Came back from camp yesterday. It was pretty awesome.
This year was my first time leading summer camp. I lead with Amber, someone I did the internship program with last year. I was leading a 14-15yo group and they got side-tracked and off topic really really quickly. But they were still pretty cool.
It's probably my fault though. I really didn't want to be one of those super uncool, boring, uninterested cabin leaders who just tells you what to do, to sleep, to turn off the lights, to stop talking, to get up, to go to breakfast etc. But I realised what I was doing was pretty unloving. To the camp parent. Since it's the camp parent's job to get everyone sleeping on time, to breakfast on time, to activities on time etc. So he was just doing his job but I was making it hard for him. Next time I lead on camp I'll try to find a better balance.
I was pretty lucky to be put in Acacia again this year. It's usually the building reserved for the interns. It's a new building (in comparison) and the facilities are wonderful. It even has it's own wifi hotspot. But it was ridiculous cuz for some reason I couldn't access the wifi from my room. I also couldn't get reception meaning I couldn't even revert to using 3G. So that was pretty crap.
Also I've noticed a chindogu from the cabin I stayed in. Automatic sensor lights. The cabin we stayed at had automatic cabin lights for the toilet and shower (two separate rooms with two separate doors). I've come to discover that automatic lights are more annoying than they are convenient. There was this time when I wanted to close the shower door before going to sleep. The light was off but as soon as I closed the door, the light came on. And the timeout for these lights to turn off were ridiculously long. Like we were trying to sleep but the light from the shower and toilets were still on and wouldn't shut off for like another 20 minutes or so. Even if we closed the door the light managed to seep through. The dining hall toilets were kinda the opposite though. The timeout is ridiculously short. I will sit down to do a number 2 but then within like 2 minutes the light goes off. So then I have to stand up in the dark with my pants down and wave my arms around before the light turns on again. Rinse and repeat like 5 times. So even though these lights are designed to be energy saving or something they honestly seem to consume more power and energy than they save.
My camp crush wasn't at camp this year. I was pretty sad. I swear I'm like the most loyal camp crusher ever. But if my camp crush isn't at camp, is she still a camp crush? Hmm. I looked forward to playing card games with her on beach day but couldn't. :(
Speaking of beach day, this year on beach day it rained. Like really really heavily. It hailed too. Everyone got absolutely drenched. The clouds covered the sky and didn't look like they were disappearing any time soon. But I prayed really hard that God would clear the skies and calm the storm, like he did when Jonah was on the boat (we're studying Jonah this year at camp). I had faith and was confident that God would do it. Nothing really happened for 5 to 10 minutes. In fact it probably rained even harder. But after that the clouds slowly cleared and a rainbow appeared. The rain stopped and the sun came out. God is good. God is really good. He is awesome.
Also the music team was excellent this year and the variety of songs was much better than one of the previous years where I swear there was like a total of 5 songs on rotation throughout the entire camp meaning we sang like the same song 3 times in a day or something. The tech team clearly needed some help though cuz there were mics not working and sound not working and lyrics disappearing or not appearing or just slow. Also Andy Murray wasn't here this year so the day recap videos weren't all that great and well stitched together.
Oh and I was also a little disappointed that we only had hash browns for breakfast once in the entire camp.
pd12 replied to your post “How has God worked in your life this week? :)”
is summer camp PY? And lol, for some reason I suspect Drew as the shady B) guy.
Presbyterian Youth (PY) is a youth organisation of the Presbyterian Church in NSW and it runs summer and winter camps each year for the youth all around NSW. I've some good friends in Albury who travel up to 8 hours to get to camp which is quite impressive. D:
And when I first saw the message, Drew was also the first one to come to mind. ;P
At Summer camp, we were put into small groups of 4 interns and 2 leaders. Although there was one leader I couldn't really connect with, in general we all got along well. So thank God for that. :)
Even though I was super duper tired throughout the entire week (waking up before 8 is extremely difficult for me and has its tolls), I still managed to (somewhat) pay attention during the lectures and the talks. Also having not written an essay in over a year (and not being particularly good at essays when I did write them), I managed to pass the final exam which is another thing to thank God for.
