Wednesday, 3 September 2014
The Henderson County Young Leaders Program
The Henderson County Young Leadership Program is completely different to anything I have ever done. It is a leadership camp for kids in the county of Hendersonville who may not have the financial means to come to camp. They get to go as a reward for doing well in the program and it is a week long, Co-Ed camp that is sort of "renting out" Camp Ton-A-Wandah.
Because it is a completely different camp, we all had to report to Orientation the morning of the kid's arrival. It was so strange to walk into little Rec with half the staff being male counselors. In fact, it was surreal. The boys immediately brought a new energy to camp and the fun began! We played some get to know you games and then sat down with the camp coordinators to discuss the program. We learnt that the days were going to be structured a little differently, with two hours in the morning dedicated to leadership workshops and then four one-hour long activity periods. There was also a "word of the day" that was to be presented every morning and was to be aspired to each day. The entire concept was golden and I knew right away that this camp was going to be completely different to anything I had ever done.
Jourdan and I were Co-Cos again but with the addition of a third Musketeer: Candice. We were placed in Walnut cabin and had a group of eight 10 year olds. They were all such sweet girls who were all so excited to be at camp and all so grateful, polite, well mannered and well behaved. They answered everything with "yes ma'am" and it was so cute!
I was placed in charge of teaching these crazy kids karate and again the boys brought such an energy to the one hour classes, that we powered through everything at an extreme pace! I also taught kayaking with a guy named Ethan. He was great! He is a Harvard University graduate and had also been working at a camp all summer. He and I had fun trading camp games and ideas and he even came with the greatest kayaking adventure of the summer!
We organized with camp to get a huge box of candy. We then put all the kids in their kayaks and headed off on a lake wide, single file paddling trip. We then beached on a man made island close to shore and went on a little hike into the woods where we sat in a circle on the ground. We then brought out the Skittles and each person drew out two candies of differing colours. Each colour represented a question you had to answer about yourself. Things like "What is your biggest fear", "what is your fondest memory", "what is your most embarrassing moment" or "who is your hero". It was the most incredible game and the most incredible two classes. Those kids have so much depth and what made it even better is that we played in the pouring rain and it didn't break anyone's spirit, in fact it lifted everyone's! It's a memory I will have for the rest of my life.
The highlight of the week was the camp wide White Water Rafting trip! We all piled into busses and headed to Tennessee toward the mighty Pigeon river: a class 4 river rapid! We were assigned to boats with 4 campers, 1 counselor and 1 guide. Our guide was named Jordan and was great fun! He was only 20 years old and his and my humor were so alike that we kept scaring all the kids with our jokes. At one point, he and I pretended we were going to flip the boat, but he was so committed to playing along that he actually hung off the side of the raft and lifted one entire side off the water! High!
We were also allowed to hop out of the boat and swim at certain points, I wasn't going to get in the water but Jordan ran at me from the far end of the raft, grabbed me by the life jacket, forward flipped over me, and pulled me into the water! He then had to go rescue the boat and pull us all back in as he had essentially abandoned ship!
It was great fun and I think the kids enjoyed it as much as I did, at least I hope they did!
As the week came to a close it was a tearful goodbye yet again as all the kids climbed into their busses and waved goodbye. We then all went to lunch, received our payments and went our separate ways. This was the last goodbye and it weighed heavily on me.
A few of us were staying one last night. Caroline and I moved into the lodge and asked to use the camp van to go and get some food. We were told yes but we had to do a chore as "payment".
The lake at Ton-A-Wandah disappears underneath the dining hall. Coming off the dining hall and hanging over the lake are about 10 flower pots that have geranium flowers brimming out of them, our job was to water them and pull out all the dead ones. Now the only way to get to these plant pots is by canoe so off we went a-paddling!
The task was a lot harder than expected! We had to juggle between watering the plants, getting close enough to actually do this, not flooding the dinning hall and avoiding the massive spiderwebs and the spiders that lay in them, all the while trying not to tip the canoe! It probably took us 40 minutes to achieve the seemingly simple task and we were absolutely exhausted once we were through.
The next day was the day we had been dreading all summer long: the day we had to part ways. Caroline, Bizzy and I all packed up the car and headed to the airport. It was a sad trip and once we arrived, I walked Caroline in and helped her check her luggage. She was off to Florida, and I was staying one more night. I walked her to the boarding gates and stopped to hug her goodbye. It was the saddest hug I have ever felt but it was filled with so much hope and so much promise. We finally let go and she walked into the boarding zone and out of my sight.
We would see each other's again in two months.
The next day, Bizzy drove me to the station, and I hopped on a bus down to Florida to meet up with my Canadian friend Amir, whom I had met in Montreal at the Karate Commonwealth Tournament last year. His family was going to Walt Disney World and he invited me to tag along!
Sunday, 31 August 2014
Starter camp
Starter camp is great, and such a clever concept!
It's basically a one week camp for the little girls who want to go to Ton-A-Wandah but ether they or their parents want them to try it out first. The oldest girls at starter camp are around 11, with the youngest being only 4!
It is a very small camp and I believe that we only had 45 kids there! This meant that there were only 4 cabins and 8 counselors. I was placed in Spruce cabin with my new awesome Co-Co Jourdan, she and I operated on another level. We were so on the same page with every little thing including our dry humor. Those poor kids.
We had the oldest girls and only had 5 campers. We were the Spruce Spookies and our door decorations were these demented looking creatures that should not have been allowed! One of our campers chose her creature out of the lot as, and I quote: "I'll take this one, it looks like it has the least amount of issues."
The kids all get a predetermined schedule and, because of the "understaffed" nature of the camp, all the counselors have to teach all the activities! We all swopped in and out of horseback riding, karate, dance, arts and crafts, archery, swimming, rock climbing, activity sampler and tennis.
Caroline and I managed to match our schedules and taught everything but arts and crafts and activity sampler. It was such fun to be able to teach all sorts of great things and to do them with Caroline was amazing! To not have fun was impossible, and the kids all fed off of that energy.
A huge perk of working starter camp is the camp wide trip to Sliding Rock! It's sort of self explanatory but it's a huge natural rock that the stream runs over. It is so smooth that you can slide down it and into a freezing plunge pool at the bottom. It was so great and all the kids loved it! Bonus: we then went for ice cream on the way back to camp.
The camp is only 5 days so it passes in the blink of an eye but I absolutely loved it! After a triple session on Hilltop, having the little girls was so refreshing and such a different type of fun! We said goodbye as soon as we had said hello and sent them on their way, with the promise of seeing them all next summer at the main camp!
We then had to say goodbye to even more of our staff members and then went off on our 2 night session break before the Henderson County Young Leadership Program Camp came in. Caroline and I decided to do our own thing and booked into a hotel rather than hang around at camp.
We spent our time relaxing and eating ice cream and doughnuts, watching tv and joking around. I wouldn't have changed a thing.
It's basically a one week camp for the little girls who want to go to Ton-A-Wandah but ether they or their parents want them to try it out first. The oldest girls at starter camp are around 11, with the youngest being only 4!
It is a very small camp and I believe that we only had 45 kids there! This meant that there were only 4 cabins and 8 counselors. I was placed in Spruce cabin with my new awesome Co-Co Jourdan, she and I operated on another level. We were so on the same page with every little thing including our dry humor. Those poor kids.
We had the oldest girls and only had 5 campers. We were the Spruce Spookies and our door decorations were these demented looking creatures that should not have been allowed! One of our campers chose her creature out of the lot as, and I quote: "I'll take this one, it looks like it has the least amount of issues."
The kids all get a predetermined schedule and, because of the "understaffed" nature of the camp, all the counselors have to teach all the activities! We all swopped in and out of horseback riding, karate, dance, arts and crafts, archery, swimming, rock climbing, activity sampler and tennis.
Caroline and I managed to match our schedules and taught everything but arts and crafts and activity sampler. It was such fun to be able to teach all sorts of great things and to do them with Caroline was amazing! To not have fun was impossible, and the kids all fed off of that energy.
A huge perk of working starter camp is the camp wide trip to Sliding Rock! It's sort of self explanatory but it's a huge natural rock that the stream runs over. It is so smooth that you can slide down it and into a freezing plunge pool at the bottom. It was so great and all the kids loved it! Bonus: we then went for ice cream on the way back to camp.
The camp is only 5 days so it passes in the blink of an eye but I absolutely loved it! After a triple session on Hilltop, having the little girls was so refreshing and such a different type of fun! We said goodbye as soon as we had said hello and sent them on their way, with the promise of seeing them all next summer at the main camp!
We then had to say goodbye to even more of our staff members and then went off on our 2 night session break before the Henderson County Young Leadership Program Camp came in. Caroline and I decided to do our own thing and booked into a hotel rather than hang around at camp.
We spent our time relaxing and eating ice cream and doughnuts, watching tv and joking around. I wouldn't have changed a thing.
Third Session, What a Session
Third session was great! Again a new Co, again a new cabin, again new campers, again I was not disappointed!
I was placed in Birch Cabin with my Co-Co Palmer. We were named The Birch Burger Kings and we had the awesome age group of 12-14 year olds. The campers were great and because they had come to camp for so long, the knew how it all worked, making our job super easy! They all seemed to keep in touch with each other throughout the year, and even had a cabin instagram account!
The vibe this session was amazing! All the kids were such happy campers and the camper attitude makes a huge difference! At this point, all the counselors are tired and going into their 9th week of consecutive work, and it's the kids that give them the energy to continue.
Our cabin was particularly energetic and we had some interesting evens transpire... Let's just say that we laughed so hard that there were 3 instances wherein someone wet themselves...
Camp continued as normal with all the same amazing activities, however, I landed myself a killer trip: The Biltmore Estate Trip!
Every session there are a series of trips that go out of camp and most often, the trips are all awesome. A counselor or two go on the trips to assist with all the kids and I somehow managed to get placed on the most prestigious of trips. If there is a trip that the counselors want, it's that one!
As a lifeguard and kayak instructor, I often went on the water based trips, which I loved, but this was going to be my first on-land one, and I was exceptionally excited!
The Estate is the largest house in the USA, even larger than the White House. It was owned by the Vanderbilt family, and is the most magnificent place I have ever had the privilege of going to. It looked like something out of a movie.
After the tour of the house's five levels, we went for a delicious lunch, and then went shopping in the gift store! I was lucky enough to go on the trip with my cabin, and my campers bought me sweets which is always great. We then headed to the petting zoo and after that, went on a wine tour, which was lost on the kids, but so interesting to me and some of the other counselors. The guide had such a dry humor that went straight over their heads! Last but certainly not least, we all went for ice cream! The day was amazing and I would go back in a heartbeat!
It was a rainy and miserable day back at camp and so when we returned, we all went to join in on the Harry Potter movie marathon that was taking place in the gym! The program staff decided that the day deserved something special, canceled all activities and created the movie day! Ah I love them!
All my friends were "mad" at me when I sat down as I had gone to Biltmore without them! They did not let me forget that I had left them at camp that day.
