During the ISL Amazing Race, contestants had to navigate the campus as a miniature world map. “China” is a U-turn station in Cassat, where two contestants had to split up to two separate stations. My “Chengdu” station featured a panda-matching challenge where contestants had to match photos of the same pandas together. Although each individual panda might look similar upon first glance, there are small details to tell them apart. Each team receives a time penalty for every five wrong guesses. The “Beijing” station on the other side of the U-turn involves a craft-work challenge–– contestants had to learn how to complete a Chinese knot following video tutorials. Two contestants reconvene at the end only when they have successfully completed the two tasks on their own.
~Sarah
The Amazing Race saw ISL peer leaders run task-based stations based on their culture. For my station, I had participants learn, and perform, their own version of zeibekiko, an improvised Greek dance. They weren’t judged based on how well they danced or how accurate it was, but by how much heart, effort, and expression they put into it. I was pleasantly surprised to see every participant give it their all and really engage with a culture different from their own.
~Gabe