Conclusion: wrap it up

This week was very exhausting but very nice. I learned about the different types of gut and learned about when to use them. Personally I think my gut rate isn’t higher than before. I did nothing I wouldn’t normally do, but that was because the assignments of the other group didn’t include talking to strangers or doing something really strange. These assignments were also individual and so half of our group had to do nothing. On Tuesday I let my chance slip by to climb on the ladder, but made it up with the blindfolded and wire activity. To wrap it up: I had a nice week and I hope that next time I will get the chance to do something I’ve  never done before. Because I’m not really afraid of something, I don’t know what it takes to increase my gut. I think in the upcoming lifestyle week that will be made up, since the theme is ‘doing’ then. Uh-oh…

x Anouk

Friday: to the south!

At Friday we had to go to the very south of the Netherlands: Maastricht. I have been there only once and it was beautiful so I was looking forward to go.

When we arrived we checked ourselves in again with a picture and got started. The first envelope was at the train station. We found it after we unraveled the riddle which said ‘lost and found.’ The envelope was indeed at the service desk at the station. Then it said we had to do a game with consoles which were there. But we didn’t see any and the woman behind the counter also didn’t know. So that was a little unclear. We contacted the group which were there on Thursday to ask where we should go. Then they said we had to go to Game Mania and play a game there. That was a nice assignment since two of us had to play a game and throw in their emotions. Unfortunately the Playstation 3 (hooray for the PS4) had to load the game for a long time so we decided to to the assignment on another gaming console.

After that we received the next envelope. There again was nothing of a hint for the next assignment. It only said: can you enter into a part of another mentality group? We didn’t think that was a hint but after contacting again we found out we had to go to a store called ‘Different.’ The assignment was a little weird and rude we thought. Someone had to dress up in an outfit from another mentality group and pose in the window from the store. We thought this wasn’t allowed so we didn’t do it. But after we explained everything the shop-assistant told us it was okay with her. So we dressed someone from our group in a very weird outfit and she posed in the window.

The next hint was really clear: Neptunus hides on the Vrijthof, and then it told us we had to go to a ‘poffertjes’ stand to the right of it. We found out Neptunus was a big ferris wheel. Next to it was a poffertjes stand. After we ate some poffertjes (a Ducth delicatesse) we opened the envelope. There was some money in it and it said that one of us could go in the ferris wheel. A girl from our group has never been in a ferris wheel so she went up with another girl.

Then the next assignment was to go ice skating while blindfolded and while the other group members were the guides. We thought this was a little dangerous with all the children skating around. We also weren’t allowed to go on the ice for free and with our shoes. So we cheated on this one and took a picture from Kim from the side of the ice skating-rink so that it seemed that she was skating with a scarf on her head.

The last assignment lead us back to the station. While walking there we came across the shop from Lush. The well-known soap brand which contributes to quality of life very much. They sell soaps made from natural stuff. They also sell face masks, other crèmes and shampoos. This was nice to visit, although everything there is very expensive so I bought nothing, but it smelled very good!

Our last assignment was to portray something we really don’t dare. We decided to portray a group member while holding her hand at the emergency button on the station. Then we checked out and went in the train, exhausted from the long day and journey.

At first I thought these two days were going to be stupid and unclear, but when we were on it it became clear that it was actually very nice. Unfortunately the assignments we had to do were a little strange sometimes but we had a nice day.

Thursday: survival in the city

On Thursday our first day of our city survival began. With a group of people from other classes we had to go to a city which was assigned to the group number. We had to go to Dordrecht to think of five assignments which another group had to do on Friday also in Dordrecht.

Our day started at the station to check ourselves in. After that we started off with some coffee in La Place Café . We started very quickly with our assignments and we decided to involve ILS in the assignments. Since we had to come up with five assignments we came to the idea of using the five kinds of gut we learned on Monday in the workshop. Which means we had assignments which had something to do with physical, social, businesslike, innovative and psychological gut.

I must say we thought of nice assignments which didn’t involve making a fool of yourself. First we emailed the group about where to find the first envelope.

