For the above to make sense you need to read this post.
I am moving to a different bible camp for additional training and I'm not sure if they have Wi Fi internet, so this could be my last post for a few days.
bx
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The Massive Organ
For the above to make sense you need to read this post.
I am moving to a different bible camp for additional training and I'm not sure if they have Wi Fi internet, so this could be my last post for a few days.
bx
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Life
My life currently consists of.
If I have to try and breathe life into these little plastic people one more time I'm going need CPR myself.
Also.
Can you imagine a more over the top caption for the front of a First Aid Training book than this?
Tomorrow I learn how to deal with a woman giving birth, the role playing should be interesting.
bx
- Waking up at 5.50AM to revise for Red Cross exams
- Studying and training in CPR and Emergency First Responder training till 8PM
- Only taking breaks for half an hour at meals
If I have to try and breathe life into these little plastic people one more time I'm going need CPR myself.
Also.
Can you imagine a more over the top caption for the front of a First Aid Training book than this?
Tomorrow I learn how to deal with a woman giving birth, the role playing should be interesting.
bx
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
T-shirt part two
I agreed to go to church because I want a bible camp t-shirt. One of my friends did the lifeguard course last year and he was presented with one at the end, but they are not given to everyone, so I want to make a good impression.
I was invited to church because I stumbled upon all the staff as they were heading out of the building. We talked for a few minutes and then the invitation was extended for me to join them, I hesitated for only the briefest of moments before agreeing.
The chapel was ten minutes drive away and we all climbed into a van that was not unlike where I slept the night before. My hesitation at the original invite was noticed, because one of the young staff members asked me when was the last time I visited church, I thought about it and replied, ‘god, I just don’t know, perhaps about six months ago’.
Idiot!
But believe it or not I actually had fun! The church was small and the congregation was very mixed and friendly. We all sang songs and the vicar made lots of jokes, I was slightly thrown when everyone stopped and started hugging each other, but otherwise it was just like any other church service in England.
There have also been bizarre moments too though. I was just about to start eating my first meal when suddenly all thirty staff burst into song, singing the following to the theme tune of Superman. With arm movements as if flying.
The other issue is that bible camp is a sexual innuendo free zone. For example one group of counselors told me I should go into the chapel near the lake and take a picture of the big organ.
For my immense self control during these moments, I deserve a t-shirt.
bx
I was invited to church because I stumbled upon all the staff as they were heading out of the building. We talked for a few minutes and then the invitation was extended for me to join them, I hesitated for only the briefest of moments before agreeing.
The chapel was ten minutes drive away and we all climbed into a van that was not unlike where I slept the night before. My hesitation at the original invite was noticed, because one of the young staff members asked me when was the last time I visited church, I thought about it and replied, ‘god, I just don’t know, perhaps about six months ago’.
Idiot!
But believe it or not I actually had fun! The church was small and the congregation was very mixed and friendly. We all sang songs and the vicar made lots of jokes, I was slightly thrown when everyone stopped and started hugging each other, but otherwise it was just like any other church service in England.
There have also been bizarre moments too though. I was just about to start eating my first meal when suddenly all thirty staff burst into song, singing the following to the theme tune of Superman. With arm movements as if flying.
“Thank you god, for giving us food,
Thank you god, for giving us food,
The food we neeeeed,
The food we seeeee,
Thank you good, for giving us food!”
The other issue is that bible camp is a sexual innuendo free zone. For example one group of counselors told me I should go into the chapel near the lake and take a picture of the big organ.
For my immense self control during these moments, I deserve a t-shirt.
bx
T-shirt part 1
After Dave left me at the bible camp I first checked all my bags and belongings. The night previous had been so erratic that I was expecting to be missing something important, but thankfully everything was accounted for. I then tried to locate some headache tablets but gave up after realizing they were at the bottom of my backpack.
Between seven and nine AM I walked around the deserted camp and tried to open doors. I could access the dining room and the chapel without problems, but cabins and the main office were locked. Eventually through trial and error I found an open building and a bedroom door with my name on it, I finally got to remove the clothes that I had put on in Bournemouth and take a hot shower.
At that point I had no idea that forty-five minutes later I would be sat in a church and singing hymns.
All because of a t-shirt.
Below are some pictures from the camp.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Arrival
“Paging David Palmer, would David Palmer please meet your party at baggage claim nine”.
