Page 23: Echo Olympics "Break Out"

"Echo Olympics 2014 Morocco/Iceland"
Photo from Camp facebook page

A banner flown by a helicopter over camp announced the start of the Olympics. Casual.

How most camps announce Olympic "Break Out"

How Camp Echo announces Olympic "Break Out"

I didn't mind if I was on white or blue team. I just wanted to sing songs and paint my face. Sadly, this was not meant to be. I'm a judge instead, which means I am again obligated to wear yellow (this summer in my head shall henceforth be known as "The year I kept getting asked to wear yellow even though I am blonde and it was genuinely part of my job").

My suitability for judging a sporting event was questioned by everyone (including myself). I'm a judge because I live in a staff cabin and it's easier for admin purposes rather than any kind of sporting feat. But that didn't stop me from informing enquirers it was due to my "fine athletic abilities" (anyone who has ever seen me attempt to play a sport will recognize the hilarity int his statement.

My athletic ability, perfectly demonstrated by this dog

After accidentally referring to the Basketball courts as 'pitches' and exclaiming that John Wall was a musician the athletic staff assigned me to encouraging campers to cheer rather than keeping score...

"I ain't no musician!"

Page 22: Oh Hi, NY

If you want to know what a city is like, look at the road signs. NYC's signs are bright red and bright yellow, demanding attenton and they shout "No standing anytime" "Amazing things are happening here" "No stopping" and "Drive thru".

Arriving in Times Square is a dizzying feeling

Despite this, we found the city to be strangely quiet and very clean.

Welcome to the city where the street signs are as bright as the moon...

Arriving at around 10pm we headed for Starbucks. Now, I don't actually go to Starbucks (tax avoidance!) Team Costa, all the way. But, being a team player I went with the group and got the obligatory mis-spelt drink "Giorgia"...

The Nerd Herd/ Culture Vultures

We went up the Empire State Building at midnight. What the films never show you is that you have to walk up a load of stairs. Like, a load. If my legs don't look like Cara Delevigne's before I leave, I want a refund.

But once you get up there, woah. Looking across the skyline everything around and under you glitters. I felt very much like a fairy on top of a Christmas tree. It's not a bad feeling at all. This view, along with all of the 1920's art deco on the way up reminded me of this quote from the Great Gatsby-

"The city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise all of the mystery and beauty in the world"

Louise's Photo :)

We headed to the subway and waited for the B-Train. And waited. And then- a train! Oh, it's the D-train. Never mind. TRAIN! Oh, a D-Train again...Wait, was that-yes it was! A traaain! D-Train? Where are all the B-Trains? This happened for an hour (2am-3am). I couldn't help but think of Waiting For Godot, we sat and waited for an hour for a train that never came...

So we hailed a yellow cab.
Around six cabs into this cruel game of 'it's 3am and we're 100 blocks away from our hostel' we realised six-man taxis don't exist in NYC. Uh-Oh.


*Realising there was no way home*

Dominique: Seriously, what do we do now?
Me: Well, our first move is to act like polite and confused British tourists and use that to get us uptown and our last resort is probably pimping Ryan out
Ryan: Hey!

We did fortunatley find a way to the hostel, which may or may not have involved illegal means ;)

The ferry trip to Stanton Island was FREE
Louise's Photo (what a babe :)

The next day: Central Park, Wall Street, Stanton Island Ferry, 9/11 Memorial, Times Square

Central Park walk.
Get used to these faces, we're travelling together after :)

Page 21: I Made My Own Breakfast For The First Time In Seven Weeks

In Walmart I came across Raspberry Pop-Tarts. "Raspberry?" you say "but Pop-Tarts are either Chocolate or Strawberry and hella overpriced!". Not in the USA. Here they come in two shelves of flavours and are actually kinda cheap.

But there is no toaster I have access to in Camp.

Like any lack of toaster is going to get in the way of me and a Raspberry Pop-Tart!

I found a baking tray and placed it over the embers of last night's campfire this morning. Breakfast! Outback Style :)

Page 20: Day Off, Off To Jersey Shore

Back home if I was to say 'Luke Bryan' 'Keith Urban' and 'Jake Owen' people would assume I was talking about my mates. Here everyone knows exactly who they are. They are on the radio and in speakers at diners. In the USA country is a genre, not a joke.

