Hello again,

as you probably know I have already written one assignment about a Monday daytrip organised by the Norwegian students because I missed the skiing trip at Jegersberg. So this time again I will tell a little about our very first trip on Monday 12th of January and only on week later on 19th the second trip.

First trip – Jan, 12th

Acutally there is not a lot I can tell about the first trip. I was the first time together out at Jegersberg with the Norwegian. Honestly I did not really know before what I have to expect from the first day trip but it exposed as a really nice day trip. We were told to bring for this trip:

• warm clothes
• food, additional hotdogs/sausages, kvikklunsj, orange
• drinks
• backpack
• knife

We met all together at Spicheren at 0900 and were introduced to the plan for the day: A hiking trip at Jegersberg area was planed. The hiking tour was really nice because we walked a lot and could see a lot of Jegersberg. Because of the weather which was rain and snow in turns we could proof our gear. Although I wore gaiters and GoreTex shoes, I got cold feet and a little wet shoes. The reason is probably that I have already used them a lot and they do not have a very good isolation anymore. Therefore I decided to buy new hiking boots after this trip. Good decision, I benefited of this on all the trips following. The route through Jegersberg led us from top to top and we had a lot of very beautiful views. On the highest point we were able to feel a very strong wind, which I have never felt in a comparable strength before. On one the Norwegian students told us that it is a famous storm going on every year around Feburary.

Because of the fact we were explicit told to bring orange and a chocolate bar called Kvikklunsj I expected something special about it like maybe a game. But in the end it was only for our first break as like its name says for a “quick lunch” and we were told that this is very typical for Norwegians. In the end we made two campfires and had our sausages with stickbread. We got to know each other a little better.

If I had to describe the whole day in a few sentences I would compare it to a trip you would usually do with your family. Easy routes, no difficult or maybe even dangerous passages. The best of the day were the views and getting to know each other a little better at the campfire. It was a very nice trip.

Second trip – Jan, 19th

The second trip was not really a trip actually. Both groups, Norwegian and international students, were mixed and split up in six groups. The rest of the day everybody had to stay together with his group and do little competitions in group dynamic games against the other teams.

Game 1: Transportation of injured person

At the beginning each team got a paddle, a wooden stick of about two meters, a rope and a tarp. The task was to take one “injured” person out of the group and the things we got to the place where we would do the other games. For that we were allowed to use what ever we could find in nature. The distance to the spot, a wide and open area at Jegersberg, was only about 1 kilometer. Therefore my team decided to form a litter only out of the tarp and put the things we got together with the “injured” person on the tarp. Because of our easy solution we were the first group who left the starting line. But we could not grab the tarp as easy as expected and had to walk more slowly. So we arrived at the finishing line as the second team.

Game 2: Blind but guided walk

For this game every team had to choose two people out of them who are trustable and experienced outdoors. Those were shown a track through the near terrain, meanwhile the others had to stay together and cover their eyes. When the leaders came back they got the task to guide their team safe on the track they were shown. Additionally they took care on dangerous passages, if someboday might fall and were ready to assistance. To walk the whole track took about 15 minutes. I really liked this game because the whole group had to discuss together in order to find a proper leader and work together in order to walk the track without falling.

Game 3: Making fire for rookies

For this game all groups were devided again in two parts: people who are experienced and who are unexperienced in making fire. Experienced were not allowed to use their hands anymore and unexperienced people had to start the fire. Therefore they could choose between only a few matches or fire steel. The fire had to be big enough to burn down a little string which was spanned over the fire spot, the fastest team would win. The devision was a very clever idea because every team was equal to each other and so it was a fair competition. However nearly every team finished at one point of time so we did not have any winning team for that game. After the game we used the six campfires for making lunch.

Game 4: Spiderweb

For the last game the organisers spanned a rope as a “spiderweb” between two trees. The rules of the game said that the whole team have to get from one side of the web to the other. But only one hole of the web can be used for one person and you are not allowed to touch the rope in any way. So each team had to figure out a good strategy to get on the other side. The whole group had to work together and everybody had to show effort. A very group dynamic game.

To sum it up the whole day was organised very well and the games were varied and fun.

Trip organised by us

The trip organised by us was also not a normal trip. We played a game called capture the flag. At first we met each other at Spicheren where we had a first task. Everybody had to find out as many names as possible until we get to the place where we planned our game. All people had to speak to these they have not talked to before. The idea was to avoid the little groups people are already used to and find new people. When we arrived there we played to other games about names.

Game 1: Ball game

A ball is thrown between the participants and you have to say the name of the person you want to throw the ball to. We added the rule that the next person has to be out of the international group if you are Norwegian or out of the Norwegian group if you are international. This way we made sure you cannot throw the ball to a well known person.

Game 2: Stick game

The game is quite similar to the one above and is about names. One person is standing in the middle surrounded by the others. This person has a stick in his hand and has to try to touch the person who is called before the called person is able to say another name. If the person in the middle succeeds he or she switches the places with the touched person. If not the person in the middle have to continue trying to touch somebody.

It was very important for us that everybody knows the name of the other persons because it increases cohesion very much. Additionally it was important for our main game: “capture the flag”.

Main game: Capture the flag

There are two teams and each owns a flag which has to be hided by themselves in their territory. The territory was limited by us and we showed each team the boundaries of their territory. Leaving the limited area is forbidden. Additionally we marked the trees with ribbon.

Both territories were set towards each other and space between them was added as free zone. The free zone did not belong to anybody. The aim of the game is to locate the flag of the opponent and to bring it back to the team’s spot. Bringing back the flag gives 20 points. Furthermore you can catch people who are on your territory by touching them. To catch an opponent on your territory and bring them to your jail gives additional 1 point. The place of jail has to be set on their own territory by each team. People can be rescued out of jail by a member of their own team, if this member touches the prisoners and say his or her name. If the name of the prisoner is unknown the rescue fails. If not it succeeds and the team gets another 2 points for rescuing. To be sure that a prisoner does not get cold a time limit for captivity was set by one of the referees. After the timelimit a referee think out a little task for the prisoner which freed him or her if the task was fullfilled. Such an escape gives no points. We had 4 referees who made sure everybody sticks to the rules and counted points. If the flag was gone the referee blew a whistle so everybody knows it.

In my opinion you can learn a lot by playing this game. First point is that you have to move silent as well as fast on difficult terrain. Therefore it is physically very hard.

 Second point is the group dynamic aspect. It was very interesting to watch the groups thinking about good strategies and spots for jail and flag. The group was allways devided by them in three different roles.

Guards who were watching jail or flag and try to catch opponents who get close. People who try to distract the opponent guards and risk to get caught and finally fast people who try to steal the flag.

We played the game two rounds. The first one was over soon because the participants did not think long enough about their flag and jail spots. The second took much longer and it was a hard competition. Everybody learned out of the first round.

After the game we had a nice campfire and had lunch. Additionally we brought for everybody cookies and marshmallows and showed them how to make “Smore” (toasted mashmallow and a piece of chocolate between two cookies). Therefore everybody was told to bring some chocolate. Afterwards we finished and the organizers collected the ribbon on the trees again.

The feedback of all participants was positive and in my opinion everybody had a great day and learned a lot about team building, working together and fast movement in difficult terrain.