phew.
session 1, my first week with the kids has finally ended. what an adventure. and i'm sooooooo tired. its really like orientation camp only that the games and the things we do are so much more fun, the kids are younger and we get to do the silliest things anyone can possibly think of...
i had a fabulous cabin with 7 boys this week. bryson, john, ax, ian, connor, taylor and aj. they were a mischievious bunch, irritated me at times but ultimately more often than not were perhaps the best campers a first time counsellor(that's me) can wish for. furthermore my co-counsellor andy left me for a college orientation program in washington dc since friday morn so i had to handle the monkeys on my own the final two days. but think i did quite a good job, cos i got to stay back in my same cabin(ute cabin) for session 2. alot of other counsellors got shuffled around either cos they couldn't handle those kids in their cabins or they wanted to handle kids of another age group. i got three stayovers(john ax and ian) who're following me over to session two and they're really happy that i'm still their counsellor next week.
let me try to recall some highlights...
sunday we had rowdie campfire...it was only my second, tonight's rowdie will be my third, and each time its really awesome. maybe i'll teach everyone the cannibal king song tonight...
we had campout on tuesday. camped at mountain view where we could look across and see the rocky mountain range(although we can also see it from here) and had a great time together with blackfoot cabin and we talked cock till really late at night. the funny thing about these campouts is that the jokes during the campout are soooo funny but once you go back to camp and you retell it, its not funny anymore...hmm...americans always have funny stories and they always start off with "so there was this one time when i was..." and the story starts. haha.
wednesday one of my campers(connor) got upset when i scolded him for trying to get into a fight. he just looked at me and screamed "why not?", and then subsequently proceeded to run out of the cabin and into the woods haha. was quite funny but i didn't bother to chase him and was thnking maybe if the wolves eat him i'd be happier... haha but still in the end he walked back cos he had no place to run to and was hiding by the cabin when i found him. all i did was ask him to go back inside before the rest of the kids think he's 'soft' and then he rushed inside and forgot everything liaoz. the funny thing with my age group of campers is that their attention span is very short so they forget grudges and unfortunately the good things you've done for them really easily. also i realise that as the days go by i become more and more sarcastic and uncaring towards them, showing my care in more macho fashion than the nanny i was in the early week. i thnk they kinda liked the gradual change because they were telling other counsellors that i was 'cool' and 'awesome' as the days wore on. yet inside i have to admit that i was turning slightly cynical and each little moment without these little ruffians was infinite peace...
thursday was the dance(or prom as some might like to call it). the kids are sooooo girl crazy and they get so sad when they can't get a date. its even worse for the 8-9year olds haha. i mean at 8-9years old some kids were fighting over girls liaoz. i dun remember myself doing that. haha. anyway my cabin has a thing for our sister cabin, navajo, they are like always trying to impress them or get their attention...always asking me chris can we do this can we do that during meals like sabo navajo to come and hug us or give us a bear hug and all that haha. then when i lead them to do it they will all be super enthusiastic. haha
my arts and crafts, sports ang games, swimming(these are teh things i teach) lessons also got me to bond with alot of other kids as well. in fact sometimes i like the kids better when i dun have to stay in the same cabin with them. the younger ones are awed by the fact that i play sports so well and make really cool arts and crats stuff(yes surprise, i have a creative spark). some of the kids also made little things for me which is really sweet. even swimming the little boys and girls like to jump all over me and use me as a giant float haha...quite fun
had my chopsticks and mandarin appreciation class. 11 people signed up for it. was quite xianz cos i realised another counsellor was organizing a soccer tourney and i wanted to help her with that. so kept thinking i could've been having fun instead of teaching chopsticks and my language pet peeve. still it turned out that they thoroughly enjoyed it(must be the concept of learning a new language). as i taught, more and more counsellors gathered behind to listen as well haha. anyway i taught them all the really basic things so i knew how to write all those words(phew). it turned out to be quite fun afterall.
friday was closing vespers. i performed 'guang huai fang shi' again even though i dunno some of the words but i made up some of it. i thnk alot of them loved it. also took awhile to tell everyone one how wonderful they've been and how much fun i've had. it was a heartwarming experience.
on our way back, we sneak into girl village in the rain to find the navajo cabin and serenaded them with sweet songs! geez. can't believe my boys were this romantic. so we were outside their cabin(since we weren't allowed to go in) and singing silly songs haha. lidat also fun...geez but they were happy and contented afterthat that i allowed them to do so lah...
at night i opened a wrestling ring in our cabin and let the kids wrestle all over the floor. i told them since they like to fight so much then i'll allow them to fight but with rules like they must shake hands before and after the fight and blah. the kids totally lapped it all up and enjoyed it so much. surprisingly there were no injuries! afterthat i whipped out some potato chips and oreos which i had bought on my thursday nights off and we all threw our sleeping bags on the floor and had a slumber party. since food weren't supposedly allowed in the cabins, the kids were totally exhiliarated.
yesterday morning most of the kids returned home. their parents came to fetch them. it was kinda sad to see them go while at the same time happy to be relieved of the monsters...
so essentially. that was my week that went by...
so anyway its my stayover weekend and i had to look after all the stayover kids. the few of us counsellors had a really good bonding session last night and we talked till like 2am in the ladge. way fun.
