It’s A Disaster

On camp we had his thing where whenever something happened which seemed typically American we would yell ‘AH-MUR-I-CA’. Visiting Washington DC gave me a lot of stuff to yell about. It seemed that so much stuff was overly ornate and lavish. There was no such thing as a plain building there, everything had to be big and well refined. I spent my first morning seeing the stereotypical sites such as the Washington monument and the Lincoln memorial. I was disappointed to find though that the iconic reflection pool is current dug up as it’s being renovated.

My favourite part of DC was the Smithsonian museums. For those who are unfamiliar with them, they were started from a grant from the will of a British man whose son had no heirs. Today they do a lot of research in addition to running lots of museums and a zoo,  most are located around the national mall and all are free to visit. The American history museum obviously had a lot of exhibits about American history. One of the more interesting exhibits was a whole house they had rescued from destruction which is now set up on it’s original settings with the stories of the inhabitants from the last 200 years written around the edges of the room. There was an extensive collection of memorabilia from past presidents such as the hat Abe Lincoln wore when he was shot and Bill Clinton’s saxophone. There were also quite a few pop culture pieces, my favourite being some original Henson puppets from ‘Sam and Friends’. The natural history museum had a lot about the living world. I quite enjoyed the sea creatures exhibit and (obviously) the dinosaur exhibit. The latter was also filled with most of DC, it was by far the busiest place in the city. I think many parents took their kids to just see that particular exhibit. As creepy as it may seem I was also loved the bones exhibit where they had the bones of a murder victim and a car crash victim laid out.

But neither of these museums had anything on the air and space museum. I don’t even know where to start with describing this place. There were two Apollo command modules (including Apollo 11′s) on display as well as other things that had been to the moon, I think these were the most fascinating.  A lot of early/cold war space stuff was around, Mercury 7 was on the ground and visible from right up close. The original 1903 Wright flyer was in its own little exhibit. The Skylab walkthrough was pretty neat. Basically if you could think of something to do with flight from early war planes to modern commercial jets or to do with space it was on display there. I could have easily spent all day there but unfortunately I didn’t have the choice.

As I’m sure everyone has now heard an earthquake struck DC during the few days I was there. At the time I was in an exhibit about the planets standing directly underneath a replica satellite suspended from the ceiling. At first I was unsure of what was happening and by the short time it took to finish I had only just thought “earthquake”? By which point I looked up to see what was above me and saw the satellite rocking and flakes of insulation falling down. Shortly after that all the museums were closed.

The rest of my time in DC was not as eventful but still very fun. I ate the beat meal of my trip so far in Chinatown with a couple of fellow Aussies which I wish I had more time to visit again. On my last day I also managed to catch up with a whole bunch of mates from camp. So then on Friday I made my way to Baltimore.

There’s no nice way of putting this. I hate this city. I don’t know if maybe the weather had a hand in doing it but this place is really gloomy and dodgey. On the first day here I managed to catch a real live baseball game. I can totally see why people can get in to it. We saw the local Orioles vs the New York Yankees. The atmosphere there is pretty nice, although rivals there was no animosity between fans, it’s the sort of game you don’t need yo pay too much attention to so you can hold a conversation and it’s over fairly quickly. However I managed to end up trying to find my way back to the hostel with two English brothers, one who us a cop at home and managed to get held up earlier in the day. So it was quite a nervous walk back with none of us really knowing where to go and many parts of the city looking positively scary.

Then yesterday, again as I’m sure you read, we had hurricane Irene bearing down on us. Most places were closed early so we had a good old party in the basement. It was actually (well mostly) a lot if fun waiting it out with the other foreigners. Nothing eventful really happened in our area though we did have a lot of fun walking around today yelling ‘HURRICANE’ at anything we could remotely attribute to it. The biggest pain has been having all the busses cancelled when uwa as supposed to head to Philadelphia today. Hopefully I should be able to get out tomorrow so I can enjoy my two days there before heading to New York on Wednesday. I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that the locusts manage to hold off.

End of a Century

So it turns out that the next chance I have to write something isn’t until the end of camp. It’s now all over and I’m writing this the night before I start travelling, by the time I post this I’ll probably be in Boston.

