A Dutch Journey
First of all some thoughts and comments we hear often in the US when people ask us what country we are from. We are from the Netherlands, also named Holland. Holland is an unofficial name, more a historical name. The Netherlands is the official name. Some comments we get are:
*Do they really walk on wooden shoes?
*Is Amsterdam close to the Netherlands (what do you think)?
*Oh, Holland, that’s the capital of Sweden, isn’t it?
*Holland? Oh, Holland, oh yes, they speak Hollisch!
But, even I didn’t know that we had the happiest children of the world, according to one study. Let me give you a little bit more information about our country. We are a small country, 16 million people on a piece of flat land half the size of Florida.
We are liberal thinking people, hard working and you can find us all over the world. Think of companies like Shell, Philips, even Stop and Shop is Dutch (AHOLD).
And the Dutch bikes are seen more and more in New York City.
With pride I can say, that we Dutchies founded New York in the sixteen hundreds. Named New Amsterdam, after Henry Hudson discovered it. And the land above New Amsterdam was named New Holland. I can recommend “ The Island of the World” written by Russel Shorto. An interesting book about our history with NYC and the Hudson.
And then about us. We (Eric, Stephanie and Sebastiaan and I) lived on a renovated farm (built in 1823) in a small Dutch village with 600 people. In 1998 we sold everything to move for Eric’s work to Florida. The kids went to a small Montessori school in Boca Raton. Sebastiaan was 5, Stephanie was 7, and they only understood the words YES and NO. English was gibberish. Sebastiaan talked with his hands and body, so he was often the bad boy. Steph was lucky, she had another Dutch girl in her class.
And I: no family, friends, husband to work all day. I couldn’t work, no permit. And it was hard to build up a social life. Also to communicate in English or express myself in English was tough with my middle school English. It wasn’t easy.
By the time we were integrated we moved back to the Netherlands.
We went back to the Netherlands after 3 ½ year. Again, a culture clash. Another city, another side of the country, kids speaking Dutch and English with an American accent mixed through each other. Again hard to communicate and to get in touch with people around you.
Then, in 2006 we got another assignment in the USA, in Connecticut. Steph was almost 16, Sebastiaan 13. It was a completely different school system as the Netherlands, unknown. Children were in a different age, it was more difficult to make choices. Where do we start?
During a preview week we visited different schools, searching for an international environment we thought was important for our kids.
I will never forget Stephanie Whitney, director of admissions. She toured us around the school with a big smile, proud and full of enthusiasm about “her” school, and anxious to get these Dutch kids in her school. She told us she came to GFA not long before 2006, and her mission was to get children into this school from all kinds of backgrounds so GFA could develop more into a diverse, global, an international environment!! These Dutch children fit into this mission.
And especially this aspect draw us to this school. A broad look on education, an academically high standard, and open to the world, welcoming other cultures.
Yes, we were also anxious to get into this school. And we did. I remember Stephanie Whitney when I called her back home in the Netherlands, that we really would like to come to GFA. I got a big YES, YES, YES, very welcoming.
Although Stephanie didn’t exactly know who she accepting into the school. Our daughter Stephanie introduced us Dutchies during a heritage dinner the first year we were at this school. Families from different cultures were asked to give a small introduction of themselves and where they came from.
Our daughter Stephanie was brief; she stood up from our table and said: “We are the Dutchies and we came here to take over the school.”
Sounds easy, but Stephanie and Sebastiaan didn’t always have an easy time. Both had been back for five years in the Netherlands after Florida. Stephanie was lucky, she went to a bilingual middle school, and 60% of the classes were taught in English. Sebastiaan though, 8 years old, went to a Dutch elementary school, where he was taught no English, only Dutch. He came to GFA as that nice blond Dutch boy, hiding behind his sister. He had no English skills in writing, only a few leftovers from Florida, which was American slang in his small vocabulary of English. But with the help of a marvelous faculty both grew into skilled students. Sebastiaan, soon to be known as Siebas en Steph, the Dutch defender in field hockey, also known as The Wall! GFA offers a lot of opportunities that might not have come along in the Netherlands
To compare shortly the schools in the Netherlands and GFA. GFA is way more personal and the teacher is there to look out for the students. Stephanie’s love for writing grew and she had a chance to study literature in-depth through classes like AP English (English department, thank you so much for putting so much effort in this girl and getting the most out of her).
Also, Sebastiaan’s love for music developed and he is now possibly going to do an independent study in this area. Sebastiaan has more ambition then he has ever had and he has made many lifelong friends at GFA with peers, and also faculty. They both had the opportunity to play many sports and tried out new, for us unknown, sports (lacrosse – Stephanie thinks it’s the weirdest sport ever, and wrestling – which is considered to be cruel in the Netherlands). They have learned a lot, and I am proud to say as a mom that Stephanie and Sebastiaan are children of the world. GFA has been and still is for Stephanie and Sebastiaan a very important stepping stone towards their future.
And Steph reached out for the world, she is studying in Spain now and will go to London next year.
And GFA never stops working on their goal. Last week was another great example of this mission, when Janet Hartwell announced a new academic program for global learning. What a marvelous program. What a privilege to be at GFA. We were very excited after hearing Janet explain this program.
And last word for Sebastiaan: good luck trying to take over the school.