Camp Kulsø

In the schools you are put in a class. In this class you will go to every subject with the same people, you will eat lunch with the same people, and you will most likely hang out with the same people. It makes sense that team-building is a big thing. There is nothing more important that getting to know your class on a social and acedemica level. During the first month we did lots of little team-building activites, but the last monday, tuesday, and wednesday of August was the real test.

For these days our school, Rødkilde (don't worry, I can't say it either), decided that all 1. g's (first grade) needed to go on a camping trip with our class. So that's just what we did. Monday started out a normal day. The only difference for me was that I was driven to school because in addition to my school books I had a duffel bag of clothes and rubber boots and my bike. We attended classes like nomrally, ate lunch like we always did, and complained about the homework. After school, instead of going home we all divided up into our groups within the class, got on our bikes and enbarked on a 30 km (18 mile) bike ride.

The ride itself wasn't too terribly bad. The worst part was actually getting started. The bike that I was using wasn't working right. We had only been on the bikes for 10 minutes and already the chain had come off 3 times. Luckily one of our group members, Chris, was able to put it on each time but by then a few other groups had passed us. It was going to be a long bike ride. We called the emergency number on the paper and asked to be picked up because a bike wasn't working. They said that it would probably be an hour or two. Good think none of us were hurt or something... Eventually we decided to split the group and I would take Hanne's (pronounced Henna) bike since she had already gone of the trip a few times. Her, Chris and Signe (don't say the g and the e is like an a) took my bike. They turned around and went to the bike shop we saw further back and pleaded to have it fixed. The owner saved the day and fixed my bike. By then the rest of us were ahead.

We stopped only two other times after that. Once on top of a huge hill and another at the half way point. Finally making it there we set up camp and ate bread on a stick - seriously.

Tuesday was filled with 4 different team building activities. The first one pretty much sucked. To start with it was raining, we were all still tired, and the activity itself left all of us blind folded. First we were put on a string and we had to, while blind folded, find the end. The string went through trees, up and down hills, and crossed more than once. The goal was to do it quickly. The second part of Activity One was an activity that tested our ability to communicate. Lined up in a row, blind folded, two ropes (one big and one small), and a stick was put out in a field. We had to find all tree iteams and set them up a certain way. The pole had to be in the center, the small rope in a circle around the pole, and the large rope in a square around the circle. The person who found the pole couldn't say they had founded it. Now image being blindfolded, searching in a feild for some things, and not being able to understand what anyone is saying. I just stood there for this activity.

Activity Two was a treasure hunt of sorts. On trees all around the camp were plastic page protectors with papers in it. On the papers were numbers. The first person there got the highest number and it went down from there. We had to copy from the master map and then go out and find all that we could in 20 minutes. We did a lot of running but we're first to almost every single one. The goal, as a class, was to get the most points.

Activity Three was very interesting. We took a walk to an area with a net strung between two trees. The net was homemade and had various sized squares. We had to get everyone through the net. Sounds pretty easy, where's the catch? Well the catch is that the person going through the net can't actually touch the net and the squares can only be used once. This activity helped to build trust. A few people, including myself, went through some of the lower squares to get to the other side. Then we actually handed people through the net. People on one side would pick a person, pick them up, and put them head first through the net. Then the rest of us on the other side would help guide them through and hold them up until they were completely through. It took a long time but it was kind of cool.

Activity Four was rather boring - canoeing. We were put in groups of three. So how can three people canoo in a boat with only two seats? Well one person gets to sit, doing nothing. I got to be the person to sit. The first half of the trip was nice because I was able to relax, but on the way back it was just plain out boring. Finally we ended day two by the fire playing cards and eating dinner.

Wednesday was the most fun. We only had one activity that day in addition to breaking camp and biking back. The activity was my favorite. We had to build a raft out of barrels, trees, and 25 pieces of meter long twine. Our group of six completed building the raft first. We dragged it down to the lake to make sure it floated. Then four people, me included, got on the life rafts and some oars. To past the floatablility test we had to paddle our little make shift raft around a pole in the middle of the lake. It was a lot of fun. The best part about being first is that we got to see everyone else with their rafts. Out of the other three rafts only one of them was successfull. Seeing the other rafters diving into the water to abondon ship was hillarious.

I kind of felt bad that they went swimming, but oh well. To conclude our fun time we broke down camp, ate lunch and loaded up the bikes. As soon as we were able to leave the skies opened up and let fall a terenchal rain. There was no way I was riding my bike 30 km in the porring rain. So I called Mogens (host father) and asked for a ride home. Luckily he had just gotten off work so he was able to come and get me along with another friend.

Whether or not Camp Kulsø actually brought us closer or not, it was a lot of fun.