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Sunday, June 13, 2004
Closing Vespers
last night was the closing night of our staff training. its a tiring, but super fun and exciting experience. i've made all sorts of new ang moh friends and everyone seems glad that i'm here so thats a good thing.
we're all been through quite alot of rubbish together since my last blog...
from campouts, where in the morning you wake up to the sunrise in the sage field and find the whole top of your sleeping bag covered in frost(yes, its THAT cold in the summer!). the nights can get super cold and then it'd get darn hard to sleep...
from hikes, where we hiked to different parts of the snow mountain ranch area to see waterfalls, log cabins, and peaks of high hills(taller than bukit timah)...
from mountain biking, riding on mountain bike trails which can never be found in singapore and having to change gears every 20seconds is really not easy...
to doing all that rubbish team bonding(okie it was really fun) stuff...i mean we spent days and days doing that and alot of them are new that i've never tried before and are really tough and really need everyone to piah...
to learning to teach arts and craft and sports and games(the cluster that i'm in for all summer) as well as learning to handle the kids that will be coming to our camp on sunday. its really not easy and the lessons and trials are realistic and intense...
to learning that even americans from different states are different and everyone really has his or her own story to tell. and learning to tolerate different behaviours and learning to blend in even when i'm the obvious odd one out...
its truely a great and inspiring experience. the theme for this summer is actually 'to change the world' and somehow its been ingrained in all of us that we really do make a difference and everyone of us will contribute to doing so this summer. there's really too much to speak of, so i shan't be too long winded.
next week the kids come in liaoz. really looking forward to it. its gonna be helluva fun experience man! haha.
miss alot of things back home too. still another 4mths before i come back. wow.
________________________________
gotta try to log down all the little things as well over here so from now i'll just have a little column like this one under my blog to log them down...
meals
our meals are taken in the dining hall above the office. so you can imagine a two storey common room of sorts. the dining hall named chipeta is on top and the office and staff retreat named satanta is below. the dining hall can accommodate 200+ people and we eat on those 8-man foldable meal benches.
meals are cooked by the staff from snow mountain ranch(usually american food) and the regualrs are an argentinian, an indonesian and a korean lady, all managed by an american called anne.
like i said. meals are mainly all-american, consisting of a largely potato and salad and milk diet. in fact i drank so much milk last week that i was having a condition they term it here as 'wet-farts'. and yes, everyone here farts alot. and out loud. pooeey.
at meal times everyone must go through two doors where the day's hoppers(people who set the plates and all) will wait on each entrant with paper wipes. so each entrant dips his or her hand into a pail of sanitizer and then rips the wipes off the hopper's hand to dry his or her hands.
afterthat each table has a random rep to go take the food, everyone will say grace together, usually led by one of the older counsellors who would do a silly performance before that which never fails to crack me up.
then eat.
during eating time if anyone has his or her elbows on the table there's this elbow song thats supr funny and sabos the elbow culprit to do some kind of stupid forfeit like go touch the flagpole or something. heng i havent kenna.
when most people have finished eating, its time for announcements. now that word is a sensitive word. anyone who says it in the dining hall incites EVERYONE to sing this silly announcement song. hence no one says it when unnecessary. haha.
during announcements people announcement serious stuff, and silly stuff like "i'm the leader of the cuddly teddybears gang, come join me!" to the totally weird stuff like the guy who wrote a song the night before about his breakup with his girlfriend and sang it to the whole staff.
there's also the presentation of awards such as the blue clue which is given to some blur-fuck for something super clueless heor she did and everyone sings a song to humiliate him or her. heng haven't kenna that either.
also there's the u-rock award of which i was the first recipient...go read my previous blog for all that...
finally there's the closure of the meal which is called the square-off, also another sensitive word where everyone will sing a song, then someone will tell a silly story and we will all do a silly chant to celebrate the phrase of the day!
and thats a normal meal in camp chief ouray.
we're all been through quite alot of rubbish together since my last blog...
from campouts, where in the morning you wake up to the sunrise in the sage field and find the whole top of your sleeping bag covered in frost(yes, its THAT cold in the summer!). the nights can get super cold and then it'd get darn hard to sleep...
