CCUSA 2009 - Camp Chatuga

The beginning of the end

2009-07-30T19:42:00.000-07:00

Well camp has started to wind down now. We're in the middle of the last session, and there's not many days to go at all!!!

Session D2 finished without a hitch. It was a bit of a sad ending because our 4 week campers left. They were the campers who had been with us since the start of session C. One of my favourite campers (BW) was amongst that group so it was sad to see them leave. They're really the lifeblood of camp, and because we'd become so familiar with them, it seemed strange not having them around.

Session E is an interesting one so far... the best way i could describe it so far is WET!!! We've had a huge amount of rain this week so far, almost constant rainstorms and thunderstorms. It's played havoc with our schedule, but part of camp life is flexibility. We had alternate "rain-friendly" activities in place faster than you can say lickety split.

Well as i said, camp is almost over. I'll have one final blog after this to cover the closing ceremony. watch this space!!!

Session D1

2009-07-20T19:24:00.000-07:00

Me, taking a shot at glory, trying to capture the flag!

D1 you ask? What's all this number business with the sessions all of a sudden? Well It's all part of the fun that is session D. Split into 2x 1 week parts, we had 126 kids for the first week of D (D1), but approximately 70 of them were only staying for 1 week, so the camp has pretty much halved for the rest of the session. It's a nice change of pace, because 126 is the biggest session we've had all summer.

So we've had a pretty fun week, campouts, the talent show on wednesday night, and out (in)famous game show, "sounds of chatuga" The basic premise is that a random sound which has been pre-recorded by a counselor is played, and a cabin of campers has to go and take a coloured piece of paper with the counselor's name who they think made the sound. Once they have guessed correctly, the camper who got the right piece of paper is asked a fiendishly difficult trivia question. If they answer correctly, they win an icecream party for their cabin, if they get it wrong, they get to choose from behind 4 doors. One has an icecream party, one has candy, one sees their counselor get a bucket of water dumped on them, and the last sees the counselor take a pie in the face. So for the kids it's 100% win. for the counselors it's pretty much 50/50. This necessitates having 2 "bouncers" usually head staff without a cabin, who make sure that counselors don't try to make a break for it when the pie comes up etc.
In my case, i had my shoes off, ready to make a break for it, but my camper (amazingly) fluked the initial question and won us an icecream party!!

Tonight we played capture the flag, instead of the scheduled water olympics. This was due to a strange cold snap we've been having lately. I hope it warms up just a little bit more before camp is out, though it makes running around doing field sports a lot more bearable!!

Session C wrap up

2009-07-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

Ok well session C has now come to a close. A fun filled 2 weeks, I must admit that I'm a little sad it's over, but we've got the next session starting tomorrow, so it won't be long until there are kids everywhere again. Session D is a bit of a funny one because it's 2 weeks also. (so sessions C and D are 2 week sessions back to back) Some kids will only stay for 1 week of D, so 1 week into the next session, the camp will lose maybe 40 or so kids, But there'll still be plenty to keep us on our toes!!

So the end of session C... It was probably my favourite session so far. I had a fantastic cabin, and great activities. Some of the special events that rounded out the session were the Medieval feast, and the square dance. Every 2 week session we have some sort of special meal... this time we turned all the tables in the dining hall into long benches, decorated the hall with hangings, and heraldry. All the counselors dressed up with the theme, becoming knights, kings, jesters, warrior maidens, and ladies in waiting. We had a blast! and the kids really had a great time with it too. It's amazing what a great costume a towel or 2, a staplegun, and some creativity can make.

Well during session C we passed the halfway point of the summer. It's strange to think that camp is halfway done, but there's plenty to come, kids who have been waiting all year to come to camp, and much excitement left. As for me, I'm going to rest up as much as i can this weekend, so I can throw myself back into everything with 100%.

til next time ;)
-Michael

Session C

2009-07-02T19:55:00.000-07:00

Campers and Counselors getting sprayed down by the fire truck... what an amazing day!!!