I think over this week at Summer camp I've become a little more interested in God's word. Like on one of our beach days, we recreated the land of Israel out of sand. Geography is definitely not a subject I have interest in but the context of which Jesus did ministry and the places he traveled to were actually really interesting.
Also the New Years Eve activity... Oh man. We honestly were so unprepared... Like legit. We were coming up with things last minute and so many issues came up like permanent markers, CD player acting up, and the fact that we had to handle 50-60 teenage kids with just the four of us...But God was definitely working that night cuz everything managed to work out and we managed to pull of a wonderful performance. It really was a miracle.
Oh and when my brother and I needed a lift home after camp was over, God was still working and provided us a lift home. That was also a miracle.
I recently got back from Summer Camp 2013! It was so much fun!!
This year I tried something new. Rather than going to Summer Camp as a regular camper, I attended as an intern. Basically PY has an internship program called 'Lead for Life' that encourages young people in uni or just leaving college to become leaders by training them up over the week at camp and giving them assignments and leading opportunities over the following year. Initially I wasn't going to do the program this year as I'm still at the age where I can pass as a camper. So I was hoping to make the most of Summer Camp by attending it as a camper while I still could. But Mick called me up a few days/weeks before Summer Camp basically telling me how there weren't many interns this year and it would be really really good if I could come along. So I did. Just for you Mick. Just for you.
The internship program alternates topic on a 3 year rotation with topics: Old Testament, New Testament, and Christian Belief. This years topic was New Testament. I personally felt that my weakest area was the Old Testament so I would've liked to do last years topic but New Testament was good too. We also participated in workshops that assisted in teaching us how to prepare and lead bible studies. Our final exam consisted of choosing 3 essay topics from a range of essay questions and writing roughly 1-2 pages for each question in a total of 90 minutes. I suck at writing essays and having not written one in over a year, I can't say that I did exceedingly well but we were told that no-one failed so that's a relief.
When Mick said there weren't many interns this year, he was telling the truth. We had a total of 17 people, divided into 4 groups of 4 (and one group of 5). Although we had a lack of interns, we sure as heck didn't have a lack of campers. In fact, we had such a large number of campers this year that although during meal times the interns and campers would usually be eating at the same time, they ended up shifting all the meal times of the interns half an hour earlier because there were just that many campers that we couldn't all fit in the dining hall at the same time. This meant I had to wake up half an hour earlier for breakfast... And in case you didn't already know, I am NOT a morning person. So yea. I was pretty darn tired throughout the entire camp. :(
Each year at Summer Camp, the New Years Eve activities are run by the interns as a part of their leadership training. For some reason, they decided that it would be a good idea for each group of 4 interns to lead a group of 50-60 campers in performing a 5 minute musical. This was insanely challenging not only due to the sheer intern to camper ratio, but also because getting a bunch of teens to be motivated to act and sing is most definitely not an easy task.
Our intern group was assigned with the musical 'The Wizard of Oz' and we were given a good 5 or so hours, spread over the day before New Years Eve and New Years Eve itself, to prepare. Although our group got along quite well, perhaps we got along too well because out of those 5 hours of preparation time we probably only used maybe 1 hour effectively. Which meant we were extremely unprepared when it came to the actual night of the performance.
On the night of the performance, each intern group would go up on stage to spruik and encourage the campers to pick their musical performance. The picking was done by choosing a specific colour glowstick, each colour representing a different musical. Initially Kat was supposed to go up on her own to do the spruik but she was completely against the idea due to her fear of public speaking. So she came up with countless ideas and excuses to get out of it. Eventually one of those ideas involved all 4 of us going on stage together and making a deliberately super duper lame spruik to hopefully amuse the kids and get them to want to join 'The Wizard of Oz'. Now either our spruik was absolutely amazing or people just chose our one because it was the most famous out of Oliver, Cats, and The Phantom of the Opera, but our performance was the first one to "sell out" (our glowsticks ran out first). Which is great because it would suck a lot to have the kids who don't even want to be there and are only their because the musical they did want to be a part of sold out.
