Yoga and meditation PBL

Yoga is defined as a Hindu spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part of which, including breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures, is widely practiced for health and relaxation.

Through this short but enjoyable PBL we have been introduced to the concept of yoga, some of its basic positions, and one of its cycles. Even though it is obviously impossible to acquire much knowledge about such a complex discipline in the time given, we have grasp some of the most beneficial movements, and we have been encouraged to keep practicing and explore this discipline on our own, something that I will certainly do.

We have also discovered the origins of this ancient practice and together with meditation we have found ways in which they can be beneficial to our daily lives.

In the case of meditation, we have understood its concept and how it can help us against stress, headaches, or preoccupations. We went through guided meditation and acquired the tips to keep practicing on our own.

And extra of this PBL which we all enjoyed was massaging. With the experience of members of the group we learnt how to use our hands for a great purpose; as we felt, massage can be a great remedy! Of course we enjoyed receiving massages, but also learnt how to enjoy giving a massage, being fully concentrated on what we are doing.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the organizers of the PBL and also the participants for a great experience. We learnt, have been encouraged to keep exploring these disciplines and also enjoyed a great time for our last PBL on RCN :(

This is a great web-page with videos of Yoga positions: http://www.indiavideo.org/text/yoga/ To keep practising!

Just dance!

We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.  ~Japanese Proverb

- Oh! You can actually dance!

This was the expression of my mother when for the first time she saw me on top of a stage, performing for a real show. Many people think that dance has always been part of my life, but that is not the truth...

This first time, when my mum saw me dancing was this last September, when someone posted a video in Youtube of a choreography that I did for the Second Year Show.

When I tell this to some of my friends or teachers in RCN they can´t believe me. “It seems that you have always been dancing”.

Poetry is to prose as dancing is to walking.  ~John Wain

Well, maybe it was a hidden passion, but back home I was too shy to be in any performance, and being usually labeled, back in Spain I was the “study girl”, never the dancer.

It seems even difficult to explain here how much dance has meant to me in this school.

When we first arrived, a couple of weeks later the first show came in. I had to choices: I could keep being the shy girl from Spain, who never even dared to dance too much in a party with her family, or I could have a “new beginning” in terms of dancing. It was a challenge to myself. I decided to overcome my fears and go on stage. “These people don´t know me anyway” was my thought, when some doubts came to my mind...

To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak.  ~Hopi Indian Saying

But ever since then, I have kept dancing, and it is ironic how in this school one of the features that defines me, or let´s say my label is that of “dancer”. That´s why it was so difficult for those who know me just as I am in Norway being a shy girl not willing to dance in front of anybody. Dancing in this school has always been a great pleasure. I joined the Dance EAC from the beginning, and in the first year that helped me to get to know many people with the same passion, who will always be there if you are planning to perform any type of choreography in a show, or who know how to have fun just through dancing at any party.

I haven´t miss a single party since we came, nor there has been a single show where I haven´t participated. Who was going to say two years ago, that in this school I even ended up being the Dance EAC leader!

Leading this EAC has been a great pleasure due to the willing group of first years that joined us for the last two terms. They are enthusiastic, and passionate, and even thought not all of them have the same skills for dancing, they have always showed a great deal of energy, helping each other and showing what they could offer.

To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. ~Agnes De Mille

I am very proud of how the group has worked this year. Not everything has been easy, and some challenges had to be faced like issues with attendance, punctuality... It is not easy to be in such a position where you have to face your classmates and friends as if you were a teacher.

If I would have to analyse how my performance helped others, I would say that given the surprise that for many represented the fact that I was not a dancer back home, people that didn´t have any background on dancing, and who were just wanting to try something new decided to join us, and they did it with no shame, just being themselves and enjoying the process.

Dance is more than just five letters, and in this school I have learnt that it can be art, sport, fun, way of meeting new people, cultural, passionate, emotional, symbolic, a dream... and a new face of myself that I just discovered.