As part of the psychological gut we decided that the assignment was to dress another student with an outfit they would never choose themselves. Then the dressed up student had to give him or herself one ‘tip and top’ and while looking in the mirror they had to tell why or why not the outfit fits their character. Appearance is a very difficult theme but it also contributes to your quality of life as most or more than the others. It’s nice to give yourself a compliment but it also requires some gut to be critical to yourself.

The second assignment was businesslike gut. There the students had to gather seven business cards (one per student) from a company from their own interest. They also had to have a little talk about themselves and about ILS. With each assignment came a location which is linked to the kind of gut. In the case of psychological gut the envelope was in a clothes store. For businesslike gut the envelope was at the SNS Bank. We chose this assignment because in this way the students could also network with some companies from their interest.

Then the third envelope was at a café as a part of the social gut. With this assignment the students had to ask people on the street at what moment in their lives they had to show some gut. Interacting with people you don’t know requires social gut for some people and this was not weird so we thought it was nice for some students to increase their social gut.

For the innovative gut we had a very nice assignment if I may say it. There was a little shop on the square which sold tea accessories. The shop was called ‘Het Theewinkeltje.’ It was really cute and we decided this was more than perfect for our innovative gut assignment. The students had to split up in two groups and each group had to take a random object from the shop and present it to the woman from the shop in a creative way. They had to make the object completely something else. For example: a teaspoon could also be a giant’s toothpick. They had to sell the ‘new’ object to the woman and she decided which group won.

Here we also made a link to the city’s history. Once there were two men who were also very innovative. They wanted to obviate the taxes the town collected on meat. These men just bought a sheep and didn’t want to pay the city. Then they dressed the sheep as a man and dragged it through the gate. Unfortunately the sheep started to bleat so they didn’t succeed. But their plan was very innovative.

Then another town legend was a nice link to this assignment. There were three brothers which all wanted to build a house. They decided to start a competition with the three of them. The brother which built the house with a most shocking element would win the competition.

This is the link to our assignment. The students are also competing with another group and they also tried to surpass the others. We chose this because with the assignment they felt a connection to the city but also to stimulate their creative skills which could be convenient in some classes at school.

Our last assignment was a part of physical gut. They had to come up with a synonym for gut or nerve and portray it with their bodies. So in case they chose the word gut they had to form a G with their bodies, then a U and then the T. they also had to make pictures of each assignment and put them on Twitter with a hashtag to our group name which was #27schpnkppn. It reads 27 schapenkoppen but then without the vowels. It’s Dutch for sheep heads, as a link to the two men with the dressed sheep and our group number was 27. Unfortunately the group only posted a picture of the first assignment.

I had a good time this day and it was nice to think of these assignments without having the students making a fool out of themselves. But I think we did a great job and I would have liked our assignments very much. They were clear and based on our education but also we thought about what the benefits were for the group. We stimulated their creative skills and also gave them a chance to expand their professional network and show some social gut.

We thought we did a great job and we had a lot of fun so this day was very contributing to our quality of life!

 

Tuesday: changing the plan

 

This day we went to Sittard to test our gut in the real world. My first idea was that we had to go climbing trees and running through the mud but the reality was very different. Positively different in fact. We were divided into groups by crushing a balloon on the ground. Inside was a colored piece of paper and that was your group.

Then we had to do several activities such as little games to get to know each other and our trainer Karina. After every game we spoke about what we learned and how we felt about it afterwards. With that we looked at our value contract which we had to unofficially sign by thumbs up or down before the start of the day.

Elements from the value contract were:

–          Be there

–          Safety

–          Letting go and proceed

–          Showing respect for someone’s choice

–          Nothing is mandatory

 

We also had to do an activity which involved climbing a sort of a ladder with steps which were about 1,5 meters above each other.  First we had to get ourselves in some sort of bridle and put on a helmet. My task was to secure someone else with two others. That was very exciting because you had to listen to the climbing person very well and you had to make sure she didn’t fall off. I didn’t do this activity because of two reasons: first, I thought that I would never be able to get up the first step and even if I did I never would have gotten any higher than that. Second, I thought the second height activity was much more fun so I said to myself that I would go and try that one. One disappointment, we only get to do one height activity so I never got the chance to do that. So that was a pity, that I skipped the first one. Because now I didn’t do stuff that I wouldn’t normally do.