Something else that changed third session was the shuffling of off nights, leaving new groups of people off on each set of nights. Caroline and I ended up together, which was amazing but I found myself missing my other friends as I didn't get to see them often, and when I did, it was almost never in a casual or social environment. What made this worse was that it was our last session all together and whatever time we had left together was precious.
Because of this, the Candlelight ceremony was particularly sad, not only were we saying goodbye to a great group of kids, but also to a solid 90% of the staff! It was heartbreaking knowing that there was a very real chance that I would never see some of these people again.
Closing day followed and we sent off our last group of Ton-A-Wandah girls. We then had to do a major clean of the entire camp, finally having to clean all those places we had ignored over the summer. We then had one last meal together and were free to leave whenever we were ready. The staff at camp becomes your family and saying goodbye was so tough. Tears! Tears everywhere!
Saying goodbye to Kelly, Sophie, Maggie and Anna was horrible. Somehow I have a feeling that I will see them again though.
The remaining staff had a session break before the kids arrived for Starter Camp and so Caroline and I tagged along with Bizzy to her mountain house (the same house we had spent most of the summer in as Bizzy and Anna are sisters. Bizzy was part of the program staff, however, and was more of a boss to us over the summer so couldn't hang out with us on off nights). We spent the time watching movies and doing all sorts of little DIY tasks around the house. It was such fun and the next morning we arrived back at camp feeling relaxed and refreshed.
I was placed in Birch Cabin with my Co-Co Palmer. We were named The Birch Burger Kings and we had the awesome age group of 12-14 year olds. The campers were great and because they had come to camp for so long, the knew how it all worked, making our job super easy! They all seemed to keep in touch with each other throughout the year, and even had a cabin instagram account!
The vibe this session was amazing! All the kids were such happy campers and the camper attitude makes a huge difference! At this point, all the counselors are tired and going into their 9th week of consecutive work, and it's the kids that give them the energy to continue.
Our cabin was particularly energetic and we had some interesting evens transpire... Let's just say that we laughed so hard that there were 3 instances wherein someone wet themselves...
Camp continued as normal with all the same amazing activities, however, I landed myself a killer trip: The Biltmore Estate Trip!
Every session there are a series of trips that go out of camp and most often, the trips are all awesome. A counselor or two go on the trips to assist with all the kids and I somehow managed to get placed on the most prestigious of trips. If there is a trip that the counselors want, it's that one!
As a lifeguard and kayak instructor, I often went on the water based trips, which I loved, but this was going to be my first on-land one, and I was exceptionally excited!
The Estate is the largest house in the USA, even larger than the White House. It was owned by the Vanderbilt family, and is the most magnificent place I have ever had the privilege of going to. It looked like something out of a movie.
After the tour of the house's five levels, we went for a delicious lunch, and then went shopping in the gift store! I was lucky enough to go on the trip with my cabin, and my campers bought me sweets which is always great. We then headed to the petting zoo and after that, went on a wine tour, which was lost on the kids, but so interesting to me and some of the other counselors. The guide had such a dry humor that went straight over their heads! Last but certainly not least, we all went for ice cream! The day was amazing and I would go back in a heartbeat!
It was a rainy and miserable day back at camp and so when we returned, we all went to join in on the Harry Potter movie marathon that was taking place in the gym! The program staff decided that the day deserved something special, canceled all activities and created the movie day! Ah I love them!
All my friends were "mad" at me when I sat down as I had gone to Biltmore without them! They did not let me forget that I had left them at camp that day.
Something else that changed third session was the shuffling of off nights, leaving new groups of people off on each set of nights. Caroline and I ended up together, which was amazing but I found myself missing my other friends as I didn't get to see them often, and when I did, it was almost never in a casual or social environment. What made this worse was that it was our last session all together and whatever time we had left together was precious.
Because of this, the Candlelight ceremony was particularly sad, not only were we saying goodbye to a great group of kids, but also to a solid 90% of the staff! It was heartbreaking knowing that there was a very real chance that I would never see some of these people again.
Closing day followed and we sent off our last group of Ton-A-Wandah girls. We then had to do a major clean of the entire camp, finally having to clean all those places we had ignored over the summer. We then had one last meal together and were free to leave whenever we were ready. The staff at camp becomes your family and saying goodbye was so tough. Tears! Tears everywhere!
Saying goodbye to Kelly, Sophie, Maggie and Anna was horrible. Somehow I have a feeling that I will see them again though.
The remaining staff had a session break before the kids arrived for Starter Camp and so Caroline and I tagged along with Bizzy to her mountain house (the same house we had spent most of the summer in as Bizzy and Anna are sisters. Bizzy was part of the program staff, however, and was more of a boss to us over the summer so couldn't hang out with us on off nights). We spent the time watching movies and doing all sorts of little DIY tasks around the house. It was such fun and the next morning we arrived back at camp feeling relaxed and refreshed.
Saturday, 19 July 2014
Second Session!
I am aware that I haven't posted for an entire session, and I'm so sorry about that, so I'm going to make a "lump post" to wrap up the last 3 weeks!
So new kids, same cabin, new Co-Co! The kids are 14, the cabin is Beechnut, the Co-Co is awesome and named Lydia. She had the greatest sense of humor, and my wit paired with her sarcasm is just pure gold.
The first night is spent making s'mores and playing dodgeball in the gym. The counselors made a team and dubbed the game Murderball! We had such fun and added a round of "Kids vs Counselors" where the campers gave us a run for our money! We were launching off each other's knees to nail the kids on the other team. Perhaps not our best counselor moment, but no-one was hurt and everyone had a blast. We then moved into Little Rec to make our s'mores over the fireplace, as it was pouring with rain outside. The next day was tribe initiation and the funniest thing that happened was what I call "The Chant War". Let me explain:
As the counselors of a tribe, when a girl is called into our tribe, we will say a chant that we make up like "welcome to the Navajo tribe" or "You're so fancy, you're a Navajo". So what happened was the Mohawks and the Cherokees targeted each other and proceeded to diss the other tribe for a solid 12 initiates! Everyone was crying with laughter.
The next night, we went out to watch a movie: Maleficent. It was good but I could defiantly have gone without seeing it. We returned to camp and the EP the next night was Gold Rush, the Pirate themed treasure hunt. It was such fun as I was picked as one of the people to storm the dining hall in Canoes! Myself and Sophie were in a Canoe together and the genius that is Sophie nearly tipped the boat right in front of all the kids! We docked and then ran through the dinning hall, scaring the heck out of the kids and capturing Marji, the waterfront director! We made her walk the plank into the lake and then the kids spent the rest of the night trying to save her. The next night we had off, Kelly, Kristina and I missioned to watch the sunset from the top of the mountain. You would think the finding the top of a mountain would be easy as in theory you just go upwards, but we drove in circles for ages! Eventually we made it and watched the most beautiful sunset from the edge of the mountain, overlooking gorgeous hills and valleys. It was simply breathtaking.
The next day was the 4th of July!!!!
We had been out to buy ridiculously American outfits, and when I woke, my Co-Co had decorated the entire cabin, knowing it was my first Independence day! It was great! We got up early to paint our faces in Red, White, and Blue, and then ran to breakfast. The dining hall was beautifully patriotic: the boiled eggs were colored like out facepaint, and there were streamers everywhere, banners hanging and all sorts of bits and bobs! The day was normal until the Independence Rally which was a series of games all around camp. That night, the EP was Capture the Flag and am epic fireworks displays down near the meadow. We had so many fireworks that we had to send the gifs to bed before we could even finish them!
The next night off was our overnight and Kelly and Kristina kidnapped me! That is not a joke. I was told to pack a swimming costume, PJs, clothes that can get dirty, no money, and not to worry about where we would be sleeping. We had to sneak away from camp a little early as I was told once we were in the car we had a 4 hour drive ahead of us. I asked where we were going but that was answered with a: "um, we'll tell you once we cross the second set of state lines."
We drove out of North Carolina, through South Carolina and as we drove across one last state line, Kelly blasted Country music and shouted "Welcome to Georgia!!"
We drove to her family's lake house and spent the night eating great food, fishing, riding quad bikes and golf carts, boat rides and 2am lake swims. We spent the night in an open top tent under the stars and had to wake up early to get back to camp by Chapel! It was such a great adventure and the absolute spontaneity of the trip was incredible!
The next great day would have to be my birthday! I woke up to my bed being covered in streamers and my Co-Co and campers around me blowing Noise Makers. It made me so happy. The rest of the day was filled with amazing people making me feel so special and loved, ranging from kids I had just met to my best friend making my day. The camp presented me with a cake at lunch, which soon ended up all over my face thanx to the beauties that are Anna and Caroline.
That afternoon was an event known as Birthday Banquet, which is the EP that celebrates everyone's birthday. Basically that meant that I got two cakes in one day, and another one in my face! Over all, my birthday was amazing, however there was a part of me that wished my family were there as well.
On our last night out, we headed to Asheville and went to Target for an unknown reason. We ended up buying all sorts of stuff we didn't need, including Key Lime Pie and Reese's Ice cream. We then went to McDonalds. It was horrible! It made me love South African MacD's so much more, I will never complain again.
We then headed to Anna's house and decided to eat all our dessert while watching a scary as hell movie called "Devil's Knot" which is about Satinism and child murder... It was the worst decision we have ever made, especially considering our home in the woods with 300 kids. We drove back to camp, scared out of our minds, and all but ran into our cabins!
A cute moment was close to the end of camp, where the girls started asking what I was going to do after camp and if I was coming to Miami. When I said maybe, they began to argue over who of them I would stay with and proceeded to have a Floor Tennis match, the winner gaining me at their house! It was so sweet. I love my campers!
The lifeguards had to do some work on the dock and spent a few hours cleaning all the fun stuff that the kids get to play on. At the end, we took a Lifeguard picture on the floating trampoline but that was the backup plan... Initially we all attempted to get onto the Blob, which for those who don't know is a huge inflated tube that catapults kids into the air and into the lake! After many attempts and many flips, we almost broke it and were told to make a new plan. The photos we got were priceless!
The last day of camp AKA Tribe day, which is spent competing for your tribe in many different event in the morning, and hosts the award ceremony in the afternoon. Banquet was Frozen themed this session, and the girls did a great job with it! The evening was spent at Candlelight which is ended with hundreds of little candles out on the lake. The last night the kids get up to some nonsense and then all head to bed, safe and sound before seeing their families the next day.
One of our kids had to catch a flight early in the morning, and our entire cabin woke up at 3.30am to say goodbye! The rest of the day was spent slowly saying goodbye to some incredible kids and wiping away many tears.
We were assigned new Cabins and Co-Cos and unleashed on session break! Anna, Caroline, Maggie, Sophie and I drove out to Greenville, South Carolina! The town is so beautiful with pretty little houses and huge European looking churches everywhere. There was even a river running through it and we found a bridge that overlooked the waterfall! We went to a mall and went shopping then headed to dinner at this amazing little deli. Our last mission was to get some exceptional ice cream and then set off to the house back in North Carolina. We watched "The Lucky One" and went to bed. The next morning, Maggie, Caroline and I made Scones and Pizza for breakfast and then headed back to camp.
