15 August - 9 September 2017

My days at Kandersteg will come to an end, very soon. Of course, the schedule for most days stays the same as last time, but I also had some new adventures.

Because Lisa will leave soon, we had a very nice dinner (taco's) with the whole campsite team at her house. We had a lot of fun!

On Wednesday I was off and Kristy and I went to the High Ropes Parcours in Interlaken with the train. After the instructions we did the grasshopper, which was quiet easy. Then we did the (flying) fox, with a lot of ziplines, followed by the squirrel, what already required a bit more arm muscles. Kristy did the fox again after that and I went to the, a bit more difficult, woodpecker. We had a bit of zipline that was almost parallel to each other at the same time. So funny! And last but not least, I did the Eagle, the hardest parcours here. Luckily I had enough energy left and enjoyed it all the way. We walked a bit through Interlaken afterwards and went tired back to KISC. It was a very nice day, with good company.

Today I finally have my swapday to High Adventure Assistant Assistant with Pani (ES)! Whoohoo! The day started early with checking and printing of the weather forecast. Then a quick breakfast and to TFTD. After that we did some office work with updating the ropes in the system and preparing programme check-ins. So nice to learn something new! In the afternoon we (monthly) checked the challenge activities. We started with the jacobsladder. That's an activity you actually should do in pairs, but I climbed all the way up by myself and checked if the bolts were still tight enough. Quite challenging. A little while later I had to go up at the crate stacking. I couldn't climb up, so I had to use one rope and a sling to go up that way myself. I had never done that before, but with Pani's help, I succeeded. We also checked the zipline, but that was a lot easier, since we could use the ladder to climb to the platform. Back at the office, we sent a mail to Oscar and Andrew about what we did today and that finished my swapday.

Friday was not a really nice day. In the morning I was in the Recycle Centre and a lot of groups left, so it was very busy. Some people got impatient, but that was also a bit their own time planning mistake. It took me until lunch to finish off with the recycling, but luckily I got help from other Pinkies, otherwise it would have taken until next week... In the afternoon I had seen enough of recycling and did the general walk and litter picked at the same time. Then a check-in with the boyfriend from Laura. Eh, what? Not Daan, but the boyfriend from the Suisse Laura. That was fun!

The next day we deepcleanen the tower toiletblock, so after that day we never had to clean it again. Whoop whoop! And more important: time for Staff Night Out! The theme was 'Sweat it out' and in teams we battled in basketball, football and handball with a rugbyball ;p. I wasn't very good, but we had fun.

On Monday I had duty again, but this time with Crispi (ES) and Lizzy (UK). I did the thought at TFTD with a version of 'rock, paper, scissors', to get people moving and have a bit of fun. Very chaotic, but also very funny! After that we started normal work and in the afternoon Naomi and I went to the Recycle Centre in the village, what was nice to do and to have seen. During (and after) dinner it was dutytime again. I gave out some hiking sticks, turned the light in the shelter next to the OTB on and gave out some firewood. It was very quiet after that and I searched for some information to do a study as theatre costume designer. Very interesting! The one that seems to be the most interesting is a part time study of one day a week in Amsterdam and 8 hours of homework. So then I can find my own place in Leiden, work parttime as a teacher and have time for Daan. This idea makes me so happy!

The 24th was my first day of SNICE. So exciting! I woke up early, had breakfast and after a short talk, we took the bus to the village. At the Oeschinensee we took the Gondola up and walked the well known road to the lake. From there we followed a small trail on the right side, with very nice views. And sooner than I had expected, we arrived at the Fründenhutte on 2562 meter above sea level. After lunch, we put on some warmer clothes and went to the glacier. We put our crampons on our shoes and walked a bit until we could iceclimb. Awesome! We could only climb one time, because the weather was changing and we wanted to be back in the hut before the storm was starting. And because we were back quite early, we did some nice cardgames. I even won three times! I'm never that lucky. We ate later than we are used to at the centre, so we were all hungry, but appreciated the Raclette very much. It was delicious!

When I woke up the next day, I found out that I even dream in English. So weird. Siobhan told me I had said 'This is so cool' and 'This is exciting'. Very funny! After breakfast we went to the glacier again and went to a big crevasse, where we could climb in the ice again. We also learned how to save someone who had felt into a crevasse. Very interesting! After lunch, we walked back to the Oeschinensee. At a certain point our group splitted and I went over the Alpineweg, what was super awesome! Small paths, waterfalls, a lot of rocks and we saw the Edelweiss. Very special. Back at the centre I ate my dinner fast, took a shower and went to the campfireteam of today. I built the fire and lighted it with the words: 'I light this fire in the name of Love'. I kept the fire on during the skits and at the staff skit, I was the statue and got very wet. But it was fun!

