What to do in the summer: 7 places to find friends and allies
In the summer, many have strength to do things, for which there was not enough energy at another time. Learning is no exception: getting up for classes in the morning when the sun is shining through the window is much more pleasant than in winter. For those who do not like online courses very much (especially since we wrote about them more than once), we collected several summer activities - from expeditions on yachts and writing courses to an adult camp - and asked those who tried them, like it was and why they should pass.
My first yachting experience happened two years ago: it was a weekly introductory course "Wind Power" with the stern sailor Uncle Sasha in Eisk on the Sea of Azov. To begin with, the super: you quickly grasp the basic theory, because you immediately practice it. We spent most of the day on the boat, and, to be honest, there are things in the yachting that are physically hard: where a man can cope alone, a small girl like me will need help. But there are not so many such tasks, everybody will have a business, and it is definitely worth figuring out everything. If at the speed of something broke or caught, and you're there, think and act quickly.
I preferred the role of the tank sailor. First of all, this is an introvert's paradise: you sit on your nose and look into the distance, only sometimes you dodge the sail of a staysail tipping over you and make sure that it does not catch on the railing. But your finest hour is coming: setting and throwing a spinnaker - a huge light sail for passing courses. To do this, you need to perform a series of acrobatic stunts with a two-meter aluminum pipe, balancing at full speed on the narrow bow of a tilted yacht. This is a heavy physical exertion and a powerful adrenaline rush, after which you can continue to look into the distance and come to your senses with a sense of accomplishment. Until the next installation of the spin.
Last summer, we formed a team of four people, and we went to trainings several times at the Nut Bay on Pyrogovka near Moscow, sometimes chased and then ate the best hodgepodge in the world at a cafe on the beach. Once they brought more friends, they immediately caught fire and gathered with us in a regatta in Italy. Several dozen teams on large yachts go from island to island, organize parties on the water and on land, go for a walk, and in the morning go on. This format is more about recreation than about sports, but of course no one will moor or set sail for you.
This summer we plan to train again at Oresk, and in August we are going on an expedition to Norway. There will be only one boat, fjords, trekking on the rocks and fishing. I am looking forward to having a special escapist thrill on a journey through the cold seas.
One million years old she dreamed of going to Kamchatka as a leader, and then it suddenly struck me that you could just go to the adult shift, and that was what I needed. On the adult shift, the program is about the same as in the nursery, unless it is more and more independently, less disciplined and serious. Every day you do creative projects - film, play, performance, it does not matter. In the morning you get a clear introductory, which work as a mini-master class. In the evening - show each other what happened. First, I want to do everything "perfectly well", but then you realize that it’s not about the projects, but that it’s just great. It's great for you, along with other people who are a bit wild and open to new people, to do something that seems overwhelming. It's great that you spend all day between the sea and the field. When creativity has time to get bored, the whole camp takes off and goes on a picnic to another part of the island. Spoiler - there is likely to be a lighthouse, and it will be amazingly beautiful. If to summarize, then perhaps, for me, "Kamchatka" is such a materialization of Neverland, and joyfully, simply because it is somewhere there.
I traveled to Kamchatka with the “Force of the Territory” in the fall of 2016 - for two weeks at the end of September. Of course, Kamchatka is a crazy nature, unlike anything else. Just now you were in the mountains and climbed the volcano over the snow, and now you are standing on the beach with black sand by the ocean. I went a hundred meters away, and in front of you is a dog rose or lingonberry field. And the next day you go along a dry river to a volcano or to the valley of geysers, and then you bathe in hot thermal springs. At night, a little scary, of course: stories about bears do not appear from scratch, but when you see this animal in the wild, it becomes uneasy.
I think that for a completely unprepared person such a trip may seem too much - even spending the night in a tent, putting it in the evening and collecting almost every morning can be tiring. But when you remember everything that you managed to see and try, you understand that you want more. And on Kamchatka, and on the White Sea, and on Baikal.
At MOST Creative Camp I was recommended to go a few people. Nobody revealed the details, they simply said that it would be very cool. I decided to go on a trip spontaneously, did not recognize the details of the program, I just knew that the subject of the camp was storytelling: it was assumed that they would explain to us how to tell stories, subtleties and tricks correctly. The guys have several camps, mostly two days in the near suburbs. My trip took place from April 27 to May 2 in Tbilisi.
The most important and the coolest thing here is that you do not know what will happen to you every day. You arrive in Tbilisi, you are just told the address - and nothing else. I will not tell you exactly which tasks we did (if you are going to go, it will not be so interesting) - they are all very different and creative, everything is aimed at revealing the "children's" creative potential.
