The Swedish pupils have interviewed several persons from the staff of RSG School and also the Manager of the Department Store Hema, the town counciller for tourism and some pupils from RSG.
 
 

Do you like to be a teacher?
Yes and no! He said that he likes to teach and do unusual stuff like our project and visiting other schools. He also said that he likes to push the pupils as hard as possible so they reach the ultimate limit. What he doesn´t like is to go from one part of the school to another, it’s too stressy. He ended by saying there are good and bad sides of being a teacher.

How old are you and how long have you been working as a teacher?
I have been a teacher for 19 years and I am 43 years.

What language/languages do you speak in general?
We only speak one language but there are many different dialects and people hardly understand each other when they visit a relative in another part of the country.

What is the big difference between Sweden and Holland?
There are a lot of differences, for example, in Sweden you waste a lot of money when pupils sometimes are scribbling and destroying their books and other things. In Holland we check the books in the middle of the term and you have to pay if your books are not clean and proper. In Sweden school is not that strict as in Holland.

What do you drink at the dinnertable?
Usually Dutch people drink wine, beer and that kind of drinks.

Erik and Thomas

What do you know about Sweden?
I know you have a king and a queen, King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia.
You are a big skating country.
It is cold and it snows in the winter. We like your mooses. They are very popular in Holland.
I know about Öresundsbron between Sweden and Denmark

What is the weather like in Holland?
A bit warmer than in Sweden. No cold winters and no warm summers. We have sea climate

Do you have a national animal?
In the weapon there is a lion.

How many people live in Holland?
About 17 million.

What do you drink in Holland?
The same as in Sweden, beer, milk and cola

How big is Holland compared to Sweden?
Sweden is about 6-7 times bigger. And only 8 million inhabitants live there.

Are there any natural resources in Holland?
Gas, by land and by sea. We export of all kinds of flowers. Holland is not rich in natural resources, but they trade stuff with other countries.

 What do you eat in Holland?
 Potatoes, meat and things.
.
 What do young people want to work with when they have finished school?
 Mostly IT.

Fredrik and Gabriel

Is it fun to be a teacher?
Yes…..if the classes are small.

How long have you worked here?
12 ½ year in this school.

Is it hard to teach French?
Not when the pupils are interested and when they are listening.

What kind of teacher are you? Kind, strict, patient?
The pupils think I’m good and nice.

What do you think about this school?
It’s a very nice school for both teachers and pupils.

What is Enkhuizen like?
It’s a very beautiful town and old. I know almost everybody.

How many classes do you teach? And how many pupils are there normally?
11 classes…..30 pupils.

 Do you like to travel?
Yes! But not so far, much to France with my family.

Have you got any free time? And what do you do?
Travel around singing and playing the guitar.

What do you think when you think about Sweden?
Blond girls, big tall boys and girls. The nature and the space…..also alcohol.=)

Do you have any family?
A wife and two children.

Sofia, Malin and Mikaela

What do you do in your profession?
I’m the head of the ‘caretakers’. We make sure that everything is in order. We do not clean but when something has broken we have to order new things, or repair the old if we can. These things can be from books to furniture. We also fix activities so that the students have something to do. Except for me,  there are 4 caretekers.

What regulations are there in this school that you think are special for Holland?
I don’t think we have any special rules just for Holland. I think that they are like most rules in  European schools.

What kinds of penalties are there?
That depends on the felony. If the crime is very small the students
get to do small jobs for me, for example cleaning up the school. If the crime
is very large, where drugs are involved, for example, the police is contacted
directly.

Are there a lot of pupils in this school that are in anyway problematic? If then in what way?
There are not so many problems in our school at all.

Is there anything you would like to change in the school system?
I want to change that students and teachers won’t look away when problems come ahead.

Have you ever been to a Swedish school?
No I haven’t. But I have been to schools in Romania, China, India and many more.

How many pupils are there in this school?
There are about 1330 pupils in this school.

What do you do to keep all these pupils under control?
To keep them under control we have made so that the pupils respect us teachers and that we respect all the students.

Simon and Johan

How long have you been working here as a headmaster?
11 years, and before that 4 years in another school.

Is there a lot of scribbling here in your school?
No, not really.

How old is this school?
The school, 100 years. The building, about 30 years.

How many pupils, teachers and other staff are working here?
125 total staff, 80 of them are teachers. 1325 pupils are going here.

What’s the difference between Oberstufe, Realschule und Gymnasium?
They are three different lines. Oberstufe is 4 years and is easy, most students go there. Realschule is 5 years and moderate. Gymnasium is 6 years and the hardest. You have to go Realschule or Gymnasium if you want to go to a university.

Gustav and Krister

On Friday me and Krister made an interview with the headmaster Mr A Sluis. He worked in a big, nice room with comfortable chairs. He told us he has been working here as a headmaster for 12 years now, and before he was a teacher in physics. With 26 years of experience of the schoolsystem in RSG Enkhuizen he is probably a very good headmaster.