from hikes, where we hiked to different parts of the snow mountain ranch area to see waterfalls, log cabins, and peaks of high hills(taller than bukit timah)...
from mountain biking, riding on mountain bike trails which can never be found in singapore and having to change gears every 20seconds is really not easy...
to doing all that rubbish team bonding(okie it was really fun) stuff...i mean we spent days and days doing that and alot of them are new that i've never tried before and are really tough and really need everyone to piah...
to learning to teach arts and craft and sports and games(the cluster that i'm in for all summer) as well as learning to handle the kids that will be coming to our camp on sunday. its really not easy and the lessons and trials are realistic and intense...
to learning that even americans from different states are different and everyone really has his or her own story to tell. and learning to tolerate different behaviours and learning to blend in even when i'm the obvious odd one out...
its truely a great and inspiring experience. the theme for this summer is actually 'to change the world' and somehow its been ingrained in all of us that we really do make a difference and everyone of us will contribute to doing so this summer. there's really too much to speak of, so i shan't be too long winded.
next week the kids come in liaoz. really looking forward to it. its gonna be helluva fun experience man! haha.
miss alot of things back home too. still another 4mths before i come back. wow.
________________________________
gotta try to log down all the little things as well over here so from now i'll just have a little column like this one under my blog to log them down...
meals
our meals are taken in the dining hall above the office. so you can imagine a two storey common room of sorts. the dining hall named chipeta is on top and the office and staff retreat named satanta is below. the dining hall can accommodate 200+ people and we eat on those 8-man foldable meal benches.
meals are cooked by the staff from snow mountain ranch(usually american food) and the regualrs are an argentinian, an indonesian and a korean lady, all managed by an american called anne.
like i said. meals are mainly all-american, consisting of a largely potato and salad and milk diet. in fact i drank so much milk last week that i was having a condition they term it here as 'wet-farts'. and yes, everyone here farts alot. and out loud. pooeey.
at meal times everyone must go through two doors where the day's hoppers(people who set the plates and all) will wait on each entrant with paper wipes. so each entrant dips his or her hand into a pail of sanitizer and then rips the wipes off the hopper's hand to dry his or her hands.
afterthat each table has a random rep to go take the food, everyone will say grace together, usually led by one of the older counsellors who would do a silly performance before that which never fails to crack me up.
then eat.
during eating time if anyone has his or her elbows on the table there's this elbow song thats supr funny and sabos the elbow culprit to do some kind of stupid forfeit like go touch the flagpole or something. heng i havent kenna.
when most people have finished eating, its time for announcements. now that word is a sensitive word. anyone who says it in the dining hall incites EVERYONE to sing this silly announcement song. hence no one says it when unnecessary. haha.
during announcements people announcement serious stuff, and silly stuff like "i'm the leader of the cuddly teddybears gang, come join me!" to the totally weird stuff like the guy who wrote a song the night before about his breakup with his girlfriend and sang it to the whole staff.
there's also the presentation of awards such as the blue clue which is given to some blur-fuck for something super clueless heor she did and everyone sings a song to humiliate him or her. heng haven't kenna that either.
also there's the u-rock award of which i was the first recipient...go read my previous blog for all that...
finally there's the closure of the meal which is called the square-off, also another sensitive word where everyone will sing a song, then someone will tell a silly story and we will all do a silly chant to celebrate the phrase of the day!
and thats a normal meal in camp chief ouray.
Closing Vespers
last night was the closing night of our staff training. its a tiring, but super fun and exciting experience. i've made all sorts of new ang moh friends and everyone seems glad that i'm here so thats a good thing.
we're all been through quite alot of rubbish together since my last blog...
from campouts, where in the morning you wake up to the sunrise in the sage field and find the whole top of your sleeping bag covered in frost(yes, its THAT cold in the summer!). the nights can get super cold and then it'd get darn hard to sleep...
from hikes, where we hiked to different parts of the snow mountain ranch area to see waterfalls, log cabins, and peaks of high hills(taller than bukit timah)...
from mountain biking, riding on mountain bike trails which can never be found in singapore and having to change gears every 20seconds is really not easy...
to doing all that rubbish team bonding(okie it was really fun) stuff...i mean we spent days and days doing that and alot of them are new that i've never tried before and are really tough and really need everyone to piah...
to learning to teach arts and craft and sports and games(the cluster that i'm in for all summer) as well as learning to handle the kids that will be coming to our camp on sunday. its really not easy and the lessons and trials are realistic and intense...
to learning that even americans from different states are different and everyone really has his or her own story to tell. and learning to tolerate different behaviours and learning to blend in even when i'm the obvious odd one out...