Overall, July was a good month and I am really looking forward for August and all the adventures it holds.
So new kids, same cabin, new Co-Co! The kids are 14, the cabin is Beechnut, the Co-Co is awesome and named Lydia. She had the greatest sense of humor, and my wit paired with her sarcasm is just pure gold.
The first night is spent making s'mores and playing dodgeball in the gym. The counselors made a team and dubbed the game Murderball! We had such fun and added a round of "Kids vs Counselors" where the campers gave us a run for our money! We were launching off each other's knees to nail the kids on the other team. Perhaps not our best counselor moment, but no-one was hurt and everyone had a blast. We then moved into Little Rec to make our s'mores over the fireplace, as it was pouring with rain outside. The next day was tribe initiation and the funniest thing that happened was what I call "The Chant War". Let me explain:
As the counselors of a tribe, when a girl is called into our tribe, we will say a chant that we make up like "welcome to the Navajo tribe" or "You're so fancy, you're a Navajo". So what happened was the Mohawks and the Cherokees targeted each other and proceeded to diss the other tribe for a solid 12 initiates! Everyone was crying with laughter.
The next night, we went out to watch a movie: Maleficent. It was good but I could defiantly have gone without seeing it. We returned to camp and the EP the next night was Gold Rush, the Pirate themed treasure hunt. It was such fun as I was picked as one of the people to storm the dining hall in Canoes! Myself and Sophie were in a Canoe together and the genius that is Sophie nearly tipped the boat right in front of all the kids! We docked and then ran through the dinning hall, scaring the heck out of the kids and capturing Marji, the waterfront director! We made her walk the plank into the lake and then the kids spent the rest of the night trying to save her. The next night we had off, Kelly, Kristina and I missioned to watch the sunset from the top of the mountain. You would think the finding the top of a mountain would be easy as in theory you just go upwards, but we drove in circles for ages! Eventually we made it and watched the most beautiful sunset from the edge of the mountain, overlooking gorgeous hills and valleys. It was simply breathtaking.
The next day was the 4th of July!!!!
We had been out to buy ridiculously American outfits, and when I woke, my Co-Co had decorated the entire cabin, knowing it was my first Independence day! It was great! We got up early to paint our faces in Red, White, and Blue, and then ran to breakfast. The dining hall was beautifully patriotic: the boiled eggs were colored like out facepaint, and there were streamers everywhere, banners hanging and all sorts of bits and bobs! The day was normal until the Independence Rally which was a series of games all around camp. That night, the EP was Capture the Flag and am epic fireworks displays down near the meadow. We had so many fireworks that we had to send the gifs to bed before we could even finish them!
The next night off was our overnight and Kelly and Kristina kidnapped me! That is not a joke. I was told to pack a swimming costume, PJs, clothes that can get dirty, no money, and not to worry about where we would be sleeping. We had to sneak away from camp a little early as I was told once we were in the car we had a 4 hour drive ahead of us. I asked where we were going but that was answered with a: "um, we'll tell you once we cross the second set of state lines."
We drove out of North Carolina, through South Carolina and as we drove across one last state line, Kelly blasted Country music and shouted "Welcome to Georgia!!"
We drove to her family's lake house and spent the night eating great food, fishing, riding quad bikes and golf carts, boat rides and 2am lake swims. We spent the night in an open top tent under the stars and had to wake up early to get back to camp by Chapel! It was such a great adventure and the absolute spontaneity of the trip was incredible!
The next great day would have to be my birthday! I woke up to my bed being covered in streamers and my Co-Co and campers around me blowing Noise Makers. It made me so happy. The rest of the day was filled with amazing people making me feel so special and loved, ranging from kids I had just met to my best friend making my day. The camp presented me with a cake at lunch, which soon ended up all over my face thanx to the beauties that are Anna and Caroline.
That afternoon was an event known as Birthday Banquet, which is the EP that celebrates everyone's birthday. Basically that meant that I got two cakes in one day, and another one in my face! Over all, my birthday was amazing, however there was a part of me that wished my family were there as well.
On our last night out, we headed to Asheville and went to Target for an unknown reason. We ended up buying all sorts of stuff we didn't need, including Key Lime Pie and Reese's Ice cream. We then went to McDonalds. It was horrible! It made me love South African MacD's so much more, I will never complain again.
We then headed to Anna's house and decided to eat all our dessert while watching a scary as hell movie called "Devil's Knot" which is about Satinism and child murder... It was the worst decision we have ever made, especially considering our home in the woods with 300 kids. We drove back to camp, scared out of our minds, and all but ran into our cabins!
A cute moment was close to the end of camp, where the girls started asking what I was going to do after camp and if I was coming to Miami. When I said maybe, they began to argue over who of them I would stay with and proceeded to have a Floor Tennis match, the winner gaining me at their house! It was so sweet. I love my campers!
The lifeguards had to do some work on the dock and spent a few hours cleaning all the fun stuff that the kids get to play on. At the end, we took a Lifeguard picture on the floating trampoline but that was the backup plan... Initially we all attempted to get onto the Blob, which for those who don't know is a huge inflated tube that catapults kids into the air and into the lake! After many attempts and many flips, we almost broke it and were told to make a new plan. The photos we got were priceless!
The last day of camp AKA Tribe day, which is spent competing for your tribe in many different event in the morning, and hosts the award ceremony in the afternoon. Banquet was Frozen themed this session, and the girls did a great job with it! The evening was spent at Candlelight which is ended with hundreds of little candles out on the lake. The last night the kids get up to some nonsense and then all head to bed, safe and sound before seeing their families the next day.
One of our kids had to catch a flight early in the morning, and our entire cabin woke up at 3.30am to say goodbye! The rest of the day was spent slowly saying goodbye to some incredible kids and wiping away many tears.
We were assigned new Cabins and Co-Cos and unleashed on session break! Anna, Caroline, Maggie, Sophie and I drove out to Greenville, South Carolina! The town is so beautiful with pretty little houses and huge European looking churches everywhere. There was even a river running through it and we found a bridge that overlooked the waterfall! We went to a mall and went shopping then headed to dinner at this amazing little deli. Our last mission was to get some exceptional ice cream and then set off to the house back in North Carolina. We watched "The Lucky One" and went to bed. The next morning, Maggie, Caroline and I made Scones and Pizza for breakfast and then headed back to camp.
Overall, July was a good month and I am really looking forward for August and all the adventures it holds.
Friday, 27 June 2014
#camplife
My favorite EP so far is most definitely Counselor Hunt! Even though the title is pretty self explanatory, I'll explain:
The counselors can either hide in pairs or by themselves, and the trick is to completely cover yourself up and hide both your clothes and your body type in a blanket or something of the sort. The kids then find you, come up to you and attempt to guess who you are. They have 3 guesses and then have to move on. Caroline and I hid together and did not get "found" for both rounds, like a boss. Needless to say, we got to know each other really well, stuck in a tiny area for hours!
When the game was over and we came out of hiding, our kids came running, shouting "we thought you had gotten lost in the forest and died!" They all asked repeatedly where I had hidden, to which I replied "you will never know..."
The next day, I was surprised with a $50 gift from one of my campers! It's a seat called a "Crazy Creek" and sort of uses a pivot system to keep you up, and is used outdoors or on the floor, it is the best thing I have ever experienced. It was signed by all the campers in my cabin and my Co-Co, and is just fantastic! We then proceeded to play cards on the floor so that I could use my gift, and that transformed into them putting Duck Tape on my unshaven legs, and waxing the hair off them! That night we had off and went to dinner at Ingles for sandwiches, before heading off to watch a movie!
The following Wednesday was what is known as "Wacky Wednesday" which a day that was made for me. It's a day where pancakes are green and oatmeal is blue. A day where you wear the craziest outfit you can manage to make, and when you teach all your classes in the most upside down way that you possibly can. I had such fun the entire day, running around like a mad person for no reason other than that it was perfectly normal on that magical day. That evening the EP was "Taking back Ton-a-wandah" which begins with our Program Director running into the dining hall, dressed as a crazy man, claiming that he has taken the deed to the land and that they were going to flatten camp to build a mall. The kids got really "angry" and start screaming take back TAW!!
The EP consists of multiple stations where the kids have to run and collect "money" from each place. They then head to the program office and buy a key to a hidden box. They then find the box and attempt to unlock it. If their group's key unlocks the box, they win and claim back the deed to the lands, saving us all!
The next off night we had, we headed into town in Hendersonville and went to dinner at an great Italian restraint called Mezalino. The best thing about it is that it was showing the FIFA World Cup and I actually got to watch a game! I feel so disconnected from it, and I would normally be curled up on the couch, with my family, watching the tournament like it was my job! This year I would probably have been working my butt off with my Gino's family, catching glimpses of it, but that would still be more than I'm seeing now! I watched the game, munching on some pizza, and was happy as a clam!
For the next EP, the campers were divided into their tribes and played Basketball. It was great fun and the kids were all pretty good, but my favorite part was screaming chants and war cries for my tribe more than watching the games. My tribe won by a long shot, and I am convinced it's because of my undying spirit! Well, that's debatable but a girl can dream.
The next day was our cabin Happy Nappy rest hour movie, and we watched The Little Mermaid. I slept all through it and the next period, luckily I didn't miss my class as it was my off period! All my campers came out of that happy nappy absolutely petrified, as they seemed to take it all a little too literally, ah Disney.
That night, the EP was the Area Cook Out where the Hillside girls (youngest), the Lakeside girls (middle), and the Hilltop girls (oldest) are all separated into groups and make their food over the open fire. It was great, and what made the night for me was the EP that us counselors made up: the Riff Off!! We lived Pitch Perfect and it was a dream come true! The counselors started every round and the kid's groups jumped in when they could, some were amazing and others were Cut Off! I loved it so much.
The next day the Counselors in Training (CITs) were in charge and they orchestrated a great pirate themed day where in the kids completed challenges and received pieces to a treasure map after each game. The treasure was a huge bag of sweets which made it the best day in the eyes of the campers! Caroline and I were stationed in the Gym with a great CIT and basically sat there, jamming to great music, while she did everything. We ate about 12 Pixie Stix each and giggled at nothing at all.
That night we had off and we all jumped into cars and head off for some fast food! Our car attempted to get some Chick-Fill-A but it was closed so moved onto Zaxby's chicken, which is basically like really good KFC! I was so happy because I got to see another World Cup game, and because Caroline, Kelly, Maggie, and Ali make my life! We finished our food and landed up back at Anna's house with the rest of the gang. We put a movie on as background noise and basically used the Wifi for all it's glory! We then set off back to camp and long story short, Caroline and I ended up taking showers at 5am just because we hadn't gotten to bed yet.
