Creative writing tutor: Looking at peoples lives - Jones Sally, Jones Amanda 2015

Vlad

A Day In The Life Of Vlad: My Dutch Exchange

I remember that dark morning. I was woken up early by the arms of my dad shaking me. I slowly clambered out of my bed and prepared for what was going to be a very long day. As dad drove me to my school, I listened to the drumming beats of loud music, hoping it might wake me up. Dad squeezed the car into a tight parking space and we made our way towards the coach, surrounded by sleepy children, whispering parents and busy teachers.

As the coach drove down the empty motorway, the sun began to peek out from behind the hills and my classmates began to wake up and start to murmur. We were all very nervous, but also curious about the days to come. I wondered what my exchange partner would be like, whether we would get on well and if his family would welcome me. These thoughts spun around our minds and made us even more anxious.

The coach arrived on time and drove on to the ferry. Everyone got out and we followed our teachers up the spiral staircase from the car deck into the ferry’s lounge. The teachers showed us the meeting point and commanded that we checked in every half an hour, but otherwise we were free to explore the boat. After two hours of shopping, eating and exploring the ferry, we arrived in Calais and the coach sped off along the motorway towards Holland.

We travelled through the French countryside, admiring the scenery through the windows of the coach. We saw brick houses with small cars parked outside and beautiful gardens with strawberry vines growing up the fences. In Belgium, we stopped off at a chocolate shop, where we purchased some sugary snacks. I had a coffee flavoured ice cream and bought some Easter eggs. We hopped back onto the coach and after waiting for some clucking chickens to clear the road, headed on towards the Dutch school, where the exchange would begin. The excitement grew and grew.

The coach driver parked outside the school and we got out, grabbed our luggage and made ourselves comfortable in the school canteen. An old lady strolled towards the microphone and called out our names in a Dutch accent. I was introduced to my exchange partner and we began to get to know each other.

I needn’t have worried because Thom was a wonderful person, who was very kind and helpful. He took my bags and his family welcomed me. Their home was perfect. It had a large garden planted with flowers and the interior had modern furniture with lots of photographs on display. They even had a sweet dog, called Bo, which was obedient, playful and surprisingly quiet.

As the week went on, I got to know Thom better and better. We worked together on various activities and visited museums, such as the African Culture Museum, where we appreciated art and had a workshop on African instruments. We even had a guided tour round a Dutch town and learnt about the history of Holland.

One day, we cycled to school, where we had an art lesson. We had to draw our teachers, using charcoal. The art teacher was very impressed with my work. After this, we had a workshop on photography. In the afternoon, we cycled to a rugby field, where we played contact rugby and practised our tackles. It was good fun.

On the penultimate day of the exchange, we went to a zoo. The animals were kept in cages, which mirrored their natural habitats. In the cages, the climate and temperature were specially adapted to suit the animal’s requirements, so they could live in the same conditions that they are used to in the wild. We saw flowers, fish, animals, birds and cacti. It was an interesting visit, but as we left the zoo, it began to drizzle and we got wet.

On top of that, the family also took me go carting and laser questing. I was amongst the top five winners at laser questing, but at go carting, I managed to crash into a wall and injure my leg and ribs. It was a good job I was wearing a helmet. I hope I didn’t make a fool of myself. The reason I say this is because it was a bad crash. In fact, part of the wall had to be taken down to get me out.

After a week, it was time to say goodbye to our exchange partners and their families. We threw our bags on to the coach, shook hands with our exchange partners and hugged their mothers. I didn’t really want to go back to England, because I was having too much fun. Would my parents mind if I stayed a few more days?

We arrived in England at around two c clock in the afternoon. I couldn’t wait to see my parents again. Dragging my heavy bag off the coach, I sat down on a stone wall and waited for my mum and dad to pick me up. I had bought my mum a surprise gift on the ferry — her favourite perfume. When I saw my parents, I showed off my cheesy grin and started jumping up and down and waving my arms in the air, like I was drowning. I raced into my parents’ arms, laughing, because I was so happy to see them.

I told my parents that it had been an incredible experience and I couldn’t wait to do it again!

Now write an autobiography about a day in your life...