its truely a great and inspiring experience. the theme for this summer is actually 'to change the world' and somehow its been ingrained in all of us that we really do make a difference and everyone of us will contribute to doing so this summer. there's really too much to speak of, so i shan't be too long winded.
next week the kids come in liaoz. really looking forward to it. its gonna be helluva fun experience man! haha.
miss alot of things back home too. still another 4mths before i come back. wow.
we're all been through quite alot of rubbish together since my last blog...
from campouts, where in the morning you wake up to the sunrise in the sage field and find the whole top of your sleeping bag covered in frost(yes, its THAT cold in the summer!). the nights can get super cold and then it'd get darn hard to sleep...
from hikes, where we hiked to different parts of the snow mountain ranch area to see waterfalls, log cabins, and peaks of high hills(taller than bukit timah)...
from mountain biking, riding on mountain bike trails which can never be found in singapore and having to change gears every 20seconds is really not easy...
to doing all that rubbish team bonding(okie it was really fun) stuff...i mean we spent days and days doing that and alot of them are new that i've never tried before and are really tough and really need everyone to piah...
to learning to teach arts and craft and sports and games(the cluster that i'm in for all summer) as well as learning to handle the kids that will be coming to our camp on sunday. its really not easy and the lessons and trials are realistic and intense...
to learning that even americans from different states are different and everyone really has his or her own story to tell. and learning to tolerate different behaviours and learning to blend in even when i'm the obvious odd one out...
its truely a great and inspiring experience. the theme for this summer is actually 'to change the world' and somehow its been ingrained in all of us that we really do make a difference and everyone of us will contribute to doing so this summer. there's really too much to speak of, so i shan't be too long winded.
next week the kids come in liaoz. really looking forward to it. its gonna be helluva fun experience man! haha.
miss alot of things back home too. still another 4mths before i come back. wow.
Friday, June 04, 2004
I Rock!
yesterday we had cluster training. there're 5 clusters to choose from. these are the things we will be teaching once the kids come to camp. so we kinda got a taste of what the clusters do during the whole(cos we're gonna belong to that particular cluster throughout the summer) summer. the following clusters are:
ropes
these are the ropes course specialists from low ropes to high ropes and confidence courses
target
these are riflery and archery specialists who will teach both these skills to the kids
outdoor
these are the outdoor camping specialits who teach outdoor skills and camp survival and orienteering
horses
here you help the barn staff tend the horses and help the kids out with them. no experience required.
general
finally these are the arts and craft and sports and games people
i chose the general cluster as my first choice because i hope to teach sports and games since i feel more confident with that. my second and third choices were ropes and outdoor respectively. ah whatever it hardly matters.
anyway during dinner i got was awarded camp chief ouray 2004's first U-ROCK award for the hitting the bullseye while at target cluster training on my first archery attempt. cool. its so cool like the winner of the award has to go up and make a speech and it was kinda overwhelming. i just mentioned that i was lucky to hit it and blah and then went on to mention what a great time i was having and how nice everyone was and how spectacular a time i was having here. i got a standing ovation and the big 'O' cheer!! haha.
okie anyway today was even more fun. we had WHITE WATER RAFTING!!! so fun!!! but these arn't as tough as when i as in nepal where the rapids were class 3. here its mostly just 1s and 2s. we were lucky cos the whole morning hte sun was out and it was warm. then halfway through the journey just before lunch we stopped at this very steep cliff which i forgot the name and we could do a CLIFF JUMP there!!! wow. it was 30feet high. so thats about 10m. was a challenge by choice thing. so i decided i should go do it. it was super duper high and when i got up and it was my turn to jump, just about everyone(8 boats of 7-8ppl) were chanting 'chris! chris!' haha then it was 'speech! speech!' wah lao eh damn xiong man this whole internatinal ounsellor thing. anyway i screamed out 'this is for singapore! and cco(camp chief ouray!) and the simpsons(my family)!' to the wild cheers of the audience below. haha. was quite funny.
the jump took like 3secs long man....wow. and then once i hit hte water, it was freezing cold!!!! argh forgot about that!! anyway i was shivering by the time i got out. but jen was asking me to go do it once more with her because we still had time and no one else on our boat wanted to do it, so i sportingly agreed! haha. and this time the second jump i screamed "this is my seco.." the rest i was drinking water liao...haha
anyway everyone found it quite cool and stuff. shite. gotta go liao. andrea's chasing me and threatening to read my blog. am in the library now. gonna continue later. going to alco and safeway(two huge departmental stores) with andrea and andy now.
