Yes, yes, yes, I know I haven't updated in forever, and I'm sorry! But the camp internet has been down (still is, actually - it worked for a couple of hours this morning and then died again), and my phone has no service up there either, so I've been a bit out of the loop. I'm on a night off at the moment, and we're at the library (aren't we smart? ;)) so I finally have a little time on the computer (and a fast connection to boot!). I wish I could get on MSN, but it doesn't seem to be possible on this computer...
Mom will recognize this post, because I pretty much just pasted in an e-mail which I just sent to her, but it's new for the rest of you.
My cabin is pretty good for the most part. The girls are twelve, plus we have one 13-year-old (a head taller than all the rest) and one 11-year-old. There are 13 of them (11 returning and two new girls) and they all know each other from back home, even the new ones. They're loud girls (strangely, the tiniest girl, Sydney, who's blond and brown-eyed and could pass for seven years old, has one of the loudest voices I've ever heard on a child!)
I'm starting to get a handle on who's going to be 'trouble'. My favorite kid is Shannon, the 11-year old - she's little, with a smile that will melt your heart. I just really like that age group, eleven... Anyway, I first thought Emery was going to be the worst one (tall, blond, skinny, from Miami, incredibly loud, and MUST have attention every second of the day), but she's starting to calm down now. It's actually one of the new girls, Chesley (no, that is not a typo!) who is taking her place as troublemaker. I really think they must have slipped something into the nachos at lunch today, because I could not get them to be quiet at rest hour for anything. I ended up having to take away some of their flashlight time (quiet time on their beds after lights out, to read or write letters or whatever) because they would just NOT shut up. (...And I just remembered I forgot to tell Christine that before I left, oops...)
Oh yeah, and my co-counselor is Dutch! Christine van Kampen is her name, and I checked the board when I first got there and saw that and thought, "Y'know... that sounds kinda..." but then dismissed it as wishful thinking. But I got there and introduced myself and heard a little accent, so I asked where she was from and she said, "Holland." I said, "Really?!" but I said it in Dutch, "Echt waar?!" and you should have seen the look on her face... priceless!!!
And if you can believe it, she's from Utrecht too! So we've been sitting around talking about places we both know (hey Lilo... Christine is also a big frequenter of 'The Jam'!) and differences between the two countries. It's not like Linde, where there could be a best-friend-type connection or anything, but we get along well and we spend a lot of time talking (in Dutch) because we each sort of ease the other's transition - she can speak her native language to me and feel a bit closer to home, and I can speak Dutch to her and not feel like the whole country has been snatched away in one fell swoop. We're even teaching it to the girls (their first lesson was 'mag niet!' ['that's not allowed!'])
Swimming classes are okay, although the whining is worse than usual since the lake is (even I will admit) REALLY cold (since they've had so much rain). My sixth period is full of little tiny girls who will make up ANY excuse to get out of swimming, and my first period is full of great big girls who are the same way... :) but overall it's all right.
I'm keeping up the whole healthy-eating thing too... my cereal every morning and not having any canteen. The only unhealthy thing I've had here so far is brownies at lunch one day. I think that's actually my first chocolate since I've been back. Weird. Oh, and I swam to the buoy today and yesterday with Vanessa, one of the lifeguards who has become my replacement for Lindsey Waller, who always swam with me last year. Vanessa swims a LOT at home and is quite a bit faster than me, but I've learned that if I go at my own pace instead of trying to keep up, it's a lot more fun for me. Yesterday it was so cold I had trouble breathing (so the girls weren't lying!) and we were both kind of gasping for breath when we reached the other end, but today it was a bit warmer and we didn't have any problems; we swam the whole thing in about twelve minutes, and that was with a chatting break at the buoy. And I know I must still be in pretty good shape, because I can still swim the entire way freestyle without stopping! Anybody know how to measure a distance across water...?
OK, this is long enough now. But I would appreciate e-mails! I'm not sure when or if the Internet is going to be back up at camp, but I've discovered the library now, so things will work out. And the first chance I get, I'm going to hunt down a cell phone store to see if they can do anything about my phone.
