Graduation, Burnt Rope and the Realisation That I Have Too Many Jumpers

Hey team! I have managed to score a few hours before everyone else gets up so I can be as computery and anti-social as I like... this may sound like a bad thing but it is actually good as it means I can write the blog and email people and the like. Hooray!

First off I would like to say thank you to Grantie and Grandpa for sending me that lovely letter. I got it a few days ago and it was so nice to have that contact from home. Snail mail beats email every time! I was so stoked to get it, it is now nestled carefully amongst my books in my cabin. Thanks for the postcards too, the Canadians thought the surfing kangaroo was hilarious.

Since I last posted we have really only had one school group - the British American School, or BAS as we like to call them. They were about 30 or so kids from Mexico and their program is a little different to other schools. As they come a reasonable distance, their program is about 10 days in length and the spend a few of those days doing touristy things like sightseeing in Van, shopping in Whistler, going whitewater rafting and visiting the PNE and Metrotown. Because of this, not everyone is needed to work for the whole time, so I was off for quite alot of that week. In fact all of that week, except Tuesday when I worked with a day group. However I did manage to make myself useful, I learnt how to lube a bike chain (to go along with my mad tyre changing skillz) and I played all the camp wide games because to be honest, being chased at a full sprint through the woods by 5 15yo Mexican boys screaming in Spanish wearing a sheep costume is not my idea of work. That is just plain fun.

To make more good use of our time off Trevor invited Crumbles, Tyler, Alex and I down to his parent's house in North Van to chill out for a couple of days with some modern conveniences that I must admit I took for granted at home but have come to realise how nice they are to have. Things such as playing guitar hero on a widescreen tv, or swimming in a heated pool, or even just not having to kill the mosquito trying to drink my blood every 20 seconds. Ah the joys of civilization. We also got to do some laundry... for free!!! A big thankyou to Trev's Mum and Dad for having us stay with them for a couple of days.
Whilst at camp we had devised a list of things we needed to do while we were in the big smoke, such as going to a thrift store to get an outfit for the staff party, buying a Blizzard from Dairy Queen, getting a Moleskine notebook, trying an Orange Julius, eating something with peanuts in it, having fun (thanks Smolinski) and a bunch of other things that escape me as we actually lost the list before we even made it to Van. We also managed to go swimming in 2 different pools. The wave pool sesh was pretty epic, we played tag for like 2 hours... we looked a tad out of place, being the only people there above the age of 12. Totally worth it though. Our second pool sesh proved a bit of an eye opener for Tyler and I, we witnessed what Canadians wear when they go scuba diving.... DRY SUITS!! They were fully kitted out to the nines in booties, under suits, 9mm dry suits and hoods and stuff. They were having a training session in the pool. Tyler and I quickly realised that what we thought was cold water obviously wasn't... as our thickest suits are 3mm... man I am going to be able to surf allll day in the winter when I get back!

Our thrift store adventures proved very fruitful, Alex and I tried on about 10 of the most bizarre dresses I have ever seen. The theme for the spring staff party was Graduation so we were searching for some appropriate gear. I managed to find one that was velour, with sleeves and beads sewn on it. Priceless! At our second thrift store visit I managed to find the hat I had been wanting for some time now, all for the princely sum of $3.99 - an epic straw fedora. I feel it some how completes me. Also got a brightly coloured sports jacket that reminds me of '80s ski gear. I swear when I get back I am only shopping at thrift stores. They are ace!

We headed back to camp citied out and ready to lie on the beach and catch some Zs in the sunshine, vowing to go to bed early that night in preparation for the end of season staff party. We succeeded, bouncing out of bed after a solid 10 hours sleep, ready and raring for a morning of summer camp prep. Everyone split into work parties and we were given lists by Parky and off we went. I think one of the best jobs was taking the machetes and going to town on the edges of Boundary Trail. Nothing like hacking stuff to pieces with a giant knife. Good times.
We also had to move house. Our cosy little staff cabins are no longer home for the gappers, Alex and I. As counsellors we sleep in the back section of our kids' tent cabin, and as instructors (us gappers are usually half and half) we usually share a spare tent cabin as we are junior staff. For pre-camp however, all the girl staff (excluding the senior staff, they still keep their cabins) are in Charlie Charlie (one of the wooden kid cabins). Alex and I quickly took over the entire back section. After only having to share with one person to having to share with probably about 6 or 7 (I'm not sure yet they arrive on Monday) it is a bit of a change. But it will be super fun all bunking together so I am pretty stoked. Having to move all my stuff across the village has made me realise how much stuff I have got since I have come here. I will not be able to bring all my jumpers and shorts and things with me, not a chance. Looks like I will be sending a package of gear home. I have 9 jumpers now, I came with 2. I have purchased 3 from thrift stores, 1 from Walmart, been given 2 and I have no clue how the last one came into my possession. I also have 3 more pairs of shorts than I came with. Sooo much stuff!! Not gunna lie though, some of the most rowdy gear I have ever seen so I am super stoked.

So the Spring Staff party was last night. So much fun! We had a delicious steak dinner with amazing salads, courtesy of Marty and Sarah. There were speeches, awards given out and a slideshow. Our Valedictorian, as voted, was Crumbles. He delivered a truly hilarious speech that was exactly the reason why we all voted for him. Funniest thing I think I have ever heard in my entire life. I won the award for 'Best camp legs' (Camp legs are a phenomenon which I have gotten to know quite well over the last 9 weeks, basically your legs get super scratched up/dirty) and also the 'Up for anything award'. Pretty funny. I also got my first rope bracelet! In the camp/outdoor ed world, when people go through something quite significant like a long trip or a season working together, everyone gets a piece of identical rope which you melt on to your ankle or wrist. Now I've got to see how long I can keep mine on. There was a dude at the reunion who had worked at Summit for years, and he still had a rope that had been burnt around his ankle from when he was a camper! Sean Keast has one on his wrist from his LIT year, which was 1999. My left wrist is sort of becoming a way of storing my memories. I have my Headspace wristband, my rextape bracelet I made whilst working Crofton House, which was my very first program, an embroidery thread bracelet made by a camper called Olivia from York House and my Spring rope.

So we have nearly 2 days off before the rest of the summer staff arrive on Monday at 5pm. I'm pretty amped to meet all of them, yay new people! Smolinsk knows most of them and says they are pretty sweet so I am g'd to get to know them. I think today's plan is to chill out and head into town to get a few supplies as once summer starts we have very little time off. I will have to make an effort to keep this blog going, but with so many people sharing one very slow satellite connection, I'll just have to play it by ear.

And so Spring has finally drawn to a close, and with it 1/3 of my placement is done and dusted. Summer is a very short 7 weeks so I am sure it will fly by, so I will be making the most of it! I hope you are all loving life down under, I miss you all but I am sure Feb next year will be here before we know it. Keep safe!!

P.S. Tahnee is currently in NZ atm if you guys didn't know, she has her own travel blog (somewhat inspired by this one I like to think) You should check it out by clicking here