Our take on the Wizard of Oz was the story was set in Aus and the whole story revolved around not Dorothy but a bogan named Dozza. She was a tourist going around Australia and picking up travel companions along the way. The campers seemed to really like the idea and got into it which is an absolute blessing. When we asked "Who would like to be an actor in the musical?" there were more people who wanted to be involved than there were cast (we ended up having like 3 narrators). We were given only 35 minutes or so to get the cast rehearsing and the kids learning the songs and getting all the props ready and it was just extremely hectic and stressful. Even though the 4 of us were completely unprepared, everything managed to come together in the end and pull off a wonderful performance (Praise God!).
The theme of this year's New Years Eve party was "Masquerade" so everyone had masks on. There were a wide variety of masks ranging from crazy and extravagant to the plain and simple masks. My camp crush from last year (who also happens to be my camp crush this year) had a blue mask which she painted on herself. I don't usually participate in the New Years Eve party themes so I didn't bring a mask and she told me off for it. ><; But at our intern's own post-musical party, Adele (a fellow intern) ended up painting a mask on my face for me. The mask turned out quite well though it was a bit difficult to wash off afterwards. XD When my camp crush saw me with a similar painted mask, she gave me a double high five. :3
A really cool twist to the New Years Eve party was when the girls first entered the building, they needed to put one of their shoes in the boxes provided. Everyone was really confused and I was eager to know what the purpose was. Turns out it was a "Cinderella and her missing shoe" kinda thing where every guy had to go and take one of the shoes and find their "Cinderella". I remember catching a glimpse of my camp crush's shoe beforehand when we were sitting down together earlier. I only got to see the bottom of it but I remembered it was those Converse style shoes. The colour and size of the shoe I had no idea. I found a blue converse shoe of what I thought was around the same size but while I was looking for the owner, I saw my camp crush whose partner had already found her. Her shoes, although Converse style, were not blue but red and green... "OTL Disappointed, I considered putting the shoe back in the box but that was kinda mean so I just went through with it. I eventually found my "Cinderella" and we had our wrists cable-tied together (yea, it was kinda weird).
Once everyone had found their partner, we basically played a huge game of stuck in the mud. But rather than crawling through the legs of those who were stuck, another couple had to walk through an arch formed by the stuck couples arms. When the game was over and everyone was released from their cable-ties we basically just had a dance party until 11:45ish.
Every year at the New Years Eve party, they play a video presentation of the past week at summer camp with occasional frames that say "10 minutes to 2014", "5 minutes to 2014" etc. and eventually becoming a countdown once it reaches 10 seconds to 2014. Usually the video presentation would bring back fond memories of the activities I participated in and the good fun that I had. However this year, being an intern I was unable to participate in those summer camp activities with the other campers. Admittedly, I was a little relieved I didn't have to participate in their messy games as I'm not too much of a fan of them. And occasionally our free time would coincide with the free time of the campers meaning we would still be able to hang out together. We got to hang out together on beach day too. I played card games with my camp crush and her friends at the beach. :3 It was nice! :)
Rather than an annual Summer Camp Soccer Competition, this year they decided to go with an Ultimate Frisbee competition. I would've loved to participate in that. Frisbees are so much fun!! D: Eventually the video ended with a countdown to the new year. Everyone chanted together and celebrated together. It was a lot of fun. :) I'm not quite sure my dancing has improved since last year's party but I think I have gotten a little more fearless. XD
Once the dance party was over, the interns initially planned to all stay up and pull an all-nighter together. I thought this meant that we would all go sit in the lounge and play card games but it turns out they wanted to go sit at the lookout at 2:30 until the sunrise. I was already in my PJs and I kinda felt like there wouldn't be much to see at the lookout at 2:30 in the morning so I passed and went to sleep instead. Apparently they saw this train which had Christmas lights all over it and looked super awesome in the pitch black. I would've liked to see that. ><; Oh well. Surprisingly, although I had the least amount of sleep that night compared to all the other nights, I wasn't as tired the next day as I usually would be. I didn't even need my daily Mocha with two sugars to keep me awake.
