.

Second Week at Reeds part 2

After the Laserquest game, everyone wanted to go home to eat, except for me and Joachim. We discovered a thrilling arcade game (you know, the ones with the big tv screen and the fake guns), which we wanted to try. Half an hour later, we realized that we were simply too good for this game, that we had been holding everyone up for quiet some time already and that we should therefore try to rip our eyes of the screen and go to Sophie's to dine. With great mental strength we were able to pull this of.

Limo and Sjors prepared a lovely meal (pasta with chicken and a spicy sauce, for those of you who are intrigued to know about my stay at Reed's). 

At 12 o'clock everyone left except for the ones who were staying over; Alicia, Anne-Lot, Sophie (duh, it's her house) and me. That night they told each other some very interesting stories (I listened mostly). I'm very sorry guys, but they made me swear to keep it to myself...

On Saturday Alicia, Sophie and me wanted to go to London, but we woke up a bit too late, which made it impossible for us to go shopping in the Capital. Therefore we went to Woking, which wasn't as extravagant as London, but still a lot of fun. We visited clothing shops (a lot of them),ice cream stands, lingerie stores and ofcourse the Starbucks. Surprisingly we didn't buy a lot of things.

That night I stayed at Joachim's together with Tim. Things we did: watch tv, eat, drink, play on the Xbox, talk about girls, drink some more and probably some other typical boy things which I forgot.

On Sunday we watched another movie and then I went back to the boardinghouse to do my homework. I failed miserably in the latter though. I was still on the 'relax-mode' from the last two days, which made it impossible for me to focus on my school work, but you know me, I caught up on that work the following week ofcourse.

Second Week at Reeds

This week had a good start. NOT! On Sunday we skipped dinner, because we wanted to go to a restaurant in Guildford called TGI Friday's, but guess what; access denied! Mr. Wakefield did not let us go to Guildford, even though the last time we ate was at least 7 hours ago (there is no lunch on Sundays, only brunch). So we asked if we could go to Joachim, to fill up our bellies. However, Mr. Wakefield said that we had already gone out too much this weekend and therefore we could not eat at Joachim's. Technically, he said that we had to die of starvation!

We were not going to take this obviously. Who do they think I am? I'm a die-hard gangster, a natural player, a bad-ass exchange student, who does not follow orders and who ignores the rules.

We put on our coats, tightened our shoe-laces and we were off. Sneaking through the bushes, dodging cameras and escaping from blood thursty security dogs, we made our way to the Oxshott train station. Some of our fellow inmates had died fighting; they gave up their lives for the greater good. May they rest in peace, Amen.

We got our tickets and ran to the bus as fast as we could. We arrived just in time. Imagine what would have happenend is we missed the bus... No dinner for us.

On our way to Friday's we calmed down a bit form the stressful escape and tried not to think about the painful punishments we could get because of our mischief. No posh English Reed's student had ever even dared to think about these ruthless actions. This had never been done.

For a moment we forgot the consequences of our little outing and we enjoyed our feast at Friday's. There were ridiculously juicy burgers, unbelievably healthy salads, tasty fish, taste bud tickling sauce and ludicrously delicious deserts. This may be a bit over the top and exaggerating, but compared to the food at Reed's, this was food from heaven. My roommate has actually taken thousands of vitamins and other pills with him to stay healthy.


We missed our bus back to Reed's , it was going to be almost impossible to arrive on time. We should have skipped that extra drink and that lovely desert. However, ourdesires were too strong and we could not resist the temptation.

We failed to slip into the boarding house unnoticed; the teacher-who was on duty- saw us and he demanded an explanation. For safety reasons, I'll tell you this; everything that I've just told you wasn't true. It was all made up and ful of lies, it was only told to make this story more intersting, seriously. This is what 'actually' happened: We met Joachim just outside the school grounds, so he could comfort our stomachs with nutrition. After that we walked the dog. In total this took more than two hours...

So now that you know the 'truth', I'll continue my weekly report.
As you would probably have guessed, this week was just like any other school week at Reed's; I followed all my classes, did my homework and tried to eat the 'lovely' school food.
In the fifth form, all students take the GCSE tests. This week the art students had their GCSE. On wednesday and Thursday they were busy drawing and painting as if their life depended on it (which was partially true in fact). Their hard work paid off though, the results were stunningly beautifuls; form huge self portraits to paintings of Westminster Abbey. One painting however was outstanding. The art teacher said that she had been working at this school for twenty years and she had never seen anything this good; someone had drawn himself, playing the guitar. It was perfect; from the flowing brown hair to the shining metal pieces ont the the guitar, he had thought of every single detail. Rembrandt was nothing compared to him.

Thursday is my favorite day. Cricket Day! It went very well naturally; bowled a bit, batted a bit, you know, the usual. It went so well that they want me to stay here next term so I could play for the first team. It's a great oppurtunity and I'm seriously considering it. Imagine, a beatiful day in England, sun is shining, birds are singing and you'e playing cricket on a fantastic English grass pitch, smacking the ball all over the place. I would have a great time.
However, I don't think school and my parents will allow it. 'Goodbye dream', I said, and it shattered to pieces.