Dancing is like dreaming with your feet!  ~Constanze

Here some videos of dances in which I have participated in the school, and some of which I choreographed too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amCedZ3F2DQ

Shakira´s Waka Waka for the Second Year Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQh-UkGdD0g

Belly dance choreography for the Asia-Pacific Cultural day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_BZYgrvPIA

A choreography combining dance and karate for the Asia-Pacific Cultural day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFDn3qKqbrI

Decale Wada- African song for the Second Year Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB6lC0sonAM

Bollywood choreography for the Second Year Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXR5G3mglHc

Dabke - Traditional Palestinian dance for the Asia- Pacific cultural day

And please do always... keep dancing!

Peer tutors

I have always believed that the minute when you´re not learning, you are dead. Through peer tutors I found out that one of the best ways of learning is helping others  to understand, find a structure, or discover a motivation.

Peer tutors are a group of students in RCN that after receiving workshops on how to help other companions with their subjects are always available for consultation and help. Dividing the different subjects among ourselves, we had been perseverant organizing workshops or promoting our availability, and in many cases, I believe we have broken a boundary of shame that many students had when they think about asking for help.

On the one hand, my experience as a peer tutor along this year let me helped some students with particular topics on the subjects that they struggle with (like trigonometry in math, or poetical analysis in Spanish); help in precise examples (like homework in math) where I showed them how to look at the question in a different way; help with the structure of IAs and how to follow order (in subjects like History and Human Rights); oral practice in Spanish AB looking for an improvement of vocabulary, grammar or pronunciation; confusion with the syllabus requirements for English A2; or maybe questions in Environmental Systems in which the main problem was the more the understanding of vocabulary in itself than the subject content. Outside the strictly academic help, I consider that it has been also important to show how to have a more organized timetable for study time, how to find motivation, or how to overcome problems of confidence in subjects.

On the other hand, I have learned a lot from these experiences:  the importance of prioritizing what to do (as the help that you can give to someone in 5 minutes of our “busy” time can save hours of confusion for them); the significance of showing to the student a different angle in which they can look at the question; the need to make sure that they have understood the explanation, and they will be able to answer later on by themselves, or to correctly understand where the problem is; and particularly of showing that it is fine to ask for help and to cooperate with other students when it comes to studies. It has also helped me to revise concepts of subjects that I had forgotten, or to plan clearer structures of my work.

Tutoring has been a new challenge, but it has helped my greatly to develope new skills that I will surely use in the future. 

Svanoy trip

This is the translation of the very same e-mail that I sent to my family when we came back from Svanoy. I wanted to rescue it since our feelings at that time were on explosion due to the graduation of our second years.

Tuesday 25/05/2010

Back from Svanoy! The truth is that we have enjoyed it a lot; I don´t know why our second years were so pessimistic about it...

After the terrible Saturday, crying and crying after half of the family left, on Sunday we were getting ready, packing some lunch, our bags, and getting into a very nice boat that after one hour brought us to the island of Svanoy.

The trip to get there was already wonderful since we got to see the open sea, and a huge rainbow crossed the fjord from one side to the other.

The purpose of this trip is to provide Environmental Systems and Biology students with a real field to collect data for our lab reports. However, being the trip scheduled right after graduation I also believe that it´s just a way to make us forget about sad moments, go off campus, and make the bounding among co-years stronger. (I think that all these aims have been fulfilled).

The island is in the western coast of Norway, north of where we are. Its population is just of 75 inhabitants, and most of them live there just in the summer.

Once we got to the island we went up the deer center, where we have spent most of our time. They have a farm there, but also a reception for visitors, a dining hall, an exhibition...

After lunch we went down to the shore, divide ourselves in different groups, and started collecting the data in the intertidal zone for our lab reports. We made some measurements, calculations, identification of species, counting... We were lucky since it was not raining, but the rocks where slippery and more than once people fell down.

I had great fun with my group. The cooperation and the strategies of team work were excellent, so each of us specialized on doing a certain task. The mood was excellent and we encouraged each other to try new things, as for some of the students, touching all kinds of species was not of their pleasure at the beginning....

For dinner we had an amazing time with a barbecue outside. The feeling of the summer time! Teachers and staff helped in the cooking, and the weather was just perfect to be outside. We had more than enough food, and everybody looked happy and cheerful. What a change in the expression of our faces just in 24 hours!

