Jenneke Bertine Klasina Stinis
The years 1971 – 1978
1977
Q: You also moved to a new house in 1971?
A: Yes. My parents wanted to move to another house. The Obrechtstraat wasn’t such a nice street anymore as it was before. There was a garage at the other side of the street with a lot of noise and strange persons. In the past, we, as children, were able to play on the street. We sat up some tents and with all the children we had a wonderful time, but even that became too dangerous now. And there was nothing that kept us there anymore since my grandmother died.
As you know, my grandmother only lived a couple of houses away from us in the Obrechtstraat on number 298. My parents looked around for months, but couldn’t find a house they liked. Or it was too small or it has a small garden and so on. Then at the end of 1970 they got a phonecall that there "maybe" was a house available that would be perfect for us. One of my family members lived in the same street and my mother had seen the house but never realized that it would be something for us! Well anyway, they went to see it and loved it immediately. They got an option for it and discussed the possibility for the future and after some nights without any sleep, they decided to buy it.
Q: And you? What was your opinion about it?
A: Well, I hadn’t seen the house when they bought it!
Q: That’s strange! When did you finally see it?
A: Some days later. My parents heard that for years, that they bought a house without letting me see it before, but I thought they made the right decision. I loved it from the first moment as well.
Q: Pfffff. What would happen if you didn’t like it?
A: I have no idea. I asked them this same question as you’re doing now, but they answered then: "Do you have any problems with it?" and laughed. And that’s what I did too.
Q: You moved April 23, 1971, but you were still at the NSV at that time.
A: Let me tell you something else first before I answer that question.
Before my parents bought our new house, I heard from my best friend that he would move and I felt so sad at the time. Shortly after that we bought our new house, they moved in January 1971 and there new home was only 10 minutes away from our new house. Funny isn’t it?
But back to your question: I traveled from our new home to the NSV the last couple of months. It wasn’t such a long trip and the first traject my father traveled with me that was very nice. I remember the day we moved like yesterday. It was a Friday and I went to school around half past 8 because there was some swimming at school. When I left the home in the Obrechtstraat one big truck with a smaller one and a separated smaller one were standing in front of the house. When I sat in the bus (to go to the swimming pool) we past the Obrechtstraat and so I was able to see what they were doing for a second time. When I returned home later that day I had to pass the Obrechtstraat and I saw the trucks were gone now. Over here, in our new home, they just brought our latest belongings inside. I guess that was around 5 o’clock but then they realized that they made a big mistake earlier that day! One of the first things they put inside in the truck was my father’s big desk and now that one was of course, the latest thing they had to bring inside. I guess, they never realized that, at the end of such a long day, that would be a real nightmare. It took them more then 45 minutes before the desk arrived at the 2nd floor of the house. There were some parts of the desk broken but it was possible to repair them later. Everybody was exhausted afterwards and I think, they never made that same mistake again!
Q: And where was (and still is) your new room?
A: At the 1st floor. The last couple of months, before we moved, there were some problems with the house. There was no Central Heath and that was the first thing we wanted and then they find out that the floor downstairs was in such a bad condition that it had to be replaced first. Fine, everything was just painted so you can imagine how frustrated that was. I painted my father’s room myself during the weekends.
It was so great to have a room for myself now. In the Obrechtstraat I had one too, but there was a closed of my parents standing in my room and I always had to cross their room before I could inside mine.
Q: That sounds great. And now you have half of the house for your belongings, I heard.
A: Yeah, you can say that. I have my own bedroom, my "Office" and then the 2nd floor of the house with my father’s room.
Q: You can tell me more about that later. What happened after the summerholiday of 1971?
A: I went to another school. To class B8 of the "Hugo de Groot Scholengemeenschap" here in Den Haag. The name of the school was "Grotius Lyceum" in the past and one of my uncle’s teached there in the beginning! The school was only 5 minutes away from our house. The name of the school changed again in "Segbroek College" and opened a new part of the school earlier this year.
Q: Can you tell me something more about this school?
A: You can read more about the school if you click here.
Q: I read it in the meantime and I think it’s very fascinated. How were your years at this school?
A: Great. A lot of my classmembers from the NSV went with me to the Hugo and we spent another year together in class B8. Around March 1972, there was a competition between all the first classes (1-8). Every class got some help of professional actors of a Theaterschool and we wrote a special play of (I guess) it was "Assepoester". The evening was great and we were so surprised when we heard that we won the competition with our class. Unbelievable. We never expected that.
