Time Flies By.......

So it has been a while since i wrote on here and its because camp is such a busy place!!! There is always something to do, people to meet, new things to try and when your not doing any of those things there are a bunch of amazing people that you can chill out with.

So camp has actually now ended and from the summer of 2010 i have made friendships that will last me a lifetime. When you think about spending a summer overseas working at a camp for 2 months, i didn't believe that i would create such strong friendships but on that last day of camp when you are balling your eyes out because you realise it will be another 11 months until you will see these people again you know that you would give anything in the world to come back and do this again for another summer, then another summer. Summer camp truly is a amazing experience which has helped shape who i am today. Working at camp has helped me come out of my shell a bit and given me confidence to do things that i wouldn't normaly do, at camp you learn new things everyday and the people surrounding you inspire you in ways that i cannot explain.

So all i have to say now is will i see you next year because i already am counting down the days until i get on my plane next year to come back to camp and see all my amazing children that i look after and the amazing people who have shaped my life.

2nd session 2010- Week 1

So second session 2010 started on the beautiful, extremely hot day of Sunday July 18Th. Children were flying, driving, taking the bus, and some even came in a limo, who had been waiting for 11 months for this day. The first day of camp is always the busiest with last minute cleaning jobs to do, children arriving at different times and from different places, medical checks, unpacking, transporting all the bags to the cabins and everyone getting to know one another. This day also is one of the longest days of camp because you wake up really early to clean the cabins and make sure you have enough beds and cubbies, but you also go to bed heaps late because there is no way you can get these kids to go to bed when they haven't seen each other for 11 months.

The second day of camp was when the kids got to start their hobbies and all the fun of camp really begins. You start having meals in the dining hall where everyone is cheering and your jump shaking your booty. Also another fun aspect of camp is evening programs which are put together by the staff in each division. I am a counsellor for Kesher again this session and our first evening program for the session was Kesher's Birthday Party. We had each cabin dress up as a different theme (80's ladies, nerds, tourists, clowns, smurfs and rainbow) and we had a huge birthday party complete with pin the tail on the donkey, pinata, freeze dance and a huge birthday cake for each cabin which they decorated. The birthday cakes and icing really ended up on everyone clothes and all over the walls and floors as the kids decided they didn't want to eat the cake they would rather throw it at one another. Also on this day it was one of my campers birthdays so we organised a sneak out for my cabin. Sneak outs are something that campers look forward to and love to do. They can take place at any time throughout the day and you make the kids feel as though the camp directors don't know its happening so if you get caught "sneaking out" that everyone would be in BIG trouble. The younger kids really believe you when you tell them this so they get really excited. So for my campers birthday we snuck out of our cabin at 10pm and went and watched a movie in the library.

On Thursday and Friday we had severe weather warnings for our area so instead of outside programs we did indoor programs. The programs we had set up for the kids were indoor Gaga, Candle dipping, giant board games, smores, drama games, dancing, fort building, creative writing, yoga/self defense, and bracelets. The kids really enjoyed the activities and by lunch time the weather had cleared up and we could go outside and continue with our hobbies.

So Beber is a Jewish camp so our weekend are a little different to some. On Fridays we do our hobbies as usual and then in the afternoons we begin Shabbat.

In my next blog entry i will explain Shabbat and how non-jewish people at camp may interpret this.