I was the party waiting for David by baggage claim nine; I was smelly, tired and just finished a long journey from London to Chicago and then Chicago to Minneapolis. To classify me as a party would therefore be incorrect; I was not in a party mood.
“Paging David Palmer, would David Palmer please meet your party at baggage claim nine”.
To develop my party mood further my baggage had decided to remain in Chicago, so I was standing pointlessly next to baggage claim nine with no baggage to claim.
After twenty minutes David bounded into the arrival terminal full of energy and enthusiasm, his hair had thinned a bit since I last saw him and his ponytail had been removed, but he was still like an excited child. I explained my baggage situation and his immediate solution was to take me to a party.
At that moment I found myself at a crossroads. It was 6.30pm and I should have been heading two hours northeast to a bible camp to begin lifeguard training the following day. I realized I needed to think carefully about my priorities.
The party was a big family event to celebrate a relative’s school graduation and there were quite a few people there that resembled Dave, which was slightly disturbing, as one Dave is quite enough! There were two huge silver beer kegs in the corner and a barbeque outside producing smells that made my stomach growl. I quickly found myself being introduced to both the local people and the local beer of Minneapolis. By beer number eight I was telling everyone that I flown in especially for the graduation.
At 11pm I received a call to say that my bags had arrived at Minneapolis airport, so Dave and I said our goodbyes and jumped into his Volkswagen van, got to the airport, picked up my bags, and then headed to bible camp. I had been trying to call the camp all evening to explain that I would be late, but nobody was answering the phone.
By 1am I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, I felt almost delirious from lack of sleep but Dave kept me talking because he needed to stay awake too, which was important as he was driving. Eventually we found signs to the lake where the bible camp was located and then further signs to the bible camp itself. We drove in, parked up and slept immediately.
The next morning I exited the van and quickly established we were in the wrong camp. Yes we were in a bible camp, but it was the wrong name. I walked around the camp looking for either a threatening caretaker with a shotgun chasing us off the property or a friendly caretaker willing to give directions. I found nobody. So we left fairly quickly.
It took twenty minutes in daylight but we finally found the bible camp where I would be staying. Dave could not keep me company any longer though as he was playing piano at church later that morning.
So I finish this post sitting outside the camp office at 8am, slightly hung-over and awaiting for someone to wake up and let me have a shower.
bx
Dave, playing a cornet, whilst jumping on a trampoline at the party
The van we slept in at the summer camp we didn't belong to.
A nephew and his food!
bx
I was the party waiting for David by baggage claim nine; I was smelly, tired and just finished a long journey from London to Chicago and then Chicago to Minneapolis. To classify me as a party would therefore be incorrect; I was not in a party mood.
“Paging David Palmer, would David Palmer please meet your party at baggage claim nine”.
To develop my party mood further my baggage had decided to remain in Chicago, so I was standing pointlessly next to baggage claim nine with no baggage to claim.
After twenty minutes David bounded into the arrival terminal full of energy and enthusiasm, his hair had thinned a bit since I last saw him and his ponytail had been removed, but he was still like an excited child. I explained my baggage situation and his immediate solution was to take me to a party.
At that moment I found myself at a crossroads. It was 6.30pm and I should have been heading two hours northeast to a bible camp to begin lifeguard training the following day. I realized I needed to think carefully about my priorities.
The party was a big family event to celebrate a relative’s school graduation and there were quite a few people there that resembled Dave, which was slightly disturbing, as one Dave is quite enough! There were two huge silver beer kegs in the corner and a barbeque outside producing smells that made my stomach growl. I quickly found myself being introduced to both the local people and the local beer of Minneapolis. By beer number eight I was telling everyone that I flown in especially for the graduation.
At 11pm I received a call to say that my bags had arrived at Minneapolis airport, so Dave and I said our goodbyes and jumped into his Volkswagen van, got to the airport, picked up my bags, and then headed to bible camp. I had been trying to call the camp all evening to explain that I would be late, but nobody was answering the phone.
By 1am I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, I felt almost delirious from lack of sleep but Dave kept me talking because he needed to stay awake too, which was important as he was driving. Eventually we found signs to the lake where the bible camp was located and then further signs to the bible camp itself. We drove in, parked up and slept immediately.
The next morning I exited the van and quickly established we were in the wrong camp. Yes we were in a bible camp, but it was the wrong name. I walked around the camp looking for either a threatening caretaker with a shotgun chasing us off the property or a friendly caretaker willing to give directions. I found nobody. So we left fairly quickly.
