The Allies
“I felt like doing something crazy,” says Kim about her participation The Allies. “I have a nice job, lovely friends and family and a stable life, but it was all a bit too stable for me. I was in the mood for a bit of commotion. I volunteered a bit as a joke, but when I entered the warehouse, I suddenly felt: this is no longer a joke.
I had been watching the program on television for five weeks before I started it myself, so I felt like I knew everyone. But then again not,” Kim continues. “I tried to enter without prejudice and quickly felt at ease. I also thought: there is only half an hour of a whole day on TV, so I don’t have to worry too much about the cameras.”
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Bad news letters
“It was a very beautiful, special experience,” says the participant. “You do things there that you don’t often experience, such as those games, and you end up in situations that are not everyday. Like a sudden argument about a pack of chocolate sprinkles, for example. I like to walk away when things get tough, but in The Allies couldn’t do that. You have to solve it together and I learned that there. I always tried to meet other people’s expectations as much as possible, but now I know that I also have to listen more to my own feelings.”
What Kim finds more difficult about the program is when her fellow candidates receive bad news from home. “They make you think, even though I have never received such a letter myself. My grandfather and grandmother are not the youngest anymore and when someone received a letter, I thought: what am I actually doing here? Then you have those arguments in the warehouse, but the real problems take place outside. Moments like that always took me out of my bubble.”