The big thing over the last few days has been a massive colour war which involves the entirety of the girls and boys sides. The idea is that we finish the summer with a bang and we totally did. The buildup had been massive culminating in the dinner preceding it. Flagpole that evening lasted exceptionally long with most if the resource staff having a long skit such as singing the entirety of American Pie eventually culminating in the oldest cabin just lowering the flag and walking in. Dinner itself was made long too and they took as long as possible to announce the leaders and teams.

While it only lasted two days we exhausted ourselves by going full pace knowing that we can recover once we’re done with the kids. The final juniors event was an around the camp relay. I don’t think I have ever been as excited and exhilarated as I was for the final leg – a canoe to the island to get a flag and bring ut back. My team was second in the water, only getting in once the opposition were two thirds of the way there, but still managed to bring the flag back first. In the end my team won overall and it was amazing.

It was really cool how into it everyone got. There was also a very good back story about two opposing tribes, one a master of the sea the other of the land, who rather than warring worked together to prosper and once a year celebrate their heritage. There’s also a whloe slew of cheers and chants which hadn’t been used until this competition.

Although during the competition the members of each team were mortal enemies as soon as it was over there were no lingering bad feelings. It really was such a great way to end the summer.

After that the only thing left with thr kids was closing camp fire. About an hour and a half before it was due to start two other guys and myself were asked to put something together. While the colour war (or should I be calling it a color war?) winners were being announced air force one (or ten I’m told) flew over so we made the theme of the closing campfire to be the idea that Michelle and Malia Obama had come to check out the camps accompanied by a presidential aide (me). Basically our plan consisted of people to insult and people to get to do an on the spot demonstration of their interest area. For something mostly cobbled together on the spot I think it went quite well.

Overall I think this last session has been my second best, nothing can beat my awesome group in session two but this group of kids were great and we had a lot of fun. Other highlights from this session include:
# wrestling on the new lily pad, basically a giant piece of foam for use in the pond
# doing my interest group solo one day because everyone else was on time off
# time off spent at a fancy hotel in Boston which we found on the cheap
# everyone taking off their shirts and waving them around their head to celebrate playing capture the lantern (and then reused to celebrate being paid and a number of other occasions)

After all the kids left the only things left to do was throw away most if my life here, the staff banquet and to say goodbye. The banquet was a really nice way to end the summer. We got to eat real food for a change to start with. The occasion was used to thank everyone who had been involved in the camp that summer. To thank the resource staff the director and his 2IC threw $80 in quarters on the floor for them to collect. The resource staff made a song and music video about how they do nothing when the director is around (based on a Bruno Mars song) and bought him a brick with his name on it which will be put in a new wall at Fenway Park. To thank the counsellors we all received our very own super hero modeled after ourselves.  Lastly a bunch or camp memories such as “the big poo” (the kids got very excited and a line formed to view it )and “backwards day” (forced because a horse died) were read out.

There were lots of tears as the bus to Boston boarded the next morning. As a final farewell all the guys once again took of their shirts and waved them around their heads. We had a nice moment on the way to Boston as we had to stop and wait because one of the guys forgot to bring his meds so we hung out at a McDonald’s while we waited. We then all parted ways at the airport.

It turns out that I was wrong. I didn’t even get to make a post in Boston. I’m finishing this en route to Washington DC after spending the past two or so days in Boston.

After leaving everyone at the airport I had lunch with some of the guys heading to New York then made my way to my hostel. After two other trips to Boston I’m starting to get to know my way around. The next day I started with a long walk right through the city before meeting some of the guys from camp on Boston Commons. We then had lunch at the orignal Cheers bar. The rest of the afternoon was then pretty amazing. We were about to enter the station to head yo Harvard when four other guys from camp came out. So instead we joined them for a walk down the river and into MIT. The campus there is very nice and you can tell a lot of money went into it.

We then ended up at Harvard. While looking at the ‘official’ Harvard shirt store three of the girls showed up which then meant that pretty much everyone from camp who were in Boston coincidentally met up. As with MIT the Harvard campus was very decedent and expensive looking. By that stage we were sick of walking and so we spent a long time sitting on the library steps watching the students move in. We then finished the day back where we started, eating pizza on the Boston Commons.

