Opinion
I found the whole trip to the memorial pretty shocking, because when we first arrived into
the open area, we saw all the names written on the walls and we couldn’t imagine that all of
them died in wars. That made me realize that we must always avoid war and maintain peace
at all costs. I threw some coins in the pond, because we were almost going home again and I
did it to show respect for all the soldiers who died for their country. The Australian exchange
students said it was a bit boring to go to the memorial, so I was a bit prejudiced. But still I
tried to go there open-minded and think for myself about the exhibition. The museum was
really nice to walk through. I was especially interested in the part about the Boer War.
Where Dutch farmers fought against the British for independent states in the centre of
South Africa. I could recognize some Dutch things, which made me realize that we are still a
relatively important country. Also there were a lot of object like guns, uniforms and vehicles
which I was interested in. I changed my mind about the museum. I thought it would be a bit
boring, but it was also very interactive. You could fly in a simulator and see a lot of movies
about certain major events. The hall with all the aircraft was just beautiful to see. They were
a lot bigger than I expected them to be, which was a good thing. Unfortunately you couldn’t
get into the cockpits, but I didn’t really thought we could. Afterwards I was told by one of
the employees of the little shop that every object in the museum was authentic. I didn’t
expect this and was happily surprised when I heard it. All the uniforms were so good
preserved that you could really see the details. You could also see how bad life was in the
army and that the hygiene and conditions were terrible. This made me realize I should
convince everyone not to join the army. The fact that the soldiers had to survive in those
conditions and still fight made me grew even more respect for them than I already had. After
all it was a good experience and it gave me another perspective to the world. Namely the
one of a soldier in wartime.