I got kicked out of my room for the weekend because a friend of Frank's came over form Holland. I stayed at Sophie's on Friday and at Joachim's on Saturday.
On Friday night we went to Woking with the dutch squad (students fomr the dutch school). Laser Quest Time! Red laser beams, smoke everywhere, glowing paint, heavy equipment, 'real' laser guns, lights in every colour and a mayhem of crazy fighting teens.
to be continued...
I'll tell you about the rest tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow.
I have to practise a striptease now, which I'll be performing tomorrow... Don't ask, you'll hear about it later...

Super Cricket action pictures :O

WOW!!! Who is that super fast bowler?!??!

A splendid shot, executed with total calmness, very gracious.

(These pictures were taken at the match against chesterhouse).

First Week at Reeds

Monday 8 am. Me, my dad and my mum arrived at Reed's School. We had an appointment with Mr. Caminada. He gave me my schedule, explained some necessary things to me and discussed the do's and do not's. Then a charming lady from the dutch school named Sophie entered the room. She would guide me to my first lesson; Tutor period. After this most interesting class we were off to the assembly, a standard procedure, which takes place every monday. It's simply a short summary of the week before. Very interesting once again. Here I met my roomie, Frank. Cool guy. The rest of day Joachim would lead the way, since we have exactly the same classes; Chemistry, physics, biology, just all the technical subjects (and ofcourse the basic subjects like french and dutch).
Every Monday there's basketball practise, which I thought might be fun to join. And it was! It was fun! Fun, fun, fun. A definite highlight in my week.
I heard there was indoor cricket training on Thursday, so I approached Mr. Medleycott. This guy played for the England, so I felt pretty honoured! How could I ever have imagined this, being trained by an actual England cricket player. I had never heard of him before though, but still...
Cricket Practise on thursday went very well. I don't have any cricket kit with me so I was only able to bowl. I believe they were quiet impressed. They asked if I would like to stay for the cricket season after I bowled my two first balls!
On friday a classmate of mine, Limo (who's real name is Ibrahim),invited everyone from the dutch school over to his house for a sleep-over. There were lots of boo's: Tons of beer and at least a million bottles of strong liquor. You don't want to know how wasted we got and what kind of things we did (without realising it), NOT! Ofcourse not people, you know me, I'm a goodie two-shoes!
On Sunday, Frank's dad came over and took his son, me and Rik with him to Brighton (which is-so i've heard- the gay capital of England). The weather was aweful; we got soaked everytime we went outside. Besides that it was great. We visited the pier, shopped till we dropped and had a very English-like high tea.
I'm really sorry but I simply don't miss you, I'm having the time opf my life here:-D !

South Africa cricket tour

U-16 tour South Africa
My heart was beating fast. Adrenaline gulfed through my arteries. My mind was controlled by excitement. Today was the day. The day when the trip of our life would commence. The first day of the HCC Under 16 tour to South Africa ,(Made possible by Stills, the main spnsor has to be mentioned).

We had a good start. Everyone was well on time and wore the same team clothes (except for one screw-up). The check-in went flawlessl and we got through the security checks safely.Unfortunately things were about to change. London Heathrow had implemented a new system, which resulted in 60 000 lost bags. Plan A suggested that we fly to London Heathrow, transfer to another airplane and travel to Cape Town. Due to the little accident at the Island we were delayed and we had to travel via Johannesburg as well.

Cape Town, our final destination, almost 40 degrees, bright sun, white skin began to tint, beautiful girls and cricket; we were in paradise. Our first night we were to stay at a resort called Mineral Springs. Mineral Springs was like a little peace of Heaven. There were few cosy houses with a breathtaking view; mountains in the background, green fields and grapes and melons all over the place. This first day in Cape Town we relaxed, enjoyed the sun, cooled down in a small lake; simply a good opportunity to acclimatize.

Next day we got our breakfast in Franschehoek, where I ate my very first 'fried' french toast. I must say that it isn't bad at all but I still prefer the good old baked french toast version.
In the afternoon we would play the Hoer Skool in Paarl. It was widely known that the were 'pretty skilled'. So with sweaty palms and scared looks on our faces, we approached our opponants. We soon noticed that that the rumours weren't true ( either that that or we're just really good), and we had a chance of winning the game. Unfortunately we lost by a couple of runs.
That night we were given some more time to relax and enjoy some meat from a bra ( for the dirty minded teenagers: a bra is a babecue).

Saturday. A team, composed of poor Africans from townships like Nguaya, had been travelling since 5 o'clock in the morning to play a team from another continent. They told us thay had been looking forward to this match for weeks. and that the felt honoured to play a foreign team. I actually reckon it was us who should feel honoured.This was probalby one of the nicest games I've ever played, not because it was so thrilling, but because of the warm ambiance in the field. These guys were cool to play with and really funny suprisingly. These were some of their statements and 'encouragements' while fielding: 'Mistah Batsman wants to drive, but he has no license', and ' This guy must be a vegatarian, 'cause he can't find the meat!' Mind you, this is only humourous when you understand the wonderful game of cricket. This was one of those games where the result didn't matter, just the pure joy of the marvellous sport. (For the ones who are intersted, we did actually win).

