Klassenfahrt II

Be sure to read "Class Trip" first, so you know what in the heck I'm talking about here.

Essentially, on this trip we were up against the flip side of the fabled German bureaucracy—while some things are efficient, no one will do anything that isn’t part of the job description. So some pretty amazing things were left to chance because nobody bothered to think through whether it was actually a good idea. What follows is hard for anyone who has done this kind of thing in the US to imagine, but it’s all true:

On Wednesday, we had scheduled a bike tour …as we (3 adults, 30 nine- and ten-year olds) arrived at the equipment area I looked over at the wind whipping down the river and commented bleakly on the prospects for Thursday’s canoe journey. (This may seem like a non-sequitur, but it will come up again!) Anyway, we found waiting for us a row of 19 adult sized bikes. And nobody to direct us. Hello? Eventually a guy from the adjacent water sports group wandered over and said “there are some more bikes over there,” pointing to a row of 10 somewhat smaller bikes on the other side of a field. We headed over there to see what we could do, but things went rapidly downhill. Not enough bikes, wrong sizes, helmet didn’t fit, kids riding and running all over the place. By now there were two guys helping out but they didn’t seem to have a plan either and I got more and more aggravated. After an HOUR and a couple good rounds of “You are happy! Now you’re happy! You are happy! Hooray!” we had almost everyone on a bike and in a helmet. Which basically meant that we couldn’t all ride. At which point we said, “SCREW THIS!” And as soon as we had cast aside the pitiful and pathetic plan provided by the place we were staying, we discovered how ridiculous it really was.

It turned out that the guys helping us actually only worked for the sports training site next door. They had been alerted FIVE MINUTES before our arrival that we were coming and were only helping out the camp to be nice. As they fitted our kids with bikes they kept getting calls from the woman in charge at our place wondering where we were. How is it that she had never wondered how our group was going to fit on the bikes that she owned? Not her problem, apparently. Our new bike friends hadn’t wanted to steal customers, but they were pretty pissed at being left holding the bag on a bike trip that they hadn't planned. So once we had ditched the bike trip they immediately offered an afternoon of archery and rock climbing! Cool! The kids cheered loudly. So half the kids went off to shoot bows and arrows while we took a smaller group biking. Needless to say we didn’t have a clue where we were going and discovered some terrain that was, well, OK for a hike but not so much for bikes—a hill that seemed to go straight up and a windy, slippery, steep trail down the other side. But we only made two kids cry. And then they got to go climbing!

I tell you, I was really happy to sit back with a beer after the campfire that night. Ah yes, by now you’ve forgotten the fact that the kids were in cabins on their own! Which meant that we were free (encouraged, even—nay, commanded, I kid you not) to supply ourselves with beer and wine for our evening use after the kids went to bed. Nothing too surprising at camp, maybe, but on a school trip???

Anyway, the next day we were scheduled to go canoeing. After the biking fiasco I was a little worried (a little?) about this plan. One of our rescuers from the day before came by to clue us in—our uninterested and incompetent host had one giant war canoe for about half the kids, the rest in small boats twos and threes--with no instruction but with a motorboat to accompany us and pull the kids out when they flipped. Which, given the winds I’d seen the day before, they certainly would. Only the motorboat guy had called to say he wasn’t coming. By now I was having visions of the fabled Waramaug trip spread across half of Lake Champlain.

Thankfully our helpful friends from next door stepped up again and produced a second war canoe to take the other half of the kids—and thankfully I know a little about paddling and was able to guide it. So we piled 15 kids in one and 15 in the other (a bit squeezy, but OK) and off we went. Nobody knew the first thing about paddling and for much of the way it was complete chaos. Eventually I remembered to be along for the ride and just sat back ruddering while the kids fought with each other about who was paddling harder. Eventually they more or less got it together and we made a good learning experience out of it.

That night after dinner the kids threw a party in the “house” they had built in the woods, complete with a paved floor and benches. They pooled their money and bought refreshments at the snack bar. No planned activities could ever produce this kind of teamwork and initiative from 30 kids. When we did our final positive sharings on Friday morning, sang “Aroostasha” one more time, and did a rousing “Grade 5” cheer, it was—at it was meant to be—a TEAM. What fun!