Well session C has begun, and although it's been a bit of a hectic start, it's been a whole lot of fun!!! Session C is a 2 week session, with some campers staying 3 or 4 weeks, by staying over and going to session D... also a 2 week session. In the short time since my last post, it seems like soo much has happened!!! We had opening day for session C, where we met all the new campers, demonstrated all the activities available, then went through the sign up process. Also on that opening day we put all the campers through a swim test, to see if they can actually swim. (Nothing worse that a kid claiming they can swim, then immediately panicking as they hit the water... however, we have whole bunch of lifeguards on hand for the test, and they go one at a time so it's always safe.)

Day 2 of the session saw us do a free choice morning while schedules were still being put together (100 kids, 10 activities each, then assigning counsellors with the correct skill sets to each class... our director does a great job to have this done within 24 hours usually) Free choice sees us manning activities for 2 longer than normal periods. The kids are then free to move around the activities as they wish. The girls had their campouts that evening, and the boys had dinner in camp, then played a rowdy game of capture the flag on the top sporting field. This was followed by a twilight swim!!

Tonight was one of the hi lights of the camp calender, icky olympics!!! Icky olympics is a massive, all camp food fight, flimsily disguised as a food based contest. Beneath this paper thin veneer of credibility lies one of the most epic camp events! Involving shaving cream, ice cream, watermelon, and eggs, there is little to no chance of getting out clean. Thankfully the olympics climax with one of our Directors (Rick Moxley, the man that Chuck Norris checks his closet for before he sleeps) sprays the counsellors and campers down with a fire truck. No that's not a typo, we have an actual fire truck water cannon to hose everyone down!!! SO much fun!!!

Well there's plenty more fun to be had this session, check back soon for more exciting news!!

Session B

2009-06-25T19:57:00.000-07:00

Ok so session B is on the road, and almost finished. This fast and furious week has been a whole lot of fun, but it's certainly been tiring!!! Session B is only one week. Campers arrive on monday, and go home on the saturday, but we manage to pack a whole lot into that short amount of time. One of my favourite activities we've done this week is Counselor Hunt. As the name tends to suggest, it involves the campers hunting for counselors. It's kind of like hide and seek, except that the people hiding know the terrain, are willing to hide in simply ridiculous places, and most were wearing camouflage clothing of some description. I deviously hid in plain sight in the second round... sitting on the dining hall porch with other counselors, and the campers simply overlooking me!!

We had the talent show tonight which is always fun, and tomorrow we have our last full day of activities, then cabin afternoon, where we do an activity with just the guys in our cabin. So for those of you who are interested, the activities I've been teaching this week for session B have been: hiking, archery, free swim, and campfire cooking.

See you next time!!!

Almost the end of the beginning

2009-06-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

Well session A is starting to draw to a close. It feels like it's only just begun in a lot of ways, you get to know the campers you see regularly better, and you're just getting comfortable with things, and then it's time for them to leave again.

Well there's been a few events since trip day, most notably the talent show, which was Wednesday night, and tonight we had Chinese restaurant and the famous square dance. It's always a very festive night, with everyone getting dressed up in their best clothes for the meal. We decorate our dining hall with themed decorations (in this case dragons, lanterns and pandas) and we have waiters who serve us food. It's a big step up from regular camp food, so it's really nice!!! It was also quite amusing to see so many (counselors and campers alike) struggle to use the chopsticks which had been provided. Many resorted instead to the "plan B fork" which had kindly been provided by the kitchen staff.

