James' Travels: November 2011

This weekend 8 students from Holsby and one staff member travelled to Jonkoping and attended the nerdiest thing known to man. DreamHack. DreamHack is the largest digital gaming festival in the world and set three new world records this weekend. It runs from thursday to Sunday and is the biggest LAN party in the world.

We woke up early Saturday morning and left for Jonkoping by 8am. We arrived when the doors opened at 10am. This is not to say that people hadnt been gaming all night. We walked in, bought our daypasses and walked into the first of three giant gaming rooms. We were all shocked at what we saw. Several thousand desktop computers, complete with either gaming humans or humans completely out on their keyboards. There were rows with table that held all the computers and it was a mess to say the least. Two days worth of empty coke cans and energy drinks, stacks of empty fast food cartons and blankets, pillows, and cabels all over the place. We proceeded from that room to the main one where there was a stage set up and some kind of techno pumping out for the gamers to stay awake on. It was quite the sight to see several thousand glowing monitors in a dim room with zombies walking around in the one piece fleece suits they were selling there. There was also something with displays by various gaming companies giving away free stuff and demoing their games. There was also tournaments for professional gamers that took place in a large thingy with lots of seats and a big screen. It was ridiculous, being gave standing ovations for somebody getting shot on a video game. The prizes were fairly large, the biggest being about 100 000 dollars for the winner of StarCraft 2.

I have never seen so much gaming and I felt sick after only one day just looking, not even playing in there. Some people were literally at their computers three days straight. This isnt to say that it wasnt a good experience. Ive never seen something like that. They set the record at somewhere above 13 000 joined computers at a single event. The internet was 120 gbit/s. Apparently that is stupid fast, but I wouldnt know. I got a few free shirts out of the deal and came out feeling really good about the fact that

I have friends and dont spend all day gaming.

Sleeping!

sleeping stuff

Enough Coke?

Counter Strike Finals. Prize, 150 000kr

Sorry it took so much time to put up this post but I have been really busy... or just really lazy.

Well anyway, a couple of weeks ago we went on our second trip of the year, sea kayaking in the Baltic. There was already a travel weekend planned for this weekend so we didn't have to miss any classes. Travel weekend started on Thursday and ended Sunday evening so that was to be the length of our trip. We left thursday morning and drove about an hour and a half to the ocean, where we picked up our rental kayaks (which were actually pretty nice). After about an hour of learning how to pack these blasted compartments properly we carried the kayaks down the pier without dying on the slippery wood and tossed them in the water. We then proceeded to enter the kayaking without stepping in the goose poop which was everywhere. Thankfully my feet fit in the kayaking but I still had to take off my boots to sit properly. When figuring out what you are going to do with your boots you are faced with the tough decision of whether or not you should put your dirty boots with you in the kayak or if you wash them off in the sea and then put wet boots with you in your kayak. Either option kinda sucks but having lots of water is better then lots of dirt. Anyway, once safely in our kayaks we started on our way. Each day a different pair of people navigated and led the group in our travels. The first day I was co-leading with Danielle (from BC). As it was completely foggy we really had to rely on our maps and compass. At times we would cross large stretches of open water in which we could literally see nothing. At this point we really hoped that our compasses were accurate and that we weren't too stupid to use them. Thankfully, we did know how to use them and successfully navigated through the fog and the ten million islands around. Our first campsite was pretty soggy as we found it in near darkness and we were pretty rushed. Once my tent partner (Christopher (the german)) and I had set up our tent we figured out that we set up right on some pretty funky mushrooms that made us smell like really strong garlic. It wasn't ideal. Anyway, we had a good night there and woke up to clear skies, which was a nice change from pure fog all day. The next day we started and actually got to take a look at the scenery which was nice. Its very similar to the whiteshell but with more rock. The tides are almost nonexistent and the sea was completely calm for three of the four days we paddled. That night we set up at a very nice spot inside a fairly narrow channel and actually got to see the sun go down. I also tried to fish a bit as we had a brought a very old fishing rod with us that had a knock-off mepps with only two thirds of a treble hook attached. Well i started fishing after sundown and would cast for a bit, pack it in, then immediately turn back as some idiot fish would jump exactly where I had been casting one minute ago. This happened about three times until i got too frustrated to try again. The next was even foggier than the first and we did a lot of blind navigation which was cool. Unfortunately we almost ran out of daylight looking for a camping spot and we picked a spot on the windward side of an island. A light wind kicked up in the evening and the fog got pushed up on land and soaked everything. Our tents were under trees and it sounded like it was raining there was so much water dripping from the trees. The last day had a bit of wind but nothing to complain about with all the calm we had had the days previous.

Now that I have kinda outlined the trip I can give a few details.
Well, my cook group and I had the great idea that we should have instant mashed potatoes for one of our meals. This was a mighty fine idea, however, we (not me though) only brought one packet of potatoes instead of three. So we had potato soup. It was awful. Unfortunately, you cant just not eat, so we ate soup that tasted like butter and potatoes and water. But mostly water.
I have always liked canoes better than kayaks, maybe that was because I had just canoed more in the past but now i know exactly why. Getting out of a kayak is like playing russian roulette. It was by-far the most dangerous thing I have done in Sweden so far. Its completely unreasonable how uncomfortable, inconvenient, unstable and every other kind of un- or in- word that you can think of including unawesome. Anyway, people almost ate it trying to get out for pee breaks all the time. Slippery rocks and kayaks dont mix well and the Baltic sea is literally completely surrounded by slippery rocks. So the moral of the story is, I still like canoes better.

Oh ya, when you think your going in a straight line towards one point in fog you are actually not. You're slowly going in a circle but you think your such a pro and really keeping your reference point in the fog. But your wrong, your not a pro and your actually 60 degrees off. But thats what compasses are for so no worries. You just have to be staring downwards at your compass constantly.

And fleece liners are awesome.

Thats all I have for now!