The next day was the final day of classes, which meant finishing up lessons and just having a great time. We all practiced our routine for the demo karate exhibition and performed later that night along with all the dancers and drama performers. I came back to the cabin that day to a package on my bed. It was a gift from one of my camper's parents and it was the best surprise! I love that people here make it very clear when they are appreciative!
The next day, some campers performed in the Horse Show but us Lifeguards went to do in-services, which is basically just like revision on all practicals. It was great, we sped through the work and straight into the play! It morphed into a huge lake party and the highlight for me was finally being "Blobbed" which is a huge inflated tube that one person sits on one end of, as the other jumps onto the other side from an elevated platform. The result is one being shot off the end and into the lake! It is such fun! That night, the EP was the Hillbilly Games which is an excuse to dress up like hillbillies and get super dirty! I was on the waterfront and basically orchestrated the best lake games ever! That night we had a "Half Off" which meant we were off but couldn't leave camp. We all ordered pizza and watch "17 Again" and drooled over Zac Effron...
The next day was Tribe Day which is synonymous with the last day of camp. It's my favorite day because the oldest girls at camp, run through the grounds with blow horns and wake the entire place up really early in the morning! We then get dressed in tribe clothes and head off to get tribe paint. We then walk to breakfast in our tribes, screaming war cries at the top of our lungs! We then break into a series of sport challenges. The best event by far was the Counselor Balloon Stomp which consisted of us representing our tribe, with balloons tied to out ankles, and trying to pop the balloons as the boundaries were made consistently smaller. I made it to the last 3 and then got knocked out of the circle, and lost my last life. Over all, the Navajos (my tribe) won the day and the entire session!!
That afternoon was the awards ceremony, where in all the activity directors make and give kids awards that they deserve. It was really great, and I gave out ninja stars I had crafter out of paper to my top Bruce Lee's! We then headed to dinner which again was an event that the oldest girls at camp created and hosted.
The event is called Banquet and is so legit I cannot even begin to describe it! The girls work on it all session long and pick a theme, then make all the decorations, the skits and the multiple elements that bring this event together. They picked the theme The Hunger Games and I was blown away! Each table was a district and the skit was perfect! They even ended up fighting in the lake and throwing each other off the dock towers. The evening is brought to a close by the Candle Light ceremony which is basically the goodbye. All the girls cried their little eyes out and then walked to the lake and set lit candles on the water. It was so beautiful.
The next morning all the kids left, with many more tears, and we all took a deep breath. We then had to clean our cabins and activity areas and went to lunch, childless. We were reassigned cabins and Co-Cos then were set free for 24 hours for session break!
With first session over, and one full month away from home behind me, I'm feeling good.
The counselors can either hide in pairs or by themselves, and the trick is to completely cover yourself up and hide both your clothes and your body type in a blanket or something of the sort. The kids then find you, come up to you and attempt to guess who you are. They have 3 guesses and then have to move on. Caroline and I hid together and did not get "found" for both rounds, like a boss. Needless to say, we got to know each other really well, stuck in a tiny area for hours!
When the game was over and we came out of hiding, our kids came running, shouting "we thought you had gotten lost in the forest and died!" They all asked repeatedly where I had hidden, to which I replied "you will never know..."
The next day, I was surprised with a $50 gift from one of my campers! It's a seat called a "Crazy Creek" and sort of uses a pivot system to keep you up, and is used outdoors or on the floor, it is the best thing I have ever experienced. It was signed by all the campers in my cabin and my Co-Co, and is just fantastic! We then proceeded to play cards on the floor so that I could use my gift, and that transformed into them putting Duck Tape on my unshaven legs, and waxing the hair off them! That night we had off and went to dinner at Ingles for sandwiches, before heading off to watch a movie!
The following Wednesday was what is known as "Wacky Wednesday" which a day that was made for me. It's a day where pancakes are green and oatmeal is blue. A day where you wear the craziest outfit you can manage to make, and when you teach all your classes in the most upside down way that you possibly can. I had such fun the entire day, running around like a mad person for no reason other than that it was perfectly normal on that magical day. That evening the EP was "Taking back Ton-a-wandah" which begins with our Program Director running into the dining hall, dressed as a crazy man, claiming that he has taken the deed to the land and that they were going to flatten camp to build a mall. The kids got really "angry" and start screaming take back TAW!!
The EP consists of multiple stations where the kids have to run and collect "money" from each place. They then head to the program office and buy a key to a hidden box. They then find the box and attempt to unlock it. If their group's key unlocks the box, they win and claim back the deed to the lands, saving us all!
The next off night we had, we headed into town in Hendersonville and went to dinner at an great Italian restraint called Mezalino. The best thing about it is that it was showing the FIFA World Cup and I actually got to watch a game! I feel so disconnected from it, and I would normally be curled up on the couch, with my family, watching the tournament like it was my job! This year I would probably have been working my butt off with my Gino's family, catching glimpses of it, but that would still be more than I'm seeing now! I watched the game, munching on some pizza, and was happy as a clam!
For the next EP, the campers were divided into their tribes and played Basketball. It was great fun and the kids were all pretty good, but my favorite part was screaming chants and war cries for my tribe more than watching the games. My tribe won by a long shot, and I am convinced it's because of my undying spirit! Well, that's debatable but a girl can dream.
The next day was our cabin Happy Nappy rest hour movie, and we watched The Little Mermaid. I slept all through it and the next period, luckily I didn't miss my class as it was my off period! All my campers came out of that happy nappy absolutely petrified, as they seemed to take it all a little too literally, ah Disney.
That night, the EP was the Area Cook Out where the Hillside girls (youngest), the Lakeside girls (middle), and the Hilltop girls (oldest) are all separated into groups and make their food over the open fire. It was great, and what made the night for me was the EP that us counselors made up: the Riff Off!! We lived Pitch Perfect and it was a dream come true! The counselors started every round and the kid's groups jumped in when they could, some were amazing and others were Cut Off! I loved it so much.
The next day the Counselors in Training (CITs) were in charge and they orchestrated a great pirate themed day where in the kids completed challenges and received pieces to a treasure map after each game. The treasure was a huge bag of sweets which made it the best day in the eyes of the campers! Caroline and I were stationed in the Gym with a great CIT and basically sat there, jamming to great music, while she did everything. We ate about 12 Pixie Stix each and giggled at nothing at all.
That night we had off and we all jumped into cars and head off for some fast food! Our car attempted to get some Chick-Fill-A but it was closed so moved onto Zaxby's chicken, which is basically like really good KFC! I was so happy because I got to see another World Cup game, and because Caroline, Kelly, Maggie, and Ali make my life! We finished our food and landed up back at Anna's house with the rest of the gang. We put a movie on as background noise and basically used the Wifi for all it's glory! We then set off back to camp and long story short, Caroline and I ended up taking showers at 5am just because we hadn't gotten to bed yet.
The next day was the final day of classes, which meant finishing up lessons and just having a great time. We all practiced our routine for the demo karate exhibition and performed later that night along with all the dancers and drama performers. I came back to the cabin that day to a package on my bed. It was a gift from one of my camper's parents and it was the best surprise! I love that people here make it very clear when they are appreciative!
The next day, some campers performed in the Horse Show but us Lifeguards went to do in-services, which is basically just like revision on all practicals. It was great, we sped through the work and straight into the play! It morphed into a huge lake party and the highlight for me was finally being "Blobbed" which is a huge inflated tube that one person sits on one end of, as the other jumps onto the other side from an elevated platform. The result is one being shot off the end and into the lake! It is such fun! That night, the EP was the Hillbilly Games which is an excuse to dress up like hillbillies and get super dirty! I was on the waterfront and basically orchestrated the best lake games ever! That night we had a "Half Off" which meant we were off but couldn't leave camp. We all ordered pizza and watch "17 Again" and drooled over Zac Effron...
The next day was Tribe Day which is synonymous with the last day of camp. It's my favorite day because the oldest girls at camp, run through the grounds with blow horns and wake the entire place up really early in the morning! We then get dressed in tribe clothes and head off to get tribe paint. We then walk to breakfast in our tribes, screaming war cries at the top of our lungs! We then break into a series of sport challenges. The best event by far was the Counselor Balloon Stomp which consisted of us representing our tribe, with balloons tied to out ankles, and trying to pop the balloons as the boundaries were made consistently smaller. I made it to the last 3 and then got knocked out of the circle, and lost my last life. Over all, the Navajos (my tribe) won the day and the entire session!!
That afternoon was the awards ceremony, where in all the activity directors make and give kids awards that they deserve. It was really great, and I gave out ninja stars I had crafter out of paper to my top Bruce Lee's! We then headed to dinner which again was an event that the oldest girls at camp created and hosted.
The event is called Banquet and is so legit I cannot even begin to describe it! The girls work on it all session long and pick a theme, then make all the decorations, the skits and the multiple elements that bring this event together. They picked the theme The Hunger Games and I was blown away! Each table was a district and the skit was perfect! They even ended up fighting in the lake and throwing each other off the dock towers. The evening is brought to a close by the Candle Light ceremony which is basically the goodbye. All the girls cried their little eyes out and then walked to the lake and set lit candles on the water. It was so beautiful.
The next morning all the kids left, with many more tears, and we all took a deep breath. We then had to clean our cabins and activity areas and went to lunch, childless. We were reassigned cabins and Co-Cos then were set free for 24 hours for session break!
With first session over, and one full month away from home behind me, I'm feeling good.
Tuesday, 17 June 2014
Ah those legendary EPs
The EP was so great! We played something called "Gold Rush" which is a game wherein the "Booty" is hidden all over camp and the staff are placed all around in an attempt to stop campers from returning the stolen booty to their treasure chests. Really it's just an excuse for the counselors to dress up as pirates and chase the children with shaving creme and flour!
The game begins when a select few pirates approach the dinning hall in canoes, who then splash all the people in the dinning hall with water. They then storm the hall and capture another staff member. In this case, the brave Palmer was captured and was forced to walk the plank into the freezing lake. The aim of the game is to collect the most treasure and save Palmer from the pirates! The kids broke into cabin groups and set off. Meanwhile, we were all placed in our positions, painted faces and swords in hand, ready to attack (I mean tag) any kids who dared to steal our booty! I was placed with the best group of pirates I could ever ask for: Kelly, Kaki, Tyler, and Caroline. We had a blast scheming... Anna jumped into our group at some point, and ended up pulling Kelly down some stairs which she sat in a little wagon. I couldn't make this stuff up.
My cabin won the Hilltop competition and won us all Ice Creme Sandwiches, which in my opinion are the BEST things you could win! It was great.
The next night was my night off and Kelly and I tagged along with a new group of amazing people. We went for sushi at Umi's with 8 others including Caroline, Anna, Maggie, and Angie. We were split across two tables as we did not make a reservation, whoops, who knew it was so fancy? We saw a few camp parents there so were all on our best behavior! We enjoyed a very delicious but very expensive meal, coupled with laughs and jokes between the two tables of friends. We were thoroughly surprised when the bill (or the cheque as its know here) came, however, as someone had payed for our entire meal! It was the best thing ever, especially because I am living on a budget and the bill was so high. We all suspect it was some of the generous camp parents, however we can never be sure which set. If you are out there reading this, thank you so much for your kindness, your gesture will always bring a smile to my face.