After the meal was over, we all got into out overalls, straw hats, and checked shirts for the square dance. A highlight on the session calender, the square dance really cannot be described in words, it must be experienced. After an exhausting few dances, it was time for greens (the younger campers) call to quarters. This is because they also have an earlier lights out time, so it gives us as counselors plenty of time to make sure that campers are getting changed, showered and ready for bed, and not sneaking into empty cabins or throwing sticks at each other (I know i was probably similarly behaved at that age, haha )

Well as i mentioned, session A is almost complete. The final full day is tomorrow, which will culminate with the final council ring, where songs will be sung, awards will be given, and memories will be made. Session B is right around the corner... it's only a 1 week session so it's pretty fast and furious. We have time off over the weekend, and I've received several offers to stay at other counselors places over the weekend. I have the option of staying at camp also, which I have to admit, is mighty appealing, considering the rest I could get by just relaxing and not road tripping all over the countryside. We'll see i guess!! Til next time...

Trip Day Session A

2009-06-16T16:15:00.000-07:00

The Chaos Crew
My raft hitting some big rapids on the Chattooga River

Ok so every 2 week session at camp there is a trip day. On trip day, we leave camp, and the campers get to go do something cool for the day. This can range from going tubing on a local river, to whitewater rafting on class 5 rapids, based on how many years campers have been coming to camp.

Most fortunately, I was selected to be the trip leader for the 6th year camper trip. Whitewater rafting on the Chattooga River. Now I was going to try to get through this entry without making a reference to the movie Deliverance... but I think I'll just mention it now, and be done with it. Part of the movie was shot on the Chattooga river, and we even went through the rapids from the movie. But I'm getting ahead of myself. We arrived at the NOC (Natahala Outdoor Centre) Chattooga River Outpost at about 8:10am. We were briefed on the dangers, and adventures that awaited us on the river. We then all jumped aboard a blue schoolbus which took us to the put-in. We were introduced to our guide Brian, who we collectively decided to nickname Chief Eagle Flame. We referred to our raft as the chaos crew... ironic because we were like a hot knife through butter through every rapid except the last one. Other nicknames in our raft included Squirtle, Hammertime, Toodles, Snickers, Rocksteady, and Bebop.

We did well up until the last rapid, where i didn't shift my weight fast enough and subsequently fell out of the raft, taking out another person in the process. Not my finest moment, but hey, I had a whole lot of fun. So after it was all done, we wandered back to camp, and got changed for dinner. Every trip eats dinner somewhere out of camp, depending how far away their trip takes them. Since the rafting place was only 20 min down the road, we were going to the local pizza place for dinner. We had a great time there, and soon enough it was time to head back to camp. An epic trip day, filled with fun, adventure, and new friends ;) GOOD TIMES!!!

Session A

2009-06-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

Well, the summer proper has finally started. The camp is full of kids, and all's right with the world. Session A (as you probably gathered from the letter) is the first session of the summer. It runs for 2 weeks, and already, has been a lot of fun. Here at Chatuga, counselors teach activities, as well as live in the cabins with the campers. Due to the large amount of counselors this session, I'm a co-counselor, which means I'm paired up with another counselor in a cabin. The other counselor in my cabin, Joe (aka Gonzo) is a first year counselor, but has really connected well with the kids so far. We make a great team!!

We had our cabin campout last night. We take our campers out, and let them experience cooking on an open fire (and for boys, poking sticks into the fire then waving them about while flaming/glowing/smoking, meanwhile we, as counselors are making sure nobody's being dangerous) making shelter, and for the older campers, sleeping out under the stars. This session, because I have younger campers, we just cooked our dinner over the fire, then came in at 10pm, and slept in our cabin. The campout was punctuated by rain (it may be a dry week, but it always rains on campout night, FACT!! :) ) but we had a nice big fire going, so it wasn't too bad. We had the boys singing, and generally having a good time in the rain so our mission was accomplished. Lots more to come in this session, plenty of fun activities, and lots of thrills and spills. I'll give you a little hint as to what may or may not be coming up in the next few days: aliens invading camp, dunking booth, other amazing things.

Stay tuned!!!

Staff Training

2009-06-06T03:35:00.000-07:00

Well staff training is almost over, just a few more days and campers will be arriving.