We're playing 93.7 on the radio, the country station (a change from our usual dedication to 104.7, or 'the tunes channel' as Louise says).
While I've been here the road trip journeys have been just as good as our destination. Probably because I road trip on 'The Banter Bus' or 'Papa Pickles Road Train' (in joke, soz). Generally it's Sean, Ryan, Russel, Dominique, Louise and I and we spend hours getting lost on the interstate trying to get somewhere cool on our day off.

Ryan today is our radio DJ and he knows to turn up 'Best Day Of My Life' (American Authors), it's a camp anthem and it sums up the feeling of all of us on the road, at least in my mind anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y66j_BUCBMY

Yesterday was decidedly a beach day...at JERSEY SHORE!

I made a friendship bracelet :)

The waves at this beach, oh the waves. See, in the photo they look calm. Oh, the camera lies! It was a monster water tropical washing machine!

Dominique's photo :)

Man they were high.
And strong.
And bold.

Now, I'm not a bikini person. In fact, I haven't worn a bikini on a beach in years. I'd rather wear a dress and just get wet, or if it's a you-have-to-be-in-swimwear event (I generally avoid those events quite masterfully) I wear a one piece.
Not yesterday.
Yesterday I was Sara Bareilles Brave.
And stupid.

Let me tell you I am not a stupid girl. I double knotted my bikini before hitting the beach. That didn't stop the waves, oh no. They contorted that damn tie-dyed fabric into various states of half nakedness. And, just as soon as your sort yourself out another monster-of-a-wave comes along, hits you, drags you, twists you and drifts you five metres in three seconds to the shore. You quickly breathe, stand up and find yourself half naked.    Uh Oh. The same thing happened to Louise too!
You have to laugh, it was hilarious and body-boarding is a great way to spend a day but seriously, Neptune's a bitch!

With Ryan and Dominique :P

Thought of the day

Friendship is when everyone turns up their purses/wallets for quarters and dimes, puts it in a cup and- there's no way of telling who has put how much in but somehow it always gets you through all of the tolls across the state border and back. And if you come up short one day, next road trip you rain silver at the shotgun passenger. No worries.

Page 19: Working With Children Be Like

1) When kids get out their "flashlights" and search their tents with military precision for bugs then scream and run to me when they find one. You went looking for bugs? You found one? And now you act surprised?

2) In the dining hall line where the children, slowly pile their plate with food. One fry at a time...

3) The counselor reaction when we found out the eighth graders had sneaked into the staff tent and taken all of the Coke (they drink Cola, a cheaper soda. We stock up on good stuff and hide it)

4) When I spent my morning off at the mud obstacle course with fifth grade boys because it looked like fun and then after we jumped in the lake they ran off to their next session and I collected up all of their wellies "rain boots" and took them across camp back to the obstacle course because they forgot -_-

5) When sassy girls ask me how many s'mores I've had then tell me how many calories are in each

6) Trying to serve sixth graders at a BBQ
    (The concept of queuing has yet to move across the pond)

Page 18: College Week (Color War)

I sighed. Yellow team?

Which is ridiculous because I love all the members of yellow team, but...I'm a blonde! Yellow washes me out! Does no one think about these things when picking team members? Seriously!

Channeling the yellow spirit

College week is basically a color war, the entire camp is split into four and compete over 4 days in a series of athletic and creative pursuits. This years teams were-

Blue: Michigan Wolverines

Red: Arkansas Razorbacks

Yellow: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Green: Oregon Ducks

I was in 'Georgia Tech'. Let me just say, having everyone chant your name is a bizarre experience. It can be flattering, confusing and terrifying (imagine having your own personal musical lynch mob...). It also means that a couple of times I have ignored people trying to get my attention because I assumed they were chanting the team name. Oops. Sorry!

"Sexy selfie?" said Maddie.
One of the greatest photos ever taken. Can't stop laughing!

 I stayed up until 1am organizing a skit while the team decorated our headquarters-

Our skit came 1st the next day. Around 40 campers and 15 staff were in it. Crazy to write and organize but it felt so good to do something artsy at camp, I spend so much time being outdoorsy!

Me when Yellow won the skit comp.

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.