------------------------------
okie just back in the camp chief ouray office after soccer in the kiva gym. i sucked today but still had a good time. my fingers are sore cos this argentinian cook kicked me in the hand...
anyway as a continuation to my day, after the cliff jump, which i did twice, we stopped pretty nearby for lunch. we had paper bagged bread with cheese and ham. then a thunderstorm swept in. sibeh suay bong man. i was already shivering from the cold from my jump and everyone could tell i was cold("weather too cold for you chris?" - says kelley while she's just in her bloody on-piece). wah lao eh the ang mohs here are damn power siah, got chance to wear bikini or swimsuit only confirm everything off wan. haha. i think they got this exhibitionist streak in them, even though erm...i think their bodies leave much to be desired but i dowan to kenna whack.
so anyway there is was shivering like a dildo and people start coming to give me rub-downs, i mean it feels good lah but they can't do it forever and no one has an extra shirt and i had to take my shirt off because my dri-fit adidas shirt wouldn't dry in time. so we had to re-launch to get going and i was just in my lifejacket and surfer's berms(strong right?). then it started to rain. nao hiah rain nevermind, the wind blew through the canyon somemore. xianz. so i was super duper cold and shivering and getting wet and i thought i was gonna catch hypothermia pretty soon. well funnily enough i didn't. the moment we reached shore everyone made way for me to run like the flash back up the bus. haha. only there did i manage to warm down. wow. good experience. next time i'll be bringing a jacket along. haha.
okie so when we got back to camp it was night's off!! hooray!! that's when i got dragged to hernando's for pizza. not too cheap, i paid about us$9 for my share, but it was really good. we totally jam packed the whole restaurant man. we occupied most of the place and the place was just full of our people. haha so cool and we were making such a huge ruckus, AND best of all i started telling my qian bian wen da ti(those that they could understand like what does bruce lee like to drink and what colour is thunder) its damn funny when you see them totally crack up and wanna beat me up man haha. such fun. the restaurant was also quite interesting because the walls of the place was just covered with us$1 bills that customers have drawn on with crayons so when u go in the whole restaurant looks just like a money house actually. haha.
okie following that i went to the library(was really small but interesting!) to use the internet. and then to alco/safeway to buy a new sweat shirt and a magazine with andy and andrea.
tomorrow is prom night!!!!
ropes
these are the ropes course specialists from low ropes to high ropes and confidence courses
target
these are riflery and archery specialists who will teach both these skills to the kids
outdoor
these are the outdoor camping specialits who teach outdoor skills and camp survival and orienteering
horses
here you help the barn staff tend the horses and help the kids out with them. no experience required.
general
finally these are the arts and craft and sports and games people
i chose the general cluster as my first choice because i hope to teach sports and games since i feel more confident with that. my second and third choices were ropes and outdoor respectively. ah whatever it hardly matters.
anyway during dinner i got was awarded camp chief ouray 2004's first U-ROCK award for the hitting the bullseye while at target cluster training on my first archery attempt. cool. its so cool like the winner of the award has to go up and make a speech and it was kinda overwhelming. i just mentioned that i was lucky to hit it and blah and then went on to mention what a great time i was having and how nice everyone was and how spectacular a time i was having here. i got a standing ovation and the big 'O' cheer!! haha.
okie anyway today was even more fun. we had WHITE WATER RAFTING!!! so fun!!! but these arn't as tough as when i as in nepal where the rapids were class 3. here its mostly just 1s and 2s. we were lucky cos the whole morning hte sun was out and it was warm. then halfway through the journey just before lunch we stopped at this very steep cliff which i forgot the name and we could do a CLIFF JUMP there!!! wow. it was 30feet high. so thats about 10m. was a challenge by choice thing. so i decided i should go do it. it was super duper high and when i got up and it was my turn to jump, just about everyone(8 boats of 7-8ppl) were chanting 'chris! chris!' haha then it was 'speech! speech!' wah lao eh damn xiong man this whole internatinal ounsellor thing. anyway i screamed out 'this is for singapore! and cco(camp chief ouray!) and the simpsons(my family)!' to the wild cheers of the audience below. haha. was quite funny.
the jump took like 3secs long man....wow. and then once i hit hte water, it was freezing cold!!!! argh forgot about that!! anyway i was shivering by the time i got out. but jen was asking me to go do it once more with her because we still had time and no one else on our boat wanted to do it, so i sportingly agreed! haha. and this time the second jump i screamed "this is my seco.." the rest i was drinking water liao...haha
anyway everyone found it quite cool and stuff. shite. gotta go liao. andrea's chasing me and threatening to read my blog. am in the library now. gonna continue later. going to alco and safeway(two huge departmental stores) with andrea and andy now.