The day begins with a small theoretical part, and the rest of the time is taken by the practice - you are divided into groups and from morning to night you complete the tasks. The schedule is very tight - we finished somewhere around half past eleven at night. We did assignments, presented them, gave us feedback - all this was accompanied by a huge amount of Georgian wine. In terms of intensity, it turned out to be difficult for me, but I completely “rebooted” in the camp, it is very inspiring. It's great that people of different ages (from twenty to forty - forty-five) come with a variety of professions: there were a lot of financiers, people from the banking sector, there was a doctor.
I studied in the Write Like a Grrrl (WLAG) group in February and October 2017: first in the basic course, then in the advanced course. I have been doing texts for almost ten years, I have been writing “for myself” stories even longer. When there was a lot of “for myself” texts, I really wanted to talk to someone who also does this. For support, for new ideas, and in general, to see how it is for others. I got to the WLAG courses by chance: I liked the convenient schedule (meetings were held on weekends and started not too early) and the imputed price. The fact that these courses are only for girls did not play a special role for me.
Frankly, at first I was skeptical about the undertaking: I am not sure that anyone can be taught to write cool texts. The very first impression is what all are beautiful: very bright, enthusiastic girls come to WLAG, and this is immediately noticeable. The second impression is that you can still teach how to write. Well, or not to teach, but to show many examples; to tell how they work, to advise what to pay attention in the first place.
Cool, that the courses read many stories of modern authors. It's cool that they understand basic things like setting and dialogues (even cooler, that many people who write at once freely share ideas about this). Maybe the whole thing is in the leading Moscow branch of WLAG Sasha Shadrina (she is very talented and sensitive), and maybe the truth is that only girls are taking courses - but the atmosphere is really healthy.
As a result, I was able to finish writing two large and very important texts for me, which, frankly, I was afraid of. WLAG is a school that I can recommend (and do recommend!) To a variety of writers, regardless of experience. And for those who are just starting to study texts, and those who have been writing for many years and want a productive and non-like feedback.
Well, a separate plus is that WLAG is also a community. After the main course, you can continue to chat, go to more advanced or thematic levels, or, say, to monthly workshops for graduates, and also read the cool stories of other participants and ask others to watch yours.
"British" is the most famous design school in Russia, but in addition to projects related to design, they have summer and winter intensives. They invite third-party teachers, courses last five or ten days. They are connected not only with design, but also with advertising, marketing, production and many others.
I took two courses. The first was about art direction and video production. Every day we studied with two teachers - there were about ten of them in all, mostly from advertising agencies. Inside the course there were many information blocks, and then there was practice. We shot a video on which we were given feedback - the frame, storytelling, and everything else was taken into account. Cool, that was not only a theory, although it was very much - from setting the frame to the types of cameras and lenses.
The second course was very different from the first. It was a course of one teacher - Valery Panyushkin, a famous Russian journalist. We wrote a lot of texts, studied the structure, watched videos and analyzed them according to storytelling. According to the results, it was also necessary to write the text, but everything was much freer: you could not do practical tasks, but only listen. Therefore, from an application point of view, I liked this course less.
I also like the very infrastructure of the "British" very much: they have a library, they give access to all the literature, it’s very comfortable and pleasant to feel like a student. You can meet someone over a cup of coffee, all the time there are open classes, exhibitions of works.
In June and August last summer, I took a Moscow Python Learn Learn Python course. The guys approached the organization very well, did online and offline classes, broke everyone up into groups of four to five people, each appointed a curator, checked the homework, ordered pizza for classes — well, they did the right thing, and the course was interesting and useful. . It was difficult to work on the final project in parallel with the work, good weather and all the interesting events in Moscow, but we did a good job.
That summer did not work, but in this I submitted an application for the starting program of the workshop "AnDan" in the "Summer School". It takes place on the banks of the Volga, not far from Dubna, the students live in tents, and they are engaged in equipped sites at the base of the camp. There I am going to study the basics of data analysis and the R. language. "Summer School" is a project not only for schoolchildren, many programs for students and graduates.
The yCamp community is awesome, although I wouldn't have taken it to the summer camp. We leave this weekend for one day out of town, we will spend the night in tents. At yCamp, the participants themselves create a program and atmosphere: make presentations, master classes, or simply communicate on interesting topics. Usually yCamp takes place several times a year on the basis of a country complex. This will be the first tent yCamp. Between the camps, the guys organize yBar - this is a program with performances and networking for one evening on the basis of a Moscow bar.
Cover: geocislariu - stock.adobe.com