Tuesday, June 30, 2009

a lull
Hey folks. just another quick update whilst i have some time and some decent internets.



its now the third week of camp, and things have been going pretty well. truth be told, we've had a few dodgy moments, we've had to let a few staff members go and a few stressful events, but overall it seems to be going good.

the first week was kinda hectic, everyone trying to get into the swing of things. the kids were mostly a great bunch (with the exception of one program, but they were off site for most of the week). i got to hang out with a group called "Leaps of Faith" all week, which is a challenge course based program. they were an awesome bunch of kids, and we had a lot of fun and got a lot out of the week. the only bad part of the week for me was that i had a head cold that week (not fun when you're trying to work a high-ropes course) and it was pretty wet and stormy weather that week, which made it difficult to do stuff outside (again, real hard when your program is mostly outside based work!) but it wasnt too bad, and as i said, i had a great week.

last week was mini camp week, so a lot of junior campers (grades k thru 4 i think) and only a few specialty camps, which meant i didnt have a whole lot of challenge course work to do. and, to be honest, the few groups i did have were terrible. ^^; but i spent a lot of time life-guarding out on the river on the camp's giant inflatable equipment (a trampoline and a huge inflatable iceberg, to name a few) and so i kept myself busy.

and this week is Special Needs week, so again, not a lot of work on the challenge course to do. im enjoying the lull though, cuz i know its gonna get crazy busy starting next week!


so yeah. life is good. the weather has gotten better, and every day brings more laughter and fun. there's a whole bunch of places one can end up during the summer, but i sure am glad im here again!

i finished my novel i was reading (i had a lot of free time!!!) and i really enjoyed it. it's called "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman, and it was a thoroughly engaging and enjoyable read. my colleague is currently reading it, and he's almost finished, and i know of two or three more people who wanna read it, so i guess i made a good choice! ha ha!

i also got given a fridge to put in the Boys Staff House, where im staying this summer. so i now have a mini fridge in my room ,whom i sharing with the Maintenance Manager, and its stocked with soda and chocolate. good times!

the rest of my days have been filled with hanging out with good friends, eating ice cream, watching Disney Movies and occasionally writing some more of my stories. oh, and i work too, apparently! ha ha!

hope all is well with y'all. i wanna know what you are all getting up to this summer! i hope you enjoy it!


till next time!

PS: I may or may not have said this before, but the sunsets here are like nowhere else in the world. i love each and every one. ^^

PPS: i think i might be experiencing a slight mecha withdrawal. :q
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Friday, June 12, 2009

greetings from Maryland. if you dont like the weather, dont worry! it'll change in about 5 minutes!
heya folks. just a quick update to let you all know that im safe and sound. its been a busy few weeks since i got here, but its been fun too.

the flight went well and getting to camp went off without a hitch. the first week was Challenge Course training, which i've done twice before, so it wasnt to difficult. we got a pretty good challenge course crew this year, and im looking forward to working with them.

the second week was Leadership Training, and this is my first year doing it... its was tough! we were going from 9am to around midnight everyday doing Leadership skills and tests, AND we had to prep and plan the basic running and programming of the summer in addition to that! lots of work, very tiring. there were some cool parts too though, like a team building day at the beginning of the week. we also too the Myers Briggs personality/temperament test. for those of you who know about it, im an INTP: Introverted Intuitive Thinking Perceptor...what it basically breaks down to is that i like things to be clarified and expect people, including myself, to work to a rigid set of standards, but at the same time i hate planning things and working out the nitty gritty details...so you can see why Leadership Training week was so hard!!! ha ha!


This week just gone was regular Staff Training week...all the staff are on site now and we're ready to go! Staff Training week was long and hard too. not only did we have a lot of training sessions to go through with the regular staff, i also had to do CPR training, and the other day i had to help out clear up camp...we had had a pretty fierce storm the night before and it blew away some of our giant inflatable equipment we had anchored in the river!!! i had to set off in a boat with another Leadership team member and the Head of Maintenance staff to retrieve it and re-anchor it in the river. i've also had to sorta mentor some of the first time staff too, and thats been kinda draining.

so yeah, all in all, its been a hectic couple of weeks...and camp hasnt even officially started yet!!! the weather has been crazy too, lots of swinging between crazy hot and humid and thunderstorms. it makes it hard to do stuff round here!

its not all been hard work though...i've been hanging out with awesome people too; meeting up with some great friends from previous years, and meeting new people too. i think its gonna be a good summer!


thats all i can think of at the moment. Camp properly starts on Monday, so its gonna get even busier round here for a few weeks till everyone settles into a routine. i'll probably update again around week 3 or 4, after Special Needs week.


i hope you are all well, and i apologise for not being able to visit. Camp Internet is kinda sketchy. ^^;

take care! till next time!
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Friday, May 22, 2009

Hello and Away I Go!
heya folks. ^^

i've been kinda quiet recently, mostly cuz i've been away to Devon this week with my brother. We took a tent and his car and headed down to a tiny little town called Umberleigh for a few days.

For most of the week it was raining. -_-; and we got a little soggy. but we made the most of it. we went to a Glass Blowing Factory, to a small railway, to a couple of beach towns, to a combat vehicle collection, we played pool and bowls, we had lots of pub food. good times.

Ironically the day we came home it was very sunny and we spent a good portion of the day underground in caves. go figure.

so yeah. we had fun.

now i haveta unpack all my stuff and repack for america, which i depart for on sunday. im really looking forward to it, another long summer with good friends and good times. ^^ and afterwards im planning on travelling around certain parts of the world, which, quite frankly, is terrifying me. i've never done a trip of this magnitude on my own before, so im kinda stressing over what i need to pack and so on and so forth, but i think i'll be fine. i hope so anyway. ^^;

so this is my last post in the UK for a while i guess. the next posts will come from America (camp internet allowing...)

i dont really have much to say today. just trying to get ready. ^^


hope y'all are well.

ciao.
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You have wings of STEEL. No one's really sure why, but at this point in your life you've shut off emotion to the point of extreme apathy. You are cold and indifferent much of the time...or perhaps you're just a good pretender. Next to impossible to get close to, even those who do never see the real you. It's entirely possible that YOU don't even know the real you. You have a certain fascination or attraction to destruction on a massive scale - disasters, perhaps even death or the concept of the Apocalypse. Because you hold so much inside, one day you're simply going to snap. Then the mask will fall away, and your true wings will be revealed. Until then you will deal with whatever comes your way in icy bitter silence and acceptance. On the positive side, you are fearless and immeasurably strong - not much can crack through your defenses. You intrigue people, who can't help but wonder why you're the way you are. A loner and one who spends much of their time brooding and contemplating life and death - you are a time bomb waiting to explode and create some destruction of your own. *~*~*Claim Your Wings - Pics and Long Answers*~*~* brought to you by Quizilla

.:You live your life: ~indifferently~:. Nothing matters. You fear nothing. Everything matters. You fear all. You could be the perfect partner and the worst friend/lover. There will always be the things that matter and the things that don't. Realize that before you let go of your grip just a bit too much.. How do you live your life? (with pics! ^.~) brought to you by Quizilla