March 9-19, 2008 - We couldn't allow the Netherlands
trip to fade away just yet without summarizing the day-to-day events
of the trip, or without thanking all those who worked so hard to bring
it all to fruition. So here goes... CAPS Netherlands Tour
2008, from the girls' perspectives...
Sunday, March 9 (Par Maxine Alie-Poirier)
À 8h30 du matin deux vans et une Jeep
remplies de belles jeunes filles excitées se sont rencontrées au
Tim Horton. Elles avaient toutes la même destinationŠ L'aéroport
de Montréal !! Tous avaient hâte de partir à l'aventure en
Europe !
Les filles, évidemment, avaient de gros
baguages et Leah est celle qui a brisé le record avec ça belle
grosse valise rose ! En raison de la température, notre avion
n'a pu être remplie de nourriture et donc, tout le monde c'est mit
en ligne pour le Burger King ! Nous nous sommes remplies
jusqu'aux oreilles pour ne pas mourir de faim sur l'avion
!
Finalement, notre vol fut appelé etŠ
ça y était ! Nous étions en route pour l'Europe ! BenŠ
ça c'est ce qu'on pensaitŠ Nous avons dû attendre une heure
puisqu'il avait des retardataires ! Avec des papillons dans le
ventre, nous avons finalement décollé ! Pour ce qui
c'est passé sur l'avion, j'en ignore les détails puisque j'étais
endormie et rêvais à notre arrivée !
Cinq heures et 45 minutes. NOUS
SOMMES ENFIN ARRIVÉES !!! Un grand vent fort nous a accueillit
! Là, toutes les filles avaient des fourmis dans les jambes,
de gros yeux pleins d'admiration dévorant le paysage et des souliers
prêts à voyager ! Les organisateurs nous ont chaleureusement
accueillis ainsi que les « billets » de Jorie et Robby. On
nous a servit nos premiers Stroufwaffles et du vla ! Ceci n'est
que le début d'une merveilleuse aventureŠ
Monday, March 10 (By Lauren Carter)
The only thing keeping us awake after our sleepless night on the
plane ride across the Atlantic from Montreal to Amsterdam, was the
excitement of finally arriving at the destination we had been
fundraising for and looking forward to all year. We were kindly
greeted at the airport by our hosts and driven to Robyn and
Jorie's billet's house in Den Haag (The Hague). On the drive
there, Chris' friend Ton gave us a lesson on some Dutch history.
He told us that The Netherlands is the country with the most land
under sea level and that McDonald's is illegal in
Holland. Obviously fatigue affects the way sarcasm is
interpreted.
Once we arrived in Den Haag, we enjoyed classic Dutch snacks,
coffee, tea and sandwiches. We were introduced to a few words of
the Dutch language such as Strippenkaarts (tram tickets) and other
important details about our busy week that lay ahead. Some of us
were then picked up by our billets and brought home to unpack.
Pairs Leah/Marijke and Kaleigh/Kathleen relaxed with Robyn/Jorie
until they were fetched by their billets.
Meanwhile, Rebecca/Brittany, as well as Laura/Maxine's billets
were both unavailable until later on that day, therefore they came
with Steph/Lauren to spend some time with our billet, Nina. She
showed us how to make use of our Strippenkaarts and how to
take the Tram. We poked around the shopping strip for a couple of
hours and returned home for some down time. En route, Max
was nearly wiped out by a bicycle!! Everyone was eventually
picked up and taken to their individual billets for a nice dinner to
get to know each other.
Internal clocks thrown off by jet leg, exhausted from traveling
and overwhelmed with excitement, it didn't take anyone very long to
hit the pillow Day One! Our first impression of The Netherlands
was a good one and we couldn't wait to see more, meet more people and
play a little volleyball in between!
Tuesday, March 11 (By Rebecca
Crosier)
Tuesday was the first day that the CAPS all
met together at Central Station. We had each spent our first
night with our respective billets and were eager to experience the
Dutch culture, as we were to tour Den Haag today.
We started by visiting the gigantic statue
of William of Orange, the Dutch Parliament and passed McDonalds and
the first of many Heineken advertisements! The two highlights of
the tour were the art museums; The Mauritshuis and The Escher.
Here we got to learn some history, see some very interesting paintings
(especially at the Escher museum where all the paintings were
illusions) and begin to understand the new culture that surrounded
us.
During the evening we played our first
match against the Gemini-Kangeroes Meisjes 1 team and, even though we
were tired and some of our players weren't playing, the CAPS still
managed to pull off a 3-1 victory. After the game we ate dinner
with the team and exchanged gifts. We didn't get back to our
billets until late at night.