Which now pretty much brings me up to the present moment. Right now I’m on a bus to Washington DC, a nine hour trip which only saving grace is free Wi-Fi. I think we’ve hit more traffic than expected as we’ve only just had our rest stop, an hour later than expected. After four nights in DC I’ll be heading to Baltimore on the 26th, Philadelphia on the 28th and New York on the 31st until I fly home on the 7th. That being said I’m thinking of cutting two nights off my Philly stint and there off my NY stint and then flying home a bit early. I never felt homesick at camp but now that I’m gone I miss both home and camp but we’ll see how that pans out.

Achillies Last Stand

Only two weeks left of summer, sad face. However, after that I have two and a half weeks of travel, happy face. After another busy week I’m on time off again.

The all comments for this session was a Robin Hood themed shindig. A number of fires were lit out in the forest and we did activities such as bread and hat making. I was involved as a jester of sorts, juggling and doing magic with the kid. It was a lot of fun to be interacting with the younger ones who really got into it.

The biggest thing worth mentioning is A.L.A. which stands for Another Lakeside Attraction. This event is a huge part of session 3. Basically it’s a big concert between both the boys and girls camps. It was absolutely amazing. Highlights included a kid who could beat box so fantastically (the girls were right on him as soon as he finished), a ska rendition of Radiohead’s Creep and a chilled out cover of Iris by The Goo-goo dolls. My drama group did performances too.  The juniors sung one of our warm up songs and got the audience to do it as a round with them and the seniors did a game where they define made up words. Both went pretty well. I also played in the overly long staff song. Our camp director rapped the first verse of Eminem’s Lose Yourself followed by Written In The Stars,  accapella versions of Gold Digger, Stand By Me and In The Still Of The Night with the band joining in again for The Boys Are Back In Town. It turned out pretty well for something we never practiced as a whole group.

Overall it was a really nice evening. Because the weather was good this year it was held outside on the tennis courts. We had a cookout (barbecue) and just relaxed and enjoyed the music. One of the guys organised a flash mob. After we ate ‘badger’ was announced over the p.
a. system and five minutes later the boys erupted into choreographed dance. I’m amazed that it managed to stay a secret. I’m also pretty sure we’ll reuse it to awe the kids this session.

My favourite story from the past week was while we were waiting for the second half of our cabin at A.L.A. and is a perfect example of one of those moments that can only happen on camp. One of the boys was tossing around an empty water bottle. On one particularly bad throw it went off to the side and hit one of the other boys in the head. The boy got such a shock he jumped in the air and his pants fell down.

The other big thing from the last week is that I was asked to be acting unit leader while my unit leader was on his 48 hour time off. It was kind of an honour to be asked to keep the ship running but it was also quite hard. Although I have the experience back home, here as I was only acting there was lots of stuff that I knew what to do but couldn’t do. On the first morning it was decided that one of the kids in my unit needed to be sent home,  sadface.

I’m now finishing this off on the second night of the last session. 10 more days and camp is over. Once again I’m back in the youngest unit, the same cabin as session one. I’ve sat through two campfires. Closing last session where the girls camp actually turned out to be Mordor and opening hosted by two stranded hunters. So far my cabin has been pretty awesome. They’re young enough to still be enthusiastic without an attitude. One of the kids has started calling my co ‘goose’ purely because he wants to be known as ‘maverick’.

So I’ll probably only have time for one more post during camp, for now I’m going back to Harry Potter to entertain myself as I’m on OD.

Tentative after camp itinerary

Comments and hangers on are more than welcome.

August 20th – Boston
August 22nd – travel to Washington DC
August 26th – travel to Baltimore
August 28th – travel to Delaware
August 30th – travel to Philadelphia
September 2nd – travel to New York
September 7th – fly home

Gimmie Three Steps

It’s now halfway through the third session and I’m on time off again. This has been the most challenging session yet, the other night when asked how I was at the unit meeting the only note made was ‘session 3′. It’s not that it’s suddenly horrible or I have a bunch of monster campers, it’s just that after 6 weeks camp food and a continual lack of sleep is building up.

In fact campers this session are fantastic. They’re all 13 and at the start of the session they needed a bit of work but now that we’re into the swing of things they are all really well behaved. It’s a great age to work with. They’re old enough to be mature but young enough to still have a sense of fun and wonder. Last night ad I was returning to the site I overheard one of them exclaiming “I wish Byron was here”.

There’s still lots of firsts and records happening in this session. The other day I won my first game of Gagaball, the longest rendition of he birthday song was sung for one of the staff members and made friends with a racoon while on duty.

