Summer Camp: Crazy Things My Kids Have Said

And by "my kids" I do of course mean "other people's kids who I have the pleasure of looking after for a week".  I don't actually have kids of my own, even though 24 is "old" according to my girls this week.  I suppose it is quite old when you're only 10...

I'll add to this through the next couple of weeks, but here is some of the things the kids have said -

• "Are you kind of British?"
• "Is it true you have a prince over there? Do you get invited to balls?" (I love that they think England is like living in a Disney film)
• "Would you like some sunscreen?  You're too light to be dark"
• "College kids are smart.  We play with Legos and talk about how we hate things" (Said by a visiting college student)
• "Are you a regular person, or are you ghetto?"
• "What's your favourite disease?" - "Anything, so long as it's not an STD"
• "What's your religion?" - "I'm atheist" - "Oh. That's bad"
• "You have a smart car. It has two seats. There's you, your most trustworthy friend, the love of your life, and a pregnant woman. What do you do? ... You go home and rethink your life because you bought a Smart Car!"
• "When they put the jelly [jam] on my sandwich.  It fell off."  (My co-counsellor was just like...um...ok?)
• "Are you from British?" (Not only was this an incorrect use of the term, it was also said to an American counsellor!)
• "It's like having a headache in my legs"
• "What language do you speak in England?"
• "Don't bring weapons to camp" (When asked what the most important rule was at camp)
• "Do you wear hats in England?"
• "Is this what the jungle looks like? We'll have to kill all the innocent bunnies!"
• "No killing people" (When asked what a rule was for archery)
• "What's your weakness?" - "Pepper spray!"
• "I want to move to Africa to build homes and help people" (Can we get a big 'awwww'?)
• "I had a dream that a CIT was The Lorax. We were all the animals, and we all died.  He wasn't a very good Lorax" (Said by one of the counsellors)
• "You can't be eighteen. Teenagers are eighteen, not adults!" (Said to the above counsellor)

Summer Camp: Why Do I Do It?

My decision to volunteer at summer camp for 4 weeks has been received by a lot of confusion - from the airport immigration officer, to the youth leader I'm working with.  No-one can quite seem to understand why I would want to spend my own time and money to toil in the blistering heat for the sake of a bunch of kids with attitude.  Of course, if I looked at it like that...I wouldn't do it.

The youth leader (my Counsellor-In-Training this week) did seem to genuinely be curious though, and I can't say I blame her for wondering.  We were out on camp-out, and had been faced with nothing but negativity from the campers.  As we walked through the woods, carrying heavy camping equipment, sweating profusely in the high temperatures, she just asked "How do you do this?!".  At moments like that, I'm not sure myself!

The truth is, it's hard work.  It's exhausting.  I'm bone-tired.  I have the most ridiculous tan-lines.  I ache all over.  I'm covered in bug-bites.  I got badly sunburned last week.  I'm hungry.  I'm a fussy eater, and camp food can occasionally leave a little to be desired for a picky person like me.  My kids keep bickering, they won't listen, they answer back...but after camp, all of that fades.  You remember all of the negative things, but they're not the first thing that comes to mind when you think "camp".

Instead, you think about the other things.  The good things.  That's what camp is about.

It's the twins with their corny but slightly unexpected jokes that leave you howling.
It's the pre-teen girl announcing that she wants to be an organ donor.
It's the surprising vote of confidence from the loudest child, who recognises that counsellors have feelings (and get tired) too.
It's the conversations about diabetes at 1am with a little girl who doesn't let it get her down, but instead launches herself into the nurses office when she's "feeling low" shouting - "I is in da HOUSE!".
It's the young man who stands up in the Talent Show to defend a boy with special needs because he felt the audience wasn't being properly respectful.
It's the sound of childish laughter ringing across the camp.
It's the camp songs, sung with enthusiasm (if not much tune).
It's the campers shouting your name from across the field, who just want to wave and say hello.
It's being remembered by campers, even though a year has gone by.
It's the funny questions about England ("Do you get invited to balls?"; "Are you kind of British?").
It's the young lady making a stand against bullying.
It's getting to know the other counsellors as you make camper awards at 2am.
It's the little boy who jumps for joy every time his arrow hits the target in archery (even if it's not a bullseye).
It's the 10 year old girl working hard to learn Spanish so she can communicate with her new best friend who doesn't speak English.
It's the 7 year old girl who translates from English to Spanish, so the girl doesn't get excluded.
It's the boy who dances during the Talent Show, and the whole camp dances with him.
It's the girl who calls everyone her brother and sister, and loves her camp family dearly.
It's PB&J sandwiches, s'mores, and campfire fajitas.
It's the sound of the campfire popping as you lie under the stars.
It's the campers who cry when they have to leave.  And the counsellors who cry with them.
It's the 10 year old girl who says she wants to move to Africa "so I can build houses and help people".
It's the happiness found in the smallest of things, by the children who have the toughest circumstances.
It's the expression of joy and wonder on the face of a camper, because her counsellor took the time to read out her award in Spanish as she doesn't speak much English.  And it's all the hugs (and tears) that follow.
It's the 'cool' teenage boy who sings a song for his mom (who sadly passed away) in the Talent Show with his sisters. It's the moment where he wraps his arms around his sisters, bows his head, and cries. It's all the staff who cry with him. It's the moment the next day where he tells the other teenage boys that "it's ok to cry".
It's the 18 year old counsellor who tries not to cry as he explains how he feels like camp is "where I'm meant to be". It's his 20 year old friend, who never says much, who tells him how proud he is of everything he's achieved this summer. It's how proud I am too.
It's the tears as the summer ends, and everyone goes their separate ways. It's the promises to meet up, and stay in touch.
It's the friendships made that last forever.
It's the lifechangers.

