Kick-off 2012 - Trysil

...and the story continues.
In my previous post I wrote about all the hassle regarding our annual company trip colliding with the skiing holidays with my family in Livigno and the travelling odyssey to still join my colleagues.
This year's company trip was planned to take place in Norway's largest ski resort, in Trysil, from Friday 17th to Sunday 19th of February. By quitting my skiing holidays 1,5 days earlier I tried to join my colleagues still on that Friday in the evening, but due to organizational reasons this was not possible. There was no way after my late arrival in Oslo on Friday evening to still get to Trysil.


Friday, 17th of February:

While I was travelling from the Italian Alps back to Norway, all my colleagues from the Stockholm and from our Oslo office as well as all staff from abroad met up in the morning in Oslo to drive by private bus to Trysil.

Unlike all the previous years where the accommodation was at a normal hotel, this year we all stayed in a huuuuge, but cosy private, self-catering house. It had many rooms to accommodate all of us, a large kitchen, several common rooms and a dining room with a looooong table to fit all.

 

 

Jacuzzi inclusive :-)

After check-in with a welcome drink, my colleagues had some winter activity and a dinner at the Norlandia Hotel Trysil on the programme. Since I wasn't present yet at that time, I "stole" those pictures from my colleagues.

 

  

 

 

Saturday, 18th of February:

If it was to the kick-off organizing team, after a night at home in Oslo, I would have arrived only in the middle of the next day, i.e. on Saturday - when more than half of the programme would already have been over. Since on Sunday not too much was planned (only free time in the morning [to get sober :-)] and departure at lunch time), I wasn't too happy about this solution as I thought all the travelling hassle on Friday wouldn't be worth it.
So I did some research and found out that, ok there was really no option of getting to Trysil in the late Friday evening, but at least a much earlier shuttle bus to Trysil on Saturday morning. Thus, after only a few hours sleep at home in Oslo, I got up again, took a taxi to the bus station and already at 7 a.m. in the morning I was travelling again - on my way to Trysil.
I arrived in Trysil right on time to interrupt in the middle of the company internal conference at the Radisson Blu Resort Trysil.

After the conference we still enjoyed lunch at the hotel before leaving for our afternoon winter activity to a lavvo (sami tent) somewhere close to the ski slopes.

In the tent we were welcomed by a young couple that had organized this activity for our company. The focus of course: team building. We had been divided into 5 groups and the task was to create our own sledges - made out of card board, big black garbage bags, tape and gift wrapping paper!
After an hour in action here below the results - and I admit my team's outcome was definitely the least spectacular and stylish one!

 

 

The next step was to see who would win the competition in functionality - not only design! Below the pictures from the crash test - sliding down the hill :-)

 

 

Nooshin and me ready to go!

 

Our sledge - the least fashionable and exotic one - turned actually out to be the one falling apart the least. While some totally broke apart already half way down, ours at least reached the finishing line pretty much intact. However it still ended up like all the others on the sledge cemetery.

It looked totally stupid, but the whole thing was pretty fun :-)

After our sledding competition we went for some free time back to the accommodation. And so I finally got to our room and discovered that I was given a room to share with Jana and Carla - with a private jacuzzi... as compensation for my travelling efforts to join the team :-)

With some cinnamon rolls and cream puffs, basically everyone used that bit of free time to prepare with its group of five a task for the evening. Every group was supposed to rewrite the lyrics of a chosen song and to perform that as karaoke after dinner. So in the late afternoon everyone was sitting with his/her group to become creative in re-writing song texts fitting to the original song's rhythm.

At 7 p.m. we moved back to where we had our handicrafts session in the afternoon.

In the restaurant lavvo we were served a suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper delicious evening meal, dominated by very tender any yummy reindeer and lamb filets. This was really really good!

 

 

As it is tradition the award for the "Employee of the Year" is handed over during the annual kick-off. Among the four nominees...

 

 ...it was our purchasing manager Gerlinde who finally won this prize after so many years of extremely hard work :-)

Congrats, Gerlinde!!!

 And also Anette gets our present for being our big boss :-)

After dinner, we held our own "Eurovision Song Contest" we had been working for so hard in our free time in the afternoon.

My team decided to split up the tasks, so Trude, Nooshin and Veronika were our dancers and chorus singers...

 ...while Carla and I took over the verses. This was really my first time singing karaoke!!! I'm really not a big fan of singing and I'm surely all but a talent!!! So I don't know how I(!) even ended up singing - in front of other people!?!

We had chosen to give Queen's "We will rock you" some new text and I was sure to have kept our lyrics somewhere, but I can't find them anywhere anymore. Anyway, the new lyrics referring to some colleagues anyway would be nothing funny for you as long as you don't know the team...

At 11 p.m. we had to leave the lavvo and so we walked back through the deep snow to "our" house.

The Terra Nova team (f.l.t.r.: me, Stéphanie, Franck and Elisa)

Franck and Trude after a battle in the snow.

Back at the accommodation the party continued.

Franck and I dancing some disco fox in the later evening :-)

In the course of the night people disappeared one after the other until at 4 a.m. only the Terra Nova team was still awake and gathering for a little night snack in the kitchen. So typical that it was us four (Stéphanie, Elisa, Franck and me) the last ones at the party. After having convinced hungry Franck that the pasta in the shelves shouldn't be cooked now in the middle of the night, but rather kept for its original purpose, the lunch the next day, we eventually went to bed as well, at 4.30 a.m.

Sunday, 19th of February:

Getting up early was hard that morning - and I guess not only for me, but also for most of the others
Breakfast time.

 

I  couldn't decide whether I was hungry or not for breakfast and eventually ended up just having a little roll. Hoping that some fresh air would help in getting awake and sober, Carla, Jana and I decided to go out for a stroll around the area.
Right behind the house at the nearby lake some colleagues had already gathered and were having fun in sliding down some self-made tracks on plastic bags.

 

 

 

After some time out we all returned to the house to pack and have lunch.

Departure from Trysil was at 2 p.m. sharp. Time to take a group picture...

 ...and to enjoy a nice ride back to Oslo.

I wanna thank my colleagues for this nice kick-off, especially the organizing teams. I big "plus" goes in my opinion to the accommodation. This self-catering house created a very private and social, casual atmosphere. Elsewhere it wouldn't have been possible to just hang around even with your boss present "just the way you were and felt", that is without dress code in your ski underwear, tracksuit or even your pyjamas!!! No one cared.

Ok, I missed the first day and night, but for what I could still join for was really nice! I had a great time!