08.Sept/ Many Feared for Their Lives on Canoe Trip
Sletten - On the 26th of August, Performers House went on their semiannual canoe trip. A bus of 60 excited students from all around the world left in the early afternoon for their epic journey into the wilderness. They arrived with bright eyes to ominous weather. While the sun was shining, dark clouds gathered on the horizon while a chilled wind blew across the lake. Shortly after arrival, they set up their lodging for the weekend. Huge beige tents soon filled a charming grass field surrounded by dense woods. On a hill close by they stowed what few pos-sessions they had in two rick-ety wooden shelters which would also serve as sleeping quar-ters. The canoe master, Adric, looked to the sky to see a few white clouds and declared it was the prime time to launch their seaworthy vessels. In-deed, it would be a true test of how seaworthy the canoes really were.
Despite a shining sun they arrived to a treacherous lake, its surface deeply scarred with large swells. A strong wind blew mist off the top of the choppy water, and a menacing current was swiftly pushing water in the opposite direction the students had to go. Looking around, one could see looks of worry slowly drawing across the faces of many; on a sadistic few were looks of insane excitement. With a few words of warning Adric sent the doomed students off on their perilous journey. Under normal circumstances the journey would have been a pleasant cruise across a serene lake with lazy smiles flickering across the faces of joyous students. It was not so. Imme-diately everyone knew the “joy ride” would be a perilous undertaking. Choppy waters sent the canoes wildly dancing across the lake, careening from the large swells. After only a few minutes, a couple canoes had to turn around due to taking on too much water. The rest of the students paddled onward. Shouts could be heard in the wind from the girls: “ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR” while the men chanted “BEER, WOMEN”, obviously choosing more motivational words.
After nearly two hours of exhaustive work, they arrived to their destination: a beach in the shadow Himmelbjerget. Crawling out of their canoes soaked to the bone, students circled around a few small fires which were used to cook a delicious lunch of sausages and potato salad. A few brave souls enjoyed splashing and playing in the waters of the frigid lake; due to an unfortunate mishap, Kaar did as well. After too short a time, Adric declared it was time to return to camp. Soon after launching, the heavens slowly opened up to begin sprinkling us with a gentle rain. As the return trip wore on, the rain worsened, eventually soaking everyone in their entirety. Thankfully the wind and currents were with us, so the treachery lasted only 20 minutes.
Soaked and laughing, the students walked back to our camp from the lake and once again circled around a campfire to warm up and dry out. Slowly eating our dinner, they merrily told stories and giggled at the canoeing experience just endured. As the sun was setting marshmellows could be smelled roasting over the fire. After all the food was happily eaten, it was decided to play a game of smugglers.
With no moon overhead, the students crouched in the pitch black night, waiting to jump out at unsuspecting players. Constant shrieks and screams of surprise could be heard coming from the silhouette of the dark forest. As the game wore on, bright flashes of lightning could be seen in the clouds above, followed by a deafening silence as they prowled in the surrounding shrubbery. The lightning became more and more frequent, brighter and brighter until finally the sky cracked open and unleashed a torrential downpour.
Laughing and screaming the students ran to their tents and shelters where it was obvious they would have to remain for the rest of the night. Lightning was constantly flashing, with no less than three seconds between each illuminating bolt of lightning. For brief seconds the entire sky was completely set aflame by blinding white light visible through closed eyes, followed by piercing darkness. Sleeping was a challenge due to the overbearing sound of the rain and the constant lightning. Eventually sleep came to all.
Soon after the rising of the sun, students began emerging from their tents with blurry eyes from a night of fitful sleep. Few words were spoken as people took their time emerging from their zombie like state. As everyone finally started getting a little more energy, they went on a hike to the top of Him-melbjerget, which took up most of the morning. The hike sapped what little en-ergy students had left. For the rest of the afternoon they lounged around talking to one an-other and simply en-joying the fresh air and tranquility. It was a time of happiness and reflection. Eventually Adric would break the mood and instruct all students to tear down camp and wait for the bus. After what seemed like an eternity, a bus could be heard in the distance, followed by cheering from the tired and weary students. Finally, it was time to go home after an exhausting and extremely entertaining weekend.
went on a hike to the top of Him-melbjerget, which took up most of the morning. The hike sapped what little en-ergy students had left. For the rest of the afternoon they lounged around talking to one an-other and simply en-joying the fresh air and tranquility. It was a time of happiness and reflection. Eventually Adric would break the mood and instruct all students to tear down camp and wait for the bus. After what seemed like an eternity, a bus could be heard in the distance, followed by cheering from the tired and weary students. Finally, it was time to go home after an exhausting and extremely entertaining weekend.