Day 2 was a foreshadowing day to what the
trip was going to be like; early mornings, a packed, cold, rainy day
full of tours and some shopping, followed by tiring evenings, late
nights and a whole lot of laughs and good memories!
Wednesday, March 12 (By Robyn
Croteau)
We all met at Central Station in the
morning and took a train to Utrecht. The wind was amazingly
strong, so we stopped at a nearby church. After playing in the
wind - yes, playing in the wind - we toured the church, Domkerk,
the biggest in Utrecht. After the tour we decided to make our
first, but definitely not our last, stop at a pannekoeken restaurant
for lunch. Once our tummies were filled, we then set off on a
canal boat tour of Utrecht, a bit of shopping, and then we hopped on
another train to go meet the Taurus team for dinner and a match. They
provided us with a great spaghetti meal. The match was well-played
(2-2) and they definitely gave us some good competition. They were a
super nice group of girls! Back home to bed after
that.
Thursday, March 13 (By
Jorie Daymond)
We started the day by heading off to
Rotterdam to view the cube apartments and the Euromast! First
were the cube apartments and... that was quite the experience. I
don't ever think I will see one of those again (unless I go back).
The setting of it all was out of wack and really sweet and we had a
lot of fun. We 'predicted' about what everyone was going to grow
up to be and we had some laughs.
Then we were off to the Euromast. This was
also very cool. We went up to what we thought was the highest
level, but then kept on realizing it kept on getting higher. We
then got to see all of Rotterdam from an aerial view, which was
beautiful.
We bought some gifts and souvenirs then we
were off to the Lindobeach indoor beach courts. There we were
taught the basics from an Australian coach and another Holland coach.
They were very knowledgable and taught us a lot. We took a nice
break, munching on the great pasta they make, then it was on to the
competition. We all broke off into groups of two and played a
little tournament. Congratulations to Lauren and Michella for
winning it all! Afterwards we stayed to chat for a little while
then headed home to get rest for the next exciting day!
Friday, March 14 (By Steph
Green)
We had a late start to the day, meeting at
around 11:30 at Central Station. We knew where we were going
todayŠ Amsterdam! You could feel the excitement from all the
girls because today, we knew we were going to see many things,
including a behind the scenes look at Schiphol airport, and the Red
Light District. We all got to the train station and were off to
Amsterdam on a 45 minutes train ride.
We arrived at the airport and met with Ton,
who then took us to the KLM buildings and hangars. First thing
we saw were Airplane Simulators, where pilots-in-training do testing.
The next area we went to was where stewards/stewardesses have training
on how to open emergency doors. One more thing to see in this
building was the emergency slides which, sadly, we did not get to go
down. We now made our way to the hangars where Ton stopped to
explain a little about their annual and 5-year checks on the
airplanes. In the first two hangars there were airplanes being
checked and repaired. The first plane was closed and the second
had too many men working in it. In a third hangar we found one
that we were allowed to go into. We got onto the plane and sat
right downŠ in first class! We all lay back in the huge chairs
with all the room and thought... "Why don't we fly first
class?" After a little nap, we left the plane, and stopped at
the cafeteria for a little to eat before heading out back to the
airport. Thanks to Ton for the great tour around the KLM
buildings and hangars.
Next we jumped on the train and headed for
central station Amsterdam, and then a tram to get right down town. We
went to an area where there were lots of stores, and Chris gave us 45
minutes to do a little shopping and then we had to meet back at Dam
Square. When we were all there it was off to The Red Light
District! After our little tour we headed for dinner at a
Chinese restaurant, and then back to the train station for our trip
home.
Saturday, March 15 (By Marijke Miedema)
The day started out late, so we all did what we wanted in the
morning! Some of us went to the beach, others went shopping, and some
took advantage of the late start and slept in.
Early afternoon we all met at a place called Madurodam, a sort of
outdoor museum or something that has all the important building,
tourist attractions or places with historical meaning put into
miniature form and displayed for everyone to see. There were also
little displays where you can insert a loonie and little Dutch shoes
will come from a tractor out of a barn and you can get them, and
another miniature chocolate factory will bring you out a mini Mars bar
if you pay. The younger Dutch kids took advantage of Marijke,
Lauren and Kathleen and sneaked in front of the line... so they had to
wait for a good 15-20 minutes to get their mini chocolate bar!
Later, we went to Houtrust where we played fun games with
different boys and girls teams from Kalinko, like blind volleyball.