It took twenty minutes in daylight but we finally found the bible camp where I would be staying. Dave could not keep me company any longer though as he was playing piano at church later that morning.
So I finish this post sitting outside the camp office at 8am, slightly hung-over and awaiting for someone to wake up and let me have a shower.
bx
Dave, playing a cornet, whilst jumping on a trampoline at the party
The van we slept in at the summer camp we didn't belong to.
A nephew and his food!
bx
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Introduction
I have never kept a blog in America because the summer camp where I live is in the middle of nowhere. Internet, mobile phone and television signal do not exist at camp. You can only communicate with the outside world using smoke signals, then you hope these signals are decoded by one of the 344 people living in the local town of Winter.
So the smoke signals is an exaggeration, but the small population of the local town is not. One summer I was in Winter and two people called out to me by name who I had never met, it turns out that news of visiting outsiders travels fast when the local town consists of a cafe, bar, market and bank.
What happens when people live in such small rural communities? Well, they drink lots.
The county that I work in is called Sawyer County and there are 45.1 taverns (bars) for every 10,000 residents. This might not seem that impressive, so here is a better way of putting it, there are more bars per square mile in Wisconsin than anywhere else in the entire country. You see all these red dots? The camp is in the middle of the bit that looks like a red sea.
If you don't want to drink, then the other way to spend time is on the lakes. Sawyer County is full of lakes and famous for fishing. One particular celebrity is called a Muskie, this ferocious looking fish is so famous that a giant model of one overlooks the nearby town of Hayward. I have never fished, I don't have the patience, but Muskie are always on my mind when I'm swimming and feel something touch my feet.
Then there are the bears. Prior to working in America my concept of bears did not extend much further than Winnie the Pooh or the occasional nature documentary on television. This soon changed in my first summer when a black bear wandered onto the edge of camp and mauled the archery targets, which are shaped like animals. One night I was in the wash house when I heard twigs snapping and something large moving around in the forest. Eventually another member of staff and myself plucked up the courage to investigate, and I was embarrassed to discover that the culprit was a small turtle making a disproportionate amount of noise. The truth is that there has never been an incident even slightly serious at camp involving bears, but it's always exciting when you want to go running and the caretaker hands you a ridiculous size bottle of bear mace to spray in its eyes.
I hope to keep this blog updated on a regular basis, but it all depends on the wind and the smoke signals. There is much more to North Wisconsin than drinking, fishing and bears, I just figured I would start with all the stereotypes.
So the smoke signals is an exaggeration, but the small population of the local town is not. One summer I was in Winter and two people called out to me by name who I had never met, it turns out that news of visiting outsiders travels fast when the local town consists of a cafe, bar, market and bank.
What happens when people live in such small rural communities? Well, they drink lots.
The county that I work in is called Sawyer County and there are 45.1 taverns (bars) for every 10,000 residents. This might not seem that impressive, so here is a better way of putting it, there are more bars per square mile in Wisconsin than anywhere else in the entire country. You see all these red dots? The camp is in the middle of the bit that looks like a red sea.
If you don't want to drink, then the other way to spend time is on the lakes. Sawyer County is full of lakes and famous for fishing. One particular celebrity is called a Muskie, this ferocious looking fish is so famous that a giant model of one overlooks the nearby town of Hayward. I have never fished, I don't have the patience, but Muskie are always on my mind when I'm swimming and feel something touch my feet.
Then there are the bears. Prior to working in America my concept of bears did not extend much further than Winnie the Pooh or the occasional nature documentary on television. This soon changed in my first summer when a black bear wandered onto the edge of camp and mauled the archery targets, which are shaped like animals. One night I was in the wash house when I heard twigs snapping and something large moving around in the forest. Eventually another member of staff and myself plucked up the courage to investigate, and I was embarrassed to discover that the culprit was a small turtle making a disproportionate amount of noise. The truth is that there has never been an incident even slightly serious at camp involving bears, but it's always exciting when you want to go running and the caretaker hands you a ridiculous size bottle of bear mace to spray in its eyes.
I hope to keep this blog updated on a regular basis, but it all depends on the wind and the smoke signals. There is much more to North Wisconsin than drinking, fishing and bears, I just figured I would start with all the stereotypes.
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