20.01.20
Group Dynamics – “Building camps” 

This monday the norwegian organized a group dynamincs activity which was about building our own camps. It was not just about building the best useful camp, but also about creativity. At the end we checked every camp and graded them. All groups were mixed between norwegian students and international students. That was a really good idea, because we could make friends and the norwegian students could help us with their knowledge.
The first task was, that we should take some gear like tarps and ropes and search a good place for a camp. We found a quiet good one next to a little cliff. It was a good place, because the cliff can keep out wind and rain on the one side. I also learned how to place a tarp. It shouldn´t be just flat, because otherwise the rain would build like a puddle on the tarp. So we had to check that the rain could flow down the tarp. We also had to build a fireplace, so we searched for stones to put them around the fire. One group handled this very well I think, because they also put stones under their fireplace, that they doesn´t leave traces in the nature. At the end we looked at all the camps and give them grades. This isn´t taken very seriously, because some people just gave bad grades with no reason and the whole rating was falsified.
Also a problem was that there was no real winner in the end or a price we could win. Because having a common goal makes the group cohesion better. That means there would be more teamspirit, group loyalty, group togetherness and chemistry.
In general I wouldn´t say this day was completely unproductive, because my goal of this activity wasn´t to learn how to build the best camp. I think it was more about getting to know the norwegians better, by working and doing something together. Of course there are points that could be done better, but in general I would say that we could maybe complete the part of forming and start with storming. Because somebody in the group had more experience and could take the role of the leader. And there were also disagreements, we had to solve in a group together.