Then we had our big game against the Kalinko MA1 team! We had a
really rough time starting up and we may have taken them too lightly
as they beat us pretty badly. But the next three sets we put up
a big fight and managed to come away with a 3-1 victory! Kalinko
very kindly fed us dinner after the match.
Then, the 'Minis' (little Kalinko players, ages 6-12) came to
meet us and we had a dance party! We taught them all our sweet
Canadian dance moves and they showed us some of theirs, and then we
played games with them. Once that was over, we went home to get
ready for the party the older Kalinko players were throwing for us!
We dressed up in our orange and blue and headed to the party. It
was a very long night and we made so many new friends that we still
manage to keep in touch with via Facebook and MSN. Even the
organizers and coaches that we had played earlier on in the week from
Gemini-Kangeroe came to hang out with us! An awesome time was
had by all - thanks so much Kalinko for playing a great game against
us and throwing us a fun party!
Sunday, March 16 (By Kaleigh
Potts)
Sunday was thankfully a bit of a break day,
as we only had to meet at Central station at noon. Most of the
girls got to sleep in (I didn't - we went biking through the dunes!)
or to browse around their neighbourhood.
Instead of the customary tram, the team met
up with some generous billets and organizers who were willing to drive
the hour to the Canadian War Cemetary at Bergen-Op Zoom. We
found our way to the graveyard where we all set about finding the
gravestones of the Canadian soldiers we had researched. The
rainy day further set the mood, as it was haunting seeing gravestones
for 19,18, even 17 year olds in every row.
After talking more about the battle, we got
back in the vans to head to the Ouwerkerk Flood Museum to learn about
the dykes that keep the Netherlands from being immersed in sea water.
To our bad luck, the museum was closed, but the adults found another
option! We found a restaurant nearby that would seat our huge
group. The owner knew all about The Netherlands' history, in
particular all about the sea and the dykes and the role they play in
Dutch culture. She willingly shared her knowledge and most
likely received a nice Canada pin for her efforts! We were free
to walk around the shore after lunch to explore, and make sure Robby
didn't blow away (it was a windy day). We returned to Den Haag
early to have a nice Sunday dinner with our billets.
Monday, March 17 (By Brittany
Rockwell)
Monday morning started off with a train
ride to Amsterdam for a walking tour of the Anne Frank House.
Following the visit, the girls faced off against VC Hoofddorp MA1.
The girls won their last match in Holland (3-1) which was followed up
by a meal provided by Hoofddorp where we all learnt many new words and
got to socialize with the Dutch girls. Many thanks to Hoofddorp
for all their hospitality and for giving us the opportunity to play
such a talented young team.
Tuesday, March 18 (By Leah
Spas)
We spent the day in Delft. First we
had lunch and ate PANNEKOEKENS and then we walked through Delft and
did a bit of shopping before it started to
hail?!?!?!
After the unexpected hail storm we walked
to the Delft Blue Pottery Factory. There we learned how they made
Delft ware and how to tell between fake Delft and real Delft. On
our way back to the train station we had a little bit of a hold upŠ
BrittanyŠ so some people went ahead with Matt. Matt decided he
would help out Chris and find out what train we needed to get on.
Of course we ended up on the wrong train and in a random city -
hahaha - thanks Matt, but we managed to get back to Den Haag without
getting arrested and spent the rest of the day shopping!!
Wednesday, March 19 (By Kathleen
Watt)
Wednesday was our last day in Holland. We all had to meet
at Central Station at 12, so we had one last morning with our billet
families and a little time to do any last things. It was so hard
to get our suitcases down those horrifying stairs that it seemed like
a nice idea to just stay for a while longer but, unfortunately we had
a flight to catch, so we had to lower them down and say goodbye to our
wonderful hosts.
At Central Station there was a whole crowd of people who had come
to see us off and say their last goodbyes. It was soooo hard to
say goodbye to all the amazing people we had met, but after lots of
hugs and tears we all managed to get on our last tram heading to
Schiphol airport.
Seeing Berbel and Steven running beside our train definitely
brought on some fresh tears though! It was very sad to get on
the plane and leave Holland but, although we were all exhausted, we
still managed to enjoy all the movies and games on the KLM
flight.
When we arrived in Montreal, it was great to see all the parents
there to meet us and, although it was sad to leave all the wonderful
people and places that we had discovered in Holland, we all have some
great memories, jokes, irrelevant Dutch words, and interesting
souvenirs that came back with us. It was definitely an
unforgettable 10 days, and I'm sure some of us will be back there
someday.
