For five days this March all first years got to experience the cold, sunny, challenging, amusing and freeing feeling of being deep in Norwegian nature – all this while trying to balance on skis!

The students arrived at the cabin in Stryn, a 4-hour drive from the College. Some were highly optimistic, others were dreading the idea of five days without internet and activities in the snow. For many, it was their first time skiing.

The week consisted of sleeping outside, skiing for several hours each day, learning how to make a bonfire, strengthening old friendships and creating new ones as well as appreciating and understanding the importance of taking care of nature. It was an opportunity to see friends from a different perspective: the perspective of feeling free and boundless, telling never-ending stories, singing all kinds of songs in all kind of languages and discussing which cookies were the best. They got to experience people saying ‘Oh no!’ whenever there was a new hill in front of them but then, at the end of the week, many of those same people would admit that skiing is their new passion!

The week resulted in plenty of falls and tired bodies, but in the end, the bruises and sore legs were worth it as it had been the adventure of a lifetime.

Friluftsveka was a short introduction to the Norwegian outdoors. Exhilaration. Challenges. Fun. That is what our free air adventures were about.

There are some more photos from the week here.

“My favorite thing, I don’t know if I can say this as I have skied before, but skiing in this situation challenged me and I realize that I really enjoy skiing and it made me closer to nature.” Jordanella RCN’19

“Friluftsveka was a whole new experience for me as I have never skied before and I really enjoyed my time outside and getting to know new people.” Anonymous

“For me, Fruiluftsveka was a way for me to completely get out of my comfort zone. The first day I fell a lot. ‘I don’t want to go because I know I’ll fall’ – that was the sentence I said seconds before I fell into the waist-deep snow off the tracks! The next morning I woke up and I felt amazing. And so I did the next morning after that. I gained so much joy and air and aliveness from the atmosphere I was surrounded by.” Rozarin RCN’19

A new and exciting programme is taking shape as part of our pastoral care development. The first steps to implement it have been made during the end of the Project Based Learning week in February. Working closely with Annemarie Oomes, Peer Supporter Coordinator from UWC Maastricht, who came to RCN along with two of her student peer supporters, Aurianne and Alejo, we organised a weekend training session for the selected 1st and 2nd year Safety Net Listeners. During the training we looked at many different aspects of what the role of a peer supporter consists of and how to do it well. Based on the training on the UWC Maastricht training manual, the students were introduced to the 5 levels of communication, selective listening, active listening, micro skills, and much more. This has been a very exciting first step for the Safety Net Listener programme, as well as creating a collaborative platform with the two Colleges, Maastricht and RCN. The programme will complement our existing residential and pastoral structures.