If there’s something that needn’t be said, it’s that Collège du Léman is a very diverse environment. No kidding, one might say, correctly. An international school doesn’t earn the name out of nothing. We have students from all over the world who come here for an education and for a community like no other. Populated by young people from the edges of the globe, there can be a lot of home-sickness when one takes their first steps into this community. It’s one like no other. And it can take some humility to understand that everyone has their own way of doing things. But it also takes some courage to carry your customs with you. And respecting that and working together is what makes C.D.L such a valuable forum for collaborative effort. We bring our best, to represent and do proud our roots. And in an effort of synthesis, do each other proud with respect and being open to any opportunity to learn about how others live, love and grow in their own ways.

C.D.L promotes this valuable environment in many ways. Holding a myriad of events that have students present their origins to each other and encourage discussion and networking.

Olympus Boarder Mark can be seen here with a display on Language Diversity at CDL’s wonderful exhibition highlighting the diverse backgrounds and native origins of our wonderful students to share, strengthen and fascinate our academic community.

Our staff are as diverse as our students! And here at Olympus, we use this to our advantage in bonding as a house. Recently, we covered Diversity as a topic in our Wellbeing meetings.

Mr. Jakob demonstrates the community we have here as he is joined in the assembly by some of Olympus’ best.

And a project we developed for our Olympus community, was a survey that asked our boys to submit three things they thought set them apart from everyone else at Olympus and three things that they were sure they shared with the others in Olympus. And using this data, we believed that the boys could find a lot they thought made them different, can be shared with at least a few other people in this community.

A computer-generated ‘Word Cloud’ we produced for our Community Project featuring all the commonly utilised terms for the values our boarding community holds dear.

As much as some entities seek to convince that diversity leads to difficult rule and even more difficult progress, obviously doesn’t see the tremendous worth that putting in the work, yields. We are all different. And sometimes, that can be a difficult thing to work with. But through understanding and through humility, the keys to the kingdom lie within our respect for each other and our forgiveness.

In the rule-book of those who seek to destroy, “Divide and Conquer” is -and always will be- the flag they fly the highest.

Unity is the way. And our proud community will whole-heartedly demonstrate that, whenever and wherever people might need or want to be reminded.

Wishing you all the best from Olympus Boarding House

Weekends in Olympus are great time to share experiences, stories and also old recipes from home. In this occasion we were able to taste a cup of Cocoa 100% Natural. Cocoa was considered a drink for gods in the ancient Aztec civilization.

Slowly heated and mixed with a traditional “Molino”, patience is needed to get the best texture and bubbles.

Nihad took his time to practice and get the perfect mix.

Time to enjoy the incredible taste of Xocolatl.

Ladies and Gentlemen, another weekend washes over Olympus with refreshing mirth. After five days of back-to-back learning, we are ready to relax a little. By getting in some rigorous exercise, apparently.

Yes, we’ve all gone mad yet again. Below, we can see our boy Davyd running eight whole kilometres of his own free will. Persevering despite the bitter cold that has our region under its thumb at the moment.

Jokes aside, the running club has a wonderful advantage in the surroundings of C.D.L. The back-roads feed seamlessly into quiet stretches of farmland with few cars to speak of and forgiving elevation that provides a unique relaxation in efforts of endurance.

Davyd powers on through the golden leaves of fall, pushing on like Father Time himself!

And while some occupy themselves with steeling their nerves against the unforgiving yet fabulous outdoors, others cluster indoors for their physical activity. They partake in a variety of activities including the ‘Boxercise’ club! An abominable Frankenstein’s monster of cardiovascular activities such as running combined with the adrenaline-inducing art of punching those hand-pad thingies while wearing boxing gloves. A blur of jabs and hooks and belting it around the basketball courts and break-neck speeds. And I should add that I know this because I was there. Believe it or not, I was drafted into this activity by simply being there in its second half. Pulled in by the alluring vortex that is Boxercise. Soon, I was wearing gloves like them, unable to text for help. I was throwing punches, which is something I thought I would be able to do, but turns out punching is very different to how I imagined it and suffice it to say, I discovered that my footwork is and has always been terrible.

I conducted the club with Olympus boarder Rayan, who can be seen on the far left in the photograph below, which is the only proof to me that he was in fact there as at all other times, he was a blur of boxing gloves and squeaking trainers. Unlike me, who people mistook as a recording of someone flailing their arms and stumbling around, being played in slow motion.

Rayan, Mr. James, Alana, Myself and Miss Maria-Sofia square off for the camera.

It looks like we’re much bigger here, but we are just closer to the camera.

We don’t know how you get your exercise, but don’t hesitate to go and get it. It’s good for you and I assure you, it’s at least partially survivable.

Wishing you all the best from the Olympus Boarding House!

Mirsadi and his team destroyed. Eviscerated. Left no survivors (in an academic sense) at the SWISSLearning Global Leadership Challenge. As a part of a crack team, Mirsadi became an emissary for Olympus and came home a champion, carrying with him an extremely loud and often annoying prize that fills us with pride just the same:

The Bell. Its loud and obnoxious tune is as gratuitous as an Olympus Victory deserves.

Two of the victors who made up CDL’s fabulous team. Handsome. Intelligent. Peak physical and cerebral splendour. Unverifiabley flawless golf game.

Our victor on the field of battle.

What Olympus might suffer from in sore losers, we make up for by being abysmal winners as well and all houses will hear the ring of our bell of victory soon enough.

As much as we’d like to claim all the credit for Olympus, we absolutely do. All Hail Olympus and All Hail Mirsadi, champion of champions in the game of games.

