Daniela Sofia Galeana Gaspar, Grade 11
UWC ISAK Japan
6:50 pm, it gets dark in Karuizawa. Walk one or two minutes past R3-12 and you’ll find yourself the best place on campus. A small bench under the stars, surrounded by trees and the weak lights from a house downhill. We exist in the singularity of a moment, a fraction of a second, outside our control. So I wonder if I should spend that much time on the bench under the stars.
People go out there to look at the stars and talk. It’s as simple as that. Sometimes we feel like we’re alone and we’re trying to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders, so it’s difficult to open up. But somehow it’s different. I guess you can compare the effect of this place with board games. “Most traditional theoretical and empirical work on children’s play and games has focused on the contributions of these activities for children’s development of cognitive and communicative skills and their acquisition of social knowledge” (Evaldsson & Corsaro, 1998, p. 377). Evaldsson and Aarsand (2011, p. 137). When people are focused on something else, for example, a game, it is easier for them to talk and open up, as they are busy with the games instead of overthinking. I believe that in this case, the overwhelming beauty of the sky after dawn is what makes it so easy to have a conversation.
Research has also shown that play is an elusive term. “There is no consensus on how play should be defined. Playing games often includes a variety of activities. As mentioned earlier, previous research has shown that board games are often positioned as one play activity among others in leisure-time centres. Subsequent studies have also treated the use of board games in a synoptic way while other issues are highlighted.” (Kane, Ljusberg, and Larsson (2013), Kane and Petrie (2015), Lager (2016), and Haglund (2015)) Supports the idea that other things can serve for the same purpose, that being a visual or auditory stimulus, both of which you get at that place.
The first time I was there, I thought we were just looking to enjoy the amazing view. Instead, I got something a million times better. A conversation with no beginning and no end. We talked about our lives, nothing out of the usual, but the difference here was that, despite barely knowing each other, with lives that had nothing in common, they felt familiar. Not similar, but weirdly familiar and comforting. I also got the most amazing friend anyone could ever wish to have.
If you’re ever at UWC ISAK, make sure to visit that beautiful place. Take a couple of minutes after dawn to sit and watch, make sure to take someone with you, maybe a friend or a half-stranger. The sky looks prettier when you have an extra pair of eyes. Believe me, it’s more than worth it. I’d be glad to spend every single day of that fraction of a second waiting for the stars to come out looking for conversation.
Citation
Haglund, Björn; Peterson, Louise: Why use board games in leisure-time centres? Prominent staff
discourses and described subject positions when playing with children - In: International journal for
research on extended education : IJREE 5 (2017) 2, S. 188-206 - URN: urn:nbn:de:0111-pedocs-221480
- DOI: 10.25656/01:22148
https://www.wallpaperflare.com/white-stars-landscape-night-mountains-constellations-sky-wallpaper-syrp/download/1242x2688
People go out there to look at the stars and talk. It’s as simple as that. Sometimes we feel like we’re alone and we’re trying to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders, so it’s difficult to open up. But somehow it’s different. I guess you can compare the effect of this place with board games. “Most traditional theoretical and empirical work on children’s play and games has focused on the contributions of these activities for children’s development of cognitive and communicative skills and their acquisition of social knowledge” (Evaldsson & Corsaro, 1998, p. 377). Evaldsson and Aarsand (2011, p. 137). When people are focused on something else, for example, a game, it is easier for them to talk and open up, as they are busy with the games instead of overthinking. I believe that in this case, the overwhelming beauty of the sky after dawn is what makes it so easy to have a conversation.
Research has also shown that play is an elusive term. “There is no consensus on how play should be defined. Playing games often includes a variety of activities. As mentioned earlier, previous research has shown that board games are often positioned as one play activity among others in leisure-time centres. Subsequent studies have also treated the use of board games in a synoptic way while other issues are highlighted.” (Kane, Ljusberg, and Larsson (2013), Kane and Petrie (2015), Lager (2016), and Haglund (2015)) Supports the idea that other things can serve for the same purpose, that being a visual or auditory stimulus, both of which you get at that place.
The first time I was there, I thought we were just looking to enjoy the amazing view. Instead, I got something a million times better. A conversation with no beginning and no end. We talked about our lives, nothing out of the usual, but the difference here was that, despite barely knowing each other, with lives that had nothing in common, they felt familiar. Not similar, but weirdly familiar and comforting. I also got the most amazing friend anyone could ever wish to have.
If you’re ever at UWC ISAK, make sure to visit that beautiful place. Take a couple of minutes after dawn to sit and watch, make sure to take someone with you, maybe a friend or a half-stranger. The sky looks prettier when you have an extra pair of eyes. Believe me, it’s more than worth it. I’d be glad to spend every single day of that fraction of a second waiting for the stars to come out looking for conversation.
Citation
Haglund, Björn; Peterson, Louise: Why use board games in leisure-time centres? Prominent staff
discourses and described subject positions when playing with children - In: International journal for
research on extended education : IJREE 5 (2017) 2, S. 188-206 - URN: urn:nbn:de:0111-pedocs-221480
- DOI: 10.25656/01:22148
https://www.wallpaperflare.com/white-stars-landscape-night-mountains-constellations-sky-wallpaper-syrp/download/1242x2688
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