Weeks 3 + 4 Of First Session

WEEK 3
So Beber Camp has been an extremely busy place. More so this week because Kesher and Ramot embarked on our 3 days trips while Makor stayed at camp, running the place, and had Makor Mania.
So for Kesher they have 4 choices of trips- team sports adventure, fishing, biking and climbing. In Ramot they have 3 choices - Canoeing, backpacking and Outdoor adventure. So all of Kesher and Ramot are broken up on these trips depending on what the kids want to do and we all set off for different locations for 3 days. I happened to be put on the Kesher Team Sports Adventure trip or as it came to be known Tsa. So we set off from camp at 9am, bound for the Mississippi River which is a 4 hour bus ride from camp. We took a break halfway for a snack and toilet break and finally arrived at our destination at around 2-30pm. First thing we did was check out our home for the next 3 days. Our camping ground was very beautiful except for the pit toilets. I can put up with anything to do with camping except pit toilets, i freak out when i see them and i can't stand the smell, but i knew that this was the only thing on offer for the next 3 days. So the afternoon consisted of unpacking the truck that held everything we would need for the next 3 days, tents, food, medical supplies, toilet paper, sporting equipment and much more. We separated the boys and girls into there tent groups and helped them set up tents. So the main point to our team sports adventure trip was to bring all the kids together in friendly competition, have lots of fun and stay healthy!! So while all the kids and a few councellors went and started the sports, myself and 2 other councellors (both also Australian) stayed behind at the campsite to start a fire and prepare dinner. It took us 30 minutes to cut up and get all the food ready to be cooked and then came the challenge of starting the campfire. We all thought that with 3 Australians to build this fire that it would be alight within minutes but that was not the case. An hour later we still didn't have the fire started but we put this down to the fact that the wood we were trying to start the fire with was wet. So an hour and a half later we finally had the fire started and were getting ready to start cooking the food when we felt a drop of rain, then a couple more drops, then it started raining really hard and as quickly as our fire started burning it was out again. It rained all the first night and unfortunately my tent leaked so bad that by the time i got to bed there was a swimming pool big enough to soak every possession i had brought with me for our camping trip, so i spent the night in the back of our supplies truck. The next day we woke up early and make choc chip pancakes for the kids and embarked on a day of fun. We went to the beach for lunch and spent the afternoon relaxing at camp and having a song session by the camp fire. That night the weather was alot better but we had to be on raccoon watch. The next morning we woke up early had breakfast and started our 4 hour journey back to camp. Oh how great it felt to have a shower after 3 days of no showers or flushing toilets.

On Sunday morning of the last week of camp was an event known as Lakeswim. Beber camp is situated on a lake known as Lake Beulah and for those kids who would like to they can swim from the other side of the lake back to camp. Of course to be eligible to swim across the lake the kids must take the "swim the lake" hobby which is training for 1 week in preparation to swim the lake. So at 5-45am 40 kids and staff turned up at the waterfront to swim 1.2 miles across Lake Beulah. It was a beautiful morning and the water was surprisingly warm when we jumped in. Our first place winner was Hayley Levin who swam the lake in 25 minutes which was a new record.

The rest of week 4 consisted of finishing our hobbies for the week and starting to say goodbye to our first session campers. When you decide to be a camp councellor you never expect to really miss people after knowing them for only 1 month but i can tell you now when it comes the time to say goodbye to them you get really teary. Also these kids miss you and their camp friends and as soon as they leave they start counting the 11 months until they are back at camp again seeing their friends.
First session of 2010 has now ended and i am missing the girls i looked after more than i can say but all i know is that there is still another whole session to come with many more amazing memories to make.

So this week at Beber camp.....

So Beber camp has been a very busy place for the last week. We have had our hobbies which includes- waterskiing, fishing, wood working, windsurfing, aqua jump, art and crafts, gaga, dance, volleyball, canoeing, sailing, basketball, baseball, soccer, ultimate frisbee, indoor cooking, music, drama, biking, tennis, The farm, water aerobics, swim the lake, ropes/challenge course, horse riding, archery, and many more, so there is really ALWAYS something to do at Beber camp. Another great thing about hobbies is that each week the campers get to pick what hobbies they will do, so when are a specialist councellor teaching a certain hobby you always know you have kids that enjoy doing that certain activity.

Another great thing that happened this week was Maccabiah. Maccabiah is Beber camps 'colour war'. The whole camp is split up into 4 different coloured teams (red, yellow, blue and green) and over the course of one day we all compete in different activities to earn points for your team. Points are known here at camp as 'ruach' points and that means spirit in hebrew. Throughout the day the activities included sporting, artistic, knowledge, musical, spirit, so there are ways that absolutely anyone can earn points for their team. Every year Maccabiah also has a theme, this year it was about movies and how they all tell different stories just like every camper at Beber camp have different life stories and we all add something to everyone's camp experience. Each colored team was also represented by a movie, Red- Iron Man, Yellow- How To Train Your Dragon, Blue-Avatar and Green- Shrek. So after a day of fierce competition the Green team won and maccabiah was over.

