i'm so sad of the prospect that every friendship i've fostered over summer will get torn to shreds by long distance and nonchalance. i'm so sad that most of these wonderful friends i've made i'll never ever see again. i'm so sad that this magical experience of a lifetime is finally over. and finally i'm so sad that when i look back at this whole magical experience years from now, it'd all look like just a dream...
so i said my goodbyes last night. it was a really sad night for all of us. it started off pretty well. we had a staff banquet where i had the best camp food(steak and corn cob) ever. alot of relieving of days in camp gone by, nostalgic inside jokes and group photo-taking. i even won the "cco staff member most likely to win the noble prize" award(which made me really proud) to top it off. it stretched till pretty late, afterwhich was closing staff vespers. people were crying even while walking to kiwani owapi. alot of staff had things to share.
when it was my turn i told them my sordid tale of how i came to cco, how i applied for the international camp counsellor's program and thrust myself at the mercy of every camp director in the nation. how by sheer fate and wicked sense of humour, assistant-director(she confessed) maryanne chose me out of all international staff available just because she thought from my resume that i had a wicked sense of humour(and boy was she right) that rightly suited the camp. how i came alone as the only camp counsellor from a foreign land with much apprehension and reservation. how i hate camp having to end. how i will miss every single one of them. and finally how each and every one of them have touched my life in ways they could never imagine.
i made alot of people cry. that sucks. i hate making people cry, but you know when your words are moving when within the bright glow of vespers fire you see people breaking down right in front of you. by the time i got to the finally thank you about the staff touching my life and helping me change the world, i was in tears too. haiz. and to think i told james i definitely wouldn't tear. and as a parting gift, i sang the song "hai3 guo4 tian1 kong1" by beyond, in cantonese. after vespers, we hung around giving each other hugs like never before, i think we stayed for more than half an hour just hugging everyone in sight. damn i'll never forget that.
camp magic
every closing vespers, someone would come up to speak about camp magic. with the camp magic jar in hand thats full of "camp magic" which really was just flammable powder that drew flame when thrown into the fire(the kids find it so amazing)', he would speak of what he felt camp magic really was and what it meant to him. camp magic has been interpreted into countless ways that i can't remember them all. but essentially it always represented something like a good memory of someone or something done in camp. but what was really implied each time this speech was made, was that camp magic was real. it was something you had to experience in order to believe. so i have my own list of camp magic...
camp magic to me is...
wearing the traditional chinese garb and pretending not to understand a word of english and see the alarmed expression on parents' faces when they bring their kids to my cabin
teaching kids to hemp and explaining to them that hemp comes from the marijuana plant
being such a role model and an inspiration to kids even though you're wearing your underwear outside your shorts
being an integral part of the simpson family and making shrink-e-dinks for everyone single one of them
shouting "hooray for pig" in the middle of a serious conversation
listening to kids ask you "did you die?!" when you enlighten them that you've served the military before
burning your knuckle in the shrink-e-dink machine(it was a toaster)
getting a nose bleed all the time
listening to kids ask "do you pee in your pants when you're in love?!" during the ever-popular girl devotions
wearing a hilarious size xs sequiny top and tutu combined with an exploding green wig and then telling your kids to be serious about what you're saying
camping out in parthenon pines and sliding 4ft downhill no matter where you're sleeping
peeing in the fire during campout
hearing people call you jackie chan wherever you go
seeing the jealous faces of other counsellors when you're constantly surrounded by kids
freaking the hell outta kids by shouting "what're YOU staring at!" when they glance in your direction
playing with horse shit
girl devotions
corny's laugh
hearing kids tell you you're the coolest camp counsellor ever while you're giving away snack, then hear them say the exact same thing to the other counsellor when you've run out of snack
leading kids in a mad run all over the woods during all camp game
seeing campers take the dance so seriously
painting the scottish flag on your face and fighting war on the field between satanta and campcraft
not bathing for a week and a half
hunting for keiko and shamu the whales
learning a new dance to ymca by the village people
singing a chinese song at vespers and singing it all wrong and yet having campers coming up and telling you what a meaningful song it was
having girl campers declaring that you're their date for the dance and that every other female camper should keep at least 6ft away from you
wearing a cute full-body pony suit and telling kids to potato sack race
making a homesick camper smile, laugh, then cry again(because you threw the sproutball at his face)
telling campers your three ear holes were caused by the great beaver attack of '92
telling campers your name's really earl and you're from eastside chicago
sproutball
adopting a girl cabin just so your own boys can say they owned them
ballerina dancing around the dining hall
staff retreat
cabin movie nights with tyler
having a female cabin adopt your adam's apple
spending 3hrs scrapping sticky tape off the satanta floor
being dubbed "the most amazing asian counsellor in camp"
being the only international cabin counsellor in camp and yet never, not once, feel left out
being a part of cco staff 2004
these are all i can think of at the moment, there's really so much so much more and i miss them all.
haiz
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