11 Dec Week 50: Bridge building, final exams and Christmas spirit.

Dear reader,

The Ranum gnome has been at play not only have all the Christmas cards been turned upside down, the autumn holidays have been moved to week 41 in all the new REC calendars, but he has also turned off the lights in the corridors and paths when they were supposed to come on etc. Fortunately, the students have managed to create more Christmas spirit by cozying up, decorating, and stuffing goodies into the principal's Christmas sack. It's a good thing there's only 1 week until the Christmas holidays begin!

The school has been virtually empty during the daytime this week, as all students have either been on a bridge-building programme in Års, Aalborg, Fjerritslev or have sat for final exams. It is a very strange experience, but fortunately, everyone flows into efterskolelivet again for the late gathering in the banqueting hall. Here we have sung Danish, English and German Christmas carols!

Christmas calendar fun in the TV rooms and in the bedrooms.

Every evening there is a Christmas party around Christmas calendar time and especially for the students who come from abroad and do not understand Danish, it is a fun experience to experience the enthusiasm of the other students. It is contagious and Christmas is being celebrated in many rooms now. In the middle of the week, the evening teachers in each house went round all the rooms and crowned the most Christmassy room, halfway through the competition.

Presentation of project assignments

This week the pupils in Year 9 have also presented their project assignments and there are many excellent presentations. The pupils in Year 10 are still working on their OSO project presentations, and they are showing great creativity. One group presented a model of how to become an astronaut and demonstrated it with a rocket set-up. Another group made bacon out of carrots to fool the supervisor and examiner.

Choose from 19 profile subjects - From Cuba Pioneers to Horse Riding in Iceland

The final vote for the 3rd period profile subjects ended up with 19 subjects: now parents have to confirm the students' choice by 3 January.

• Alpine Skiing and Snowboarding
• Diving OW and AOW.
• Wakeboard
• Dance in Beijing
• Sailing
• Music in New Orleans
• Hardball Adventure
• Cuba Pioneer
• Confectionery
• Cheerleading in Los Angeles
• Fit for Life - Icelandic Viking Power
• Freediving - Malta
• Pilgrimage to the end of the world, Spain/Portugal.
• Motorsport
• Photo safari
• Guerrilla Filmmaking
• Ridning Island.

Dahal returns to Nepal

Our Nepalese guest teacher Dahal Mukunda will return to Nepal on Sunday after 2½ months in Ranum. Dahal has participated as a guest teacher in the Nepal classes, and then he has helped in the bakery, as his big dream is to become a baker in Nepal. We will meet Dahal again in January, when he will be a guide on the cultural trek.

Christmas trip to Aalborg

This weekend, on Saturday, the students will head to Aalborg to buy Christmas presents and experience the Christmas spirit in the city centre, followed by a trip to the shopping centres in the southern part of the city and then a night out in the evening. It's the last weekend before the long Christmas holidays, so it's time to enjoy it together.

Events next week

For the coming week, there will be regular classes in the academic and cultural subjects. On Monday morning there will be a Lucia parade, on Tuesday afternoon there will be a Christmas chief's ball between all the contact groups. On Thursday there is a very exciting workshop for all students in the afternoon and in the evening we go in torchlight procession to Ranum church and have our own Christmas service together. On Friday, the Christmas room of the year is crowned - after everyone has done their Christmas cleaning, and then we think that the Ranum Christmas elf has made an appointment for Santa Claus to have a rabbit pit stop at the Tree of Life in Ranum.

The Christmas home journey takes place after 14.15. We offer REC bus service to Hobro and to Viborg, and students sign up via Skoleplan.

Best regards and very happy 3rd Advent weekend.

Olav Storm Johannsen
Principal