One of the neat things here is that there is a whole collection of resource staff who are here to run interest groups but can also be booked for cabin activity periods. A couple of days ago we had a wellness cap where we did some meditation which was relaxing time the point that a few of the kids fell right asleep which just highlights the need for siesta everyday. We also had a nature cap where the nature guy left a trail consisting of paint for us to find him by. Both were a lot of fun because the guys have access to knowledge and resources that we as counsellors don’t. It’s also good as a break for us from having to take the lead. That being said one of my goals is to run more creative caps rather than booking a prearranged activity.

A question that keeps coming up from both kids and fellow counsellors is whether or not we’ve been homesick. I know some of the other counsellors have been. Personally I’m not homesick as much, there’s just things I miss. I miss being able to listen to whatever music I want, i listen to a lot of music and home an don’t have that opportunity here. I miss my guitar. I miss proper food, I want a nice steak when I get back. So I’m not homesick, i have just come to appreciate some things a bit more.

Rather than go into detail I’ll just list a few of my highlights from the last week:
* high five someone on the way down the zip line
* for asked if my sideburns are real
* made some hilarious films with my junior drama group
* made up facts about my campers for a media cap
* got told off for making squirty chicken squirt
* helped tow the broken pontoon boat with the working one
* got a massive sugar high from the resource staff’s mud-summer thank you party

Which leads me to now. I’m writing this from one of the overnight sites as I’m still on time off until tonight’s flagpole. On Friday night we went into Hyannis again, had dinner at a pub which has a meter high pitcher thing full of beer. Yesterday was the ride an surf trip. The group that did it the day before went the wrong way and didn’t hand back the tool needed to adjust the seats. So we asked for directions before setting off with a seat that was too low. The scenery was great, it was amazing that just minutes from the middle of town we’re in pristine condition bush. The surfing lesson was pretty neat too. The beaches aren’t like those at home broadband it was still very nice despite being a bit busy.
Last night I returned to camp to get a full nights rest and it’s really paid off. Today’s plan is to just sit and read.

Now that the camp season is coming to an end I’m starting to look towards travelling at the end. Originally I was thinking of seeing what everyone else is doing but it seems that no one really had a plan yet so I may a well just organise my own itinerary so I know that I’ll see what I want to see, if other people are in the same area then I’ll catch up, if not then oh well. At the moment my rough plan is to spend another couple of days in Boston before heading to Washington DC an working my way back to New York. I hope to have everything booked in he next week or so.

I’m going to grab my kindle now so I’ll leave you with this picture from where I’m sitting.

A Day In The Life

Written July 20

Lots of things have themes here. Some things you would expect to be themed are themed like the dances and some things are straight out of left field.

For example last Friday was “backwards day”. It was an awesome opportunity to mess with my kids. First I woke up my kids by saying “come on guys, it’s time to get ready and into bed” and then having a cabin chat with them asking what their favourite part of the day was. At first it took a while for them to get it but eventually they got into it giving answers like “I really enjoyed the soup at lunch.” I think I was the only person to wear my clothes backwards all day.

Last night we had an “all camp” which is an activity involving everyone on the boys side. In the last session and staff training this was a treasure hunt type game or a massive game of monopoly. Yesterday’s was a quiddich match. However rather than just the after dinner activity period the theme lasted all day. I was lucky enough to be chosen as a leader for the game which meant I was the head boy of one of the houses an in charge of getting the kids involved. The hype was at lunch and for the after the other leaders and I walked around camp handing out rewards for campers who were demonstrating the four core values. Dinner was then a Harry Potter feast followed by the game. The seniors in my house won.

There’s a lot of shenanigans here which all go into making camp what it is an you don’t get this level of intensity on any other job. Last night while we were waiting for pizza we added items to the job board such as “shave the pigs (blindfolded) ” and de-Krum the viking cabins.” my favourite quote from tonight’s unit meeting was “they covered Sam in butter so he stole their pillows. “

So much stuff happens here that I don’t have time to process it all. So far I’ve been keeping notes of all my kids highlights from cabin chat but on changeover this weekend I want to buy a notebook to take note of 5 things I’ve done in a day and quotes before I go to sleep. In lieu of that, 5 things that I did today :
1.  Played base-ketball with my campers
2. Combined the tennis and drama interest groups
3. Embarrassed one of my campers by asking his camp girlfriend what her intentions are with my camper. She later told him that “your counsellor seems really nice”
4. Practiced “emergency dock switches”
5. Sneaked in the dark to pick the next speaker for cabin chat
6.  Shrieked at people underwater
7.  Showed up to the unit meeting only wearing boxers and thongs (a.k.a. flip-flops as they’re known as here)

O.k. so that was more than 5, maybe I should make it a list of at least 5 things I did today.

