Session 4 over

So session four is over. I'm in the office cause some of the staff members have looked at some inappropriate websites, so the IT dudes have taken them away. Luckily the internationals have the right to use the office computers cause we're from overseas.

So we're hitting up Red Robbin tonight. A massive 'Chillis' style restaurent with unlimited soda, and unlimited fries. I'm so excited, because after weeks and weeks of camp food, it sounds similar to what heaven will be like.

+ burgers with bacon and chicken.

Okay So we're just about to leave.

Session 4 was hectic. kids spoiled, and crazy. session 5 is kids from poorer areas, so it should be better. Irony???

Aight

Peace my lovers.

The Scheduale

Okay so I don't know how to spell Shceduale, but I don't care. ha

 

So the run down of what happens at camp is this:

 

7.00am - Wake up

7.15am - Wake campers up and get them changed for flag raising

7.45am - Flag raising

8.00am - Breakfast (usually finishes at around 8.20)

8.20am - Cabin clean up

9.30am - Devotions

10.45am - Activities (Boating, Arts and Craft, Athletics, Pioneering and/or Nature)

12.00pm - Lunch

12.20pm - Hangtime

1.00pm - Siesta

1.45pm -  Activities (Boating, Arts and Craft, Athletics, Pioneering and/or Nature)

3.00pm - Change for swimming

3.20pm - Canteen

3.30pm - Swimming

4.30pm - Quick shower change for dinner

5.00pm - Dinner

5.40pm - Hang on lawn waiting for clubs

6.00pm - Clubs

6.45pm - Flag Deraising

7.00pm - Freetime

7.15pm - Evening Activity

8.30pm - Showers

9.00pm - Devotions

9.30pm - Lights out

 

11.30pm - Staff Lights out

 

So thats the general run down of camp. I'll give a breif description of what each time slot involves, in detail, so I can remember it after camp, and so you guys can understand some of the situations I find myself in. (This is mostly for me, so I can remember the stuff thats been happening)

 

7.00am - Wake up: We wake up earlier then the campers to make sure they get up on time. more often then not the campers are up before us. i usually sleep in till about 7.30. but sometimes the councilors shower beforehand or before bed. its their choice. i tend to shower throughout the day (after swimming) or before bed. the showers don't have and stables on them, like at port hacking, its just the physical shower with a mere curtain blocking the water. so when we shower we try do it when the campers can't come in, ie bed time, before they wake up.

 

7.15am - Wake campers up and get them changed for flag raising  - waking the campers up is probably the easiest task to do all camp. just because they tend to get up early anyway.

 

7.45am - Flag raising - so flag raising is a ceremony that americans do. mst of the kids are too tired to talk at this point. but you do get the occasional fart here and there. everyone stands in a rectangle around the flag pole. someone plays a trumpet which sounds dramatically like 'The Last Post' then they pledge they're allegience to the flag by quoting something and putting their hands on there heart. i've never done it.

 

8.00am - Breakfast (usually finishes at around 8.20) - breakfast starts at 8 with a song of pray (be present at our table lord, be here and everywhere adored, these mercies blessed and grant that we, may live to love and serve but thee ？？？）we have an array of food, all baked, baked fried eggs, baked toast, baked fried french cinamon toast and sugar coated cereal. yummy...not! theres sometimes gogurts, and juice. I try to get the campers to stay as long as possible in breakfast, because the majority of problems happen when they're bored back at their cabins fighting with each other of donated lego pieces.

 

8.20am - Cabin clean up -  possibbly the hardest thing to do on camp, just because no one wants to clean. they have to mop, sweep and make sure their beds are straight with shoes under beds and bags neatly packed. i usually sit on a chair and tell them what to do. it depends what kind of campers you have though. some kids who work at home have no issue doing the chores, but some who have never even touched a broom complain. they sweep by using the broom like a vacuum cleaner and wondering why its not working.

 

9.30am - Devotions -  devotions is where we gather all the boys and learn about jesus. trouble is the christian ed director is from northern irlend, so none of the kids can understand her. so most of the time it involves us telling the kids what she's saying, then trying to get them to do their worksheets without fighting. this goes for an hour, with a song at the start, then perhaps a game at the end.

 

10.45am - Activities (Boating, Arts and Craft, Athletics, Pioneering and/or Nature):

- boating is where the kids hop in these bright fluro boats and paddle accross the lake, staying inside the bueys, usually the kids like it. i love it cause i just sit on the dock and talk to the lifeguards. Kat leads that. she's got family from the southern land of america.

- arts and crafts is where the kids go and paint, draw, colour and glue. in the end they always make paper airoplanes, in my end I always pour enormous amounts of PVA glue on my hands, wait for it to dry, then scare the kids into thinking my skins peeling. hahaha. Laura butchers in charge of A&C. she does an amazing job.

