The first trip involved one overnight trip based in Jegersberg. Jegersberg is located just 5 minutes’ walk from the University of Agder. This made it ideal to use as a first trip as for most people it was their first experience doing anything like this.
Everyone was to meet there at 4pm in order to carry out activities, camping and cooking. The weather was very unsettled with rain occurring for the most part which added to the challenge for some. This meant it was important to set up tents before the activities occurred in order to have some sort of shelter. I carried the largest tent out of them all which was good as there was only 4 in the group, Jill, Paige and Martynas. Once this was done the first activities began.
Each country was to present a game that included teambuilding which would help group dynamics and cohesion to them and the rest of the group would carry it out. The games included…
UK – British Bulldog. One person standing in the middle. The rest of the group has to get to the other side without being tagged.
Rubber Chicken Rounder’s. Like rounder’s but with a rubber chicken.
Germany – Celtic Knot. Making a circle and holding hands then trying to get everybody to face the other way without getting tangled
Lithuania – Lithuanian warrior game. Relay game Involved running with three people making the shape of a horse and rotating around a stick until dizzy.
USA – Tarp Turnover. Everybody standing on a tarp and having to turn it over without stepping on the floor
Iceland – Coloured sweets game. One colour for an embarrassing story, one for where they saw them in ten years, one for a happy memory.
Czech Republic – Group relay. Two teams with one person on each team being carried.
Denmark – Sculpture with bodies. Making shapes using the whole group for different scenarios e.g. making a boat
All the games were fun but the ones that involved movement were good because it warmed us up in really bad weather.
Once the games had finished it was time for the cooking competition we would have 20 minutes to cook a luxury meal on a storm kitchen. For this task it was me, Paige and Craig and had decided to make shish kebabs. Whilst not the most nutritious or practical thing to cook on expeditions such as this we decided that as it was a one off trip with just one overnight it would be fun to cook and quite tasty which it was! Though for the competition we came last haha.
1st place – couscous in white wine sauce and salmon with roasted mushrooms.
2nd place – fish curry with coconut milk and pasta
After the cooking it was time to go back to the tents. A lot of people were already very cold and a lot of the equipment was damp. Because I already had experience of environments like this I helped other people with advice on how best to keep equipment dry and what things people should buy for the next trip.
This trip was an excellent introduction for group dynamics and cohesion and for most their first experience of camping in such an environment with damp weather which would make people prepare better next time.