Amendment July 21

Today was the final day of this session, lots happened but I don’t want to do with whole post just for it. With that comes the midpoint of the time with the kids. As I don’t have a journal yet here is today’s (at least) 5 things.
1. Went polar bear pontoon jumping (after only getting to bed at 1am thanks to being on od). It’s not a normal thing and I only arranged a swim but the waterfront director loves one of my campers
2. Overheard a kid from my interest group say that he thought drama was going to be horrible but it’s actually a lot of fun
3. Had my drama group perform at closing campfire
4. Poked Andy 2 with Andy 1 while Andy 1′s bag was being sent up the flagpole
5.  Conspired to have my co kidnapped on behalf of Chuckles the creepy doll
6. Did my first up the flagpole prank by sending up Chuckles for tomorrow morning
7.  Had a really long cabin chat and got the kids to make a sheet of warm fuzzies for each other

More

My cabin this session is so awesome. Last session I really struggled when I was solo with the kids but these guys are a breeze. As they’re all the oldest kids I can get away with a lot more with them. For example today I pretend I got fed up with one of them after he hugged me continuously as I walked around so I traded him to another cabin for a while. In the next couple of days we’re stealing the polar bear to leave on the waterfront.

Yesterday was the day trip for my kids as they’re the oldest cabin. We went in a scavenger hunt around the cape. It was really nice, we had lunch at the beach, played hide and seek on a massive wooden playground, climbed a tower with a view of the whole bay, watched a movie about how the cape was formed,fed some massive turtles and ended the day with ice cream. As much as the kids enjoyed it, I also loved it. Just being away from camp for just the afternoon was like a whole day off.

The very oldest kids are in tents. A couple of my kids were expecting to be there this year as it’s their last and were disappointed to be in this one instead. They have now changed their tune and have said that they love this cabin more than the tents because we have so much fun and the dudes here are cooler.

One of the big things here is making sure we do lots of creative cabin activities. While I was solo a creative cap was forced upon me due to a lack of availability of areas. We ended up playing a game which was basically netball across the entire camp. As the game progressed I kept modifying the rules to have dropping the ball forcing the turnover and allowing kicking. It was really cool to have that sort of freedom to just give those sort of things a shot and just see if it works. Basically if you can think of it, it’s appropriate and you can get the equipment you can do it.

The other cool thing is that even ‘organised’ activities get creative. For example last week we went kayaking which turned into an all out assault on the girls in the canoes.

One challenge that wasn’t present in the youngest unit last session is having teenagers. One of the guys in my cabin now has a camp girlfriend which means he asks me every day if we can have a co-ed cap and when we do I need to keep a really close eye on him. So much drama too. That being said I’m glad I got to stay until the end of the dance.

Also of note is that finally we have an awesome group for drama. This week nine senior boys signed up,  three times more than our previous high. Unfortunately juniors are at a record low. So for those I haven’t explained it to, each week the kids get to choose two interest groups to dd Monday to Friday. This means that in a two week session the kids get to do four interest groups. We’ve always assumed that the second week will have more than the first after they hear how good it is.

For now I should go to bed. Last night I was on duty for the unit while everyone else chilled out so I got to bed late.

Here It Goes Again

Once again I am frustratingly on time off again.  Since my last post not much camp stuff has happened.

We ended up having dinner in Hyannis with around 20 other people who had the evening off from camp. It was a lot of fun but I don’t think the waitress was too impressed. You know a restaurant isn’t too healthy when they have a separate section in the menu for meals under 550 calories. The deserts were also very gluttonous as seen below of James eating has marshmallow sundae. One of the available options was 12 scoops with 7 toppings.

The next day we went to a local beach to just sit around and swim. The day was really hot so even though that’s not something I usually get into I quite enjoyed it. On the way back we stopped in a new place called Mary Lou’s. They serve flavoured coffee which tastes nothing like coffee which is apparently a good thing. I didn’t get one myself but the ones I tried are sickeningly sweet.