 - Athletics is usually basketball, basketball and soccer, and basketball. plus some baseball, and maybe some volleyball...oh and dodgeball. they love dodgeball. enrique leads that. he's from columbia.

 -  Pioneering is where the kids learn team building excercises, rope tieing, bushwalking and how to build a stretcher. its usually a hit with the younger kids, although most of the time the kids can't handle the team building stretcher race. when I did i got so competitive i dropped a camnper and he started crying. lol. he didn't hurt himself. he just thought he did. matt leads that, he's from NZ. we also sometimes go to a punty waterfall.

 - Nature is lead by Ilona from Poland. we do scavenger hunt, frog catching and a bush walk to collect things.

 

12.00pm - Lunch -  lunch is the same as breakfast. try to keep them in as long as possible. they always yella t each other, and are always fidgetting. imagine 8 kids just constantly talking, yelling, playing, fidgetting, drinking their ketchup, eating their butter, and stealing other peoples cups. grrr. first time we ate lunch it took an hour for us to get served for some reason. then a storm came so we had to stay inside all day. lunch is sometimes corn dogs, pasta, burgers, sandwhices etc. all horribley baked.

 

12.20pm - Hangtime -  this is where disaster strikes all the time. kids when they're bored, fight with each other, say things they don't mean and get on everyones nerves. we try to distract them with legos or going to the athletics field.

 

1.00pm - Siesta -  i don't know why they ned rest during the day. we need to drain them throughout the day so they can sleep well at night. so for 45 mins we have to come up with some activity for them to do. it sucks. worst part of the day. so much yelling. so much fighting. if ever you organise a camp, don't ever put a siesta in. i reckon you need to drain the kids of all they're energy all day so they sleep at night.

 

1.45pm -  Activities (Boating, Arts and Craft, Athletics, Pioneering and/or Nature) -  same as above.

 

3.00pm - Change for swimming -   they change into there cossies here. goes quickj cause they're excited about their canteen then swimming.

 

3.20pm - Canteen - usually an icecream, popsical or ice block. they have to eat before the get down to the waterfront.

 

3.30pm - Swimming -  the waterfront is run by Kat, a very very very VERY strict lifeguard who loves to save lives. we get down there and cannot go in until they're ready. we then sign in our campers. they get cheked for wristbands, then can go swimming for 10mins. the rules for the beach water front are...no running, no splashing, 5 people on the dock at once (out of about 40 campers), no jumping on one another, no grabbing onto one another, no swimming under water for too long, no going under the rope, no diving, pretty much no fun. all they can do is wade. then after 10mins they get out for a 'buddy check' where we make sure everyone is still there. that takes 5 mins. the campers, if you can imagine are all excited, so they're talking and smiling. they must be deathly quiet before they can get back in the water, as well as all facing the front in one single line. if their eagerness overtakes there ability to walk and they skip, they must return to the line to start again. the councilors have to stand and watch constently, as well as not alowd to sit down in the shade. if a camper needs to go to thetoilet two kids have to come and we have to sign them out. it is very strict.

 

4.30pm - Quick shower change for dinner -  this is a quick shower to rinse of the dirt form the lake. usually makes us late for dinner. kids just seem to think they can shower as long as they like.

 

5.00pm - Dinner - eat dinner. get kids to stay in the dining hall as long as possible so they don't muck up. cause they usually do. could be anything from spag bowl, beans, chilli, hot dog...all baked. and out of date.

*note* we get our food from a place called 'the food bank' which is where out of date food goes. so yes grandma and grandpa, i've been eating out of date food all camp, and if i choose to not eat it i will go hungry.

 

5.40pm - Hang on lawn waiting for clubs -  we hang and watch the kids with the other councilors. this is nice cause you can just lie there and chat with the other councilors.

 

6.00pm - Clubs -  i lead the guitar club, so no one else can do it accept me. which means i never get the 6-9 break. which im okay with. so the kids try to learn how to play E Chord. they usually can play it at the end of the week, but thats about it, i think they assume they will be able to play guitar like in guitar hero straight away. they walk away realising how hard it is, as well with sore fingers.

 

6.45pm - Flag Deraising - we deraise the flag, take it down similar to flag raising.

 

7.00pm - Freetime -  they usually play on the playscape. get time down also we could take it to them nures station.

 

7.15pm - Evening Activity -  involves playing family fued, scavenger hunt, amazing race (where they can't run...???), beat the geek, olympics.

 

8.30pm - Showers -  showers involve getting them into the shower and out. we only hasve 2 showers between everyone, so it can get pretty hectic. I usually bribe them with theire snacks that i have.

 

9.00pm - Devotions -  devotions can go anywhere from 5mins to 25mins. depening on how the kids are doing, we get them on their dressers and just run through some stuff in the bible. then pray.

