My first month at camp

So, I have been at camp in Canada for a month. I have completed a week of staff training, a camp for 14 year olds and then two camps for 11 year olds, with little over 20 hours 'rest' in between. At all three camps I have had 10 campers with another (younger) counsellor joining me - but I am exhausted. However I have been working hard to fulfill my promise of making a video montage at the end of camp so you get a better picture of what exactly I have been doing. That will come in September.

In the meantime, I thought I would update you with new words I have added to my vocabulary:

 - candy (lollies)

 - washroom (bathroom)

 - swimsuit (togs)

 - flipflops (jandals)

 - flashlight (torch)

 - pop (fizzy drink)

 - supper (dinner. Supper is never anything other than dinner)

 - nappies (ramekins, or, small bowls)

 - tuck (afternoon tea that consists of only candy)

 - dack (deck, because our 'e's sound like 'i's. An important one to get right, as I found out when I said 'we always eat supper on the deck')

Obviously if you're a kiwi you know both meanings (except for perhaps nappies), but I write this list because I have dropped the bracketed words from my vocab! I am horrified at how quickly I am speaking like a North American! From now until September I am going to change that....I am only going to use the word in the brackets and teach my campers a bit of culture! They will need to learn my lingo.

Other highlights from camp:

 - everyone automatically presumes I am an Australian. My favourite was when I offered to carry the luggage instead of the camper's father doing it. 

He said 'thank you' and I said 'no worries'. 

That was the extent of our introductions. 

He looked at me as if he was not only the cleverist but also the funniest father in history, and said: 

'How can you tell if an Australian is bi-lingual?' 

[I paused for a second or two for the punchline] and he said 

'They say "no worries, eh".' 

I was like 'oh, ha ha ha [fake laughter], that's a good one......[two second pause for my punchline].....but I'm a New Zealander. 

He didn't get it.

Also, late at night when all 'flashlights' were out, one of my cheeky 11 year old campers asked me if Easter was just a pagan fertility festival. 

Before I could answer, one of the other campers asked what fertility meant.

Again, before I could answer, the cheeky 11 year old said the following:

"In agricultural terms, if soil is very fertile it means it will produce a lot of crops. [then, with a very large, cheeky grin on his face said] Don't ask me what it means for women."

Gold.

Every day consists of some of the following:

 - Wakeboarding/water skiing/inflatables in the water

 - Challenge Course

 - Skateboarding

 - Archery

 - Field or Court sports (eg. soccer or basketball)

 - Mountain boarding (skateboarding down mountains)

 - Carpetball (google it)

 - Cheesy music

 - Candy

 - Christian speaker

 - Lots of food (600 people at camp - 200 staff, 400 campers - imagine being the chef!)

 - No dishes!! (imagine being the people who wash the dishes!)

I have run the archery, mountain boarding and soccer activities. It's been a sweet deal.

Anyway. I am going to go and sleep. 

Peace out, A town.