Post camp/Hurricane Irene

Sothe storm has come and gone, and I'm still here. However there is no electricity at camp, so I am alternating between MacDonalds and Starbucks for free wifi. The only problem is getting a lift to Wakefield from camp, its a 5.5 mile ride, so not really within walking distance, since it would take about 1.5 hours to walk...

Camp ended on Friday, and on Thursday we had a "council fire" which was a bit of a joke compared to the real ones, but fun never the less, aside from the one girl who had memorised some really long joke/stand up comedy act, but didn't have the right intonation or projection to get it across. After it ended, and we had sung the camp fuller song, we had smors, which was also fun. Friday was spent doing a lot of packing and preparing for the storm. I helped the boathouse staff pack away boats. Saturday we did more packing away, adn went in to town to buy necessary items, such as coke and other beverages ;) The water was sold out, and I caused a bit of a commotion, as I went into the shops in Mouse's life jacket. It got me plenty of comments, to which I responded "there's a storm coming..."

That night was the night of the storm, massive winds, and the tide rising. There was a serious threat of major flooding, which fortunately didn't happen. We did go out in the storm to appreciate the high winds, and the raging waves, at which point we decided it was time to go for a swim. We also went to watch the storm from the top of the climbing tower, which was fun, until the lightening started, and the girls panicked, and rushed down. We then went through to the hotel, where there was a speaker with music going, so we partied it up well into the night, only going to bed at about 5. We woke up at about 8 and the storm was still going strong. I went for a walk around camp, and saw all of the devastation that the storm had caused and was still causing. most of the docks where severely damaged, and there were branches strewn everywhere.

Since the storm we have been without electricity, and since the water pumps are electric, without water. Power could be back today, or it might only be restored over the weekend. So for now its real camping, along with a bit of trekking to Wakefield for internet access...

Hurricane Irene - Threat or Farse?

So we have been issued with a preliminary evacuation warning. Hurricane Irene is headed for us, and we have to decide what to do. The general consensus is that we're going to just stick it out on Camp, but some people are freaking out. I think its going to be fun. We may well have to put up with a couple of days of no running water and no electricity, but we should be fine, we have plenty of food, and more than enough supplies of stored water. We'll just have to not shower, and flush the toilets with water from the pond, but it will be cool. A great end to a great summer!

So I might be out of contact for a few days, but don't stress, I'll be back in a bit...

Last Few days of real camp

So I am now into my 10th week in the US. The last week has been a bit hectic. It was the last week of camp, and it started off with a rainy day, which was actually really great! On rainy days, we get to sleep in, then we have breakfast and an extended cabin clean up. We then do to the mess hall, and the kids get to play board games, and do a bunch of indoor activities, basically they take care of themselves. I got a lot of reading done, I was borrowing a Terry Pratchett book from a friend, so that was cool, then we had to go back to our cabins for an hour and a half before lunch. In this time, we went mud sliding, the field in front of our division was ankle deep in water, so the kids had a lot of fun! We also went to the soccer field which was a lot more muddy! At lunch, there weren't any top staff present for some reason, so we went a bit wild, they were pumping music through the loudspeakers, and the kids were going off! Normally, in the mess hall, each division has chants, and we kinda compete against each other, but this time we did some Camp Fuller chants, and it was really great, to be all unified and whatnot... We also turned off the lights, and had one of those lines where you follow each other in a line. It was a great vibe. On Wednesday we had Sunprod, which is kinda like an outdoor music festival, basically it was founded by some people who couldn't make it to Woodstock, so instead they made one of their own. One of my campers' fathers was actually one of the founders of it. I sang "We are the Champions" by Queen. In its entirety, it was a bit tame, but at least we got funky T-shirts with glow in the dark writing.

Then on Friday it was the end of camp, so we had our final Council fire. I did the song "Froggie" which has become a bit of a tradition now, and had some girls sing it with me, although I think they weren't quite aware how much energy it entails.

At the end of each session the council fire is a "chips fire" which is basically where everyone takes something flammable to the fire, and at the end tosses it into the fire, and the ashes get spread around camp, symbolising that a part of you remains at camp. So we had that on Friday. As one of my council tasks, I had to make a "
spirit stick" which is basically a stick that you decorate with things that are meaningful to you. I had made one of those, so that was what I threw in at the chips fire. Then after the fire, the most senior counselor in each cabin is given a flaming torch, and we go from the council fire to the docks, where we wait for everyone, and then toss the torches into the water, symbolising the extinguishing of camp spirit. It was a very moving ceremony, and a lot of people where in tears. Then on Saturday we had a staff banquet, which was quite nice,  it was basically a lot of cocktail snacks, and then we had some awards, and a bit of a fun slideshow. We then went off to a party down the road from camp. This turned out to be a bit boring, so I left at about 01:00, I was later told that they went swimming later, which was disappointing, but me and one of my friends from the kitchen staff walked back together, which was great, the weather was nice, and the sky was clear, so that was great. About 500m from camp, a car drove past us, and it was some people from camp, so we got a lift for the last bit.

