(There are
already articles regarding this topic, but they have been
written by those who had strong contact with the Nordic
community, and therefore their perspective is different)
I traveled
by my own to my first Knudepunkt (Denmark 2015), with just few
acquaintances (many later friends) between the assistants. There I
developed some points by trial and error to make the experience as satisfactory as possible (all points being absolutely
subjective)
Survival
tips for your first Knudepunkt:
Do not
attend alone:
Convince
your group of friends to assist with you. And I am not talking about
one or two friends, but a bunch of them. This will grant you a place
to return to each time you need to rest from the Knudepunkt craziness
and its speed-dating (see below)
Do not
mind the cool kids:
At the
Knudepunkt you will find many larp legends, ignore them. For them
this is a place to run into old friends more than an opportunity to
meet new people. If you seek for them they will be nice and spend a minute of their time with you, then they will disappear in the sea of
attendees. So, unless you have something really stunning to show them
(like a castle, advanced tech, the larp situation in Palestine, etc)
do not even bother. If you attend the Knudepunkt to get to know them, you
have chosen the wrong place.
Accept
the speed-dating:
The Knudepunkt is not only huge, but also the people move non-stop.
Meeting someone is really easy, but the conversations have an average
duration of 5 minutes. If you see that your interlocutor has no
interest in what your are saying do not insist, just leave and find
the next “date”
Imagine the Knudepunkt as a huge Larp-contact-speeddating where you
can meet larpers from around the world. Accept it as fast as
possible and enjoy.
Use/follow
the empty chair rule:
The empty chair is an amazing idea. There must be always an empty
chair for anyone to take part in the conversation. Do not be ashamed,
if the subject seems interesting to you, just sit down.
Make sure there is an empty chair in any conversation you take
part . It is kind of funny, at the end of the convention you will
turn into an empty chair maniac, always checking if it is being fulfilled.
Distrust
the Knutecrash:
In our first larps we unexpectedly connected
with people that shared our same interests and felt strange
transitory infatuations.
At the Knudepunkt something similar happens, so often that it even
has its own neologism (I cannot find it anyway now, but I swear I
heard it many times). Distrust, it is temporary and deceitful.
Prepare
for the Nordic culture:
The Knudepunkt is a clash of cultures being the largest Nordic. Get
ready for an amazing boom of freedoms. Saunas, where the use of the
towel is optional, that suddenly become mixed is just an example.
My advice,
accept it. Their perspective on shame
(or rather the lack thereof), is revealing. It is refreshing how taboo
becomes natural
Another
important topic is feminism and LGBT. This is a delicate
matter and it is easy to hurt others unintended. Therefore,
unless you are well versed in these topics and really interested,
I recommend avoiding them.
“A
week in...”
Yes, definitely yes. If you have time and money, do not hesitate. It of course has pros and cons.
Pros:
- You will meet larpers not accessible during the Knudepunkt.
- It will allow you to see the country/city for a reduced price from the perspective of the locals.
- The activities are really interesting.
Cons:
- After so much time away from home, you will get tired and be less
sociable at the Knudepunkt
- The Nordic countries are not cheap. Your economy will suffer.
- During the Knudepunkt you will not encounter many of the ones you
got to know or they will have no time for you.
Attend
a larp:
Attend the first chamber larp you can. You will meet and
form a bond with those that will be your friends during the rest of
the convention.
Do not
be found waiting to collaborate:
I went with the idea of a presentation in mind, but due to shame and
respect I did not propose it. The presentations were made in small
rooms and the people had a lot of interest for them. So I came back
with the uneasy feeling of not doing it. If you have a proposal talk
with the organizers and participate.
Bring
alcohol and sweets/food from your homeland:
For several reasons:
-Alcohol is expensive.
-Sharing is nice.
-Nothing helps to make friends as a bottle of booze.
Sauna
and more sauna:
For many Nordic
countries the sauna is meant to relax and chat. There is no better
place to meet people and maintain a
conversation with them for more than 5 minutes
(some may complain, like: “what is the Spaniard doing in the
sauna??” But who cares)
Do not
share plate, glass or cutlery (Knudeplage):
The Knudeplage is real. We are talking about participants from over
30 different countries lovingly carrying many exotic illness. As a
person who never gets sick and having had relatively care, I had
throat pain for two weeks. If you are sickly be careful (there are
those that have been sick for months)
These are my conclusions after my first Knudepunkt.
Let's see how it goes at my first Solmukohta :)
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