Afterwards, we walked to the school where we slept. The path went by the forest, and in a 3km walk we enjoyed surrounded by nature, talking and laughing together.

This was the old school, but since there are not enough children on the island anymore, now they use it for this type of short activities. In the biggest room we placed all our sleeping bags and the 70 of us slept there.

We had some activities there, playing football or just talking in the kitchen, but tiredness accumulated from the previous days was stronger than us, and soon we all slept.

Next morning we woke up at 7a.m. After cleaning and packing again we walked back to the deer center where we had breakfast.

Environmental Systems students went with the owner of the farm to see the animal in their environment and we also got to feed them with our hands. We learnt about the type of soil in the area, the division of land, the type of food that they are given, the importance of seasonality, the process that the lives of these animals will follow... We were talking for hours, and the students found it so interesting that kept asking questions. I think I am able to write an EE on deer farming!

After lunch we learnt with the wife of the farmer about sheep farming on the island, another interesting case study for our biome.

Afterwards it was time for our community service, cleaning an area and collecting wood that was previously cut. A big group and organization made the task simpler, and we managed to finish early, giving us sometime to walk around the island and enjoy the fantastic environment.

Finally dinner, and back to campus with the boat. The way back was insanely funny since we decided to stay in the deck of the boat and when we got to open sea that was exactly like a roller coaster.

It was also a wonderful trip, enjoying the beautiful landscape of the fjords that is usually seen in touristic guides and brochures.

Getting back to campus meant going back to reality, and our faces were not that cheerful anymore when we entered our rooms again and we found them half empty.  

However, I am very thankful for this fantastic short trip to Svanoy. It has more than fulfilled my expectations: we had fun, enjoyed nature, got to know even more some people, learnt about team work, acquire so much knowledge regarding farming, deer, salmon or sheep in the area; it increased our environmental awareness, and the awakening of our curiosity to get to know about the environment surrounding us.

Hope you are all doing well over there.

Love from the fjord,

Irene

Exchange with the International School of Geneva

Remember those simple things we had in our normal lives? Going back home once you were done with school. Living in a populated place. Having good food and your own room. Bárbara, Irene, and Motaz were fortunate enough to experience those again for one week as part of an exchange with the International School of Geneva. Cassie, Irene, and Amr came here to live our lives, while we went to Switzerland and attended a (somewhat) normal school, visited the UN, Red Cross Museum, International Car Show (including the Porsche VIP section!) and Geneva’s famous fountain, the Jet d’eau , but it wasn’t on... Chocolate, fondue, civilisation - it was truly a great experience in Europe’s most international city!

This was the small summary that we wrote after our exchange with the International School of Geneva (ISG); but of course it was this and much more!!

My first impression when we got to Geneva was that of a place representing the opposite of what we are use to in RCN; it was shocking after being on campus for months! Crowded streets, traffic jams, expensive shops, lights, people always around... It was not very different from what I had back home, but after living for one year in the Norwegian countryside, everything seems new and exciting.

I was very lucky with my family. They were caring, welcoming and very interested on getting to know about my new life in RCN.

I had the pleasure to share my week with Eirini´s parents and also her younger sister, Stephanie, who was always cheerful. They live in Copet, in a village called Fournex. I was also very lucky due to our cultural similarities: the mother of the family was born in Istanbul, the father was Greek and they were living in Greece until 2001. Even though Spain and Greece are not really close, we share a Mediterranean culture which, I realized then, brings us closer than to other European nationalities.

I am really thankful for their hospitality and attention. On the very first night, right after my arrival we had a dinner all together bringing back the feeling and environment of those family dinners back home.

Regarding the ISG, we realized comparing it to RCN they have different characteristics given that we are in a boarding school and this is a day school. The environment is different but we are sharing a common aspect: the international component in between the students.

 In my opinion, students in the ISG don’t have enough celebration of their culture in the school. I saw that most of them have been living in different countries, and maybe their parents have different backgrounds. When we had a meeting with the IB coordinator of the school, I proposed him to have cultural days, bringing students together in a celebration of their original culture. This will not just reinforce a cultural identity, but as well, it will bring together students, working and having fun together, what will create stronger relations outside their every-day group of friends.

