On Thursday everyone went to Jegersberg to spend the day and camp during the night. It was my first time camping outside since I came to Norway. I am not very experienced in building up a camp and what comes along with it, so I really got the opportunity to learn from others with more experience. I paid close attention throughout the trip.

First, we needed to find a flat spot to set up the tent. Unfortunately, we had not checked our tent before leaving (but if we did I would not have known what to check for anyway) but it turned out that we were missing the inner tent. This was the very first key learning – always check the equipment before leaving!

Luckily it was close by the university, so Sarah biked back to get it.
We found a flat spot to set up the tent, which later turned out to be a less fortunate spot where water would gather. In the end that rain and this position overflooded the bottom and we had to sleep home because everything including sleeping bags were soaking wet. Another lesson to learn – always find a flat spot where water will not flow when setting up a tent. I really liked the fact that we had this “trail” camp to get this experience before going on a real trip with no possibility to return.

After everyone finished we gathered for some group dynamic games that each group had prepared beforehand. These games really served the purpose of getting to know each other better. It was interesting to see the different “roles” people took, whether it was leading, organizing or a tendency to be passive or just to be social loafers. We are still very much in the forming stage of the group, but I think the games brought us closer together. I laughed a lot and found the activities super fun. At the same time it served the purpose of keeping us active thus warm.

The last task we had was a cooking competition. Len brought some ingredients and we had to make a dish out of it. Each group tasted the meals and rated it accordingly. I liked how the activity sparked some creativity and especially how food preferences (vegetarian) was also taking into consideration. I learned how nice it is to have a warm meal when being cold outside and what types of ingredients that is suitable to bring on a camping trip.

When collecting firewood to use for the fire I asked and observed Melanie. She showed my what to look for and how to easily break off branches turning them in circles. It was quite challenging though cause most wood was pretty wet.