Exciting times ahead…

63 days to go… One week closer to being at camp has me thinking about camp more and more.  Really, I just want to be there now…  But I have a job to finish here in New Zealand first, and it’s kinda nice to know that most of the hard work is done by the time I get to camp!

It’s Easter now, and the weather is a mix of fantastic sun and cool breezes.  Enough to make you want to sit out in the sun until you are, and then head back in out of the wind.  This is still pretty good weather for NZ at this time of the year, and considering the summer we have had, we can be pretty happy with the sun now as well.  For the next couple of months, these in-between cooler days (and cold nights…) will be what we deal with, and then I’ll jump on a plane, hopefully before it gets too much worse, and head to New Hampshire just as things start to warm up there for the summer.  For the following 3 months, I’ll be enjoying a nice and warm summer while my family and friends back in NZ are putting up with a cold winter.

Next week is going to be a busy one in the IEP NZ office for Summer Camp USA as I clear the last of the active applications out to the US office for placement at camps and start on the first of our predeparture training days on Friday.  This is really when I get excited about camp, as I get to spend a day talking to people going to camp for the first time, and tell them what to expect and what it will be like both at camp and in the USA.

On the Camp Lawrence front, we are starting to put together plans for our staff training and for the summer, including some new ideas and specialised training which will allow us to better serve our campers and their parents, as we ll as make all our lives as camp staff easier.  I am looking forward to the coming summer and have a feeling it is going to be another great one.

70 Days to go…

With the end of daylight savings, today saw me with an extra hour to contemplate the meaning of life.  Needless to say, that is exactly what I did not do…  I have been reading the answers to the pre-summer questionnaire sent out to the Camp staff and CIT’s (Counselors In Training, for those not in the know).  Quite an interesting read really, and at times rather inspirational.  The impact that camp has had on everyone’s lives is not lost in these questionnaires, and I am sure is not lost on the individuals who have written them.  Summer Camp impacts on everyone’s lives, even those who don’t admit it have gained something from their time at camp.  I know Camp Lawrence has had a huge impact on my life, and it is empowering to read of how it is influencing others as well.  I only wish I could share this experience with even more people…

I have just 70 days until I leave for camp – at 8am on the 11^th June, travel for 32 hours straight, and arrive at camp around midnight on the 11^th June.  Yes, the math is correct – when I get to camp, it will be 4pm the next day in NZ, but crossing back over so many time zones makes the long journey so much shorter (although when I return to NZ after the summer, it goes the opposite way!).

There is so much still to do before then.  Staff Training week to be planned, bags to pack, 100’s of visas to get for other Kiwi’s going to camp, find everyone else on the Summer Camp USA program jobs at camps and get them visas, and prepare everyone for the experience.  I’m not sure how I will fit it all in, but somehow it will just happen and before I know it I’ll be back in that giant plane heading back over to the island oasis which will be home for the following few months.

Just 70 more days in New Zealand…