We left Umi's and headed off to Anna's holiday home in high spirits. Caroline, Kelly and I jammed to some awesome music, which is an absolute God send when you are at camp and away from technology. When we arrived, I was blown away. The house was nestled between the forest and the mountains, down a secluded driveway. It is one of those places that makes you feel calm and elated all at once. Once inside, it opens up into a beautiful naturally lit lounge that merges into an elevated patio outside. The view was breathtaking as we stood and watched the sun set between the trees, over the horizon. The house was great and one of its best features is the uncapped wifi! At this point in my life, wifi is like gold! We all sat in the lounge and talked the entire night, laughing and joking while a movie played in the background. We headed back to camp and went to sleep, with many more memories and personal jokes than we had had that morning.
The next night was my night in and the EP was what is know as "The Auction". Basically, kids are split into cabins and given "$100" to bid with. They bid on secret prizes and have to do/get what they win. Some prizes are great, such as a pizza party, a movie night, or dressing up your counselor for the day. Others are not as great such as the polar plunge in the lake before breakfast or doing the cabin clean up for another cabin for a week. Our cabin won an automatic Super +++ on their cabin clean up score sheet which was great as it brought us one step closer to the winning prize for the week's cleanest cabin! It goes without saying that cabin clean up was a breeze the next day!
Flag day was so interesting, and nothing we have back home is similar. Basically, a ceremony takes place in which we make a big circle around the flagpole, and many patriotic songs are sang and poems are read, as the flag is hoisted up into the air. It was both awesome and slightly intimidating, as strange as that sounds. It made me a little homesick, which surprised me. I think it was the pride I could feel everyone had for their country and it made me miss mine a little. Still, I decided to lap up the joy of those around me, and I left the ceremony feeling better than when it started. I think I am starting to understand it here, at least a little more than before.
That night was my "Overnight" which means that we were allowed to have an entire night off, and only needed to be back at 10am the next morning. Our overnight was pretty fun as Kelly, Victoria and myself headed outward to Asheville, a little town just over from Hendersonville where we were. We met up with some of the boys from Camp Carolina for dinner at an Irish pub and then went for "drinks" at a Mexican bar up the road. As most of us were under 21, out drinks consisted of sweet tea and Diet Cokes, but it was all the same to me. The guys are really cool but the funniest thing about their staff is that only about 10% are actually American. After drinks, us girls went our own way and ended up at a Hookah bar in downtown Asheville until 1am. We then went to Cook Out for some yummy and super greasy fast food and drove back to camp, rather than spend the money on a hotel room for the evening. We arrived at 3.30am and peeled off to our separate cabins. Kelly and I found out the following morning that poor Victoria had been locked out of her cabin and ended up sleeping in the counselor room!
The next day was a Sunday which operate completely differently to all the other days at camp. We all sleep in an hour longer and wake up to a breakfast of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts! We then head up to the Chapel in the woods for a half an hour church service, which is so beautiful it makes you feel like you are in a movie! There are no activities to teach or be had so the camp normally does one big tribe based event for the entire camp population where teams start to accumulate points. This day we had the Tribe Swim Meet.
All Lifeguards on the dock, all tribe colors on, all faces painted and all spirits high!
There were something like 6 events and the tribe Chiefs put forward tribe kids to participate in each. The events included relays of all strokes, t-shirt relays, life jacked relays, endurance swims, diving, wild cards and noodle relays. The kids really loved it and my tribe killed it, winning most of the events! The highlight of the swim meet is what is known as the counselor dive which is really just a skit that involves all the staff jumping in the lake. The Navajo counselors did a Frozen skit and rewrote all the lyrics to convince people to join our tribe, and I had such fun. The skit goes towards your tribe's score and so I hope it was as good as we thought it was!
That night was movie night and all the kids piled into the gym and awaited the announcement of the movie: Frozen, much to Caroline's and my delight! We, and our other friends, sat behind all the kids and part watched the movie, part caught up with each other. The best thing about camp is that all the counselors are friends, yet the worst part of camp is that all the counselors are friends. We all want to be with each other all the time but are always separated or need to be with our kids, which of course is what was always going to happen but it's a bitter sweet situation. It's so strange but I feel so close to these girls, even though I hardly know them and only partially know their stories, I feel a real bond that runs through camp and connects us all.
Bedtime came too soon that evening, but when our heads hit the pillows, we were all fast asleep within seconds!
The game begins when a select few pirates approach the dinning hall in canoes, who then splash all the people in the dinning hall with water. They then storm the hall and capture another staff member. In this case, the brave Palmer was captured and was forced to walk the plank into the freezing lake. The aim of the game is to collect the most treasure and save Palmer from the pirates! The kids broke into cabin groups and set off. Meanwhile, we were all placed in our positions, painted faces and swords in hand, ready to attack (I mean tag) any kids who dared to steal our booty! I was placed with the best group of pirates I could ever ask for: Kelly, Kaki, Tyler, and Caroline. We had a blast scheming... Anna jumped into our group at some point, and ended up pulling Kelly down some stairs which she sat in a little wagon. I couldn't make this stuff up.
My cabin won the Hilltop competition and won us all Ice Creme Sandwiches, which in my opinion are the BEST things you could win! It was great.
The next night was my night off and Kelly and I tagged along with a new group of amazing people. We went for sushi at Umi's with 8 others including Caroline, Anna, Maggie, and Angie. We were split across two tables as we did not make a reservation, whoops, who knew it was so fancy? We saw a few camp parents there so were all on our best behavior! We enjoyed a very delicious but very expensive meal, coupled with laughs and jokes between the two tables of friends. We were thoroughly surprised when the bill (or the cheque as its know here) came, however, as someone had payed for our entire meal! It was the best thing ever, especially because I am living on a budget and the bill was so high. We all suspect it was some of the generous camp parents, however we can never be sure which set. If you are out there reading this, thank you so much for your kindness, your gesture will always bring a smile to my face.
We left Umi's and headed off to Anna's holiday home in high spirits. Caroline, Kelly and I jammed to some awesome music, which is an absolute God send when you are at camp and away from technology. When we arrived, I was blown away. The house was nestled between the forest and the mountains, down a secluded driveway. It is one of those places that makes you feel calm and elated all at once. Once inside, it opens up into a beautiful naturally lit lounge that merges into an elevated patio outside. The view was breathtaking as we stood and watched the sun set between the trees, over the horizon. The house was great and one of its best features is the uncapped wifi! At this point in my life, wifi is like gold! We all sat in the lounge and talked the entire night, laughing and joking while a movie played in the background. We headed back to camp and went to sleep, with many more memories and personal jokes than we had had that morning.
The next night was my night in and the EP was what is know as "The Auction". Basically, kids are split into cabins and given "$100" to bid with. They bid on secret prizes and have to do/get what they win. Some prizes are great, such as a pizza party, a movie night, or dressing up your counselor for the day. Others are not as great such as the polar plunge in the lake before breakfast or doing the cabin clean up for another cabin for a week. Our cabin won an automatic Super +++ on their cabin clean up score sheet which was great as it brought us one step closer to the winning prize for the week's cleanest cabin! It goes without saying that cabin clean up was a breeze the next day!
Flag day was so interesting, and nothing we have back home is similar. Basically, a ceremony takes place in which we make a big circle around the flagpole, and many patriotic songs are sang and poems are read, as the flag is hoisted up into the air. It was both awesome and slightly intimidating, as strange as that sounds. It made me a little homesick, which surprised me. I think it was the pride I could feel everyone had for their country and it made me miss mine a little. Still, I decided to lap up the joy of those around me, and I left the ceremony feeling better than when it started. I think I am starting to understand it here, at least a little more than before.
That night was my "Overnight" which means that we were allowed to have an entire night off, and only needed to be back at 10am the next morning. Our overnight was pretty fun as Kelly, Victoria and myself headed outward to Asheville, a little town just over from Hendersonville where we were. We met up with some of the boys from Camp Carolina for dinner at an Irish pub and then went for "drinks" at a Mexican bar up the road. As most of us were under 21, out drinks consisted of sweet tea and Diet Cokes, but it was all the same to me. The guys are really cool but the funniest thing about their staff is that only about 10% are actually American. After drinks, us girls went our own way and ended up at a Hookah bar in downtown Asheville until 1am. We then went to Cook Out for some yummy and super greasy fast food and drove back to camp, rather than spend the money on a hotel room for the evening. We arrived at 3.30am and peeled off to our separate cabins. Kelly and I found out the following morning that poor Victoria had been locked out of her cabin and ended up sleeping in the counselor room!
The next day was a Sunday which operate completely differently to all the other days at camp. We all sleep in an hour longer and wake up to a breakfast of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts! We then head up to the Chapel in the woods for a half an hour church service, which is so beautiful it makes you feel like you are in a movie! There are no activities to teach or be had so the camp normally does one big tribe based event for the entire camp population where teams start to accumulate points. This day we had the Tribe Swim Meet.
All Lifeguards on the dock, all tribe colors on, all faces painted and all spirits high!
There were something like 6 events and the tribe Chiefs put forward tribe kids to participate in each. The events included relays of all strokes, t-shirt relays, life jacked relays, endurance swims, diving, wild cards and noodle relays. The kids really loved it and my tribe killed it, winning most of the events! The highlight of the swim meet is what is known as the counselor dive which is really just a skit that involves all the staff jumping in the lake. The Navajo counselors did a Frozen skit and rewrote all the lyrics to convince people to join our tribe, and I had such fun. The skit goes towards your tribe's score and so I hope it was as good as we thought it was!
That night was movie night and all the kids piled into the gym and awaited the announcement of the movie: Frozen, much to Caroline's and my delight! We, and our other friends, sat behind all the kids and part watched the movie, part caught up with each other. The best thing about camp is that all the counselors are friends, yet the worst part of camp is that all the counselors are friends. We all want to be with each other all the time but are always separated or need to be with our kids, which of course is what was always going to happen but it's a bitter sweet situation. It's so strange but I feel so close to these girls, even though I hardly know them and only partially know their stories, I feel a real bond that runs through camp and connects us all.
Bedtime came too soon that evening, but when our heads hit the pillows, we were all fast asleep within seconds!
Tuesday, 10 June 2014
Camp has Begun!
The kids are here!
Repeat!
The kids are here!!
The gates opened at 8am and a line of cars, that had been there for hours, drove in one by one like a consistent stream of water. You could feel the excitement in the air as the kids began to pile out of cars and run up the stairs to their new homes for the next 3 weeks.