Another activity was one where we were blindfolded. Then we had to make our way through a little piece of bushes and trees while we needed to hold on to a rope which was strained to the trees. This was really scary at first because I don’t like it when you don’t see anything at all. First I thought about peeking but then I thought I just had to try and do it without looking and just trusting my other senses. I had to admit, when the rope ended I had no idea where to walk to, we only knew we had to follow the sound of a drum. I heard that but I had no idea where I was so I peeked to see if there weren’t any woodblocks or stones so that I wouldn’t fall. I must say this activity was really nice and confronting. It’s scary that we trust on our sight that much as human beings. But in the end I was glad I did it and it was a nice experience.

 

The last activity we had to do as a group was walking on a steel wire. Together we had to touch the pole which was about three meters away from another. People were only allowed to get in the line on the wire from the first pole, so the first one had to walk to the side while holding on to the next person. First we were too optimistic to get to the very end, which were about three poles. Then we adjusted our goal to reach the first pole, since this was more difficult than expected. With a few tips from our trainer Karina we managed to get further and further but still no success. She said we had to have a goal and keep that goal in mind, because when you believe it it’s more likely you reach your goal she said. With that in mind and a few practical tips we managed to reach the pole. We executed it a little different than we should have but we learned that when you can’t reach your goal with how you’re doing it at that moment you can always adjust your goal and also your working method.

 

So to conclude it all, I have learned a lot this day. First: when you get a chance, don’t think I will take it the next time, because possibly there isn’t a second. Second: most things work better when you work together with people who all believe in their goal and are willing to go for it. When the belief isn’t there you are not likely to succeed in reaching your goal, and not reaching a goal is not contributing to your quality of life. However, reaching your goals do. Third: when your goal really is impossible you can always change it, or otherwise you can adjust the working method so that it does work for you or the group. But giving up easily is also not done. First you have to try and reach the first goal of course, but also you have to be realistic and if it really doesn’t work THEN you get to change your goal. As they say: if the plan doesn’t work, change the plan, but never the goal.

 

 

Monday: fundamentals, a crutch for the talentless.

The start of the week was an early one. On Monday morning we had a workshop from the LEF Academy (lef is Dutch for gut or nerve). This was to give us some of the basics about gut. We started off with the question what gut is in our opinion. We came up with doing something beyond your boundaries, which you don’t normally do. It’s about changing the everyday patterns.

We learned that it’s also about doing something for yourself, to obtain something or to reach a personal goal. The difference with courage is that courage is something you do for someone else or for more people. Compare it to a fireman trying to save the people inside a burning house.Then we came to the types of gut the LEF Academy uses. There is social, businesslike, psychological, physical and innovative gut.

Social gut = talking to strangers or just asking for directions

Businesslike gut = everything which has to do with business. Something like taking a risk to invest in a new company. But also asking someone for a job or a raise.

Psychological gut = being critical of yourself and sometimes this is positive but it also can be negative. Really looking in the mirror and admit you’re a little fat or maybe more beautiful than you think.

Physical gut = everything which has to do with just doing, such as doing a parachute jump or letting yourself fall in the arms of your peers.

Innovative gut = breaking patterns, to stand against a system or the notion.

It was nice to get to know this since I never really thought about it that way. We also did some exercises about gut. We had to introduce our neighbor with the help of a question which you normally don’t dare to ask someone. We also had to give ourselves a grade for our gut at the moment. I gave myself a 6.7 because I’m not very afraid of everything but mostly it’s just about not taking the effort. So that will be my improvement point this week. Because as the quote says, the worst that can happen in most cases isn’t that bad. So I will try most things as long as if there is no risk at dying I’m in! At least I try to be this week.

No Guts No Glory!

Get up the nerve, because really, what’s the worst thing that could happen?

Because really, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger they say. The upcoming posts of this week are about my findings in the Lifestyle Week from International Lifestyle Studies. This week is about nerve, gut and courage, pushing your boudaries or get over them. No guts no glory!

Have fun reading!

x Anouk