On Saturday I was on woodcompound and recycle centre, so I could sleep in. That was very welcome after the intensive SNICE. The rest of the day was deepcleaning of the Rovergelände and some tents, what was boring. There were also not that much people for the woodcompound and recycle centre in the evening, so I left early for Staff Night Out, with sockwrestling. It's a game that starts with two people hanging in a climbing harness om a beam in the staffroom, both with a long sock on one leg. An then they have to take the sock of the feet of the other person. Very funny to do, but also to watch!

On Monday we had something very special: a coffeebreak! After a long time without one, that was very nice. The only problem was that I ate too much and hadn't really appetite for dinner. ;p

When we were doing our normal job on Wednesday, we suddenly got a call from Josh. Some guests had become sick and we had to clean the OTB. We clean that every other day now, because there are not that many guests. But that wasn't the case today. :( But well, thanks to us, nobody else got sick. The afternoon was a bit different too, because we had the End of season Evaluation. We thought about a lot of different subjects and did some games in the meanwhile. And the evening was the Campsite Party! We prepared our food and cooked it on a campfire. That tasted very good! We also went to Doris for a last drink, gave her our grouppicture and we all got a certificate of awesomeness from Naomi, with a little personal text. Funny! We talked a bit after that and started the fire again to cook our dessert. Mmmmmmm!

Very nice to wake up in a tent, the next day. I was off, slept longer and chilled a lot during the rest of the day.

On Saturday Kristy, Austin (a friend of her from Northern Ireland), Nathan (UK) and I went to the pub and had some drinks. We had good conversations and I finally ate the icecreamcoupe I had got as a present from Josh on my birthday. Nice!

And on Monday it was finally time for the towerparty! We had a lot of fun, some beers, nice music and dances. A very good way to end a season!

Tuesday I had my appraisal with Anna (FI). It was positive, I could give my feedback and also got some from the LTS. I can keep the overview, know what happens, even in the details. I'm happy and motivate the others with that. And I'm good at driving the vehicles. The rest of the day I was very happy and the time went fast. During lunch I started to bring some of my stuff to the BSA-room, where we will stay the last days with all other girls. And for dinner we had risotto! Normally, that never happens, so it made my day even better.

Wednesday is the last day on campsite. Whoop whoop! I used Chloe a lot this morning, what I really liked. During lunch we had the staffbazaar with all the lost and found that weren't picked up this summer. Crazyness! Because I don't have space and don't want to carry the weight, I didn't get any clothes, but I found a spork in a case. Super nice! In the afternoon Kristy and I were off and we went to the bakery in the village for a nice chat and cake. Very relaxed afternoon.

Thursday was the big deepcleaning day. We worked for two ours on campsite, I drove Chloe for the last time and then we gathered in the staffroom for some instructions. Wellem, Felipe and I cleaned the Girls Bathroom on the first floor. Very thoroughly, because at the end I had never seen it this clean before. After a delicious dinner I helped a but in catering and went to the laundry to finish my crocheted flower bookmark as a present for Kristy.

This Friday we didn't have a Staff Night Out, but a Staff Day Out. Whoohoo! The day started in the main hall, where we got some explanations about today, with 'the Jungle Book' as theme. We got a croissant and made a packed lunch, before we took the bus. Then I actually starter to get a bit hungry... We stopped at Niesen and took the steepest train up to the top of the mountain. We were even above the clouds! The views were amazing. I had never seen this before. Very beautiful and cold. Luckily we could warm up at the restaurant, while we had a very big breakfast. So nice! We went down again and played 'Werewolves'. I didn't know that's an international game, but it was fun and the time went fast. We went on with the bus and a few kilometres after Thun we stopped and got the explanation for the next activity. We went river tubing! In a small tube we jumped into the water and because there was a quiet fast stream we drifted all the way to Bern. That was fun! But also cold. Then we drove all the way back to KISC to change in nicer clothes and walked to Nico's, where we had a (chique) dinner with a salad as starter, a nice piece of meat and a potato thing as main course and apple sauce and merengue as dessert. Delicious! Then the speeches started and it was the real end of the season. A bit sad, but I'm also ready to go.

Saturday was the big departure day. Kristy went to the trainstation early and together with Josh and Naomi we said goodbye to her. I didn't have real tears, but it was difficult on the inside. During this summer we became very good friends, had wonderful times together with a lot of laughing and I'm really going to mis her. But I will see her again, someday. Back at the centre I started with sorting out all my stuff, what took a lot of time. I also made a little box with stuff I want to keep, but not to take with my bike, what I give to Naomi and when I visit her in Germany, I can pick it up. Packing took almost the whole day, but in the evening I had some time to spend in the barracks. My very last evening at KISC. For now...