A generous 'dank u'
to everyone who made this trip possible
(By Laura Edwards)
Ok so... uhh... OMG, where do I start with all the thank yous?!?
As I started to write it all down in point form it really hit me how
much work people did to make this amazing trip happen for all of us.
Let's see...
To our parents:
You wrote the big cheques to make all this happen, as well
as making sure we all had a few Euros to have some fun with while we
were over there. I'm sure there may have been a few of you who
might have loved to come across with us to Holland, but thanks so much
for doing all the hard work and for making so many sacrifices so that
we might have all this fun as a team. We really appreciate
it.
To the donors:
Thank you to every anonymous and not-so-anonymous person
who contributed even one loonie to help pay for this trip. And
thanks very much to Diane Watt and to all the other parents who helped
to organize Loblaws fundraisers and all the other events that we
worked on to help pay for the trip.
To the Executive, and members of the NCVC:
Thank you very much for the club's donation which helped
pay for coaches expenses, and the various gifts that we gave to teams
that played us.
To Paul Edwards:
Thanks for designing the trip logos, the rad shirts (that
EVERYONE loved), lapel pins and Thank You cards, for keeping the
website up-to-date while we were away, and for being my Pops!
Thanks as well to Connie Daymond for organizing the printing of the
shirts.
To the airport chauffeurs:
Thanks to Geoff & Mary Clare Carter, my Pops, Karen &
Kerry Green, Marg Miedema and Dianne Croteau, and Guy Moreau and Mona
Alie-Poirier for getting us to and from that crazy big airport in
Montreal.
To our Dutch trip organizers: So many people
to thank really...
- Ton
- Elly
- Annet
- Karolien
- Lars
- Jorien
- Rokus
- Harke (Anne Frank House)
Thanks so much to all of you for helping Chris to plan our
touristy days, our volleyball events and for organizing our stays with
all those wonderful families!
To our billet families:
- Pepi Boogaard, Jos Besseling and daughter
Nina (Lauren & Steph)
- Nancy & Juergen Keil and daughter
Melanie (Laura & Maxine - days 6-10)
- Ineke Mulder, Hugo Jonker and daughter
Mila (Marijke & Leah)
- Ton Opdam (Chris
Miedema)
- Genia & Remy Persoon and daughter
Karolien (Jorie & Robyn)
- Amanda & Rutger Schoen and daughter
Mabel (Rebecca & Brittany)
- Toos van den Berg, Wilbert Nieuwstraten
and daughter Marieke (Kathleen & Kaleigh)
- Remco Kobos and Nora (Jessica Prot)
- Thijs van Ham (Matt Hoey)
- Anne & Jan Voorendt and daughter
Berbel (Laura & Maxine - days 1-5)
It's hard to know what to say to all of you really.
Thank you for taking us into your homes and for doing whatever it took
to make us feel so welcome - almost Dutch - while we were
in Den Haag!
To our Dutch opponents:
- Kalinko MA1
- Gemini-Kangeroes Meisjes-1
- Taurus Meisjes-1
- VC Hoofddorp MA1
Thanks for being such friendly opposition and for
providing us with such great volleyball, Netherlands-style! And
thanks for all the great meals and treats and for all the smiles and
laughs! We all miss you guys!
To coaches Matt and Jess:
Thank you for everything you did on and off the court to
keep everything running so smoothly while we were in Holland and for
helping Chris with the organization. And thanks Jess for being
the team photographer!
To Marg, Marijke and Anneke:
Thanks for supporting Chris while he was getting all this
ready and for the help you likely offered during all the
planning.
And to Chris...
My Dad tells me that it's not so easy to appreciate
things until some time has passed and you realize how great things
really were after they happened. Well, I guess we're
really going to appreciate this in the future because we sure do
appreciate it very, very much already! I know we've all said
thank you for all you did to make this happen, but it's impossible
for us to know everything you did in the months before we left
Canada. We saw what you did in Holland, but thanks so much for
all the hours of sleep you must have lost working out all the little
details before we even left, and for making such an effort to make
sure we got the most out of the trip while we were there. We
will never forget what you did for us. Thank you so much
Chris.
Oh, and my Dad says I should say sorry to anyone I have forgotten
to thank so... sorry.
Anyways, it was the best trip ever so thanks a million to
everyone! "Six-one-three ... NL!"
Editor's Note: There were so many photos, but only so
much time for me to edit them - please feel free to add your own
images through our "Add your photos" functionality at the bottom.
More images from the trip can be found here.
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