Students from the hospitality and photography departments had the honour of visiting Koning Willem I College in the Netherlands on behalf of the College. The four students, hospitality students, Roeshdien Oktober and Nonyameko Hlazo, and photography students Salma Price and Ian Hendricks were accompanied by lecturers; Ursula Awood and Madri Le Roux. The College has a relationship with Koning Willem I since September 2001 when staff from the two Colleges visited each other.

The main purpose of this visit in 2009 was the launch of the Eetboek ZA/NL. The book is a product of the co-operation between the two Colleges with hospitality and photography students working together to combine recipes of the two countries into one cookbook. The photography students traveled to take the photos and the hospitality students tested the recipes that were determined beforehand that will feature in the book. These were traditional South African recipes as well as traditional Dutch and then a fusion between the two countries.

During the 11 day trip the students had a tour of the Koning Willem I College. They were attending lectures with students to see how things are done at the College. What our students noticed was that the College has much better facilities and the students are given much more responsibilities compared to our students, with students running the canteen and restaurant at the College. They were also taken on excursions to different cities in The Netherlands. They went to the Cathedral, boat trips, train trips and also to Efteling Fun Park to get the complete Dutch experience.

 The highlight of the trip was the benefit dinner where the book was launched. A three course South African Dinner was served to 100 guests, including everyone that was involved with the book. The South African National Anthem was sung by a group of Dutch students and an item of dance was also delivered. Only 3 000 books were printed and it is being displayed at a prominent place in a local bookshop in the Netherlands. A television interview showcasing Roeshdien speaking Afrikaans was also done at the dinner.

There is a wealth of knowledge and resources to be shared and many benefits that our students and theirs could gain from international exposure. It was clear that even though the Dutch have better facilites our students could hold there own and definitely complete with the Dutch students. The students would love to thank all those people who made this experience possible.