He thinks it’s very important with good relations between students and teachers/staff. Everyone should be on the same level and teachers should be more like mentors. That makes this school so popular, he says. The 1300 students in RSG are quite few compared to other similar schools in Holland but they are more than the school is built for. It’s pretty crowded here and they are thinking about expanding. They are also going to rebuild some of the existing parts, especially the top floor where the oldest students go. The classrooms are going to be smaller and they are going to build some more study rooms where you can work independently without a teacher. This is a good step to give the pupil more responsibility, which both the headmaster and the vice headmaster mentioned as an important goal.

The school gets most of their money from the government, 11 millions, and only 1 million from the parents of the students. The money from the government pays for the rooms, the staff, the furniture and computers while the students pay for their things, like books, pens, rubbers and other stationery.

Gustav and Krister

How long have you been working here?
14 years.

When did you become the principal of the store?
Two and a half years ago

What do you do as a principal?
I manage business matters and employees.

What kind of things do you sell?
Almost everything, pots and pans, chairs, clothes and food.

What do you not sell?
Animals.

From where do you get the things you sell?
Order from Utrecht

Are there many Hemashops around Holland?
I think there are 357 stores.

Are there Hema shops in other countries?
In Belgium and Germany.

What does the name Hema mean?
In English I think it means "A store for people with less money".

How big is the store?
The bottom floor is 870 square metres, the second floor is 620 square metres.

Do you sell more things during high seasons?
No, not really. The tourists buy the same things as the Dutch people do at Hema

How many employees do you have?
55 employees, but only 4 or 5 are working full time. The rest is part time employees.

 How old do you have to be to work here?
15 years old.

What are your working hours?
8.30 to 18.00

Simon and Johan

How many people live in Enkhuizen?
About 16 500 people and in the 17th century we were about 30 000 people.

How many tourists visit Enkhuizen yearly?
Many people visit different places. But earlier more then 1 million tourists came here.

What are the most interesting things to see here?
We’ve got loads of monuments, more than 50. The three biggest are The old canals, buildings and watergates.

Do tourists mainly come for the historic parts of the town?
For several reasons I believe so … the historic feeling, the fairytale park and the outdoor museum.

How old are the tourists?
Oh well Enkhuizen is attractive for everybody. Many things for both young and old. We have the park for the small children, museum for older people and discotecs for the teenagers.

For how long do they stay in Enkhuizen?
We have most day tourists, but we’re trying to make it better so they will stay for a longer time.

How many Swedish people come to visit Enkhuizen?
They’re not many at all. We have most Italian campers, Germans and English tourists.

How do people earn their money?
After the second world war people moved from Enkhuizen to find work in other cities. Later on the industries came back to Enkhuizen like Drakapolva, making pipes.

Is fishing still important for Enkhuizen?
We have only got seven ships left, which is not much. It’s not so important as it used to be.

Are the charter ships still important?
We’re trying to renovate them so they can sail again. In the 1970’s it used to be a hobby, now it’s a big industry. And we are also building a new harbour near the station with dams. That is very important!

Do tourists have to pay tourist tax?
If you stay at a hotel and stay here a night you have to pay tourist tax, and also if you are living in a boat, of course. It’s not to “take”their money, they’re used for the tourists again.

 What’s the busiest time in Enkhuizen?
From April 1 to November 1. And we’re trying to have the tourists for a longer time.

How do tourists come to Enkhuizen?
Loads of them come by boat or car.

How many people live in the newly built parts of Enkhuizen?
There are 7500 people living in the old town. And about 9000 in the new parts.

Mikaela, Sofia and Malin

What do think about our visit, do you like it?
It´s fun because it´s unusual and we communicate in another way when we use cameras, computers and make a lot interviews with teachers and Swedish pupils.

Do you often go to the pub?
Yes, with my boyfriend, he is 19 years. But not every weekend, it will be too expensive.

Erik and Thomas

What does your country look like?
Lots of water and canals all over the country. Two big rivers and no mountains. A couple of hills.

What do you have in Holland that we don’t have in Sweden?
Nothing.

Are there many immigrants in Holland? Is racism common here?
Yes, a lot of immigrants but not so much racism.

How many TV channels have you got?
Many, many. But only three are free.

What hobbies have you got?
Tennis, dancing, shopping.

How old do you have to be to drive a car, moped or motorcycle?
18 for car and motorcycle, 16 for moped.

What music do you listen to?
Trance, pop, rap. Mainly Eminem and Limp Bizkit

Do you know any Swedish groups/artists?
ABBA, A-teens.

How much does a CD cost in Holland?
40-45 Gulden (160-180 kr).

Krister and Gustav

What do you eat in Holland?
Potatoes, meat ,vegetables and everything.

Is there any bullying in this school?
Yes, specially  among girls.

Is there racism?
Not much , because just 5% are immigrants.

How many TV channels have you got?
Very many.

Are there many cinemas here in Enkhuizen?
There are no cinemas here. But in Amsterdam and Hoorn there are.

What hobbies have you got?
Soccer, painting, going out in the weekends.

Are computer games popular and internet?
It’s very popular!

What kind of music do you listen to?
Most hip hop….then trance,jazz and punk.M

Have you got any pets?
Maikel: 2 cats, Coen: 4 cats, Jurjen: 1 cat.

What clothes do you wear?
Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Duncan, O’neil.

Malin, Mikaela and Sofia