Oh my goodness, where
do I begin! Our first week was awesome and so extremely stressful! I had no
idea what to expect, but the kids are just awesome! They are so polite and we’re
learning new slang every day! We have 50 kids this week! That’s right, 50
between 6 of us! Whoo! I organize the whole day so I make sure that everyone
transitions one time and gets their breaks. The one thing I’m sad about is I
don’t get as much time with the kids because I’m constantly floating, talking
to parents, communicating with my POC, and making sure every day flows
smoothly. Our first day was a little crazy because it’s the first day, brand
new kids; we have to set up the rules, etc. So it was a little rough, but we
powered thru it and it turned out well. We had one parent complaint, which was
a bit scary, but Steve is behind us a 100%! I talked with the mother after camp
on Tuesday and just when things were starting to look up and she realized it
was a huge misunderstanding, her bratty little son comes up to her and says “Mother,
today someone called me ‘stupid.’” I mentally slapped him. Thankfully the
situation was diffused quickly, but holy cow what timing.
British kids say the
darnest things! Jacob came up to me and told me, “My sister really gives me the
nerves and the horrors.” I had to struggle to keep a straight face on that one.
Something interesting about British children is…even when they get upset, they’re
voice level stays the same; it’s their facial expressions that depict their
emotion. So even if they’re freaking out, they’re voice level is still very
calm :) This same boy came up to me later in the week and told me that someone
called him “chubby” and asked him what that meant. I told him it meant, “that
there’s more to love.” I literally thought that up last minute—had no idea what
to say lol.
We’ve been picking up
some slang too! We now say “toilet” opposed to “bathroom,” “rubbish bin”
opposed to “garbage can” or “trash can,” “plaster” instead of “band-aid,” etc.
Oh and one big one is “football” not “soccer.” Now that one is hard to
remember! It’s funny because we are constantly surrounded by U.K. accents. Some
of our kids are from Scotland, Ireland, but most are from England, so we are
able to tell the difference between their accents, which is cool! Also, I’ll
catch myself speaking with a slight accent or saying certain words in an accent
as well. I’ve even started to read in an accent! Accents! Accents! Accents!
One thing I found
about this culture that I do not like is their large consumption of juice. It.
Is. Ridiculous. The kids come to Camp with large “water bottles” full of juice and
they want more juice throughout the day. Some parents are confused as to why we
don’t offer juice. I sure do love explaining to them the importance of water…not.
Now we have to offer juice, but we’ve diluted with a ton of water! Juice is
sooo concentrated here it is crazy! I can’t even sip it…gross. Kids are also
complaining of stomach aches and feeling dehydrated. Gee I wonder why…?! One of
the parents said that it’s not the juice causing the dehydration and stomach
aches because their kids are used to it, but when it’s hot out and they’re
running around, you need water. It’s inevitable. So that one thing I’m trying
to wrap my head around. But thankfully, since we started diluting the juice,
there’s been less stomach aches and less dehydration ;)
Also, throughout the week, us counselors carry around paper coins in our pockets. If we spot a camper completing a good deed, being kind, or following Camp A rules we have them write their name on a coin and stick it in our "Gold Box." Then every Friday we pull 15 coins out of the box and each name we pull gets to participate in "water a counselor" and throw a cup of water on us! It's super fun! Unfortunately, Friday was our rather gray day and the weather wasn't too warm, but what fun it was!
One of our girls getting ready to water the counselor
Sarah's ready! I'm less enthusiastic.
Jessica got me good!
On Friday we had our
first Camp A Presents! Parents and friends come to watch our small groups perform
two or three songs for everyone. We provided coffee and cakes, which is a nice
addition. The parents were so grateful and they all loved it! The kids were so
cute and it was so nice that so many parents made an effort to attend.
Ms. Mango's group of 9-10 year olds
Ms. Berry's group are ready to present!
Some of our parents!
We made it through the first week aka, the worst week!
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