I arrived back on camp just as my kids were just arriving back from their snrakout. They sneaked into the dining hall to drink hot chocolate. It’s amazing how much they were into it and honestly thought that it wasn’t planned.

That night was closing campfire. Each session a standout councillor from each unit to hold that unit’s torch. I was selected from the Navigators to hold ours. At the time I didn’t really know what that meant but lots of people have been telling me it’s a big honour.

After the campers left I then had another 24 hours off.  We all went into Hyannis and I’ll just say it was interesting and fun and leave it at that.

So Sunday we got a new bunch of kids for the next two weeks. So far I absolutely love these guys. They’re the oldest kids,  all of them 15. That means we can give them a lot more freedom and do some cool activities with them. Yesterday we did kayaking as one of our first CAPs. With the younger kids it was just a short paddle out and back. With these guys we went right to the back of the Island and capsized the girls.

Unfortunately I’m on time off again right now,  just as the session started. This is partly being written from a park on the Boston riverfront.

Last night we had dinner at Gillette stadium where the New England Patriots play. The view from the restaurant was right through the main gate over the stadium (see the second picture below). We’re very lucky to have been invited to a local’s house and I have my time off with a really awesome group.

Today we went to Boston proper and I’m totally in love with this city. First we went to Fenway park (picture 3) which has inspired me to see a baseball game before I leave. A couple of natives have suggested I go see a minor league game which would be cheap and just a much fun, I need someone who understands the game to take me and explain.

After that we went to a famous local pizza place which was an awesome feed. This was then followed by a lie down by the harbour and a wander through the local market.

Hanging out with camp people is fun and the energy from camp spills over into time off. While sitting by the harbour we ended up running through the fountain thing which is supposed to be used by young children. One of the guys decided to lie face down on a bollard in the market so we ran away so he couldn’t find us. While this sort of behaviour is totally normal to us one of the stall owners asked him if he needed not EMT as he “didn’t seem right”. On the other hand I think the people on the train enjoyed us playing camp games on our journey.

I’ve been having such a great time and money today has been one of the best days. It’s actually really hard to accurately describe everything that is going on and convey the vibe of the times here. I’ve been away from home for less than a month but it feels like so much has happened here. Luckily I still have another 2 months so until it have time to report more, good night!

I Will Survive

This post is being written from a cheap motel in Hyannis as I’m currently on my first time off. By the time I get back the only activity left is closing campfire and then the kids leave the next day. On the one hand I’m disappointed that I’m missing the co-ed day and the overnight with my cabin but with eight whole weeks of camp I need to make use of it.

Once again the time since the events in my previous post has flew by. However the last few days have been quite difficult. One of the boys in my cabin is refusing to listen to instructions and follow rules. Yesterday it got to the point where the camp director had to have a conversation with him and another boy who he had been fighting. The director is very good, I felt like I was in trouble too (I’m not).

Unfortunately no boys signed up for drama this week so I’m helping the music interest group instead. The experience has made me very proud of what we’re doing in drama.  We have much clearer plan as to what we’re doing and what we hope to achieve.

Something else worth mentioning is the food on camp. Lots of the food have their own songs such as “‘C’ is for cookie” and the choco-taco vs oreo sandwich song. Overall I’m quite surprised with the food as it’s nutritious, delicious and fun. My favourite so far is “squirty chicken” which is pieces of chicken stuffed with an oily garlic sauce which bursts from it when cut. One of the kids managed to get it all down my co’s arm.  My co looked angry and the kid scared. I managed to defuse the situation by congratulating the kid and giving him a high five.

I’m not sure if I’ve talked about it before but Gagaball is amazing. I totally want to build a pit for it home. Playing with the older kids is the best because I can really go at it.

The other night I was having a conversation with some of the other guys and we were all talking about how it’s only been two weeks since we all met. Everyone is so open with each other and willing to help out.

One of, if not the, highlights of the most first session was the dance. This session’s theme was “time machine” I initially managed to convince my boys to all wear their bed sheets as togas and play Greek gods. They all wore shirts underneath and took them if within 15 minutes of arriving. At first they were reluctant to talk to anyone else and just played ball games to the side. This is in contrast to some of my friends who had older campers who didn’t want to see them at all. With persistence my boys started talking to some of the girls and boys the end it was hard to track them all down.