------------------------------
okie just back in the camp chief ouray office after soccer in the kiva gym. i sucked today but still had a good time. my fingers are sore cos this argentinian cook kicked me in the hand...
anyway as a continuation to my day, after the cliff jump, which i did twice, we stopped pretty nearby for lunch. we had paper bagged bread with cheese and ham. then a thunderstorm swept in. sibeh suay bong man. i was already shivering from the cold from my jump and everyone could tell i was cold("weather too cold for you chris?" - says kelley while she's just in her bloody on-piece). wah lao eh the ang mohs here are damn power siah, got chance to wear bikini or swimsuit only confirm everything off wan. haha. i think they got this exhibitionist streak in them, even though erm...i think their bodies leave much to be desired but i dowan to kenna whack.
so anyway there is was shivering like a dildo and people start coming to give me rub-downs, i mean it feels good lah but they can't do it forever and no one has an extra shirt and i had to take my shirt off because my dri-fit adidas shirt wouldn't dry in time. so we had to re-launch to get going and i was just in my lifejacket and surfer's berms(strong right?). then it started to rain. nao hiah rain nevermind, the wind blew through the canyon somemore. xianz. so i was super duper cold and shivering and getting wet and i thought i was gonna catch hypothermia pretty soon. well funnily enough i didn't. the moment we reached shore everyone made way for me to run like the flash back up the bus. haha. only there did i manage to warm down. wow. good experience. next time i'll be bringing a jacket along. haha.
okie so when we got back to camp it was night's off!! hooray!! that's when i got dragged to hernando's for pizza. not too cheap, i paid about us$9 for my share, but it was really good. we totally jam packed the whole restaurant man. we occupied most of the place and the place was just full of our people. haha so cool and we were making such a huge ruckus, AND best of all i started telling my qian bian wen da ti(those that they could understand like what does bruce lee like to drink and what colour is thunder) its damn funny when you see them totally crack up and wanna beat me up man haha. such fun. the restaurant was also quite interesting because the walls of the place was just covered with us$1 bills that customers have drawn on with crayons so when u go in the whole restaurant looks just like a money house actually. haha.
okie following that i went to the library(was really small but interesting!) to use the internet. and then to alco/safeway to buy a new sweat shirt and a magazine with andy and andrea.
tomorrow is prom night!!!!
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
voted #1 wilderness camp in america
yes. its true. camp chief ouray. and its not hard to see why just from how we're trained. been having staff training the last three days. its unbelieveable. this experience is totally awesome and i think it just might change my whole life forever...
what might u say? lets see...
the american counsellors
okie for starters, the people here are absolutely fantastic. i'm just about the only international staff member of camp chief ouray so i kinda stand out like a sore thumb sometimes. but i've said it so many times they're friendly helpful and enthusiastic to know more about different people and not just foreign people. unfortunately i've been warned that this spirit and behaviour is only restricted to camp chief ouray and the snow mountain ranch. outside of here there're the good, bad, ugly, and really ugly. so i've been told to watch out.
for some reason or another, the people here are here for a reason. and thats to contribute in full utmost, their talent and ability to the camp. as marty(our camp director) puts it, each and everyone one of us staff is here to serve a purpose and that purpose, we ourselves have to find out and no one's gonna tell us. but we're the best from around the country(hmm i wonder if it includes me) and the largest collection of camp-wise talented people.
i must say its kinda intimidating. its kinda pressurizing, and its kinda scary. over the last few days, i've gotta retract my previous blog mention that some of the people here are dumb. i mean sure some still are, but more often than not i would think its a case of not knowing certain facts that's all, yet being ever so enthusiastic to find out. not sure if anyone gets what i mean...anyway amongst are are state-rep dancers, guitar players, philosophy majors, political science majors, usa olympic hopefuls and most of all, people who've camped in the wilderness every summer since young.
its amazing how each staff member has such a different story to tell.
what's more, they're passionate and enthusiastic in what they persue. though sometimes these subjects may be abit specific, you can definitely trust them to make it sound super deep when they get going. so unlike myself who's like a jack of all trades who knows alot but only abit here and abit there, these people are deep. way deep.
hence it sometimes makes me feel like whatever i know, there's always someone who knows it more than i do(thank goodness no one else comes from singapore, erm haha). somehow there's a wee fear in me that people here are gonna see me as a skim-the-surface jack of all trades and find that i'm not passionate enough in anything in particular, thereby leading them to presume that i have no direction in life...hmm.
anyway there's this other bit of these people here that hit me today, that got me suddenly flopping outta my bed during BOB(bodies on bed - its like rest time). these people have the ultimate and i mean the ULTIMATE sense of humour. back when i used to wonder why there were so little people who shared my kinda humour during hall FOCs and stuff, the people here are almost a miror image of the person i think i am.
