As our international project comes to a close, the final day brings a mix of excitement and nostalgia. With the competition heating up, we gathered for one last round of challenges before heading home.

Just like the other days, we had to be on campus by 9:00. Thomas, Jef, Oscar, and Nika needed to check out of their Airbnb to catch their flight on Saturday morning. With a limited time window before submissions closed at 10:00, we focused on solving as many challenges as possible and ended up in 2nd place! While I’m not sure how the other teams fared, it was a fun experience overall. You can see the scores of each team on this scoreboard:

After the challenges concluded, we returned to the auditorium for the announcement of the winners. The challenges were explained, and we all learned a few extra insights. At 15:00, we split up to continue our journeys home, as many from our school were either heading to their hotels or already on their way back. Here we also had to return the badge we received to gain access to the class rooms

Victor, Jurre, and I returned to the hotel and decided to revisit the Kappa Bar, where we had so much fun the previous day. But first, we needed to grab dinner. On our way to the Kappa Bar, we ran into our teacher, Nico, who joined us. However, when we arrived at the Kappa Bar, it was packed, so we opted for a nearby pub instead. We had a great night chatting about various topics with Nico.

As our international project progresses, the competition heats up! On the third day, we returned to campus, ready to tackle new challenges and defend our lead.

Just like the day before, we had to be on campus by 9:00. We received more challenges, and similar to yesterday, unsolved challenges offered higher points. Unfortunately, we lost our first place as another group worked relentlessly to catch up, solving two challenges that had a combined score of 2,000 points. Determined to regain our lead, we focused on tackling these challenges.

Meanwhile, other teams began to catch up as hints were provided. Thomas stayed on campus for a meeting and to complete challenges, while I returned to the hotel. An after-school activity was organized, a tour of a local museum. Although I didn’t attend, other group members went and captured some great pictures.

As the excitement of our international project continues, we dove into the second day filled with new challenges and unexpected twists. With our team eager to tackle the tasks ahead, we arrived at the university bright and early, ready to see what the day had in store for us.

It was the second day of the project, and we were back at the university by 9:00 to receive new challenges. We dove right into the tasks, with older challenges carrying higher scores due to their increased difficulty. One particular challenge really threw our team for a loop. The first image featured Darth Vader pointing at a pipe, accompanied by some strange gibberish. I quickly figured out it was a YouTube link, which led to a video of ducks waddling around campus, speaking in… duck.

We mistakenly thought we had to physically visit every location the ducks appeared in the video. Thomas and I went to the last location shown, which had a banner, but we found nothing. Disappointed, we asked the professors for help, only to learn that it wasn’t an IRL challenge at all. It turns out we just needed to enable subtitles on the video and set the language to Klingon. The key was literally being spoken!

But during our walk around campus we found an old-school arcade which was awesome!

In the afternoon we also received a lecture about IPv6 from Nico Declerck which was interesting.

In the evening, another event was scheduled for us: a chance to grab some drinks at the student bar.

As we embark on our international project, excitement fills the air! Today marks the beginning of a week-long adventure at the campus in Skövde, Sweden, where we will engage in a thrilling Capture the Flag (CTF) challenge. With our teachers guiding us and a variety of activities planned, we are ready to dive into a week of teamwork, learning, and fun. Join us as we share our experiences and the memorable moments that await us!

Today, we were expected at the campus by 9:00, where we met our teachers, Nico Declerck and Jill Vandendriessche. In the auditorium, we received a briefing about the upcoming week, which will be a Capture the Flag (CTF) challenge. During this week, we will compete in groups against each other.

We also learned about after-school activities, which include visiting a gaming bar, going out to a student bar, and exploring an art museum. After the briefing, we gathered in our groups and found a comfortable spot in the room to begin our work. We chatted briefly with the Swedish students before diving into the CTF challenges, which included a variety of tasks such as IRL puzzles, games, math problems, forensics, reverse engineering, and more.

At noon, we took a short break to grab some food and coffee in the cafeteria before continuing our search for flags. We worked until 16:30, at which point we wrapped up for the day. Our group split up, with Thomas and his friends heading out for burgers, while Victor, Jurre, and I returned to the hotel for dinner.

In the evening, we had a planned activity at Kappa Bar, a venue in the center of Skövde where we could enjoy drinks and play games with friends. We had a fantastic time playing a variety of games, including Mario Kart, Mario Party, Call of Duty, Gang Beasts, and more.

As part of our international project, our group embarked on an exciting journey to Skövde, Sweden. Each of us had unique experiences leading up to our arrival, filled with adventures, challenges, and memorable moments. In this post, I’ll combine our experiences into a summary that highlights the key events from each of our perspectives, showcasing the different routes we took to reach Skövde.

Friday, April 18th

Thomas and Jef kicked off their adventure with a late flight, landing in Gothenburg around 22:00. Despite a small delay, the flight was comfortable. They were fortunate to stay at Jef’s niece’s apartment for the next two nights. She welcomed them warmly, sharing insights about Swedish culture, including recycling practices and local tips.

Saturday, April 19th

After a late start, Thomas and Jef ventured out to explore Gothenburg. They discovered charming shops and indulged in a traditional shrimp sandwich, albeit at a steep price. Their day was filled with walking 33,000 steps, to be exact! They capped it off with a hurried dinner of spaghetti bolognese.

Sunday, April 20th

Thomas and Jef woke up even later than before. They visited the maritime museum, where they were pleasantly surprised by the exhibits. Jef introduced Thomas to Fika, a delightful Swedish coffee break, and they enjoyed local pastries. In the evening, they prepared homemade Swedish meatballs for dinner. Meanwhile, my journey began late at night when Victor and Jurre picked me up in Bruges around 23:00. We set off on a road trip, first picking up Gianni near Ghent.

Monday, April 21st

As night fell, Victor, Gianni, Jurre, and I drove through the Netherlands and into Germany, making a quick stop at a McDonald’s to refuel and stretch our legs. We took advantage of the autobahn’s lack of speed limits, reaching a thrilling 180 km/h before slowing down due to fuel consumption concerns. After crossing into Denmark, we stopped again to get our bearings before heading to Malmö. We encountered border control around 10:00 but were allowed to continue without issues. Upon reaching Gothenburg around 14:30, we met up with Aaron, Andy, and Lukas at an Irish pub, where we talked and walked around the city. Meanwhile, Thomas and Jef planned to catch a train to Skövde at 16:00. However, they lost track of time at the Hard Rock Café and missed their first train. This is where we stumbled upon them as they were catching a bus to the station. Thomas and Jef arrived in Skövde around 18:00, where Oscar had already picked up the keys to their Airbnb. They enjoyed dinner at Bastard Burgers. In the meantime Jurre, Victor, and I continued driving towards Skövde, arriving at our hotel around 18:00, just in time for dinner and some much-needed rest.