20 Challenges

Meeting again at Spicheren, the group leading played a game to split the groups. Everyone was passed a cut-out piece of paper, on which was a portion of a picture from the previous week’s Monday Map & Compass. We were not told how many people were in a group, but simply that we need to complete our pictures together. It was a brilliant way to carry on the previous session’s essence, then mix it with new dynamics.

Posing with chickens

Once stood in our groups, each was given a sheet. A list of 20 challenges and provided with coordinates in Jegersberg – we had an hour for the task. Our group had a balanced mix of people, which helped the eventual meshing of actions. It was interesting to see how individually people reacted dependent on the task. Someone’s personality influenced what they were drawn to and accentuated how they shaped their group dynamic.

Though, at first some tasks were less fluid, for which having many options and no particular order to run through was helpful. The forests and their paths are quite unique for spurring on creativity; as we walked through, the environment allowed our ideas to flow through easier and be communicated freely through the groups. Changes, such as a rock or boulder to the side of the path, would lend themselves to the more active tasks. Whereas, an elderly man strolling in the sun with his bike was provoked by a large Norwegian lad.

“Hei! Det er sykkelen mine.”

“Oi! Nei. Nei, det er mine.”

Now, having some personal experience with this kind of situation, made it even more hilarious. Memories of kids outside my Grandma’s house yelling at me when I was heading to work. Full disclosure: it was his bike, and we asked the guy if we could film before we did anything; the kids hadn’t a clue.

 

We were determined to complete all twenty tasks before arriving at the meeting place. With roughly three minutes per task, we had to move and think with equal pace. This allowed for tensions to arise and release with ease, nuancing the group.

We arrived just before the last group, as we had passed them while they were filming, then took a shortcut as our last task. The spot was sunny, and a campfire was already being sorted. Though, most people were a little huddled as it was quite windy and exposed; idyllic yet still quite cold. Groups were merging, and the activities carried on through lunch. A nice reminder to keep the conditions in mind when taking breaks – particularly with large groups as they are inherently cumbersome.

In our groups we were tasked to get up a dirt track as a group, where one was blind but could move, one could see but could not move and the others could not talk. A final exercise, and good for putting newfound trust and perhaps more importantly – patience – to the test. After some serious difficulties to begin with we finished at a fair time.