The school years of Willem
The house of my grandparents was full of members of the family who came without any money from Indonesia. Nevertheless I don´t remember any problems of the time when we went to the primary school. In the neighborhood where we lived there were three catholic schools: one prepared for higher education, especially for the Ignatius College, another school prepared for lower education and the third one prepared the children directly for the labor market. We went to the second school. When we finished this school my elder brother and I received the advice to continue at a school for lower education like all the other kids.
The choice of a grammer school
Given that both my parents had studied, they thought that this was not acceptable, although we were not very good at school. We liked more playing outside and doing sports. My mother went to the direction of the Ignatius College to convince the board to accept her children in their school. She succeeded and so we went to that school.
This does not mean that we were working hard to show that she was right. Our results never indicated that we both would become university professors later on. The reason was that we still continued to do the minimum that was necessary to pass the yearly tests. We were good in mathematics, physics and chemistry without much effort, but not very good in languages of which we had a lot: French, German, English, Latin and Greek. This does not mean that we were not competetive. We preferred to become the best in sports. In the second year at that school I was already asked for the school team in table tennis, later I was captain of the hockey team of the school. Already before finishing the school I was in the first senior team of the hockey and cricket club. Besides that I was a fanatic skater and went skating whenever it was possible. (see my website: https://skatingstories.weebly.com/ ).
Given that both my parents had studied, they thought that this was not acceptable, although we were not very good at school. We liked more playing outside and doing sports. My mother went to the direction of the Ignatius College to convince the board to accept her children in their school. She succeeded and so we went to that school.
This does not mean that we were working hard to show that she was right. Our results never indicated that we both would become university professors later on. The reason was that we still continued to do the minimum that was necessary to pass the yearly tests. We were good in mathematics, physics and chemistry without much effort, but not very good in languages of which we had a lot: French, German, English, Latin and Greek. This does not mean that we were not competetive. We preferred to become the best in sports. In the second year at that school I was already asked for the school team in table tennis, later I was captain of the hockey team of the school. Already before finishing the school I was in the first senior team of the hockey and cricket club. Besides that I was a fanatic skater and went skating whenever it was possible. (see my website: https://skatingstories.weebly.com/ ).
My first major decisions
During these years at school I had also to decide in which direction I wanted to continue in my life. One thing was very clear to me: I didn´t want to make the same mistake as my father. This means that I definitely decided never to become a believer in any ideology. I even decided that I would not become a member of a political party. That does not mean that I was not interested in political and social processes. I was very worried about the inequality in the world and about the arms race. Therefore I have participated in many peace demonstrations held in The Netherlands.
Although I was good in mathematics and physics I decided not to follow my father and brother to go in this direction. I bought a book about sociology, “Moderne Sociologie”, when I was still in school and read it with great interest. This determined that I decided to choose for a study in Sociology at the University.
Another important decision
Before I went there I also applied for a participation in a summer course at the Peace University organized in Belgium by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, the priest, father Pire. There I became more aware of the political problems in the world and was inspired by the international atmosphere.
After the meeting in Belgium I invited three Irish and two Japanese friends to go with me to Amsterdam where we stayed for a week in the house of my parents whoe were not there that week. It was an experience that has had a lot of effect on my further life. With this background I started a new phase in my life, the life of a student away from home.
During these years at school I had also to decide in which direction I wanted to continue in my life. One thing was very clear to me: I didn´t want to make the same mistake as my father. This means that I definitely decided never to become a believer in any ideology. I even decided that I would not become a member of a political party. That does not mean that I was not interested in political and social processes. I was very worried about the inequality in the world and about the arms race. Therefore I have participated in many peace demonstrations held in The Netherlands.
Although I was good in mathematics and physics I decided not to follow my father and brother to go in this direction. I bought a book about sociology, “Moderne Sociologie”, when I was still in school and read it with great interest. This determined that I decided to choose for a study in Sociology at the University.
Another important decision
Before I went there I also applied for a participation in a summer course at the Peace University organized in Belgium by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, the priest, father Pire. There I became more aware of the political problems in the world and was inspired by the international atmosphere.
After the meeting in Belgium I invited three Irish and two Japanese friends to go with me to Amsterdam where we stayed for a week in the house of my parents whoe were not there that week. It was an experience that has had a lot of effect on my further life. With this background I started a new phase in my life, the life of a student away from home.