I did start getting really sleepy during the final session at summer camp though. The programme the interns followed finished early so we had nothing to do. So we just followed the campers into their final session to sit and listen with them. Praise and worship brought back lots of memories. :) The worship team was amazing as always and everyone singing together was so encouraging. I was really glad I was able to attend the final session with the campers. :)
Once the session was over, we helped pack up the chairs and that was it. That was the end of camp. Everyone was saying farewell and started heading home. Me and my brother followed my friend Dan to Summer Camp but because Dan wasn't going straight back to Canberra after camp, we were left without a lift home. Dad offered to drive 2 and half hours to Stanwell to pick us up but I thought for sure we should be able to find someone. Sure enough, God provided and we were offered a lift home by these two Canberrans. :)
Being the last day of camp, I went to find my camp crush to once again ask if I could give her a hug. She was at the book store looking at books and CDs. It was so funny when I asked her cuz she actually remembered the whole dare thing last year. She then said something like "LOL. That was a silly dare. You should have asked me to like spit in someone's food or something." (I can't actually remember what she said but it was something like that and something involving spit.) Before she answered me, she ran off to get some money or something.
At this point, the guys taking me home found me and told me to get my stuff as we were leaving really soon. I started to panic cuz I was afraid that I wouldn't get to give her a hug before I left. Luckily enough, one of the guys, the driver, went to the toilet so I quickly ran up to her and asked her again. She not only let me give her a hug, but she hugged me back in return. :3 So it wasn't a one way hug like last year. XD So yup. That was a good start to the year. ;P
The trip back was quite good! I got to meet the guys taking us home properly (I like didn't even know their names before). Although we took a few wrong turns, we got home in the end. :) I also managed to catch some sleep on the way home. Probably only slept for around an hour or so but it was a good rest. All in all I had a lot of fun at summer camp this year! Although the first few days were really hard with a lot of intense lectures and study, I made some new friends and got to know old friends better. The internship provided me with a new perspective of leadership and has equipped me with better understanding of the New Testament and leadership skills. I hope that God will continue to strengthen my faith and that throughout this year I can help serve him more by putting these leadership skills to good use. :)
Here's a story that until now, I've only ever told my best friend.
You might not know me in real life but I'm usually pretty shy. Anyways, I saw this girl in a red hoodie at summer camp last year and I was like "Wow. She is really cute. I want to give her a hug."
So basically my whole mission in all of summer camp was to give her a hug.
I needed to find an excuse to talk to her and stuff so at the beach day I found her with a bunch of asians. Okay, not a bunch, just two other asians. Both girls.
One of the girls she hung out with I actually met in one of the games we played at camp a few days back, so I started talking to them. I got their names and yea just basically got to know them.
A few days later, at the New Years Eve party (cuz at summer camp we always have a New Years Eve party, with the countdown and everything) I was sitting with her and she was like "I dare you to ask a girl to dance with you."
Obviously I would have asked her but she was like "It can't be out of us three."
So I was like damn. But then I was like "Fine, but if I do the dare, I get to dare you back." and she was like "Okay."
So like 20 minutes later after the countdown had finished and everyone was running around hugging people and wishing each other "Happy New Year" I asked this other cute girl in my bible study group to dance with me.
Randomly.
She was like "But there's no music!" and I'm like "Just do it anyway!"
So we just like jumped around without music and it was rather awkward.
By this time, the girl and her friends had left already so I didn't really get to see her until the next day (1st of Jan) which, by the way, was the last day of camp. All the talks were over and everyone was packing up, ready to go home so I just had this sinking feeling of "FISSION MAILED!!"
As I was walking around, I see the three of them walking together so I called out her name.
I told her she owed me a dare and she was like "Hmmm... Depends what it is."
I was like "I dare you... to let me give you a hug."
And she was like "Wat. Lolno." and completely adamant about not letting me give her a hug.
So I was like "You don't have to hug me back. Just let me give you a hug."
So she let me and I got my hug. :)
Even though it was really short, cuz she like shook me off after like 2 seconds.
But that kids, is how I...
... hugged a stranger my camp crush. ;)