they're wacky, funny, intelligent and totally dig slapstick humour while at the same time responsible and committed as well. which is pretty hard to find in singapore to be honest(okie so i think i'm a rare breed, sue me...) its like all 85 of us are like that and the people here go absolutely crazy. their quips and spouts and one-liners just get the whole world laughing and they can tell long stories and jokes and make up the dumbest of things that funnily get you interested in entirely boring affairs. take chris miller's medical lecture for example, instead of just reading the boring sheets of regulations, he got different volunteers to perform each regulation to the rest of the people as funnily as they can, nad my goodness these people can really be funny i tellya. and they're all damn bloody enthu to volunteer for these kinda boliao things just to make a fool outta themselves. geez i gotta volunteer one of these days...and yet when you think about it, not only are we entertained, everyone gets the picture. till now i still havent seen anyone fall asleep during lectures yet.
energizers
these are really fun games that have been passed down from years ago and they're super fun. from the icebreakers to the cookhouse games to the freetime burners, the games are super splendid.
the icebreakers have different variations of games we've played at home like pepsi cola and thumb wars...then there're the really boliao BUT purposeful ones like screaming toes, egg chicken dino superman,and so on haha.
in the cafeteria during mealtiems we have several boliao things that surely will be done. singing songs is a definite. then there're certain words that, when said, a song or cheer has to be sung before the speaker of the day can continue, words like announcement and square off. then there're certain things you can't do like putting your elbows on the table or eating with your hat on. if someone spots you, you'd have to do something silly like run around the cookhouse or go touch the flagpole. and these people sportingly go do them. however silly they are... finally there're mini-prizes given out at every meal such as the U-rock(the trophy happens to be a rock) whcih is given out to anyone who might have done something super cool. and the blue clue, given out at every meal to anyone who's done the most clueless act. and anyone can nomiante anyone for these awards and share their tale. its just so funny.
finally the freetime burners or the real energizers which are games played just to perk you up and really super fun too. we play all kinds of silly games like four squares and skit acting and all that. haha. its all way silly but fun and purposeful.
vespers
hmm. the funny thing about this word is that when i first heard it to thought it was a religious christianity word. but no. its not. its just quiet time for the whole camp to sit down and relax and watch other people perform. everyday, a designated family(i'm part of the simpsons family by the way...)has to perform vespers based on a certain theme. they can do soothing songs, read poems, read stories, play instruments, do any soothing acts, or whatsoever as long as its soothing and is relevant to the theme of the day. like today's theme was body. so my family led everyone in stretches, followed by played a soothing song "your body is wonderful", then gave everyone else massages(in a giant circle) and finally hugs all round. such togetherness and fun. i'm just glad to be fitting in.
devotions
these are night family gatherings when we're in a smaller group where we cabin staff will have to lead once the children get here. its a time of sharing and talking about our thoughts and issues. for hte first night, we all played a simple m&m game and got to know each other alot better as a family. tehn last night during devotions, we each wrote a piece of question on a piece of paper and shuffled it and randomly gave each person another piece and they had to answer that question. its a quiet time of sharing certain private things about ourselves and getting to know each other more just before bedtime.
its funny how vespers and devotions get associated with christianity so much and yet we do not talk about god and jesus at all. we say our graces and other things but there is a sense of comfort in me that i am not pressured to conform to a certain religion here(in this instance, christianity). as marty puts it, we are a camp based on christian values but not the christian religion. there is no evangelism in camp and people respect one another's faith. simple as that.
okie i think i've bored alot of you guys liaoz so i'll stop here. i feel like this camp is really gonna change me as a person and the way i behave and think. its scary because i can feel the change. its presence is so strong. what's more, this is just the beginning...
what might u say? lets see...
the american counsellors
okie for starters, the people here are absolutely fantastic. i'm just about the only international staff member of camp chief ouray so i kinda stand out like a sore thumb sometimes. but i've said it so many times they're friendly helpful and enthusiastic to know more about different people and not just foreign people. unfortunately i've been warned that this spirit and behaviour is only restricted to camp chief ouray and the snow mountain ranch. outside of here there're the good, bad, ugly, and really ugly. so i've been told to watch out.
for some reason or another, the people here are here for a reason. and thats to contribute in full utmost, their talent and ability to the camp. as marty(our camp director) puts it, each and everyone one of us staff is here to serve a purpose and that purpose, we ourselves have to find out and no one's gonna tell us. but we're the best from around the country(hmm i wonder if it includes me) and the largest collection of camp-wise talented people.
i must say its kinda intimidating. its kinda pressurizing, and its kinda scary. over the last few days, i've gotta retract my previous blog mention that some of the people here are dumb. i mean sure some still are, but more often than not i would think its a case of not knowing certain facts that's all, yet being ever so enthusiastic to find out. not sure if anyone gets what i mean...anyway amongst are are state-rep dancers, guitar players, philosophy majors, political science majors, usa olympic hopefuls and most of all, people who've camped in the wilderness every summer since young.
