Fjord jumping.

One of the best things at RCNUWC was the fjord-jumping, the daily or at least weekly ( not in january, and february though) dose of adrenalin.
Obviously doing these things is extremely cool, so when coming back home, i thought of a challenges, which we have had organized within our youth club to compensate for the lack of fjord jumping ;).
Now that activity has more or less ended, i have somehow managed to return back to the source. Of course there is a minor annoyance ( read: lack of fjords ), but fortunately there are different kinds of rivers, streams available for use (chilled to something between 5 to 13 degrees Celsius). :)
There is however, no appropriate water close to where i live ( closest is 11 km away ), which makes an aftershower an impossibility. Bummer.

I have also changed my style - back at RCN it was, jumping, staying in water for 5-10 seconds, climbing up, jumping again... 2,3,4, or even more times (23?) and then finally leaving to warm up freezing body. But now, it's jumping only once then waiting in the water until the temperature of your skin and the surrounding water are the same, and you don't feel cold anymore. Now is time to enjoy, chill out, or swim a couple of meters. After you start feeling cold from the inside it's about the time to get the hell out of there.
To add to the adrenalin side, these occasions mainly occur during the night.
Anyways, it's fun. You absolutely have to try it out sometime. You'll become addicted.

Speaking of fjord jumping, i found this CAS entry regarding fjord jumping, written by Matt. He sent it to me about 2 years ago ( damn, the time flies ). I had a harddrive failure and thought it was lost forever.
Yesterday i found it by chance, whilst scanning through my USB pen. That just made my day. Seriously, it's the best english written stuff, i have read. Ever.
So respect Matt... Great shit you wrote.
Copy > paste

Summarise what you did in this activity and how you interacted with others.

This activity is called ‘fjord-jumping’. It involves jumping into fjords at all times of the day and the night whenever you get the urge. There is a lot of interaction between male and female students as we see who can jump the most times and the furthest or from the greatest height. There is also a lot of interaction with the rest of the student village, as we have to walk the streets to get to and from the traditional fjord-jumping platform by the boathouse, so we occasionally take the opportunity to do some recruiting. In addition, our war cries can quite often be heard from the houses as we attempt to shout the loudest and come up with the most bestest one-liner. You can shout in your own language as long as it sounds cool, or even better: you can jump at the same time as any number of your fellow countrymen, raucously shouting out the name of your beloved homeland together as you do so. You gain more respect the higher the percentage representation of your country, although sometimes, when we feel like exercising some international understanding, we merge the names of all the countries represented into one (genius), and jump and scream them all at once. These occasions are most joyous.

Explain what you hoped to accomplish through this activity.

Through the noble art of fjord-jumping followers hope to reach a refreshing state of affinity with the water, a kinship, almost an attraction; they seek oneness. What is better than leaping out into nothingness and getting some major kick-ass air with your pals; being suspended over the unsuspecting water; framed by a dazzling sunset? It’s about pushing oneself to one’s limits and then stopping and going and having a really hot shower that feels like it’s lukewarm but in actuality is very hot although you can’t feel it and then oh it burns. And basically we’re all just up for a bit of a laugh and avoiding doing college work.

How successful were you in achieving yours goals? What difficulties did you encounter and how did you overcome them?

I believe we achieved and will go on achieving all of the goals mentioned in the mission statement on page one of the 2004 ‘Fjordon bleu’ fjord-jumper’s almanac, and that the difficulties we encounter just make things all that more fun. An example of a potential problem is that of weak swimmers wanting to jump. If they do so we always make sure they are flanked either side by two strong swimmers and that various life aids are available. Furthermore, we guarantee that every jumper about to jump has immediate access to a helper-upper piece of apparatus such as a ladder or wooden steps at the side of the platform so that no one need be subjected for too long to… The temperature of the water, although contributing to the extreme sport side of things is also a bit of a bummer. On the side we always have an abundance of towels and check the boathouse is open so that we can use the shower and revive certain parts of the body, like the nose, as soon as possible. We don’t generally jump in when there is ice. That would just be silly.

What did you learn about yourself and others through this activity?

Through the martial arts discipline of fjord-jumping I have learnt that everyone has at least a tiny bit of insania inside him or her and that it’s just a matter of bringing it out in a controlled manner. Although I have learnt that it is not clever to run very fast on a wet/snow covered platform I have also learnt that in some cases it is a good thing to be spontaneous and do things on the spur of a random moment. Sometimes it is best to stop trying to work and chill out and clear your head with a splash of water. Then perhaps when you return to your work you will be more productive and focused; happier, even if people tell you you’re a mentalist. But you’re not; you’re a hardcore leg-end. You know it.

Did anyone help you to think about your learning during this activity? If so, who helped and how did they help?

Last year, my most regular fjord-jumping partner was none other than my roommate Andrej (Jedi master, level 14) from Slovenia. He taught me many things. He taught, leading by example, how to run on stones without squealing like a girl, and that one should always wear a hat when journeying to and from a jump because the head is very efficient at losing heat. And he always let me shower first, which was very kind of him. The notion of room showers was brought up, but it was decided that this was taking integration too far. Together, we broke records and some of the records we broke were ones we set ourselves. And sometimes people broke our records, and sometimes their own records, and sometimes, people set their own. Best of all, we just did something great, something a little bit crazy, at the same time realising that it isn’t about being the greatest or the craziest, it’s about flinging everything else aside and breaking out when you need to, how ever much you need to. So jump on. Respect.