Q: Did you have a major role in it?
A: Not really, but we all had a part in it and that made it very special to all of us.
Q: In 1972 you went to your father’s work again.
A: Oh you mean to be an assistent during St. Nicholaas celebration? There were a lot of little children around. My father played the piano and we all sang some St. Nicholaas songs. There were some children as well who walk up to St. Nicholaas and then received some candy. They offered me some candy too, but I don’t really like it. I remember during my schooltime, that one of the "Zwarte Pieten" always visited the classes to drop some candy on the floor (not very hygienic if you realize that now), but all my class mates jumped up from their chairs to get something, but I just sat there thinking "Are they stupid" or something like that. You could do me a bigger favor with a piece of a sausage. (And you can still do that till now. I’m still not a candy fan).
Q: Can you tell me more things about your days at the Hugo de Groot school?
A: Let me think. Most of the days were very quiet. I really liked the school and I had a lot of friends there.
The first years we had our lessons in the Klaverstraat, but the school got bigger and bigger and there wasn’t enough space anymore for all of us so they looked around for another school in the neighborhood for the highest classes.
Q: And did they find one?
A: Yes in the Zonnebloemstraat nearby. The schoolbuilding was empty and it was on walking distance from the Klaverstraat, but sometimes we had to walk 3 or 4 times between the two buildings and that wasn’t pleasant, especially not in the winter.
Q: I can imagine that. Is that why decided to build a new building after the one in the Klaverstraat?
A: I guess so, but I left school in 1978 and the new building opened its doors just recently and I have no idea what happened in between. I only knew that the school in the Zonnebloemstraat doesn’t exist any longer. They made space for new houses on that place.
Q: Your father was also a part of the Schoolcommunity as well.
A: Yes he was a part of the Parentcommision. But I guess, you know more details about it already, didn’t you?
Q: Earlier you told me, that you had problems with leaving school after the last year. And I guess leaving the Hugo wasn’t different?
A: No not really. But this time it was even worse. I didn’t leave the school before 1978 inspite as in 1976 as I used to be.
Q: In 1978? What happened?
A: In 1976 I did my final exams for the first time, but didn’t get enough points to graduate. Well, no problem there’s always a second time, but then the problems started. You have to know that in 1976 (I have no idea or it’s still the same, I really hope not) during the year in 5 HAVO you had the same teachers as in 4 HAVO. They could prepare you the best for your exams. When I had to do it all over again, I got the teachers the others had in 4 HAVO with the problem that the things they teached then where totally different from the teachers I had in 4 HAVO the year before. In fact we had to learn all the things they teached in 4 HAVO as well in 3 or 4 months. Almost impossible. At the end of 1977 it was obvious for me that I wouldn’t get my diploma for a second time, but of course you always hope the best of it, but when they phoned me in June with the bad news I thought my whole world felt apart.
The teachers knew how hard I studied for it and realized then (I wished they did that before) that there was something totally wrong with their system. I don’t know exactly what happened but they all had some talks and at the end I got permission to do the exam for the third time. That was very unusual and never happened before. It was great news and I took the opportunity with both hands, but you must realize that all my friends left school in the meantime and that I set between schoolmates now who were (at least) two years younger as I was.
Q: On that age two years are a real difference.
A: Yes, but I tried to make the best of it. I got my "old" teachers again and they helped me so much. They were there for me all the time and I still thank them for that. I especially found that out when my mother laid in the hospital.
Q: Oh boy, speaking about bad luck. It looks, like there isn’t a year in your life that nothing special happened.
A: Not every year was a disaster, but otherwise there wouldn’t be much to tell you.
Q: What happened that your mother lay in the hospital?
A: It was nothing serious, but she staid in the hospital for some weeks. During that time my father did the household and the shopping and cooking. I was glad he was retired in 1973 and had all the time now. I don’t have to think of the fact that I had to do all the things in the house as well during that period of time. I’m sure, I didn’t graduate then for the third time!
Q: But you did. I guess, there was a big party to celebrate.
A: Not really but of course, we were all very happy. After the Summerholiday I went to the Library Academy (the BDA) also named as the "P.A. Tiele Academie".
1978
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