Until now, we thought our autumn games evenings were already legendary, with Mafia gambling into the night. But now we have outdone ourselves with a special kind of games evening!

On a changeable, chilly Friday morning, our Berliners made their way to Dresden - to the Valley of the Clueless. And this time, almost everyone (except me, of course) had no idea what to expect. The announcement email only said that we would play some kind of games for 3 hours (!)...

And so it actually was - and not just 3 hours, but 4 hours. We all met at the "Hall of Game" (https://hallofgame.de  - highly recommended!!!) on the Weißen Hirsch in Dresden. After a blue welcome drink, we were randomly divided into 6 teams. And the games could begin! On 2 floors we weighed, estimated, fevered, felt, rolled, clicked, pushed and shot each other to the death. Some of us showed previously unrecognised talents (so Isabel is good at stacking sticks), previously unused skills (Dorit has a gift for weighing) and previously unseen ambition ("well of course we'll definitely win"). It was a great pleasure to solve the changing tasks in the team as quickly as possible or as best as possible. There was something for everyone: good estimation skills, dexterity, athleticism and even handling the plastic gun "Nerf" were in demand. And at the end, our team leader Lukas had worked out an SKS quiz together with me, in which we put some events and facts of the last 12 years to the test. The award ceremony was of course celebrated extensively and everyone got an SKS medal.

After 4 hours we were really hungry and enjoyed the 3-course menu that was waiting for us. Afterwards, the extroverted part of our troop met after a short break to freshen up in the night club "Downtown" in Dresden. The party night started with an SKS ice cream cake - Tobi, thanks again. And then we couldn't stop: the dance floor was open. When the last of us started our way home around 4:30 a.m., I finally fell asleep, happily summing up.

Elisabeth

On June 24, 2022, we SKSers went up high.

It was a very sunny day, hot, dry, sticky. Best conditions to visit a climbing park in the middle of Berlin. Planned - done. With as little clothing as possible, but all the more sunscreen, we met in Mitte district of Berlin. After putting on our safety harnesses and helmets, we already felt like real professionals. The short briefing was followed by a test turn on the floor and a few easy routes on the first floor. Pretty quickly we were drawn further up.

On the second and third floors we tested our skills: shimmying at dizzy heights, climbing on a sloping climbing wall, riding bikes, balancing on thin timbers and taking a seat in the beach chair at the very top to linger and enjoy the view. Our hands suffered a little, they are usually only used to typing... To come down we used the "short way" over the free fall. Natali dared to be the first to go down – many of us followed!

A small group of colleagues, who didn't really want to enjoy the climbing, played beach volleyball with full dedication. Some even played until their knees gave out or their pants ripped and beyond.

After the sporting part, we met in the beach bar, enjoyed a snack and cool drinks. As night fell, the fire was lit and conversations flew in all directions.

It was a great afternoon and a wonderful evening. Thanks to Nelly for the amazing organization.

Elisabeth