its amazing how each staff member has such a different story to tell.
what's more, they're passionate and enthusiastic in what they persue. though sometimes these subjects may be abit specific, you can definitely trust them to make it sound super deep when they get going. so unlike myself who's like a jack of all trades who knows alot but only abit here and abit there, these people are deep. way deep.
hence it sometimes makes me feel like whatever i know, there's always someone who knows it more than i do(thank goodness no one else comes from singapore, erm haha). somehow there's a wee fear in me that people here are gonna see me as a skim-the-surface jack of all trades and find that i'm not passionate enough in anything in particular, thereby leading them to presume that i have no direction in life...hmm.
anyway there's this other bit of these people here that hit me today, that got me suddenly flopping outta my bed during BOB(bodies on bed - its like rest time). these people have the ultimate and i mean the ULTIMATE sense of humour. back when i used to wonder why there were so little people who shared my kinda humour during hall FOCs and stuff, the people here are almost a miror image of the person i think i am.
they're wacky, funny, intelligent and totally dig slapstick humour while at the same time responsible and committed as well. which is pretty hard to find in singapore to be honest(okie so i think i'm a rare breed, sue me...) its like all 85 of us are like that and the people here go absolutely crazy. their quips and spouts and one-liners just get the whole world laughing and they can tell long stories and jokes and make up the dumbest of things that funnily get you interested in entirely boring affairs. take chris miller's medical lecture for example, instead of just reading the boring sheets of regulations, he got different volunteers to perform each regulation to the rest of the people as funnily as they can, nad my goodness these people can really be funny i tellya. and they're all damn bloody enthu to volunteer for these kinda boliao things just to make a fool outta themselves. geez i gotta volunteer one of these days...and yet when you think about it, not only are we entertained, everyone gets the picture. till now i still havent seen anyone fall asleep during lectures yet.
energizers
these are really fun games that have been passed down from years ago and they're super fun. from the icebreakers to the cookhouse games to the freetime burners, the games are super splendid.
the icebreakers have different variations of games we've played at home like pepsi cola and thumb wars...then there're the really boliao BUT purposeful ones like screaming toes, egg chicken dino superman,and so on haha.
in the cafeteria during mealtiems we have several boliao things that surely will be done. singing songs is a definite. then there're certain words that, when said, a song or cheer has to be sung before the speaker of the day can continue, words like announcement and square off. then there're certain things you can't do like putting your elbows on the table or eating with your hat on. if someone spots you, you'd have to do something silly like run around the cookhouse or go touch the flagpole. and these people sportingly go do them. however silly they are... finally there're mini-prizes given out at every meal such as the U-rock(the trophy happens to be a rock) whcih is given out to anyone who might have done something super cool. and the blue clue, given out at every meal to anyone who's done the most clueless act. and anyone can nomiante anyone for these awards and share their tale. its just so funny.
finally the freetime burners or the real energizers which are games played just to perk you up and really super fun too. we play all kinds of silly games like four squares and skit acting and all that. haha. its all way silly but fun and purposeful.
vespers
hmm. the funny thing about this word is that when i first heard it to thought it was a religious christianity word. but no. its not. its just quiet time for the whole camp to sit down and relax and watch other people perform. everyday, a designated family(i'm part of the simpsons family by the way...)has to perform vespers based on a certain theme. they can do soothing songs, read poems, read stories, play instruments, do any soothing acts, or whatsoever as long as its soothing and is relevant to the theme of the day. like today's theme was body. so my family led everyone in stretches, followed by played a soothing song "your body is wonderful", then gave everyone else massages(in a giant circle) and finally hugs all round. such togetherness and fun. i'm just glad to be fitting in.
devotions
these are night family gatherings when we're in a smaller group where we cabin staff will have to lead once the children get here. its a time of sharing and talking about our thoughts and issues. for hte first night, we all played a simple m&m game and got to know each other alot better as a family. tehn last night during devotions, we each wrote a piece of question on a piece of paper and shuffled it and randomly gave each person another piece and they had to answer that question. its a quiet time of sharing certain private things about ourselves and getting to know each other more just before bedtime.
its funny how vespers and devotions get associated with christianity so much and yet we do not talk about god and jesus at all. we say our graces and other things but there is a sense of comfort in me that i am not pressured to conform to a certain religion here(in this instance, christianity). as marty puts it, we are a camp based on christian values but not the christian religion. there is no evangelism in camp and people respect one another's faith. simple as that.
okie i think i've bored alot of you guys liaoz so i'll stop here. i feel like this camp is really gonna change me as a person and the way i behave and think. its scary because i can feel the change. its presence is so strong. what's more, this is just the beginning...
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