Natt i Naturen

         Before Christmas, the Mariannes--our Marianne and the art teacher Marianne--arranged a Night in Nature seminar where a bunch of students spent the night sleeping outside in hammocks and gapahuks at Helleviga. I didn't attend, but because it was such a hit, they arranged another one for the spring. Unfortunately, due to weather and other circumstances, it kept getting delayed. Instead of returning to Helleviga, it was decided that the second Natt i Naturen would be held on the school lawn. 

        Around that time, students who wished to return to AFHS in the fall had just submitted their Stipendiat applications. As a result, they were all trying to kiss up to the staff, so Marianne made sure to utilize the help. (The teachers got to vote on the future stipps and Marianne is very influential). Some of my friends who had applied spent the day before carrying supplies down to the yard, setting up the lavvos--tepee type tents--and arranging everything. 

        I wasn't signed up for the seminar, or applying to be a stipp, but I decided to help out anyway. I mostly just sat around and chatted, helping to move a few benches, and by the time we were set up, it was time for the rest of the students to come out. We roasted our matpakker on the grills, and when it got later we brought out the leftover apples, oranges and bananas from Friluft's Mat på Bål, which we stuffed with chocolate and set on the fires. In all of the chaos, Ananda somehow found time to read with her reading buddy Cecilie--they celebrated over 100 reads, which included 3 whole Harry Potter books. 

        There were lots of activities, including some giant, summer camp-like circle games, and a round of ninja that Eskil and Frederik organized. Most people were either sleeping in the lavvos or had set up hammocks around the area, so the atmosphere was really cozy. I had a great time just walking around and chatting with different people while we cooked our food. It was also a momentous day, because Bjorn made Marianne her very first s'more!

        When it finally got dark--the sunrise and sunset times change so rapidly during spring and fall, it was really cool to watch us go from so little daylight to almost too much--Eskil got a group together for an exciting game. Most people changed into darker clothes, and they told us to head down the hill to the path. Once we were there, the point of the game was to get back up without being seen by the others who were patrolling the hill. If you were caught, you had to start over again. 

        The first time, I got stuck in a bush trying to crawl my way up the rocks, but the second time I made it nearly two thirds of the way. The game finally ended when somebody won, and at that point I was ready for bed. Not a hammock or a lavo, but my nice warm bed inside. That was a good decision. Apparently, most people had underestimated how cold nights could get, and by morning, only a few people remained outside. 

        I woke up early and joined Ananda on the lawn, where she was cooking up some waffles for the survivors. They were delicious! I helped Fabian and some of the other stipp wannabes take down the lavvos and carry things up, but then I had to hurry off to kitchen duty. Even though I didn't spend the Natt i Naturen, I thought it was a really fun experience!