A Gift from the Ambassador

2018-03-18T08:27:00+01:00March 18th, 2018|

Hermann Ingólfsson, Ambassador of Iceland to Norway, visited RCN on UWC Day in 2016 and kindly offered to donate a leatherbound set of ‘The Complete Sagas of the Icelanders’. In December at an event at the Nordic Association, Hermann passed on the gift to Arne Osland, our Director of Development, for transportation back to the College. In today’s College Meet, Arne presented the sagas to Hrafnhildur Ósk Sverrisdóttir. The sagas now live in our College Library – and we are sure that they will come in useful for students wanting to read or study the sagas (for an IB Extended Essay!).

Thank you Hermann.

Visit and talk by Leif Høegh

2018-10-16T09:31:36+01:00March 16th, 2018|

Leif Høegh, Chairman of Høegh Capital Partners, kindly visited RCN on Thursday 15th March to deliver a presentation on the sustainability paradox in Norway: wealth brought by oil, mineral extraction, shipping and fish farming on the one hand and important changes required to ensure a sustainable future. He presented to a packed K2 with over 75 students and staff present.

In the Silent House

The Høegh Centre was donated by his family. More recently, the family donated 1 million NOK to launch our Foundation Year Programme at our 20th anniversary event in 2015.

As part of his visit, Leif met with students in the Silent House who had completed the Foundation Year programme and are now in our IB diploma programme. The students took the opportunity to tell him of their backgrounds, experiences at RCN and to thank him for the support they had received. He was treated to a special cup of Saharawi tea.

Friluftsveka – Free air week

2018-03-16T08:23:14+01:00March 15th, 2018|

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

 

Thinking about plastic

2018-10-16T09:31:37+01:00March 15th, 2018|

RCN students Patricia (Åland), Tenzin (Tibet), Jack (UK), Sunniva (Norway), Mirandas (China), Celia (Sweden), Sara (Italy), Sadrac (Costa Rica), Abdullah (Palestine) were recently invited by ‘In the Same Boat’  – a group who are doing research on microplastic in the ocean, and cleaning beaches – on a boat trip to learn more about the impact of plastic on the environment.

During the four-day trip with Captain Børje and his crew members, the students got an amazing opportunity to take a closer look at the plastic situation in West Norway.

They found that the amount of plastic in Norwegian fjords was overwhelming. The students tried to remove different plastic products from the ocean, from the soil and cracks in the rocks, discovering that in places the upper ten centimetres of the ground was plastic. Not soil. Not rocks. Pure plastic! The trees had grown into the plastic in several places and, because the plastics were already in a state of fragmentation, they were really difficult to remove. After this enlightening experience, they gained a better understanding of the impact of the plastic industry and its effect on the global environment.

Through this opportunity the students have gained a sense of the importance of protecting the environment and are now feeling inspired and looking forward to further their contribution – from small steps to big impact.

They also had the chance to experience how it is to live on a sailboat, with all the duties that come with that. They were involved in the sailing, steering, learning knots, cleaning and preparing food. The captain played the accordion in the evening, and the crew spoke of their experiences.

We hope that the educational part of raising awareness about the environment should be developed further and that it will get increasing amounts of support from a bigger part of the population.

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