Opening day is very different here. Once the gates open, the kids are assigned cabins and the cars are directed to the appropriate parking grounds. The "trunk boys" then help the families carry the luggage into the cabins and the parents help the kids make up their beds. The kids then go to the infirmary where they go through a health check, and if they pass, they head off to lunch with their family. They are free to do as they please until 1pm when the parents reluctantly leave and campers report to their cabins for a first Cabin Meeting.
Our kids are great! There are 8 girls, 2 of whom are new, who are all friends and are all so aware of how things should be done. The "oldies" are so on point with the camp operations and they have taken the "newbies" under their wings. They are all good kids who are cheerful and fun, and are all looking forward to the rest of the summer. In our Cabin meeting we got to know each other a bit better and made some cabin rules. We then headed off to the opening assembly, where we were introduced to all the campers, and talked about our activities and rules for the session to come. The campers were then divided by age and half left for the swim test, while the others stayed and signed up for the activities that they wanted to do each day. The groups then switched.
Karate killed it! All of my classes were filled except for 3 places which I was surprised by! Kids seemed so excited to join my class and I couldn't be happier! I won't let them down. I am so excited to get these bright eyes and bushy tailed karate kids into the dojo as soon as can be, we are going to have a blast!
After all the campers had been through the swim test, and had filled up their daily activity slots, we all made our way to the dinning hall for dinner, and headed to the EP with full tummies. The game was Dodgeball in the gym and the snacks were s'mores by the fire. This was followed by bed time, and every single one of us passed out with no problems!
Second day of camp and it's been great so far! All the kids are super enthusiastic about all their activities, and teaching a different class each period is a great way of keeping the staff from getting bored.
Today I will be teaching karate as well as Kayaking and Mad Science for the first time, which I'm looking forward to! The Mad Science class was sort of dropped on my Co-Co and I but we are gonna make it work, even though we are not too sure what we are doing and only have high school science and National Geographic as a reference. Still, I'm sure we can impart some kind of wisdom to these happy campers! I was also told today that next session, the Canoe teacher would be leaving and that I am going to be taking over. Let's do this!
Tonight is my first official night off and Kelly and I, along with some other great girls, are going to go to dinner and and movie as they are half price on Tuesdays! It's going to be great! I believe we are going to watch "22 Jump Street" which myself, Anna, Caroline, and Palmer are very excited to see.
Repeat!
The kids are here!!
The gates opened at 8am and a line of cars, that had been there for hours, drove in one by one like a consistent stream of water. You could feel the excitement in the air as the kids began to pile out of cars and run up the stairs to their new homes for the next 3 weeks.
Opening day is very different here. Once the gates open, the kids are assigned cabins and the cars are directed to the appropriate parking grounds. The "trunk boys" then help the families carry the luggage into the cabins and the parents help the kids make up their beds. The kids then go to the infirmary where they go through a health check, and if they pass, they head off to lunch with their family. They are free to do as they please until 1pm when the parents reluctantly leave and campers report to their cabins for a first Cabin Meeting.
Our kids are great! There are 8 girls, 2 of whom are new, who are all friends and are all so aware of how things should be done. The "oldies" are so on point with the camp operations and they have taken the "newbies" under their wings. They are all good kids who are cheerful and fun, and are all looking forward to the rest of the summer. In our Cabin meeting we got to know each other a bit better and made some cabin rules. We then headed off to the opening assembly, where we were introduced to all the campers, and talked about our activities and rules for the session to come. The campers were then divided by age and half left for the swim test, while the others stayed and signed up for the activities that they wanted to do each day. The groups then switched.
Karate killed it! All of my classes were filled except for 3 places which I was surprised by! Kids seemed so excited to join my class and I couldn't be happier! I won't let them down. I am so excited to get these bright eyes and bushy tailed karate kids into the dojo as soon as can be, we are going to have a blast!
After all the campers had been through the swim test, and had filled up their daily activity slots, we all made our way to the dinning hall for dinner, and headed to the EP with full tummies. The game was Dodgeball in the gym and the snacks were s'mores by the fire. This was followed by bed time, and every single one of us passed out with no problems!
Second day of camp and it's been great so far! All the kids are super enthusiastic about all their activities, and teaching a different class each period is a great way of keeping the staff from getting bored.
Today I will be teaching karate as well as Kayaking and Mad Science for the first time, which I'm looking forward to! The Mad Science class was sort of dropped on my Co-Co and I but we are gonna make it work, even though we are not too sure what we are doing and only have high school science and National Geographic as a reference. Still, I'm sure we can impart some kind of wisdom to these happy campers! I was also told today that next session, the Canoe teacher would be leaving and that I am going to be taking over. Let's do this!
Tonight is my first official night off and Kelly and I, along with some other great girls, are going to go to dinner and and movie as they are half price on Tuesdays! It's going to be great! I believe we are going to watch "22 Jump Street" which myself, Anna, Caroline, and Palmer are very excited to see.
Saturday, 7 June 2014
Orientation Marches On!
We continue to sit in a boiling room and learn the stuff we need to know to be the best we can be! it hurts so good.
My favorite time is when we step out of class and play some camp games with "bang", "Ninja" and "Hoedown" being some of my favorite so far. The EPs have been great and are a way for us counselors to take part in all the events the girls will do, and that we will be leading, YIKES.
We hosted "The Counselor Talent Show" in which I got to show off some karate! It was great fun and I think everyone was a little surprised... A few people came up to me afterwards and said that they were surprised I could be so serious as I am always so bouncy and energetic. I smiled and thanked them. Over all the show was great! My favorite performance was one that re-enacted "Don't Stop Believing" by Glee! I laughed the entire time, it was so hysterical!! The Lifeguard trainees, as usual, then reported to study hall to study for our multiple tests that would determine whether or not we were ready to officially wear the red swimsuit.
We were up at 7.30am swimming laps and doing drills. We then went to breakfast, freezing cold and dripping wet, and panicking for our official Final Practicals that we had that day. At the last second, myself, my international buddy Sam and the crazy Kelly were saved and told that we were going on a Kayaking trip down the Green River.
It.was.magical.timing.
The three of us were selected as the kayaking instructors for the summer, provided of course that we passed our lifeguard exams which camp seemed sure we would. Their support felt so nice.
We marched over to "the kayak shack" and loaded our boats onto the top of a 4x4. We drove down the interstate and into a beautiful gorge, surrounded by an amazing and enveloping forrest. We were taught how to half roll and how to buddy rescue and all sorts of other handy tips and tricks to teach the girls in the lake. not only that, but some skills we may need going down this river-trail with the instructors. We headed off down stream with our two guides and had the most amazing time going down the white rapids for miles and miles!
Our guides were a ton of fun, and one was even the father of a camper we were soon to meet! The showed us tricks we would never be able to do and kept us laughing the entire trip. I felt so lucky to be on the water that day, and so ready to return to camp and succeed in my practicals so I could keep this up all summer!
It was a phenomenal trip and we returned to camp, physically drained but hyped up on adrenalin. It was time to return to reality... Practicals.
We walked into the heart of the most stressed bunch of girls I have seen in a long time. Anna, Shelby, Angie and Taylor were all in the middle of their exam and all looked as if their world was slowly coming to an end, and my heart began to race. Our instructor has a tendency to increase the stress level in any situation, as seen here, but I have no doubt she will make us the best lifeguards we could possibly be as she constantly pushes us past the limit. We were all meant to test out that day but not one of us finished the complete test sets and so, we all remain trainees for now.
That evening was counselor initiation night, but let me explain. Every single person here is part of a "Tribe", either The Cherokees, The Navajos or The Mohawks. The campers and counselors alike are divided into theses groups and compete against each other in many games and events throughout the summer. That evening was the night that all the new kids on the block were to be initiated into their tribes, including myself! We were gathered in a room and blindfolded. We were placed in a line, hands on the shoulders of the initiate in front of us, and lead blindly to an unknown location. We were "hazed" the entire way but it was all in good spirits, as we walked down what felt like the steepest and longest hill in the world!
When our blindfolds were lifted, we found ourselves at the bottom of the waterfall, in what is known as the Tribe Fire Ring. All the tribe members were divided into their tribes and all the initiates sat on benches on the open side of the semi-circle. We watched as the meeting began and all the Chief and Co-Chiefs circled the fire. The initiates were called up one by one and called upon by a tribe. I was called by the Navajo tribe and walked to my Chief and Co-Chief who painted my face with tribe colors and symbols and welcomed me to the group. This continued until everyone found their place. We sang war cries and chants and then wrapped the evening up and went back to our cabins. The evening was such fun, and I was beginning to feel like I belonged.
We were told that if we washed our face paint off, we would greet the day by being thrown into the lake but I didn't believe them... I was sorely mistaken. Straight after breakfast, all the defiant newbies were sent tho walk the plank (also known as a diving board), fully clothed and laughed at! It was great fun and everyone was such a great sport. We were sent to shower and then returned to orientation, where we were finally assigned cabins, age groups and co counselors (Co-Co's)! My Co-Co Barbie and I were assigned the Beechnut Cabin, which will consist of girls approximately 13 years old, which I am super happy with. We moved into our new cabins from the temporary ones, and since Shelby and myself were next to each other both in our new and old cabins, we decided to pack everything into her car and drive our stuff over. Camp has a bunch of what seemed like one way roads and so, to get say 300m one way, we had to exit camp grounds the other way, drive around, enter through the bottom gate and drive back through camp. We made it to our new cabins after nearly causing a 5 car pile up, but lets not talk about that! Once we had unpacked all our things, we had to navigate the gauntlet once again to park Shelby's car down in the meadow, meaning that we had to hike back to camp as the meadow stood far below the actual camp grounds.
A constant bell then began to ring which signaled a fire drill. We all made our way to the flag pole on Lakeside and gathered for role call. Captain Billy and Ms Judy, the owners of the camp, addressed us and told us all how happy they were to have us, and surprised us with the news that we were to "put on our dancin' shoes 'coz we're havin' a Hoe-Down!". The dance was to be held in the gym and our guests were to be the staff of Camp Carolina, our all-boys brother camp just down the road. The theme was basically be as American Cowboy-ish as possible, which was difficult as I don't even have much of that stuff at home, let alone here at camp! Luckily, with the help of some friends, I was dressed in Plad and dungarees in no time! We all left to get ready and met a few hours later, as the busses of boys started to drive in. We played a few "get to know you games" before making our way over to dinner. The guys were all great and had just as much energy as we did, which we all showed off by chanting war cries and singing mad, loud, upbeat camp songs at/with each other. We made our way to the barn where we were lead in many different types of line-dances and the sort. We all had such a blast and finished the night off with the Cha Cha Slide, one of my personal favorites, and only dances I can actually do! The strangest thing that happened the entire night, was that I met a boy named Grant who is from SA and lives in JHB as well! It was so cool to be able to chat to someone who understands my accent, and all the quirky things that come for being South African. We all said goodbye and, even though the boys left, all us girls stayed in the gym and danced to a few more songs before we got shut down. A memory that will stay with me forever is when Garrett and Eliz tried to send us to bed by turning off the music, we all kept the party going by singing, in its entirety, Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" so loud and proud that it hardly seemed that the music had been quieted. It was such fun.