Oh! Just thought of one last thing. Aunt Patsy, are you going to be home during camp session break (16-17 July)? And if you are, do you possibly have room for me to do some laundry, take a shower, and sleep there for a night? It's okay if you say no, but that worked out well last time, so I thought I'd ask again.
Hope to be updating again soon!!!
Mom will recognize this post, because I pretty much just pasted in an e-mail which I just sent to her, but it's new for the rest of you.
My cabin is pretty good for the most part. The girls are twelve, plus we have one 13-year-old (a head taller than all the rest) and one 11-year-old. There are 13 of them (11 returning and two new girls) and they all know each other from back home, even the new ones. They're loud girls (strangely, the tiniest girl, Sydney, who's blond and brown-eyed and could pass for seven years old, has one of the loudest voices I've ever heard on a child!)
I'm starting to get a handle on who's going to be 'trouble'. My favorite kid is Shannon, the 11-year old - she's little, with a smile that will melt your heart. I just really like that age group, eleven... Anyway, I first thought Emery was going to be the worst one (tall, blond, skinny, from Miami, incredibly loud, and MUST have attention every second of the day), but she's starting to calm down now. It's actually one of the new girls, Chesley (no, that is not a typo!) who is taking her place as troublemaker. I really think they must have slipped something into the nachos at lunch today, because I could not get them to be quiet at rest hour for anything. I ended up having to take away some of their flashlight time (quiet time on their beds after lights out, to read or write letters or whatever) because they would just NOT shut up. (...And I just remembered I forgot to tell Christine that before I left, oops...)
Oh yeah, and my co-counselor is Dutch! Christine van Kampen is her name, and I checked the board when I first got there and saw that and thought, "Y'know... that sounds kinda..." but then dismissed it as wishful thinking. But I got there and introduced myself and heard a little accent, so I asked where she was from and she said, "Holland." I said, "Really?!" but I said it in Dutch, "Echt waar?!" and you should have seen the look on her face... priceless!!!
And if you can believe it, she's from Utrecht too! So we've been sitting around talking about places we both know (hey Lilo... Christine is also a big frequenter of 'The Jam'!) and differences between the two countries. It's not like Linde, where there could be a best-friend-type connection or anything, but we get along well and we spend a lot of time talking (in Dutch) because we each sort of ease the other's transition - she can speak her native language to me and feel a bit closer to home, and I can speak Dutch to her and not feel like the whole country has been snatched away in one fell swoop. We're even teaching it to the girls (their first lesson was 'mag niet!' ['that's not allowed!'])
Swimming classes are okay, although the whining is worse than usual since the lake is (even I will admit) REALLY cold (since they've had so much rain). My sixth period is full of little tiny girls who will make up ANY excuse to get out of swimming, and my first period is full of great big girls who are the same way... :) but overall it's all right.
I'm keeping up the whole healthy-eating thing too... my cereal every morning and not having any canteen. The only unhealthy thing I've had here so far is brownies at lunch one day. I think that's actually my first chocolate since I've been back. Weird. Oh, and I swam to the buoy today and yesterday with Vanessa, one of the lifeguards who has become my replacement for Lindsey Waller, who always swam with me last year. Vanessa swims a LOT at home and is quite a bit faster than me, but I've learned that if I go at my own pace instead of trying to keep up, it's a lot more fun for me. Yesterday it was so cold I had trouble breathing (so the girls weren't lying!) and we were both kind of gasping for breath when we reached the other end, but today it was a bit warmer and we didn't have any problems; we swam the whole thing in about twelve minutes, and that was with a chatting break at the buoy. And I know I must still be in pretty good shape, because I can still swim the entire way freestyle without stopping! Anybody know how to measure a distance across water...?
OK, this is long enough now. But I would appreciate e-mails! I'm not sure when or if the Internet is going to be back up at camp, but I've discovered the library now, so things will work out. And the first chance I get, I'm going to hunt down a cell phone store to see if they can do anything about my phone.
Oh! Just thought of one last thing. Aunt Patsy, are you going to be home during camp session break (16-17 July)? And if you are, do you possibly have room for me to do some laundry, take a shower, and sleep there for a night? It's okay if you say no, but that worked out well last time, so I thought I'd ask again.
Hope to be updating again soon!!!
stormed at 19:12
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