Regarding the exchange itself, we really valued all the activities that we did; some of them very simple, but at the same time exciting since we cannot do them in Norway. The theme of the exchange was “Human Rights”, and this brought us the chance to visit the UN, or the Red Cross Museum.

Among other moments that I will always remember are the visit to the Red Cross Museum where apart from learning about its history we saw an impressive exhibition of pictures from wars; the International Car festival, were I got to see for the first time some of the most valued cars in the world;...

...this countries´ passion for chocolate (an my passion for their chocolate too); our adventures in the public transport getting lost in the Swiss countryside, and our resources to find the way back; the dinner in a typical Swiss restaurant with a delicious fondue; the “Bal de Neige”; going to a real cinema after months; my discussions with the family about immigration, education, refugees, surprising myself with all the view points that I have gained in RCN; visiting the UN and imagining ourselves walking in those corridors in some years time....working there!;...

 ... or giving a presentation in their “Global affairs” session. There we talked about the UWC movement, living and studying in RCN, and answering questions from curious students about our particular way of living, which some of them found fascinating while others kept asking “but how can you live without a TV, your parents, discos or shops?” Well, this brought us back to the reality of how many teenagers think... 

I was very happy after talking with my friends in Norway and hearing that my exchange partner really enjoyed the exchange too. I think that for them was really interesting to get to see the way in which we live.

To conclude, I want to say thanks again to our families because they really helped us and made us feel as in a family again. Thanks to the students that helped us in the everyday life in the school, and who were so willing to do things with us. Thanks to all the teachers and school staff that were also interested in knowing more about our life in Norway, or that simply help us greatly in their classes. And thanks to Mr. Hughes (the IB coordinator there) because of being always so concern about how we were doing, if everything was fine with our subjects, being so welcoming, inviting us to a great dinner, and specially being so interested in our opinions about the school or our thoughts.

Love form Geneva,

Irene

SAFUGE EAC

How can I summarize what we have done for SAFUGE in two years, and more important, what SAFUGE has taught me in this time?

If I have to choose a few words to describe it they would be team work, commitment, hard work and vision.

SAFUGE (Save the Future Generations) is a group of students that fundraises for school projects around the world. The projects are student-lead during the summer holidays and benefit their communities. Students have lead projects in Peru, Nepal and Madagascar and have current projects in Sierra Leone and Morocco.

SAFUGE was founded by Joseph Kaifala, a student from Sierra Leone that had survived the terrible Diamond War in his country in the late 90’s to alleviate in some way the plight of a ravaged nation that was trying to rebuild itself through helping its children.

For the realization of these projects we have performed all types of tasks and jobs, in situations that I would have never expected. Here are some examples among many others: 

·         Catering service learning how to waitress for big groups;

·         Barn cleaning for Jakob Sande, understanding how teamwork can make an old hut into a prospect cafe;

·         Various cafes for school shows or events in the area, learning how to bake, serve, asses the demands of the clients for future cafes, decide prices, do the shopping with a limited budget, how to cooperate with a team in a very small place....

·         House painting in Dale, unexpectedly finding out that I am able to paint ceilings, living rooms, kitchens.... but especially realizing the importance of being able to keep and spread a good mood among the team while doing a tedious task;

·         Farm work in Flekke, tearing down a house, learning that in many situations brain is better than brawn!

Joining SAFUGE since I arrived to this school has been a great decision, even though it has meant many hours of work (sometimes hard back-breaking job!).

If there is a moment that I will always remember is how, when this year we came back from the summer break, our classmates from Sierra Leona who worked in the project during the summer, brought pictures of the changes in the school where we are helping, but also a short video of the children from this school singing and sending us kisses as a way to thank us for the help. In that moment we were all touched, and realized that each and every small bit of work that we do, can mean a lot for others.

The small jobs and tasks that a group of students have performed had a very positive impact. Maybe we can´t change the world, but we have helped fellow students all around the world to enjoy better conditions in a safe place where to learn.

SAFUGE proved once more my theory regarding cooperation and help:

“Even if your effort represents just a drop in the middle of the ocean, without that drop the ocean would be smaller”.