Then we got our new kids on Sunday, but they were vastly less. It was a bit irritating, since we were supposed to move at 14:00, but the guy whose cabin we moved into hadn't moved out yet, and only really moved out at 15:30, which was when we were supposed to get our kids, so it was a bit tight. then last night we watched a movie. Today I worked with the head counselor, Katy, to sort out the lost and found, and then in the afternoon, I "helped" take down the high ropes course, although my helping was just helping take down one belay cord, which a spider had decided to claim, and then tried to attack me, which wasn't fun, then I got stuck in the middle of a wire, and once I had made it to the end, was told I needed to do another one. I definitely don't enjoy high ropes! The view is good, but its entirely too much work!!!

Today we went to arrange the payment for our post camp trip. Me and 3 other support staff are going to be taking a tour from New York through Canada via Niagara falls, which should be fun.

Camp Fuller pics

Chris a junior counselor

Brad, my division leader

Nora, the girl I do Outdoor Skills with

The "Hotel"

Max, my session 4 co-Counselor, he usually looks less stoned, but it was a surprise photo...

Things I've learnt in the US, and gripes I have.

So I've been in the US now for 8 weeks, so by now I have seen a bit of what life is like in the US, or at least on Camp in the US. One thing that I was told about was that the portions in the US are massive, but I haven't really seen this. Maybe Rhode Island is the exception to that rule. What I have seen is that kids will happily dish up a portion of seconds, and then just not eat it. The amount of wasted food really appalls me, coming from SA where there is a lot more knowledge about poverty, and not wasting food. Even my most dumb and wasteful scouts wouldn't even approach what is considered to be the norm here. Also kids seem to think that if its biodegradable, it will disappear within seconds of them discarding it. I have had to make several announcements about this. Kids will even go and get an apple, bite into it, but not actually take a bite, just leave their teeth marks on it and then leave it by the path, or even in the middle of the field!

I have however learnt how to inject maple syrup into flapjacks, which is quite cool, and into waffles, as well as French Toast sticks (which is like regular French Toast, cut up into three or four sticks, and deep fried I think???).  They also have smiley fries, which are potato chips in the shape of smiley faces. However sweet potatoes are just potatoes with loads of syrup.

Also the showers are perpetually dripping. It seems that the kids here don't know how to turn them off properly. And the taps are really weird! There's a single mixer, and you have to turn it all the way round to get to hot...

Coke vs Pepsi

So when I arrived in the USA  I realised that Coke tasted very different to what it does in SA, so I tried a Pepsi, and it tasted better, much to my surprise, but subsequent to that I have had some of each, and was still undecided, so today I decided to put it to the test, after going to the bank, to cash a cheque that I was given for staff training weekend, even though I specifically gave them my direct deposit details gnnnn!!! I went to the local Shaws (probably the US equivalent of Pick 'n Pay) and bought a 20 OZ bottle of both beverages. I then went to Java madness (where I purchased an ice coffee for Vaughn, who lent me his car for the morning) and sat on the bench outside to perform the scientific experiment. The Pepsi had clearly been less in the shade, so was less cold, and therefore after the first tasting, was definitely the loser, but since I wanted this to be a fair competition, I went back to Java, and asked for a cup with ice, and cooled the Pepsi down. However, even after being cooled, the Pepsi was still of inferior taste to the Coke, so even though they have weird preservatives in the Coke, and even though they use corn syrup rather than real sugar, I still enjoy Coke better than Pepsi.

Session 4 begins...

So its been a while since I last posted, nothing really new has happened, I did get a notebook, so updates may be more regular.

Every time a session ends, the kids go home, and the counselors all get a day off, but since there are still kids who don't go home, some counselors need to stay on in camp to look after them, and do some fun stuff, so I decided to work this last weekend. We did tie dye with bleach, and then went bowling. It was fun, but now I've got a free day that I dont' know what to do with...

I have been placed in another outdoor cabin, I requested the hotel, but then at last minute the Korean ambassador to camp demanded that the boys that were supposed to be in cabin 6 had to be indoors, so they had to change us around last minute. That really sucked, as I was going to be in the same cabin as before, so I didn't pack, so I had to pack at last minute.

I am going to be hosting the next council fire, which should be fun, I'm going to be teaching the kids some Afrikaans phrases, should be epic!!!