At Parkskolan we have the possibility to choose a subject or a course we want to learn more about, to
improve our skills in or that we are very interested and fond of. I was lucky to join the Outdoor Life
course. The aim of the course is to learn more about outdoor safety and to simply understand the nature
more and more. We are a small group of ten students and two teachers. So far we have for instance
discussed the legal right of access to private land/ open country, a bit about the equipment and outdoor
safety. We have also made a two days trip to a small island called Högholmen, and that’s what I’m going
to tell you more about.
Thursday 27th of September
We went to school as usual in the morning and had lessons, but after lunch the minibus came and drove us about
20 km south by the coast. We were a bit earlier than we thought we would be, so we had to wait for the boat that
was going to take us to the island.
Finally the boat arrived and the voyage begun. It didn’t take long to get to there, but since the jetty wasn’t in the
water, we had to go around the island. There we found a good place where there were no waves and the water
was deep enough near the cliffs so we could come near the cliffs. When we all had left the boat we went to the
other side of the island, where the jetty used to be, and put up our tents and wind-shelters. When we had eaten
our sandwiches enjoying the good weather, our teachers, Anders and Lisa, gave us some tasks. We were going to
explore the island. |
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We split up into four groups so all of us wouldn’t do the same thing at the same time.
The first thing my group was supposed to do was to check out the flat rocks near the sea. On the flat rocks we
found ice-grooves, traces that the polar ice have left behind. Big blocks of stone bounded in the ice and when the
ice moved, the stones scratched the rock. The north side of the flat rock was even and slightly sloping but the
south side was steep and rough. By the direction of the grooves and the shape of the rock, we could conclude that
the ice was moving south.
The second thing we did was to go up to the highest point of the island to get a general view. The rock was
exposed in many places and the layer of soil was very thin and not so nutritious. Because of that, not so many
different kinds of trees and herbs can grow there except from pine-trees, heather and different kinds of sprigs and
mosses. The hard weather also affects the trees in such way that they don’t grow so high..
After a small summary of the geologic history of the island, we went to the camp and made supper.
Then it was time for a competition between the boys and the girls. The competition had four events.
The first one was treasure-hunting.
The girls were supposed to find the most western point of the island and find a bag made of fabric. The boys
should find a plastic bag at to the most northern point. Of course we girls were back first with the bag, containing
chocolate. I don’t know what took the boys so long time…
,,They didn’t know where north was. They thought they went north, but they were heading east”, Anders told
me. ,,Boys have a bad sense of locality…”
When they finally returned it was quite dark ( well, I didn’t say it was so bright when the competition started
either).
The second event was to estimate the distance from the island to the mainland, but it was quite difficult to see in
the dark. The correct distance was 1000 meters. The boys thought it was 1500 m and the girls 1300 m.
To find north and south is not so easy when it’s pitch dark and no stars… but that was the third event. Once
again we were more correct than the boys. Anders didn’t like that, so he decided that the winner of the last event
would be the winner of the whole competition.
It was a paper with some kind of questions in three parts. In the first one we were supposed to find the right tale.
For example ”huge lost in power fight”. The right answer for that one is ”David and Goliath”. An other one was
”naked truth revealed by an under age person”. That was ”The Emperor’s new clothes”
The second part was to find the animal that was connected to the given words, for instance ”fast car ” and that’s
Jaguar of course.
In the third part there were different proverbs that had been rewritten in a very difficult language and we were
supposed to find the right proverb.
We went through the right answers sitting around the fire. It seemed like the boys were better than us in this
event, so they won the whole competition. But, the most important thing is to have fun, not to win.
Afterwards we played some traditional campfire games. We tried to do much of it in English, because in our
group there is also an exchange student from Johannesburg, South Africa, named Michael.
After the trip I asked him some questions about the course and our trip. He told me that they don’t have this kind
of opportunities to choose course like this one. The Swedish climate and nature is not at all like the South
African and he wasn’t so used to be out in the ”bush”, but he liked it. To cook food over the open fire was also
new to him.
- It’s interesting... a useful skill.
The boys tried something new: to cook over the fire. They had pieces of meat that we normally cook for at least
one hour on the stove, but they just did with them like with an ordinary hot-dog. Some minutes over the live coal
and then it was ready.
- They were good, but a bit hard to chew..., Michael told me.
After the games we talked a bit and then the group split up. Some stayed by the fire, others went to the tents or
went for a walk. It had been a long and interesting day. |
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Friday 28th of September
This morning we were free to do whatever we liked, as long as we were ready when the boat came to pick us up.
Most of us took the chance to sleep as long as possible, but some of us were up quite early. When we all had
finished our breakfast, packed our bags and taken down the tents we went to the east side of the island to wait for
the boat. When all the stuff was on board, some of us went inside to the galley and the rest stayed outside. I had
learned from my mistake from the trip to the island, when I got quite wet, so this time I sat inside, though it was
much more fun to sit outside…
Back on the mainland the minibus came to pick us up and drive us back to school.
We came back just in time for lunch and after that we had our lessons in normal order.
For a person like me, that really like the outdoor life, a course like this is very nice. I don’t see it as a subject I do
for school, it’s more like a spare time activity. It’s great that we have the opportunity to choose something else
than the usual subjects, outdoor life is only one of them. Dance, ball game, aerobics and sign
language are some other courses we can choose.
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