21 Oct Newsletter 21 October 2011

Dear reader!
The autumn holidays came as a gift for all of us tow travellers and as a good opportunity to spread the good experiences and impressions from the many expeditions in week 41. Now everyone should be recharged with fresh energy for the next exciting period until the Christmas holidays. We look forward to seeing all students, staff and our Thai guest students again on Sunday!

Week 41 was the biggest expedition week ever for RE. And again, all teams did well - without any serious incidents or accidents. There is always a certain risk when many are travelling at the same time and venturing out into deep water, and it means a lot that we again this year have had a good start to the expeditions! During the journeys, most of the profile subjects have reported back to the school and news has been regularly posted on the travel page. After the trips, several teachers have also sent a short greeting and an impression of the trip.

Media, Music and Dance in Berlin: In Berlin it went really well and man we feel we know a lot about the city by now, which gives more substance to the experiences and increased yield, security and joy for students and colleagues. 

The music team recorded tracks in a studio. Dance was taught and pushed boundaries to the limit when performing on the street. Design went on several inspirational adventures through museum visits, visits to workshops and a graffiti workshop (together with Media). Media went on a city tour with a visit to the 3D cinema and the television tower, experienced the light festival City of Lights up close, and visited PR-Agentur, who talked about how to get publicity for Danish companies and products on the German market. On the last evening, we had planned a joint event for all the teams to round off a couple of compact days with man ér. Firstly, we had dinner at an inspiring punk pizzeria with a menu full of different, unique and delicious pizzas. The place is very unconventional and only German, Italiensk and very poor English is spoken..."I would like to ask for a Hawaii and a Coca-Cola" did not work this time, much to the dismay of the students! Full and in high spirits, we went to the Blueman show, which created a lot of joy and is a great inspirational show for all Berlin travelling Imagination students.

Design, Berlin: The Berlin tour of the design team was fantastic! After a long bus ride, a delicious dinner at 'Kartoffelkisten' and a nice night's sleep at the hotel, we were Tuesday tomorrow ready to take Berlin from its artistic and
creative side. We started out at the 'Hamburger Bahnhof' - a huge art museum with everything from modern video art to old heavy iron sculptures. Then we went to 'Prenzlauerberg' - a thriving cultural area with lots of cosy cafes, great second-hand shops and young designers.
We ended the day here with a visit to two Danish artists Morten and Jakob, who have settled in Berlin to paint - it was very exciting to hear their stories!
Wednesday offered a more traditional city tour in the centre, where we had Erik tell us about some of the many historical monuments Berlin favours. We ended the day at Tacheles, a meeting place for many 'autonomous' artists.
Thursday we spent in the company of a talented Irish guide and artist Alana. She took us on a 3 hour 'street art' tour of Berlin - focusing particularly on Kreuzberg. Here we saw many magnificent gable paintings in many different styles, and were given much interesting theory including the method and intention behind the works. Then it was our turn to be creative, and we made a nice painting in the best 'street art' style - it will hang in the school! Thursday evening we ended with a bang together with 'Blue Man Show' and all the other students and teachers:-) All in all we had a very very good trip.

Diving, Turkey:We had a really good trip without any major problems. Unfortunately, we were hit by storms, so it was a bit cold to be on the dive boat most days. In addition, we struggled with sickness - vomiting by some of the students, but the worst was Kim and me, who were lying completely fallow for over two days and had to have a toilet within a radius of 5 metres. In addition to diving, we arranged fine cultural events -hamam, trip to waterfalls, super school visit and visit to a mosque with fine presentation of Islam, being Muslim, rituals in the mosque and demonstration of a prayer -all exciting and educational.

Sailing, France: The sailing trip was a good and educational experience with fantastic students, super good weather and okay wind. We sailed mostly around the islands of Poqurolles, where the water is clean and clear. We were very much at anchor and were only in harbour 2 nights. The rest of the time we were on the water and we sailed 2 night sails.

Adventure, Czech Republic: The adventure team also had a terrific trip with the climbing of the highest mountain in the Czech Republic as one of the great and cold highlights of the trip. Good camaraderie and togetherness characterised the trip from start to finish. 

Horse riding, Czech Republic: The riding girls have had a nice trip, despite the weather, as there were some damp days in the mountain. The girls came as they wanted a trip to the yellow market, where the requirement was that we went back to the centre of Prague, which they completed with a little grumbling at the beginning. The week has otherwise stood up 12 hours of riding from Farma Fucul, a cosy old farm, where we had to make do with what there was. That is, not many plugs, limited amount of hot water and no internet, but all this the girls managed very well. In addition, we also tried our hand at playing monkeys in Monkey Park, located in Spindl, after which we did some shopping in the cosy town. The week ended with each of us getting a rosette, because the farm owner and the guides we had with us thought we were all good riders.

RIC, Wales: The team arrived in Billund on Sunday morning, tired and full from a long and educational study trip to Whrexham College in Wales. The students were divided into different study programmes and drama was a big hit. More about the trip will follow later.

Gastronomy, Copenhagen: news will follow in the coming week.

End of the first profile period. Before the end of the first profile subject period, the students must now process and present their profile subject experiences and experiences on the expeditions to each other. This takes place in the banqueting hall and is a marvellous experience. It is a big challenge to stand in front of the other students, so it must be well prepared! The sailors will finish off by taking the practical test in the coming week!
Similarly, impressions from the trips are collected in a profile magazine from week 41, which students can keep as a memento from the first profile period and trip.

In the coming week there is a special focus on academic subjects and on rounding off the first profile subject period. In addition, all pupils are presented with their own timetable for the second profile subject period, with a special focus on the theme World Citizen and Globalisation. A number of exciting new activities and subjects have been added, and it has been a big puzzle to organise all 250 timetables with sports, profile subjects and skills subjects.
Thursday morning is SPIL DANSK DAG all over Denmark, and with a bit of luck, this year The Tree of Life, the school house song, which is the big community song. We will sing so loud in the hall and there is free access for all interested. In the evening we have a farewell dinner for the Thai guest students.
On Friday afternoon, there is a teachers' seminar after the common assembly, where we finalise the first period and look forward together to the next period and the next cross-curricular theme.

The autumn holidays have also been used for several building improvements: we have spent a large part of the travel week and autumn holidays changing bunk beds and are almost finished. We also switched from gas to district heating in the Seminary building and it starts up today, so it will be warm until students arrive on Sunday. It has been a huge job cutting away the old boiler plant and it produced a lot of smoke, so this morning the Fire Brigade were here with 5 fire engines, luckily there was no fire anywhere, just welding and cutting smoke in the corridors. We are airing out really well, but there will be some smell in the hallways for the next few days.
In the Kærhuset, John and Daniel have built a long-awaited attic, and on the side of this there will be a flat screen. so it's now possible to watch TV in the dining room's sofa corner. It will be really nice to have a bit more warmth and cosiness in the hall this winter!

Have a great last weekend of the autumn holidays and see you on Sunday!

Yours sincerely
Olav Storm
Principal

 I N D E S K O !
 During the winter months, it is very important that everyone wears indoor shoes in the classrooms and common rooms. This improves the indoor climate and makes cleaning much easier. So remember to wear indoor shoes - e.g. slippers, bathing sandals, sports shoes, slippers, etc.

  REMEMBER to write the NAME on the insoles!!

Lights and reflectors on the bikes!
In the coming winter period, there is not much need for the bike, as we drive the horse girls to the stables for lessons, and the students to swimming and sports in Rønbjerg. But the bike is still needed in your free time, so make sure you have lights and reflectors in place. If you're not using your bike for a while, put it in the bike cellar at the Kærhuset and lock it up.