Lessons Learned in Tahoe's Winter Wonderland 🐻❄️

[#facilitation + #bears 🐻] I visited San Francisco this past winter, and went skiing in Lake Tahoe with friends. We stayed in a quaint cabin surrounded by waist deep snow. Weeks before we’d arrived, our host had sent us an email warning us about #bears… which I had chuckled at, sitting in Dubai as I read it. It seemed so far fetched that we might encounter one.

And yet…

On the very first evening, while in the cabin eating dinner, unbeknownst to us, a bear came up to our parked car, opened the passenger side door, and sat inside. Then he got out and walked away again a couple of minutes later, leaving the door wide open! (I guess his driver didn't show up).

Have you ever heard of such a thing?! The host showed us camera footage afterwards, which you can see below and shocked us all.

The arrival of spring has me reflecting on what just happened this past winter, and I remembered this bear. So while it has been a wild season for more reasons than one, here are some things I learned:

1️⃣ Being thorough is the best safety net. 

We had emptied the entire car after we arrived, so there was nothing the bear might eat. Even though it was tiring to do this at the end of a drive, it was worth it.

2️⃣ Never assume anything. 

Remember I chuckled at the email about the bear warning? I swallowed that chuckle as I watched the footage of the bear get inside the car. I had wrongly assumed seeing a bear was a rare occurrence and even though I try to tell myself not to assume anything all the time, it was a sharp reminder.

3️⃣ Take advice from locals seriously. 

If someone more knowledgeable about a new environment has bothered to carefully write out a piece of advice for you, take it seriously. Very seriously.

4️⃣ Old cars are the best.

Yes, the bangers with a key that you use to start it, and a door that stays locked when you lock it.

That trip, the car I’d rented had an over-enthusiastic fancy sensor that unlocked the doors for you if it detected the key. While that made it sleek and easy to open, it was TOO easy to open. We suspect it may have inadvertently unlocked the door when we did final checks that evening. Yikes!

Finally, I like how these learnings are also very applicable to #teaching and #facilitating too:

✅Being thorough (the details matter.)

✅Not assuming (it’s a whole new crowd: stay on your toes, even if you think you know it all and are familiar)

✅Taking local intel seriously (never fail to get reliable info about your participants and their context from them directly)

✅Using reliable tools (or just being extra sure you are familiar with all the features before trying it out in a session)

💬 Have you ever encountered a bear before? Did you know they are able to open car doors so easily? Any other learnings I've missed that you can see - I’d love to know. :)

#facilitation #learning #girlscout #facilitationtips #storytime #wild #nature 

📹🐻If you watch the vid, keep your eye on the top right corner where the car is.👀

🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sumbella_facilitation-bears-bears-activity-7045373707447377920-_Dmi