The next morning, the lifeguard candidates awoke to a sinking feeling in the pits of their stomachs: Final Practicals were today. We has been dreading this for many days and all felt so nervous, knowing that it was a pass or fail situation and that if we didn't pass, some of us would no longer have a job at camp. Personally, I was with petrified and inspired, and I knew we could do this
The test consisted of a passive and submerged victim being rescued from the deep water and having a spinal injury, meaning that neither their head, neck or spine could be moved. We were divided into teams and Rescuer 1 would swim out to the victim and roll them onto their arm so that their head would be out of the water. Rescuer 2 would bring the Backboard to her partner and get the injured person onto it, making sure they were secured and that their head was strapped into place. The team then swam to the dock and had to get the pinned victim out of the water, and perform two minutes of CPR using an AED (defibrillator). All this had to be completed within five minutes, and was unbelievably stressful. If you passed being Rescuer 1, then you had to redo the exercise as Rescuer 2 and visa versa. I am very happy to report that we all passed this test. We unfortunately ran out of time to do the First Aid Practical section of the exam and our instructor would come back the next day to finish that with us. The rest of the day was back to orientation. We played an amazing game called "Counselor Treasure" wherein each person brought a personal possession to the circle and explained why it was so special to them. Tears, tears everywhere. So many of us cried but it was sweet, the love and support in that room was palpable. All the time we have spent together has really brought us close together, which I feel is very important for a team of leaders who will be pushed to their limits this summer. I brought my scruffy little elastic bracelet with me which my little cousin TJ had made a few days before I left. She handed it to me with a sad smile and said "don't forget me in America". It means so much to me and reminds me not only of her, but everyone back home who means so much to me.
We were then informed that we all had the night off and were welcome to leave camp grounds and explore, as long as we were back by midnight. 7 of us piled into Anna's car and headed off to dinner at a great Mexican place called "Papa's and Beer" where the food was so good and so huge that Kelly and I shared a meal, and still struggled to finish! After dinner, we drove to Walmart for a last minute shop before the campers arrive on Sunday. It was so much fun because most of the people from our camp were there and our shopping group just got bigger and bigger!
We headed back to camp and again hiked back from the meadow, laughing our butts of because of something or another. We got up early the next morning and reported to our final Practical exam: First Aid.
We all passed!!!!!
We were all so happy and were marched up to the lodge to receive our certificates! We returned to orientation to a massive ovation and many smiling faces.
Barbie and I are now in the final stages of preparation before our kids arrive tomorrow! We are both feeling good and I am confidant that we are going to make a great team for first session!
My favorite time is when we step out of class and play some camp games with "bang", "Ninja" and "Hoedown" being some of my favorite so far. The EPs have been great and are a way for us counselors to take part in all the events the girls will do, and that we will be leading, YIKES.
We hosted "The Counselor Talent Show" in which I got to show off some karate! It was great fun and I think everyone was a little surprised... A few people came up to me afterwards and said that they were surprised I could be so serious as I am always so bouncy and energetic. I smiled and thanked them. Over all the show was great! My favorite performance was one that re-enacted "Don't Stop Believing" by Glee! I laughed the entire time, it was so hysterical!! The Lifeguard trainees, as usual, then reported to study hall to study for our multiple tests that would determine whether or not we were ready to officially wear the red swimsuit.
We were up at 7.30am swimming laps and doing drills. We then went to breakfast, freezing cold and dripping wet, and panicking for our official Final Practicals that we had that day. At the last second, myself, my international buddy Sam and the crazy Kelly were saved and told that we were going on a Kayaking trip down the Green River.
It.was.magical.timing.
The three of us were selected as the kayaking instructors for the summer, provided of course that we passed our lifeguard exams which camp seemed sure we would. Their support felt so nice.
We marched over to "the kayak shack" and loaded our boats onto the top of a 4x4. We drove down the interstate and into a beautiful gorge, surrounded by an amazing and enveloping forrest. We were taught how to half roll and how to buddy rescue and all sorts of other handy tips and tricks to teach the girls in the lake. not only that, but some skills we may need going down this river-trail with the instructors. We headed off down stream with our two guides and had the most amazing time going down the white rapids for miles and miles!
Our guides were a ton of fun, and one was even the father of a camper we were soon to meet! The showed us tricks we would never be able to do and kept us laughing the entire trip. I felt so lucky to be on the water that day, and so ready to return to camp and succeed in my practicals so I could keep this up all summer!
It was a phenomenal trip and we returned to camp, physically drained but hyped up on adrenalin. It was time to return to reality... Practicals.
We walked into the heart of the most stressed bunch of girls I have seen in a long time. Anna, Shelby, Angie and Taylor were all in the middle of their exam and all looked as if their world was slowly coming to an end, and my heart began to race. Our instructor has a tendency to increase the stress level in any situation, as seen here, but I have no doubt she will make us the best lifeguards we could possibly be as she constantly pushes us past the limit. We were all meant to test out that day but not one of us finished the complete test sets and so, we all remain trainees for now.
That evening was counselor initiation night, but let me explain. Every single person here is part of a "Tribe", either The Cherokees, The Navajos or The Mohawks. The campers and counselors alike are divided into theses groups and compete against each other in many games and events throughout the summer. That evening was the night that all the new kids on the block were to be initiated into their tribes, including myself! We were gathered in a room and blindfolded. We were placed in a line, hands on the shoulders of the initiate in front of us, and lead blindly to an unknown location. We were "hazed" the entire way but it was all in good spirits, as we walked down what felt like the steepest and longest hill in the world!
When our blindfolds were lifted, we found ourselves at the bottom of the waterfall, in what is known as the Tribe Fire Ring. All the tribe members were divided into their tribes and all the initiates sat on benches on the open side of the semi-circle. We watched as the meeting began and all the Chief and Co-Chiefs circled the fire. The initiates were called up one by one and called upon by a tribe. I was called by the Navajo tribe and walked to my Chief and Co-Chief who painted my face with tribe colors and symbols and welcomed me to the group. This continued until everyone found their place. We sang war cries and chants and then wrapped the evening up and went back to our cabins. The evening was such fun, and I was beginning to feel like I belonged.
We were told that if we washed our face paint off, we would greet the day by being thrown into the lake but I didn't believe them... I was sorely mistaken. Straight after breakfast, all the defiant newbies were sent tho walk the plank (also known as a diving board), fully clothed and laughed at! It was great fun and everyone was such a great sport. We were sent to shower and then returned to orientation, where we were finally assigned cabins, age groups and co counselors (Co-Co's)! My Co-Co Barbie and I were assigned the Beechnut Cabin, which will consist of girls approximately 13 years old, which I am super happy with. We moved into our new cabins from the temporary ones, and since Shelby and myself were next to each other both in our new and old cabins, we decided to pack everything into her car and drive our stuff over. Camp has a bunch of what seemed like one way roads and so, to get say 300m one way, we had to exit camp grounds the other way, drive around, enter through the bottom gate and drive back through camp. We made it to our new cabins after nearly causing a 5 car pile up, but lets not talk about that! Once we had unpacked all our things, we had to navigate the gauntlet once again to park Shelby's car down in the meadow, meaning that we had to hike back to camp as the meadow stood far below the actual camp grounds.
A constant bell then began to ring which signaled a fire drill. We all made our way to the flag pole on Lakeside and gathered for role call. Captain Billy and Ms Judy, the owners of the camp, addressed us and told us all how happy they were to have us, and surprised us with the news that we were to "put on our dancin' shoes 'coz we're havin' a Hoe-Down!". The dance was to be held in the gym and our guests were to be the staff of Camp Carolina, our all-boys brother camp just down the road. The theme was basically be as American Cowboy-ish as possible, which was difficult as I don't even have much of that stuff at home, let alone here at camp! Luckily, with the help of some friends, I was dressed in Plad and dungarees in no time! We all left to get ready and met a few hours later, as the busses of boys started to drive in. We played a few "get to know you games" before making our way over to dinner. The guys were all great and had just as much energy as we did, which we all showed off by chanting war cries and singing mad, loud, upbeat camp songs at/with each other. We made our way to the barn where we were lead in many different types of line-dances and the sort. We all had such a blast and finished the night off with the Cha Cha Slide, one of my personal favorites, and only dances I can actually do! The strangest thing that happened the entire night, was that I met a boy named Grant who is from SA and lives in JHB as well! It was so cool to be able to chat to someone who understands my accent, and all the quirky things that come for being South African. We all said goodbye and, even though the boys left, all us girls stayed in the gym and danced to a few more songs before we got shut down. A memory that will stay with me forever is when Garrett and Eliz tried to send us to bed by turning off the music, we all kept the party going by singing, in its entirety, Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" so loud and proud that it hardly seemed that the music had been quieted. It was such fun.
The next morning, the lifeguard candidates awoke to a sinking feeling in the pits of their stomachs: Final Practicals were today. We has been dreading this for many days and all felt so nervous, knowing that it was a pass or fail situation and that if we didn't pass, some of us would no longer have a job at camp. Personally, I was with petrified and inspired, and I knew we could do this
The test consisted of a passive and submerged victim being rescued from the deep water and having a spinal injury, meaning that neither their head, neck or spine could be moved. We were divided into teams and Rescuer 1 would swim out to the victim and roll them onto their arm so that their head would be out of the water. Rescuer 2 would bring the Backboard to her partner and get the injured person onto it, making sure they were secured and that their head was strapped into place. The team then swam to the dock and had to get the pinned victim out of the water, and perform two minutes of CPR using an AED (defibrillator). All this had to be completed within five minutes, and was unbelievably stressful. If you passed being Rescuer 1, then you had to redo the exercise as Rescuer 2 and visa versa. I am very happy to report that we all passed this test. We unfortunately ran out of time to do the First Aid Practical section of the exam and our instructor would come back the next day to finish that with us. The rest of the day was back to orientation. We played an amazing game called "Counselor Treasure" wherein each person brought a personal possession to the circle and explained why it was so special to them. Tears, tears everywhere. So many of us cried but it was sweet, the love and support in that room was palpable. All the time we have spent together has really brought us close together, which I feel is very important for a team of leaders who will be pushed to their limits this summer. I brought my scruffy little elastic bracelet with me which my little cousin TJ had made a few days before I left. She handed it to me with a sad smile and said "don't forget me in America". It means so much to me and reminds me not only of her, but everyone back home who means so much to me.
We were then informed that we all had the night off and were welcome to leave camp grounds and explore, as long as we were back by midnight. 7 of us piled into Anna's car and headed off to dinner at a great Mexican place called "Papa's and Beer" where the food was so good and so huge that Kelly and I shared a meal, and still struggled to finish! After dinner, we drove to Walmart for a last minute shop before the campers arrive on Sunday. It was so much fun because most of the people from our camp were there and our shopping group just got bigger and bigger!