 

9.30pm - Lights out - i sit in the room, any hint of a noise i say 'Shhhhh'. one incident I had to bring in the nightwatchmen to tell them to be quiet. grr. supid kids.

 

anyway thats my day in a nutshell...my fingers are sore plus i've been on here way too long...

 

until next time...

Session 3 over

Well now that session 3 is over, I can finally relax for more then 3 hours a day.

Kids are crazy. Especially when you have eight 9-10 year olds all yelling at each other. *sigh*

 

During the week, I can't wait for break. But somehow when break comes around, I keep wishing that the next session would start again.

 

So my fingers got painted last night...gold and purple. Don't ask, Justine did it. Now I'm on the hunt for nail polish remover.

 

I'm hungry.

 

I also got a package today. Thankyou to those people who sent it. The card was awesome. Everyone was fascinated at the interesting candy I had. They wondered why it took so long to chew it. They liked the wrappers though.

 

And yes Rosie, who knows what I might bring home. *wink wink*

 

I also went to the drs. today. It cost me, out of my pocket $200 roughly. About 130 for the drugs then about 70 for the actually appointment. Everyone should never complain with medicare in australia.

I've got to get my insurance claim form printed out and sent away asap.

 

I've also sat down with a friend at camp and written a song. Which is good. They want us to perform it at there church after camp. I don't know if it will happen. But it would be cool, cause then I'd have a place to stay. lol

 

Everyone thinks I'm from the UK.

 

I'm really really tired.

 

Thanks for the candy family.

 

ANyway We've got lunch very very soon. Probably going to be stale bread and oreos. actually I know its oreos cause I saw Ali packing them with oreos.

 

Also this break I'm going to Carolyns hosue, where we will see harry potter (half blood) and go to the beach. Should do wonders for my body and mind.

 

Her dad is making mexican lasagne. Don't know what to expect. But i'm going to an American home. oh yeah!!!

 

K lunch now.

 

Bye

Not much to report on really

Hey everyone,

 

Not really much to report on since my last post. But right now I'm at the start of my 3 hour break which is great.

 

I'm going to the beach this thursday though for break which is good. So I'm heaps excited.

 

Not really much to report on.

 

The kdis this week are great. No porblems with them at all.

 

They always think I'm called Josh from Austria. Guess me and Josh are more alike then we even think. lol

 

They also think I'm from Brazil sometimes. Also from UK. lol

 

K that is all.

First blog at camp...and I've bruised my finger

Well G'Day fellow Australians.

Right now it is 5.45pm on a friday afternoon and I am relaxing (was) in the sun. It is very chilled. The food sucks though.

We get the same treatment for campers for food. So it's best if we just buy our own food. So I've been living off of Pop Tarts (David) and Coke (David) for the past week.

Although today I experienced Friendlys, and American franchise (everything's franchise) which makes nice ice creams.

Yesterday we went to a mall, hence the facebook, hence the blogging now. All thanks to Apple.

So the camp site is very nice. Situated on  about 270 acres of green grassland, some bush and a dirty lake which we swim in with the snakes and fish. Theres air hockey, table tennis, pool and table soccer in the staff lounge...along with 2 cable televisions and sofas. So the staff lounge is the place to be.

The cabins hold about 10 kids in each side with a middle cabin for the Councilors. So between 4 councilors we need to control up to 20 kids. We have to keep in ratio at all times (1 Councilor : 8 Kids) and can never be alone with a kid, EVER!
We have about 60 staff from Dining hall , kitchen, councilors, support staff and program staff.

The four programs we run are Nature, Pioneering, Athletics and  Arts  & Craft. Theres also swimming at the waterfront.

I'd just like to point out the strictness of this camp.

No staff member can date any staff member under the age 14 (the age range of staff is from about 14 - 23).
No staff can date any staff members under 16 without prior permission given from their Parent/Guardian.
No staff member can lean, lie or relax on any member of the opposite sex (even if dating prior to camp).
There is consideration for curfew for staff members who are on break.

Plus so much more I cannot be bothered explaining.

Its fun meeting different people from Columbia, China, UK and Poland.

Anyway when I think of some more things to write I will write in.

Bye for now.

Test

I'm just testing my blog.

Well...

Okay so it's been a while, and the only reason that that is the case is because updating my blog has been problematic because they've blocked all access to updating it. So here I stand updating my blog in an Apple store...

I will however change my settings so I can email my blog. That might be better...

Camp is amazing. So far I've done 2 sessions. The kids are very different over then they are back home. They complain alot more and whinge about stupid things. 

Everyone is really nice. 

Umm not sure what else to write, plus my fingers are sore from standing up. lol

I'll write again soonish.

Peace.