Staff training has been great. There's been a lot of instruction in everything from how the camp day runs, to how to deal with difficult campers, to how to plan lessons. Right now I'm feeling quite prepared, and ready for the challenges that campers will surely bring. The weather has been pretty patchy to be honest, but that's the thing with camp, you never know what will happen. We've had a lot of rain over the last 2 weeks, (wow, has it really been 2 weeks already?) and had some nice big storms rolling through yesterday. Needless to say my poncho is getting a lot of use!!!

Today is staff training "fun day." We're heading to wal-mart, which is like K-mart but much much bigger. They sell pretty much everything. And I'm not even kidding. Hardware, groceries, clothes, fireworks, fresh fruit, you name it!! I'm thinking I'll get an umbrella (ella ella ey) and some more cheap clothes so it doesn't matter if they get trashed over the summer. After wal mart we're heading down to the nearby lake to hang out, and probably throw a frisbee around. Tonight we're having a "shrimp pot" which is an opportunity for us to get dressed up and have a nice meal as a staff before the summer kicks off officially. And after that tonight, we'll be having a staff square dance. (kind of like a bush dance except... umm squarer?)
Til next time!!

-Michael

Staff training

2009-05-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!!

So i'm about to start staff training week at camp. During staff training, to help us understand what campers go through at camp, we don't have access to phone or internet for 1 week. Now during camp itself I'll be trying to update this weekly or more, but there will be nothing for the next week. I'll probably write a blog out on paper, then put it up online and backdate it once I have internet access at the end of the week.

Michael

The first blog... Meet and Greet

2009-05-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

Mike and Jess (who is awesome) at the radisson in LA

Hey Everyone!!!

My name's Michael, and I'll be your camp blogger this summer. Please keep your hands and feet inside the blog at all times. We'll be cruising today at an altitude of eleventy-seven thousand feet, and our expected arrival time is the end of summer. Please sit back and enjoy the ride.

Ok so my 2009 camp season could not have started any better! I flew from Brisbane to Sydney, then Sydney to LA. Amazingly, my sister Mel and I (she's also coming to camp) were upgraded to premium economy for the flight!! SCORE!!! So we got bigger seats, stacks of legroom, and really nice food. We cleared customs, and found Jess (who is amazing) from CCUSA waiting at the exit for us with a big CCUSA sign so we could find her. Once we had everyone, we headed outside and departed via shuttle bus (remembering to tip the driver) for the meet and greet site, The Radisson Westside Hotel. The hotel is fully sick!! Probably one of the nicest I've ever stayed in! And of course totally free for first-timers! CCUSA had a little office in the lobby where the CCUSA crew (Mike from San Fransisco, Jess the amazing kiwi, and Nat from Melbourne.) are ready to answer any questions, give you your room keys, or direct you to any of the local activities/shops/fun stuff/cinemas/awesome places to get food (i.e. Dinah's.) The rooms were really nice too... you have 1 or 2 other CCUSA people in your room with you, and it's great to hear where they're from, what camp they're going to, and generally have someone to talk to. Last night we all met up at 6:30 and went across the road to Dinah's for dinner. (They don't mind when we walk in with 30ish people... :) ) A very large burger and unlimited soft drink refills later, we wandered back to the hotel, and hung out in the lobby for a while, chatting to all the other counselors. Fun times were had :) There were about 15 people going to one camp in Dallas TX, which was kind of funny, because the most common opening question when you meet another CCUSA person you don't know is "So, what camp are you going to?" After chilling out and meeting everybody... a few of us spontaneously decided to go and jump in the spa until it closed at 11pm. This was pretty relaxing, and i definitely recommend it!!!

Well my time here in LA is almost up... I'm flying out tonight close to midnight. Not sure how I'll fill the day. Several people with late flights have gone on a Hollywood stars tour today for a few hours. I'm thinking I'll go and catch a film at IMAX and have a huge burger at Johnny Rocket's... another cool burger joint.

-Michael