Page 25: Eagles Fly! Goodbye!

In the end I decided not to blog about after-camp travels. I've bored my facebook news feed, family and friends with the stories about that "that one time we got 6 of us in a 4 man taxi at 3am" and there's selfie photos in 6 different US states, but I won't subject you to that. This blog was about summer and camp, right?

But I wanted to announce...
This summer I completed 10 things off my bucket list (!)
Which is ridiculously exciting, because some of these dreams I first wrote down in that notebook when I was thirteen!

$ Go to an american summer camp

$ Go to Walmart

$ Go couchsurfing (we used air'b'n'b, same idea!)

$ Visit an American college



Ta-da!

$ Go paintballing

$ Go up a skyscraper (empire state!)

$ Watch an American baseball game

 

$ Sleep in a hammock

$ Go white water rafting

$ Find and eat something grape flavoured

$ Spend the evening in candlelight and then blow out all the candles at bedtime


And, man, travel stories! The time my suitcase was declared obese by the check-in guy and I had to get the weight down. So after taking out the conditioner and jeans and seeing the weight not move I took out my journal and the numbers flew off.

Check In Bloke: That's some journal there, 8 pounds?

Me (embarrassed and defensive): I just have a lot of memories...

The Nerd Herd have actually just had a post camp reunion this week, Sean and I visited Ryan, Dominique and Ryan in Edinburgh! Here's us having milk'n'cookies at 9.15.



Camp friends, stay friends :)

This is the last ever 'I Like To Be In America' post. Thanks to anyone reading this, I'm happy you decided to follow my journey and I hope that if any young people stumble upon it they'll consider working at a camp. It's work, hard work and don't let anyone tell you different, but that doesn't mean I didn't have one of the best summers I've ever had (and I got paid for it!).

Bye!

 

Page 24: The Last "Letter From America"

Writing in the staff lounge, straight back from the Dining Hall where, after eating we got up on the benches and danced to Living On A Prayer. If you've ever danced on a bench with four nine year olds flanked either side of you, you'll know it is a tricky thing to accomplish. As well as shouting lyrics and dancing manically you also have to keep your banace and try not to hit them, challenging, as they are exactly at prime arm-hit-height. I think one of my favourite memories of camp happened ten minutes ago. 

You know how awkward the dance sections are in music? When the singer stops and leaves you hanging post-verse, trying to think of a really cool dance move to last the next 12+ counts until they come in with the chorus again, saving you from something you hope never goes on facebook? Right. It's crucifying. 

So. When we were coming up to the reallllllly long guitar solo I turned to Sophia and Sophia and shouted "Air guitars! Now!" and instead of leaving me hanging there like some over-excited institutionalised student, we all picked up our air guitars and jumped up and down on the wooden bench :)

Camp Echo Alma Mater

Can it be that summers ending?

Where did time go? Where was I?

We've been together, only a short while,

Oh how I wish the time had not flown by

Meeting new friends, sharing secrets

Under trees that touch the sky

Growing to be part of one family

Oh how I wish the time had not flown by

Children's laughter, sounds of summer

Looking back on treasured days

Memories will linger, echo bonds forever

Oh, how I wish the time had not flown by

Blue and White we stand tonight

Fighting tears of sad goodbyes

Though far apart, we'll be close in our hearts

Oh how I wish the time had not flown by

About a fortnight ago, walking back to camp from Outback I noticed a branch of red in the otherwise entirely green forest. That's how autumn starts. Summer's ending. 

Which means goodbye camp, hello (again) University. It feels weird that by the time I leave, I would have spent over 10 weeks and a whole season on this continent. I genuinely don't want to eat another Oreo for a long LONG time.

But first, before we head back to our homes in different countries and lives without sunshine everyday and children everywhere; ROADTRIP USA!

Because we didn't work nine weeks fo' nothing.

With "my peoples" one lunchtime a few weeks back :)

All the tents have been packed up, fires put out, trapeze taken down, animals sent back to a farm. Now all that's left is for the kids to leave back on the buses they arrived in, then us.

Everyone's heading to different places: Disneyland, West Coast, Bahamas Cruise, Canada are just some of the plans I've seen being made in the staff room. The usual suspects (Louise, Ryan, Sean, Russel and I) have planned some 'Eastcoasting'. I won't tell you where we're going because I want to surprise my family with postcards along the way, but let me tell you, it's pretty awesome and we're heading out of New York!

 ...Time to get "turned up"...


*This is gonna be my last post at Camp, I'll probably post about roadtrippin' when I get back home :)

Page 17: All Children, Except One, Grow Up

6PM: Dinner Time
*Mindy edges her script across the table to me "Help me run lines?" so between tactical mouthfuls of mash potato I'm John, Michael, Tootles, Nibs and the parents.
One of my kids is playing Wendy in the camp's version of Peter Pan and for the first time I understand why my sister used to be nervous about seeing me in shows (What if she forgets a line onstage? It's in 2 hours! I can't whisper it back to her then...)

8PM: Staging Time

8:05PM
The tannoy invites freshman to begin seating in the hall. I'm sitting in the cabin 150 metres away. Damn. WHERE ARE MY PINK SHOES! DAMN! NO! I DON'T CARE ABOUT DOING THE LACES UP TWO OF MY KIDS ARE IN A SHOW TONIGHT AND I'M LATE! I'M LATE! OH GOD. I'M A TERRIBLE COUNSELOR! AWW! DAMN! RUN!

Peter Pan is one of my all time favourite stories. I've read the book and original play, done creative writing for an AS around it and seen the show (RSC'13). That's just in the last year.
I was that kid who left the window open thinking Peter Pan might come in (he didn't. Insects did). And jumped off furniture hoping to fly (you can guess how that one ended).

It's a story that grows up with you.

C S Lewis:“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”

It was also a pretty topical story for who and where I am right now (Wendy is a young English girl, preparing for adulthood who, wanting adventure leaves her home to escape responsibilities and the idea of a conventional job and domestic life. She flies to a new land where she becomes a mother figure to a bunch of spirited children and grows up).
You don't need an education in literature to see the allegory I'm making here.

The show goes well and ends perfectly with kids standing in a far from straight line bowing mexican-wave style (getting kids to bow together is harder than trying to baptize a cat).

9:45 An Hour Past The Kid's Bedtime
I carry *Livvy across the bridge. She's that tired. It's my night off but the only time I have to do the bedtime routine with my cabin (usually at this time I'm hosting camp outs).
"Girls, find your pajamas!"
"Girls, you need to brush your teeth!"
Somewhere between nine and nineteen I must have grown up because now instead of leaving the window open, I'm the one closing it and wishing the children goodnight.