The Ulteamate Experiment

Feb
22
Submitted by XL-Network on Wed, 2012-02-22 22:19

After weeks of preparation it was finally time for The Apple Weekend. Together with three more theatresports friends I organized it. Last weekend some 20 to 25 of us went to the Rest and Relax Lodge in Klijndijk to get together for a awesome weekend. The theme was: The Ulteamate Experiment. We subjected everyone to questions, assignments and other experiments. It all started with a four page questionnaire. And after everyone picked their room it was time for diner. That also was an experiment because in two of the three pans the food was colored. After some nice tiramisu we played a game of Runaround and written down the answers. The four people who organized the weekend were all scientists. We had Apple Einstein, Ada Jonagold, Jon Elstar and Sigmund Fruit (my character). Sigmond was asking the Runaround questions whilst the other three colleagues wrote down the answers. After some 14 questions it done and everyone got to go inside where it was warm and we could play a game of werewolf's all night long.

The Next day breakfast was served between 10 and 11 AM after which we divided the group into two smaller equal groups. The first group went outside where the had to hammer a nail into a wooden branch. The other group stayed inside and had to came up with a homemade story. Then the groups would switch and we offered them an reward. The purpose of this experiment was to see if the would perform better or worse in the do and/or think tasks. The results were surprising.

The rest of the afternoon we sent them out on a photo puzzle hike. The had six envelopes (and one emergency envelope) with pictures in them. On each picture there is a clue to which path you have to take. I went along with the first group to be an observer and to see how the thinking process went. Both groups had the first question all wrong. Both groups couldn't link the fact that the answer of the puzzle in each envelope had to be used on the last photo. Because of this both groups went the wrong way after just the first envelope. But miraculously they got back on the right trail. On arrival at the lodge the received a hotdog and there was time for some relaxing.

Before dinner we gave everyone an apple. This had to be peeled and we recorded the time it took and measured the length of the apple (without telling the subjects). After taking of the apple skin the subjects were asked to slice the apple in small pieces so it can be used for desert, apple crisp. After that the real diner could begin. Rice with stuff, this time without food coloring. After everything was eaten my colleague Apple Einstein presented some nice charts that showed the results of this weekend. We also received a bottle of Apfelkorn from our board as a thank you for organizing this weekend. It came in very handy.

Saturday night was party time! We gave everyone the assignment to dress up as a not very bright person. And it worked! There were characters like: Homer Simpson, Bobby Farrell, Whitney Houston, Miss Vocalchords, Plien and Bianca, Dr. Love, et cetera. I was dressed up as Harry from The Hague, he kept yelling all the time and didn't seem to care or be ashamed. Very much fun, only thing is you end up with a hoarse voice.

Sunday morning it was time to clean up and go home. But first we sat down for a last cup of tea or coffee. It was a very great weekend! Thankfully we have the photos to remember it.