Best Wishes from the house of champions.

We all make mistakes. That’s inevitable. More often than not, we have a larger hand in those mistakes than we’d like. Even to blame, might say.

But one of the most valuable lessons that we embody here in Olympus is that messing up is one thing, but making up for it, is an art of its own. Blame and responsibility is only one portion of the aftermath. How one handles failure is often just as important. Because admitting a mistake or allowing oneself to accept guilt takes a surprising amount of strength and maturity. To set shame aside and take up responsibility shows that we can all be bigger than our mistakes.

And though we won’t amplify our pride in our boys just too loudly for their misgivings, we have to admit that they handle their mistakes with a deft hand and are always willing to set things right.

Kirill, Nikkita, Bruno and Rayan cleaning up their acts as well as the environment!

And displayed here, four of our Olympus boys paid a little back to the community for their misgivings and did so with poise, minimal complaining and reasonable style.

We mean no offence when we say we hope to never see them here again, but are heartened that they came down and were willing to put themselves to work and earn back some of our trust.

Wishing you all the best from Olympus Boarding House!

It’s not uncommon for communities to organise charitable action. There’s a lot of unity to be had in everyone rallying for a cause. It feels good and does good to chip in ‘together’. And that’s no different at Olympus.

But there’s also a lot to be said about appreciating charity. To understand that it means a whole lot more than raising some cash. One of the most important gifts that charity can give to more than just the needy recipients, is an empathetic connection to those same people.
So often can it turn into a routine. To remember to donate and send the funds off into the ether. A good thing. But a waste of a lesson. Truly understanding a cause can get lost.

The gift box project is something that ads so much to the charitable experience. Raising some money is followed by the purchase and further donation of gifts that are packaged together and sent to those less fortunate over the season. Food, small gifts and trinkets. Materialism is something that we talk a lot about at CDL. To be wary of it. But there are times when it can mean so much to receive a gift. For so many, it can feel like the world has forgotten them somewhat. And in a small gift, they can find a totem in trying times. Just a thought, a reminder that we still think of them, though we’ll likely never meet.

Mirsadi, Nihad and Michel were in charge of rustling together some change from students and staff alike. And with their strong charitable spirit, they were able to raise a solid amount for the initiative. And the three of them take great pride in the task of knocking on doors and shaking up everyone’s feelings to get to doing a wonderful thing for some wonderful people.

Nihad, Mirsadi and Michel pose with their plentiful collection

And the next stage in the project will of course be about our charitable boys selecting and putting together some gifts by hand. A personal touch for a very personal experience.

If you’re reading this today, consider donating to a charitable organisation of your choice. Money or clothes or unwanted items. Sometimes it takes so little to do so much.

Wishing everyone the best from Olympus Boarding House.

Dear All,

I have to confess something. This is Mr. Jakob, from Olympus Boarding House. And I should elaborate that my secret identity on this blog as the equally fabulous and beloved Mr. Xavier, is simply a mistake of computing and not the subject of my confession.

My confession lies within my intense ignorance of League of Legends. Massive, Multiplayer Online Extravaganza featuring PVP gameplay informed by strategy and intense combat involving the selection and optimisation of hundreds of unique playable heroes and villains. It’s big. It’s popular. And it’s played competitively to an international degree.

And over this weekend, I was lucky enough to accompany some passionate fans to the live-streaming of the World Championship Finals this weekend at the Balexert Pathé cinemaplex. And I have to tell you that I had no idea what was going on. But the enthusiasm of Ivan, Gary, Richard, Alexandre and Imanali was enough to tell me that this was a big deal. Underdog heroes Edward Gaming International vs. Reigning Champions Damwon Kia. An intense match ending in the champions being knocked from their thrones and down into an early retirement, leaving the stage clear for our new reigning champions. Maybe I still don’t exactly understand who Jinx is or what ‘Poking’ is, but hot damn do I feel the passion that so many have for a sport that’s all Greek to me. But then again, it’s far from about me. It’s about the wonderful time our boys had yelling at the top of their lungs in a crowded cinema filled with people as passionate as them watching an intense moment in e-sports history.

A Very Good Photo

Here they are, along with some other fans from Villa du Lac and Concha who were just as excited to be there.

Till next year.

G.G. everybody.

All the best from Olympus Boarding House.

–The Weekend of October the 8th to the 10th, re-uploaded due to accidental deletion/accidental failure to upload–

Disney. Walt Disney. Walter Elias Disney. What man, second to Genghis Kahn could claim a name so ubiquitous. We all know him. We all love what he’s brought into the world. From Mickey Mouse, to Fantasia, to Snow White and The Seven Dwarves to those Dippy Dog cartoons that aren’t as well-remembered but you get the point, we know you know who Walt Disney is and over this weekend, a lucky couple of our boys were afforded the opportunity to journey into the physical manifestation of his work as Disneyland: Paris!

Above, we can see our very own Olympus boys Aoto and Ayu enjoying some sunlit time on the pavilion! Populated -in this autumn air- by some very non-threatening musical phantoms.

But despite some friendly spectres, Ayu has become the subject of a horrifying portrait that somehow retains the charm of someone having a very good time at Disneyland. Something that I think many can relate to.

And what is trawling around an amusement park without some snacks. Good friend of the Boarding House, Carlos can be seen here with Aoto, enjoying their comically large concession snacks to the fullest of their abilities.

All dreams must end. That’s the truth. But how would they be as sweet as they are if they don’t come to an end, some time. We’ll see Walt’s dreams come true once again some time soon, we’re sure of it. But goodbye for now.

Wishing everyone all the best from The Second Happiest Place on Earth.