12th Graders Freezing but Smiling in Åre

SIS’s 12th graders and soon upcoming graduates embarked on the annual school trip to the skiing town of Åre in the Northern part of Sweden. As it is still considered to be late summer in Sweden, we unfortunately did not get the chance to ski there. Instead, we had the opportunity to hike up the mountains you ski on during the winter. It was about 8km up the mountain and 8 down. With our guide leading us, the entire grade fussed over a moose hunting dog named Fia who entered the spotlight of attention for two whole days. Once reaching the top of the mountain, the view was quite stunning, and we were able to see the mountains of Norway in the distance. However, we decided to not continue our hike that far and rather return to work on some Extended Essay, or rather try to work.

The teachers organised a conference room at the Holiday Inn where we worked on our EE for around three hours and then could relieve ourselves from the cold weather by relaxing in the pool’s jacuzzi or swimming in the outdoor heated pool. While the pool at the Holiday Inn was heated, the lake was certainly not. It might have been about 8 degrees in the lake but a group of us roughed it out, jumped in the lake for a minute, and then warmed ourselves in the sauna. A typical Swedish tradition. To feel a bit better about jumping in freezing water, there was a small fire for hot dogs and roasting marshmallows.

The last day of our trip, we had an opportunity to play bumperball, which is when you play football in big round bubbles. Once inside it you could barely see anything and became so disoriented that everyone bumped into everyone. A couple of people even flipped upside down when they fell over. The experience, though, was amazing and the view from the cabins of all the mountains surrounding us was indescribable.