That's why I come back.

Summer Camp!

Eight days in and I don't think I stand a chance on catching up on Camp NaNo.  I've only written something on one day, and even then it was only 500 words!

That's right, summer camp has officially started (for me)!  The kids all arrived yesterday, and my cabin are a lovely group of six girls aged 11 to 14.  My co-counsellor is from New Zealand, and she's lovely too.  It seems like we have a great group of girls, though I suspect there's potential for some serious attitude. Going to have to stamp all over that!

I'll be teaching archery this summer (for real this time, not like last summer where I got qualified and then switched out to Journalism!).  The activity leader was one of the youth leaders (known as a CIT - Counsellor in Training) last year, so it's pretty cool to see her as a full counsellor, and leading the activity that she helped out at most last year.  Another of the CIT's I knew last year is also a full counsellor now - she was my CIT almost every session, so I'm like a super proud parent.  One of my campers is a CIT this year, and I'm very proud of her too!  It's great getting to see campers I knew from last year, and realising just how many of them remember me.  I keep having to enlist assistance from people to sneakily find out names - I feel guilty that the kids know my name, and I don't always know their's!

It's not quite so hot in Indy this year, though it has its moments.  It's much more overcast and damp, which I think means more mosquitos.  Yuck!  My feet are already covered in bites, and my legs are looking pretty bad too.  I try and avoid walking through the grass as much as I can, but it's not always possible.  Tuesday night will be our camp-out night, so I'll probably get bitten up so bad, I'll not know what I was complaining about today!

Today was the first proper day, so it's hard to say how I'm doing, and if I'm getting back into the swing of things, but I'd like to think that I am!  I'm feeling pretty tired, but I didn't sleep too well last night so I'm not surprised. I'm a light sleeper, and I've stopped being used to sharing a room, so being in a cabin with six girls who snore, talk, and wriggle...Well it doesn't lead to a great night's sleep.  Hopefully tonight will be better.  The kids should be pretty tired, so should probably go to sleep and not be so restless.  They all woke up at 7am today, even though they didn't need to get up until 8am. I was laid in my bed like...go back to sleeeep!  I was wanting to nap on my break, but I don't have a device with an alarm with me (it's in the cabin). So frustrating!  Plus all my bedding is in the cabin too, not in my staff quarters...

I'm hoping that I get to go to Walmart (or Walgreens, or whatever, I'm not fussy about that!) sometime soon.  I'd like to stock up on snacks for when I'm being fussy about camp food.  I need to pay more attention to which Americans have a car.  The ones I know of aren't on the same break as me.  It can be quite frustrating not being able to get anywhere independently.  I'm used to having my own car and being able to go out on my breaks if I want to.  Last year I got to know everyone very well during staff training, so there was always someone with a car.  I'm sure I'll figure it out soon enough, though!

All the best,
Charli

Camp NaNo - Still not started!

Well, it's now Day 5 of Camp NaNo and that officially puts me 5 days behind. BUT I'm not worried because I'm at CAMP! Real camp, with cabins, camp-outs, s'mores, everything!

I had a lot of fun sat in airports people-watching. I even bought myself a notebook (which was annoying, as I had TWO in my suitcase) to write down my observations and some story ideas.

I arrived in Indianapolis late last night, and watched Fourth July fireworks the whole drive from the airport. I fell asleep to the sounds of nearby fireworks too, which was pretty cool.

I had a bit of a scare at immigration, where it looked quite likely that they'd send me home to the UK, but thankfully they let me through. Many thanks to the camp Program Director for taking a phone-call from them, and confirming that I am an unpaid volunteer!

I woke up at 8am, Indy time, absolutely wide awake and no jet-lag to speak of. WIN! I refused to get up then though, since I knew everyone else would still be in bed, so I dozed on and off for the next few hours. I then unpacked, got a nice hot shower, and generally felt much more human.

I've spent the rest of the day catching up with my camp friends from last year, getting up to date with my Facebook, etc. I probably could have spent that time doing some writing, but never mind! It'll get done :)

I'm now surrounded by Americans and New Zealanders, and am having trouble understanding half of what people are saying, but it's definitely good to be back. Bring on the kids!

Charli

Camp NaNo - Day 1

As expected, I'm already behind on Camp NaNo. This doesn't bode well for the rest of the month!

The drive to Cumbria was absolutely lovely, though. It was a 6 hour round trip - the furthest I've ever driven. The morning was spent trying to research travel insurance for my upcoming trip to Indianapolis.  I didn't get very far on getting the insurance due to quirky internet, but I'm working on it.

This evening my brain has been reduced to mush (as I said - furthest I've ever driven!), but I've been having fun researching more images for my story. That totally counts, right?!

Tomorrow I intend to get some packing done for real camp, buy my travel insurance, and get some writing done for Camp NaNo. You never know, it could happen!

I'm a little put out that my cabin group for Camp NaNo doesn't have ANYONE that I requested, and one of the campers has a character with a very similar name to one of my main characters. I'm already turning into a paranoid writer..!

Good luck to all my friends doing Camp NaNo, hopefully I'll get some writing done this month..! :)

Charli