Time Vacuum

Eerde - A school where I had an
interview (near Susan's farm).

I have been in the Netherlands for over a month now. So much has been done - but there is so much left to do! The first two weeks Naomi and I were a bit homeless, traveling between her obsolete student room and her Mother's place. We even made it up to her friend Susan's farm. It is a beautiful place with lots of history. The land has been in her Father's family for over 800 years. The house itself was recently rebuilt (in the 40's) as it was destroyed by the war (very near to the German border). Through a series of unfortunate events, her parents are forced to give the place up. It has been, and will continue to be, a difficult process for them.


The party we had at their farming complex had an Alice in Wonderland theme. Although it was put together well, and the guest were very friendly, I experienced quite some culture shock. Parties like this make me feel a bit awkward anyway, but the fact that everyone was speaking Dutch (except to me) along with the addition of children's games and the strange Dutch custom of sitting in a large circle really threw me off. Even though there were plenty of enjoyable moments, I did feel a bit traumatized after we left.

Not too long after the party, we finally were able to move into the new house. When we arrived, a couple men were working on the garden. In needs a whole heap of work. The little bungalow is a bit depressing though - in the sense that we will only be able to stay there for a year. It is perfect. Surrounded by trees and water, plenty of space, and a 12 minute bike ride to school, 3 to a shopping district, and 20 to the center of Rotterdam. They are even fixing up a park right across the street.

The front yard - enough space for 5 families in the NL.

A couple days after arriving, school began. Although the students did not arrive for a few days after that, we had a chance to meet our new colleagues and learn about the school. It is a new, innovative place that is competing for the honor of being recognized as the most innovative in the country. What people from outside the system may not realize is that 'innovative' is often synonymous with 'chaos'.

A fun Dutch game - Sjoelen - that we played at her Mother's.

Wolfert Pro has a little less than 300 students and is a part of the larger Wolfert van Borselen school group. Wolfert Pro is for vocational students who are not destined for higher education (schools are heavily tracked in the Netherlands). The students are mostly good kids - but it only takes a few to ruin a lesson. Some have pretty low mental capacities; others are just lazy.

I teach first and second year students. This is the equivalent of 7th and 8th grade in the States. The first years are great. They are still cute and they listen well. Wish I could say the same about the second years. Thus far is has been nearly impossible to give a lesson as they will not stop talking. As this is a project based school, most of their time is spent in the 'leerplien', a common area where two classes can comfortably work at tables or computers.

Scheduling time has been a bit of a disaster as there are 12 half hour blocks in the day and as teachers we move all over the building(s). We don't get our own classrooms - space is shared which helps to create more of a dynamic, cooperative environment. The problem is often times we are not sure where to go - and what sort of lesson to prepare. Who knows if we will be able to use a Smartboard or if students will have access to computers.

A day in Amsterdam - only an hour away.

Not only to I share space, but I share classes. The groups of students stay together all day. The same group will see me for math one day, and another teacher for math later in the week. This is nice for them because I don't speak Dutch. It is also nice for me because I get to cooperate with another, more experienced teacher. The problem is: He just quit. Couldn't handle the chaos. Makes sense as he recently held a job with the Dutch version of the IRS. Not sure what will happen now.

The language barrier is not a huge issue. There are a few students who don't seem to speak any English - but others who are nearly fluent. The spectrum allows for plenty of translation, and as little time is devoted to instructing a whole class (because they can't sit still), the message gets across. I spend most of my time helping groups of students and this means I can check for understanding more easily. Most of them really make an effort with their English and I think the grand experiment of hiring me as a non-Dutch speaker will pay off.

There is much more to tell, but for now I continue to lack in time (no surprise there). I will make an effort of updating this more regularly, and if you happen to read it, I am curious to know what you are up to as well!