Sunday. Today the Cobras were playing the Eagles. Two professional cricket teams would bowl their arms off, but until blisters appeared on their hands and chase the ball like there is no tomorrow. Big cricket players were present; Gibbes, Telemachus, Kemp etc. It was a beautiful day with a steel blue sky, the smell of freshly mowed grass, and a fierce sun; a perfect day destined for cricket.
During the match everyone was pumped, the atmosphere was tense, there were hotdogs and candy stands, a device that measured your bowling speed, biltong ( a deliriously delicious peace of tasteful dried meat, love it), a 'hit-the-wicket-competition and you could get a reward by catching a six. unfortunately no one succeeded in the latter.
That night we woud be sleeping in a game park. We were about to experience the true South Africa. A home for elephants, zebras, elands, snakes and wildebeesten. We expected to come so close to mother nature that we could pratically smell the ostiridges eggs and feel the warm breeze of a lions breath. However, it was quiet the opposite. There were luxurious tents with soft beds, a toilet and a shower, which actually was a relief for some of us I believe.
Our coaches told us to wake up at 5 am to go on safari. Most of us were too lazy and tired to wake up; we just couldn't be bothered. A couple of eager boys got up and discovered that it was a lie. The safari was 'postponed' to 10 o'clock. Jolly jokers, those coaches.
The safari was fun though; we spotted blue wildebeesten (those beasts form the Lion King), elands, zebras, ostridges, world's smallest turtle (very cute) and some ants. Did you know that there are over 12 000 species of ants!?!
We wanted to invlove charity in our tour as well, and therefore, today was charity day. First we were off to Immanuel's Haven in the Strand; a married couple chose to spend their life to help children who were abandoned by their parents. It is nice to see that some people on this earth not only care about themselves, but also about others. These people sacrifice their lives in order to save other people's lives. At Immanuel's Haven they try to give these children what they deserve; education, health care and a safe home. To help them on their way we raised 2000 euro.
Our charity day was not finished yet, it had just begun. In the afternoon we were to give a cricket clinic to a school for children from townships or poor neigbourhoods. On the field they had set up a stage with a dj. Everyone gathered there, we were introduced and a spokesman from a drug rehabilitation center was invited to provide info about drugs and rehab. From what this man was saying and from the children's responses I concluded that South Africa still had a lot to learn. Believe me, it really is a developing country.We were told that the coaches would give the clinics instead of us, and that we were going to play an unexpected short match against the school's U-15 team.
I didn't play this game so I had a chance to talk to the African students. Most of the conversations started with a 'controversial' question like: ' Do you smoke weed like really often?' My first thoughts of them were therefore that they hadn't thought about their future at all, but my thoughts turned out to be false. Most of them wanted to go to university and knew exactly what they wanted to do in the future. They pretty much had it all figured out. (By the way, we won).

The following three days (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) we played three matches. the first one was against Rondebosch High School. Our bowlers did well, ourfielders did better and batsmen failed miserably. Yes, We lost. Two girls from my school were also in south africa on exchange, so they came to support us. This did not help a lot unfortunatly.
The second one was against Paul Ross Gymnaium. This team was by far the best team we played on the tour. They were better in almost every aspect.. Let's just say that we got rinced. The third and final one was against Chesterhouse. I'll keep it short; We won.
These three nights we were hosted by the opponants. We saw that the differences between white and black were massive. Some of our hosts had huge houses with swimmingpools, gigantic plasma screens, golden king size beds, private jumbo jets, silver bathrooms, platinum cutlery decorated with diamonds and at least twenty servants. We enjoyed our stay there A LOT!

On Friday we visited Robben Island, where the prison stands that imprisoned Nelson Mandela for a long time. Very interesting. And guess what, we saw a snake! A 'black-and-dangerous' molesnake!
After this cultural activity we hiked up the Table Mountain. This mission was extremely exhilerating. Sweat was flowing, fat burned, muscles contracted and relaxed; our bodies were working hard. At the top, our intense labour was rewarded. A rememberable view greeted us and so did a glass of cold Lipton Ice-Tea. We had accomplished our goal and conquered.
The Table Mountain. Lightbeams entered our room and the last day in Cape Town began. Beach Day. Hot bitches, uh...I mean warm beaches, clear blue sky and a refreshing ocean. In the end the ocean was just a bit too refreshing. water was so cold that you lost feeling after a couple minutes in the water. We played beach cricket, played some rugby, relaxed, bought ice cream and relaxed some more.
A succesful last day and a great way to end a tour that will never be fogotten.

LEKKER SON, LEKKER KRIEKET SPIEL!

small announcement

sup y'all,

I've arrived safely, S.A. was nice, and I'm having the time of my life. However, I'm kinda busy here so I'll post a more interesting story with more detail in a couple of days probably. I reckoned you might find it fun to read about the cricket tour to South Africa; working on that report right now.

homies for life,
laterz