We headed back to camp and again hiked back from the meadow, laughing our butts of because of something or another. We got up early the next morning and reported to our final Practical exam: First Aid.
We all passed!!!!!
We were all so happy and were marched up to the lodge to receive our certificates! We returned to orientation to a massive ovation and many smiling faces.
Barbie and I are now in the final stages of preparation before our kids arrive tomorrow! We are both feeling good and I am confidant that we are going to make a great team for first session!
Monday, 2 June 2014
Orientation... Yeah
Today was the first full day of Orientation, and it was great! We had a less than amazing breakfast but it was entertaining to meet and greet with the new people and make friends! After breakfast we headed to our first of a series of talks which were all balancing on the fence between very helpful and deathly boring. I tried my best to pay attention though as many of them spoke about the rules at camp and the way we would go about our days! Most of it made sense and was basically the same as camps back home, although every so often a phrase would catch me totally off guard and I would have to get my bearings again.
We played many games in between all the sessions of the day to keep our brains active and to continue to get to know everyone better. One of my favorites was called "the ball of burning questions" which consisted of throwing an oversized beach ball to one another which was covered in hand written questions. Wherever your right thumb landed was the question you "picked", and you had to read the question to the group and answer it. This was great fun and a good way to get to know everyone.
Lunch was a series of delicious wraps, followed by more lessons and lectures, and then an awesome Chinese dinner. We have a period called EP which stands for evening programs, and they seem to be a mix of activities that we will do with the campers when they arrive. We as counselors have the task of playing and/or partaking in each and every one before camp begins so that we all understand the rules and can teach the kids how to play. Is this even homework?
The Ugly pageant and The Secret Song where last night's EPs and tonight's were just as good: we sang some songs and then played Kick Ball which is basically Baseball but a lot easier as you kick a much larger ball rather than use a bat, and was so much fun! We all walked up to the soccer field and set up all the bases. Garrett drove his old-school Jeep Wrangler with a killer sound system up to the field and blared music while we played. It was basically a huge, field wide, camp sized dance party with a dodgeball being kicked into the air.
I learned almost all the rules but please don't quiz me, chances are it's false confidence.
We then all returned back to our cabins and played "Cards Against Humanity" which is the most ingenious game I have ever played. Ever. It basically consists of filling blanks within sentences, and the person who successfully making up the dirtiest sentence or funniest sentence winning the round.
I won a lot of rounds, and I haven't decided if that is a good or bad thing quite yet!
So far, this experience has been amazing and the excitement is building so quickly...
We played many games in between all the sessions of the day to keep our brains active and to continue to get to know everyone better. One of my favorites was called "the ball of burning questions" which consisted of throwing an oversized beach ball to one another which was covered in hand written questions. Wherever your right thumb landed was the question you "picked", and you had to read the question to the group and answer it. This was great fun and a good way to get to know everyone.
Lunch was a series of delicious wraps, followed by more lessons and lectures, and then an awesome Chinese dinner. We have a period called EP which stands for evening programs, and they seem to be a mix of activities that we will do with the campers when they arrive. We as counselors have the task of playing and/or partaking in each and every one before camp begins so that we all understand the rules and can teach the kids how to play. Is this even homework?
The Ugly pageant and The Secret Song where last night's EPs and tonight's were just as good: we sang some songs and then played Kick Ball which is basically Baseball but a lot easier as you kick a much larger ball rather than use a bat, and was so much fun! We all walked up to the soccer field and set up all the bases. Garrett drove his old-school Jeep Wrangler with a killer sound system up to the field and blared music while we played. It was basically a huge, field wide, camp sized dance party with a dodgeball being kicked into the air.
I learned almost all the rules but please don't quiz me, chances are it's false confidence.
We then all returned back to our cabins and played "Cards Against Humanity" which is the most ingenious game I have ever played. Ever. It basically consists of filling blanks within sentences, and the person who successfully making up the dirtiest sentence or funniest sentence winning the round.
I won a lot of rounds, and I haven't decided if that is a good or bad thing quite yet!
So far, this experience has been amazing and the excitement is building so quickly...
Sunday, 1 June 2014
The Life of the Lifeguards
Let me explain.
A handful of counselors have arrived at camp prior to Orientation week, in order to receive extra training for their specific roles at camp. For some, this means being Barn Staff and prepping the barns and getting the horses comfortable. For others, like myself, this means Lifeguard training, and getting up at the crack of dawn to do laps in the freezing lake.
Yesterday was such a morning.
7.30am, 13*C with a heavy wind and light rain, the brave lifeguard trainees frog marched down to the dock and began their daily 500m warm up swim. This was followed by breakfast, which I must say, was the best one yet: M&M cookie dough pancakes made by Garrett, the camp director himself... They absolutely made the day worth getting up for!
After breakfast it was back in the water for more vigorous training and countless drills that all included intense endurance, physical strength and serious mental focus, and all took place in the freezing water. After many hours, and when the threat of Hyperthermia was real, our instructor got us out the water and proceeded to teach us CPR and other such skills. We breaked for lunch and then, with almost broken spirits, headed back into the water for and third time that day. This time was more serious, however, as we began our practical examinations, which consisted of multiple endurance exercises and many variations of saving drowning victims, and applying care as necessary. Our instructor has a habit of making us all panic, so this was a very stressful few hours and exceptionally tiring after a day that had started with so much physical exercise.
Despite the difficulties of this week and these training sessions, I loved it all! The challenge was intense and seemingly insurmountable; my favorite kind!
Once again we were allowed out of the ice bath and ran to our cabins to dry off, as if that were possible due to ALL of my towels being soaking wet. We met up again for more learning and were surprised by two spot tests which we all passed! We were finally allowed to leave at 9.30pm and told that we had the entire next day off... Imagine our relief.
The upside, as always with extreme situations, is that the group of Lifeguard candidates have bonded in a way that would not have happened naturally. We have such fun together and create such a strong team with close to no weaknesses. We all complement each other and support one another in a way that just works. This is perhaps one of the more important things for a potentially lifesaving team, and teamwork has never seemed more important. Regardless of personal traits, at the end of the day, I know that I can trust these people, and that is truly priceless.
This morning we were graciously given off! We were allowed to sleep in, and only had to report at noon! We all officially checked into camp and received an entire bag of camp decorated goodies! Orientation for all the camp counselors officially began at 2pm as more and more staff arrived, smiling and excited. We all headed to the gym where we proceeded to play many "Name Games" and bonding games and were given a #selfie scavenger hunt were we broke up into teams and had to take creative selfies at each place on the list given to us. We had the best time! There were a lot more people on camp grounds than the days beforehand, maybe close to 100 or so? We reported for dinner and were given our next challenge: the ugly counselor pageant. Basically this consisted of one person from each team to be dressed up in the craziest outfit possible and pretending to be in a beauty pageant. The brave Miss Kelly was nominated as tribute and we dressed her up and headed over to the competition.
Another part of the competition consisted of a dance routine performed by the entire team, the crazy thing is our team won!! Honestly I'm not entirely sure how as I cannot dance to save my life, and some of the other cabin's routines were so good! One of my favorites was a "Glee" parody that was flawless! We then headed down to a camp fire and sang songs and made s'mores and chatted to the "new" staff. It was a really great day. All the "new" people are vibrant and excited and are going to bring such life to the team!
On a side note, I'm still working off the limited wifi here at camp and will do my best to post often but now that Orientation has officially begun, we have fully planned days and much stricter rules. Also, bare with me if some of the tenses do not make complete sense, as I am typing days up and then waiting for the opportune moment to post them...
A handful of counselors have arrived at camp prior to Orientation week, in order to receive extra training for their specific roles at camp. For some, this means being Barn Staff and prepping the barns and getting the horses comfortable. For others, like myself, this means Lifeguard training, and getting up at the crack of dawn to do laps in the freezing lake.
Yesterday was such a morning.
7.30am, 13*C with a heavy wind and light rain, the brave lifeguard trainees frog marched down to the dock and began their daily 500m warm up swim. This was followed by breakfast, which I must say, was the best one yet: M&M cookie dough pancakes made by Garrett, the camp director himself... They absolutely made the day worth getting up for!
After breakfast it was back in the water for more vigorous training and countless drills that all included intense endurance, physical strength and serious mental focus, and all took place in the freezing water. After many hours, and when the threat of Hyperthermia was real, our instructor got us out the water and proceeded to teach us CPR and other such skills. We breaked for lunch and then, with almost broken spirits, headed back into the water for and third time that day. This time was more serious, however, as we began our practical examinations, which consisted of multiple endurance exercises and many variations of saving drowning victims, and applying care as necessary. Our instructor has a habit of making us all panic, so this was a very stressful few hours and exceptionally tiring after a day that had started with so much physical exercise.
Despite the difficulties of this week and these training sessions, I loved it all! The challenge was intense and seemingly insurmountable; my favorite kind!
Once again we were allowed out of the ice bath and ran to our cabins to dry off, as if that were possible due to ALL of my towels being soaking wet. We met up again for more learning and were surprised by two spot tests which we all passed! We were finally allowed to leave at 9.30pm and told that we had the entire next day off... Imagine our relief.
The upside, as always with extreme situations, is that the group of Lifeguard candidates have bonded in a way that would not have happened naturally. We have such fun together and create such a strong team with close to no weaknesses. We all complement each other and support one another in a way that just works. This is perhaps one of the more important things for a potentially lifesaving team, and teamwork has never seemed more important. Regardless of personal traits, at the end of the day, I know that I can trust these people, and that is truly priceless.
This morning we were graciously given off! We were allowed to sleep in, and only had to report at noon! We all officially checked into camp and received an entire bag of camp decorated goodies! Orientation for all the camp counselors officially began at 2pm as more and more staff arrived, smiling and excited. We all headed to the gym where we proceeded to play many "Name Games" and bonding games and were given a #selfie scavenger hunt were we broke up into teams and had to take creative selfies at each place on the list given to us. We had the best time! There were a lot more people on camp grounds than the days beforehand, maybe close to 100 or so? We reported for dinner and were given our next challenge: the ugly counselor pageant. Basically this consisted of one person from each team to be dressed up in the craziest outfit possible and pretending to be in a beauty pageant. The brave Miss Kelly was nominated as tribute and we dressed her up and headed over to the competition.
Another part of the competition consisted of a dance routine performed by the entire team, the crazy thing is our team won!! Honestly I'm not entirely sure how as I cannot dance to save my life, and some of the other cabin's routines were so good! One of my favorites was a "Glee" parody that was flawless! We then headed down to a camp fire and sang songs and made s'mores and chatted to the "new" staff. It was a really great day. All the "new" people are vibrant and excited and are going to bring such life to the team!
On a side note, I'm still working off the limited wifi here at camp and will do my best to post often but now that Orientation has officially begun, we have fully planned days and much stricter rules. Also, bare with me if some of the tenses do not make complete sense, as I am typing days up and then waiting for the opportune moment to post them...
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