12/01/15

A typical Norwegian family/day trip – focus on getting to know the Norwegian Friluftsliv students, campfire/grilling and icebreaker activities.

Preperation post to International students:

“Hi guys!

Mondag 12.01.2015, meet us outside Spicheren 09:15.

Where: Jegersberg, take with the Jegerberg map you got today.

What you got to take with you:

– warm clothes
- food: hotdogs/sausages, kvikklunsj, orange
- drinks
- backpack
- knife”

Activities:

Both groups met at Spicheren at 9am, from there we walked to an area in Jegersberg taking one piece of wood each for the fire. Here the Norwegian students introduced their selves and the day, the plan was to take part in what was a traditional trip for Norwegian families on a Sunday no matter of the weather conditions. We began with a game of ‘tug of war’ the Internationals were mixed with the Norwegians – this was a good way of team building and getting to know each other. We then set off hiking towards the top of the mountain ‘Den Omvendte Båt’ We stopped half way for a short break and had traditional snacks of Orange and Kvikk Lunsj, this was a good chance to speak to the others about the course and themselves.

When we reached the top, the weather conditions were not so good. The plan was to make a campfire at the top, however the wind and rain meant we had to change the plan. We spent some time at the top, where we signed the summit register and were told a story about the mountains history before moving to a less windy area for the campfire. Here we lit a fire using the wood we carried and grilled the sausages and prepared stick bread (another tradition of the Norwegians) before walking back to Spicheren.

Evaluation:

I found this first trip very enjoyable, although the weather wasn’t so good, the Norwegians still made the trip fun and changed the original plans. It was a good way for everyone to get to know each other for the first time and it was helpful to speak to the other students about their experiences and opinions on the course. It was a great place to see and everyone got really involved in the tasks and enjoyed the day. I think that it would have been helpful if the Norwegians allowed/helped us to light the fire ourselves rather than doing it for us, as this is something  have never done before so it would have been helpful to me, however the day was very good!