Also this week Kesher and Ramot went to water parks. Ramot went to Mt Olympus and Kesher went to Noah's Ark (the largest water park in america). This day was the most fun for me because i have actually never been to a water park before and i think i may have been more excited to go than the kids were. At Noah's Ark they had many rides including the Scorpion's Tail, Point Of No return, Time warp, Kowabunga, The Big Kahuna and The Stingray. It was a fantastic day had by all and to tell you the truth i really didn't want to leave.

So in the upcoming week we embark on our 3 day trips which are canoeing, outdoor adventure, backpacking, team sports adventure, fishing, climbing and biking.

So until then have fun in whatever you are doing. =)

First Week Of Camp Down.

So the first week of camp is done and it has been jam packed with fun activities but has also been very tiring. So the kids arrived last Sunday, by plane, car and on the big yellow school buses exactly like the ones you see in the movies, All the staff members were anxiously waiting by our cabins to welcome our kids because we had been preparing for this day for over a week!! We had all hung up our posters and cleaned our cabins from top to bottom so that our campers could settle in quickly and we could all live in a clean environment, because when you have 20 people living in the one space it can get messy very quickly. So on Sunday 300 campers descended on Beber Camp and were welcomed by 100 staff members. I am looking after junior Kesher campers who are aged 12 years old. In my cabin we have 16 campers and 4 staff members and live in a cabin called 'Rounders'. Most of my girls have already been in cabins together so most of them already know one another, this year we have 2 new campers but they have both settled in amazingly with the group and all of us get along really well. The campers also get very excited when they find out they have a counsellor from another country (especially if they are from Australia). During the week all the campers sign up for hobbies which can be anything from outdoor activities, arts and crafts, pool, waterfront and performing arts, we also went to a baseball game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Minnesota Twins. The first week of camp is always about your cabin bonding with each other and getting to know one another and having lots of fun. But thats all for now, if your at camp and reading this i hope your having as much fun as i am, and if your reading this and thinking about going to camp next year STOP THINKING AND APPLY NOW!!!

Staff Week

So It has now 1 week and 1 day since i arrived at Beber camp and staff week has been so incredibly busy but most of all fun!!! We have staff here from all over the world and all over the country and its very interesting to see all the different cultures in the one room. This week has been all about getting to know one another and learning getting to know you games etc. We have also all been split into our divisions and cabins for 1st session. At Beber camp we have 3 main different divisions, Makor, Kesher and Ramot. Makor is the younger kids aged 7 - 10 years, Kesher is the middle division with kids aged 11- 13 and Ramot is the older division with kids aged 14 - 15. Then we have the leadership division which are the pioneers and the CITS which are aged 16-18. So all the staff from around the world arrived a week before all the campers do so we can all get to know one another and sit through some seminars about dealing with children. Also during staff week we get to have some fun which involves Crazy Bowling which was all the staff dressing up in the craziest clothing we could find and us going to the local bowling alley. We also had a camping trip which involves a famous camp meal known as 'campers stew' and a sing along by the campfire. So all in all staff week has been AMAZING and have met so many AMAZING people!!!!

Finally at Camp!

So after over 30 hours of plane flights and waiting in airports i am finally at Beber Camp!!! I cannot express how good it felt to have a hot shower and be able to sleep in a bed. I'm missing my family and friends like crazy but am also making heaps of new friends. The only people that are at camp at the moment are all the international staff and the american leadership staff but this afternoon all the rest of the american staff will be here this afternoon so the number of people at camp will jump to 150!!! This week will be full of training sessions and getting to know you games.

Everything is very exciting and can't wait til the kids get here =)