It was great having a co-ed evening with the girls.  Two of the girls from my drama group ran up to me, pointed out that they could see one of my nipples (as I was shirtless beneath my toga) then ran off. There was also a marriage booth which kids from both sides were quite keen to set their councillors up for. I spoke to one of the younger campers about how he was enjoying the evening and have told me he turned down two proposals. When asked why he told me “I’m only 7, I just want to be a kid for a bit longer”.

There are quite a few foreign campers. A surprising number of French kids. One cabin has two French and one Spanish kid who are best friends. Rather than speaking in English which they all understand and came here to practise they speak in french or Spanish with the trilingual kid translating. One of the younger campers extrapolated “no speaking French in the gaga pit” to “no French kids are allowed in the gaga pit”.

We’ve started a list of awesome things that one of the French kids in our unit says, he is genuinely hilarious. For example on the first night when prompted to put on long pants to avoid bug bites he replied “No! I demand liberty”.  The favourite moment of his that I’ve personally witnessed was his rendition of a Black Eyed Peas song for bonus points in the scavenger hunt. He bargained it up from an initial offer of 2 points to 10 points for the entire song an started with “do do do” for the intro but halfway through the first verse he went “I have got a feeling that tonight is going to be a good night 10 points”.

I’m on time off with four fitls and one guy who has gone home. One of the girls borrowed a car from someone else at the camp and we’re spending the time off in the local town jus getting laundry done, walking around and hopefully tomorrow checking out he beach. Tonight we’re meeting other camp staff who just have the evening off for dinner. The next break is on Friday night which is changeover after campers go home which is apparently just a massive party. So until my next post I’m signing off and taking a much craved proper shower.

And So It Starts (original)

Found the original source I’ll post it for posterity. This was originally written on Saturday the 25th of June.

So the kids have arrived and this is the first night I have free time after they’ve gone to bed. On one hand I can’t believe that we’ve only had the kids for 1.5 days because the time has gone so fast but on the other it doesn’t seem like we’ve done 1.5 days worth of activities.

Yesterday all the parents brought in their kids and I’m glad I have experience talking to parents because it was quite intensive.  This was then followed by a swim test as well as a bunch of check in activities such as signing up for interest groups. The evening finished with an opening campfire including lots of campfire skits and yelling to the girls camp across the lake.

The campfire was hosted by three “secret agents” who hammed it up and resulted in the kids yelling “No! Nothing rhymes with you!” to defend themselves against oranges. Last night we didn’t have a unit meeting and social time like we normally would as we had to spend the whole night with our cabin in case anything happened on the first night.

The only time I was disturbed was when one of the kids couldn’t sleep due to my co-councillor snoring.

Today was the first complete day of camp. Mornings are interest groups.  I’m teaching drama and we have a whole one senior boy an one junior boy signed up?  Luckily it’s a co-ed group so we still have a decent sized group. I’m really excited about the seniors program we’re going to teach them how to perform a few improv games with the aim of the kids performing them at the closing campfire with audience suggestions. The group seems like they can do it too so I’m quite hopeful.

We’ve taken a different approach with the juniors. We have a focus for each day but no overall plan of something to achieve,  which just hope that we introduce them to something they may not have done before. One of the junior girls pumped her fist in the air and shouted “yes” when she found out that I’m an Aussie.

This afternoon we had our first beach party. There’s an awesome pit here for a dodge like game called “gagaball” which is very fast paced and a lot of fun. Unfortunately it was regularly interrupted as kids didn’t know where their buddy was. My cabin then got to go on the paddle boards. It was complete bliss. I just looked out across the water and saw all seven of my kids laughing and getting along.

We also played a version of volleyball which combined elements of volleyball,  dodgeball and netball.  I’m sure lots will be played during beach parties (which happen every day).

My otherhighlight of the day was our cabin chat. This is a new concept to me as on the camps I do back home we just send the kids straight to bed.  Basically every night once the kids have hopped in to bed we have a conversation with them.  Today I asked what their lowlight, highlight and ideal superpower. It’s a great way to get the kids quiet and opening up to each other. Again it was a moment of bliss for me to see all the kids comfortable to speak and listening to each other.

I better wrap up as we’re about to start our unit meeting.  More as it happens and I have time to write about it.