Erasmus+ Day 3: Cold Ice, Warm Laughter, and Looking Closer at Inequality

4 februari 2026

Day 3 took us to Hoorn, where the morning was spent on the ice. The timing could not have been more fitting: while parts of the northeast of the country were dealing with a code-red weather alert and dangerous black ice on the roads, our own “ice day” continued safely at the skating rink. For two hours, pupils skated, slipped, laughed, helped each other up, and tried again — proving that ice can cause chaos in one place and joy in another.

What looked like pure fun also carried a serious message. Skating is part of Dutch cultural heritage, but today it mostly happens indoors. Natural ice is becoming rare, forcing us to rethink traditions and ask new questions about climate change and sustainability. It was a reminder that some problems are easy to miss until they suddenly appear right in front of you.

That same idea followed us into the historic city center of Hoorn. Here, pupils worked on their Pink Tax task and compared products for men and women. Just like black ice on the road, the differences were not always easy to spot at first. But once you started looking closely, they became impossible to ignore: women often pay more for “the same kind of product,” simply because it is marketed to women — a different color, a different label, a slightly different promise.

What made this feel real was the mix of research + real shopping. Pupils saw the price tags with their own eyes, and then learned that this pattern has also been studied in Europe. That made the city-center task click: this is not just “a theory,” it is a real-world habit that can hide in daily life.

The afternoon ended a little earlier than on the previous days, not because the energy was gone, but because tomorrow is the grand finale! After a day that started on ice, the focus now shifts to the catwalk. Pupils headed home to recharge — not just their bodies, but their ideas too — because the Refashion Show is almost here!