6 am, the sun hardly visible. Yet there we were, four ‘girls’ and one van, we were finally on our way to Poole, England! We were going to the place where the Island Project started and where it would end. Renate and I  had the task and the opportunity to learn other students, to learn about the English culture, and to make us self realize the results of the Island Project. Although I’m not sure why our teachers Ingrid and Zoë were going along.

After a long journey in the van, a trip on the ferry, a lot of candy and toilet stops, we finally got to the Poole Grammar School. Arriving at the school, Renate and I were to leave immediately with our host, Richard Gilbert. The first day was about meeting my hosts and resting.

On the second day, at the school Renate and I got a lot of attention in the hallways, it was mind blowing; tomato-red, want-to-hide-in-a-corner, embarrassing. Why you may wonder? Maybe I should have mentioned that the Poole Grammar School was a BOYS school. Yes, those boys were not used to see girls walking around in their school (not that I’m implying that those boys have never seen a female creature before). Not only did we get stares, even wolf whistles; and then people claim that the human race has gotten so evolved and sophisticated.

Renate and I also got the chance to meet the diverse group of students; three Spanish, four visitors from Germany, two knäckebröding Swedes and also two Hungarian students. With all of them and the English hosts students, we went for a walk and to get to know each other.

After the walk we all returned to the school ground, met our teachers there again and went to Portsmouth with the bus. I do realise that the little school trip to Portsmouth was to give us the opportunity to learn more about the English history, but doesn’t it count that we learned more about the history of the English guys? May I just defend myself by reminding that the point behind this entire trip was to get to know others, and we certainly got to know each other!

(Note to the parents: no nothing happened, I’m just saying that we had great fun with people we knew for just a day! I, for example, got a nickname within minutes!)

In the evening Renate and I just went to bed, talking and gossiping about the day. Finally falling asleep, with excitement still rushing through our veins, excitement from the day that had happened and excitement for what would happen the next day.

The first thing next day was assembly. The entire auditorium was looking at us. We got stares and people would whisper, guess Renate and I are born for fame, it takes a natural to be used to all the attention. After that we had a physics’ lesson, which gave us the time to expand our social circles. Who can blame the students for not resisting two nice, sweet, kind Dutch girls?

We felt so much at home in the English atmosphere, that we even played football! It was an awful, it seemed like feminism hadn’t reached England yet, they couldn’t believe girls wanted to play football, let alone that we ran into players and pushed them away, to get the ball. 1000 times yelling “I’m not made of glass!” did not help one bit, they were worried that I would break a nail or something and avoided me like I was wearing the worst outfit of this era! And we were not even close to being bad at football, that’s how horrible Renate and I were.

After the football, all the Island Project students had a meeting, to evaluate the Island Project. The teachers finally realised that it had gone rusty and which could have been improved.

On Saturday the Brits thought it was a good idea to climb some random hills. It was a walk from hell (which was quite odd since the hills were quite far up from hell). The paths were steep, hard to walk on and REALLY long. Everyone was puffing and sighing.  On our last evening in England, the guys organised a nice beach barbeque. The food wasn’t eatable but still.

In total, we were in England for five days, actually even less since we mainly drove on Wednesday and Sunday, so let’s say about three days. Three days of British culture, of  getting in contact with students from different parts of Europe, of being with one certain group. Those three days had such an impact that it made the goodbyes so difficult.

We arrived at the Poole Grammar School with an air of awkwardness, silences, an uncomfortable atmosphere. We left that same school, with sadness, a lot of hugs, and with a new group of friends in our hearts. In the very end, we finally experience the goal of the Island project. The students all got to learn each others difference and similarities. None of us expected to make friends from this Island Project, we saw this project as a good excuse for an international trip. In the end, I can only say I’m thankful for the project, I brought back to Holland a lot of knowledge, a bunch of memories and a few new close f