session 6 of camp - MAD
Camp Week 6: MAD: Music Art and Drama with Snooty Co-Counselor London
London is one of the people I really didn’t want to work with at camp, but I guess its all about learning to put up with people you don’t want to know – but her personality is hard to deal with, especially with one of my campers, Trina, who is the oldest in the group, but is very very slow. London keeps bitching to me about Trina, who is frustrating I know, but saying that she is ‘fucking stupid’ behind her back. Trina is twelve, and still carries around a stuffed pony, and plays imaginary games with it – she has the maturity of a six year old. Its also hard because we have a lot of drama, and she always withdraws from the activities. I guess I am just treating it as something for child psychology. Like today I was in a canoe with her, and I asked her how she was getting along with the others and because it makes her uncomfortable to talk about it, she deliberately ignored me and decided to inform me that if we get stuck in a whirlpool we will get wet. The other day she also asked me why we wear bras, even though she was wearing one herself.
The others kids are angels, especially compared to the other weeks – and im thinking that I’ve either had bad luck and had a lot of hard groups, or im an incompetent counsellor, which is how London makes me feel. Its weird because last year I was the dominant counsellor with hawk, and this week I just feel like London completely dominates and then whenever she’s not there, the kids just muck up. Its hard living and working in the same environment. Then I am afraid that every time London goes off she is bitching about how incompetent I am to the others. The worst thing London has said so far to the kids is “come on, be clever. Don’t you know anything about something?” We just have nothing in common – she is into the mini skirts, skin products and socialising – I am into the hiking boots, listening to the kids endless conversations, and am all for the saying “a little bit of dirt never hurt any one.”
I do like the scheduling this week though. The art specialist, healthy’s idea, was to focus all the activities of the week around the lion king, making masks, learning about afriacan animals , and doing a performance of the lion king (the opening scene) at closing campfire. London and I at the beginning both pictured like a broadway musical. Obviously it will be nothing like that, but I think it will be very creative.
I also have Toto as my UL again – which is better than last time, because she has loosened up a bit and doesn’t do evaluations about the days process each night, but she is still controlling and embellishes in her authority a little too much. I will have to do laundry at the end of the week though, because her smell has infiltrated everything.
When I have time off, I would rather spend time alone, writing this, listening to music etc… Music takes me back to the ‘old world,’ and I go to sleep with it on a lot lately, mainly because it takes my mind off things and calms me down, but also so I can’t hear the annoying mozzies buzzing around my ears.
I’m making camp sound really negative. Sure, its hard work, physically but mainly being emotionally draining. But its become a big way of life, and its depressing to think that its nearly over and I won’t be seeing these people ever again. I am really up for going to the Netherlands to see Star in November when she gets back from America.
London started to get really narky in the middle of the week – and completely lost her patience with trina, the slow girl, calling her a ‘fucking bitch’ a lot right behind her back. I can’t believe how little she can realte to the girls.
By the end of the week I had grown quite attached to these girls, but had had enough of London, who I had sensed a lot of tension with. She takes the lead a lot and makes me feel like an incompetent counsellor. Like when one of the girls dropped the salsa into the lake, she said “well hasn’t this night got even worse- I won’t eat dinner without salsa!!” I said “well the girls won’t be that fussy, but if you really want it you can go back to the lodge and get some.” Which she ddin’t do, so she must have listened to me.
Trina has taken to playing with cardboard, instead of the other girls. London keeps calling her insane.
The girls put a hell of a lot of effort into their Lion King performance at campfire. It was nothing like the other performances, because the others were giggling etc during performances. When the music of the circle of life came on and we watched out girls rising up from various spots in the crows with masks and face paint, like animals ,and slowly descending the stairs, I got shivers, and I felt so proud that these were ‘our girls’. Their performance was amazing, apart from rafiki dropping simba on the ground. We got standing ovations all round.
I wanted the girls for the rest of the summer, but not London. On our day off I swum the tri-dock for the second day in a row (its 1.6km straight swimming)!! And we went into carnation and had icecream. Star and I got into a spitting lemonade fight, and we came out of it very sticky and hysterical. Ah memories!! Got back to camp and we made a deal: I cut her hair (pretty well I thought), and she cut mine. VERY short. I look like dad / betty boop!!!!!
Only two weeks left ☹
London is one of the people I really didn’t want to work with at camp, but I guess its all about learning to put up with people you don’t want to know – but her personality is hard to deal with, especially with one of my campers, Trina, who is the oldest in the group, but is very very slow. London keeps bitching to me about Trina, who is frustrating I know, but saying that she is ‘fucking stupid’ behind her back. Trina is twelve, and still carries around a stuffed pony, and plays imaginary games with it – she has the maturity of a six year old. Its also hard because we have a lot of drama, and she always withdraws from the activities. I guess I am just treating it as something for child psychology. Like today I was in a canoe with her, and I asked her how she was getting along with the others and because it makes her uncomfortable to talk about it, she deliberately ignored me and decided to inform me that if we get stuck in a whirlpool we will get wet. The other day she also asked me why we wear bras, even though she was wearing one herself.
The others kids are angels, especially compared to the other weeks – and im thinking that I’ve either had bad luck and had a lot of hard groups, or im an incompetent counsellor, which is how London makes me feel. Its weird because last year I was the dominant counsellor with hawk, and this week I just feel like London completely dominates and then whenever she’s not there, the kids just muck up. Its hard living and working in the same environment. Then I am afraid that every time London goes off she is bitching about how incompetent I am to the others. The worst thing London has said so far to the kids is “come on, be clever. Don’t you know anything about something?” We just have nothing in common – she is into the mini skirts, skin products and socialising – I am into the hiking boots, listening to the kids endless conversations, and am all for the saying “a little bit of dirt never hurt any one.”
I do like the scheduling this week though. The art specialist, healthy’s idea, was to focus all the activities of the week around the lion king, making masks, learning about afriacan animals , and doing a performance of the lion king (the opening scene) at closing campfire. London and I at the beginning both pictured like a broadway musical. Obviously it will be nothing like that, but I think it will be very creative.
I also have Toto as my UL again – which is better than last time, because she has loosened up a bit and doesn’t do evaluations about the days process each night, but she is still controlling and embellishes in her authority a little too much. I will have to do laundry at the end of the week though, because her smell has infiltrated everything.
When I have time off, I would rather spend time alone, writing this, listening to music etc… Music takes me back to the ‘old world,’ and I go to sleep with it on a lot lately, mainly because it takes my mind off things and calms me down, but also so I can’t hear the annoying mozzies buzzing around my ears.
I’m making camp sound really negative. Sure, its hard work, physically but mainly being emotionally draining. But its become a big way of life, and its depressing to think that its nearly over and I won’t be seeing these people ever again. I am really up for going to the Netherlands to see Star in November when she gets back from America.
London started to get really narky in the middle of the week – and completely lost her patience with trina, the slow girl, calling her a ‘fucking bitch’ a lot right behind her back. I can’t believe how little she can realte to the girls.
By the end of the week I had grown quite attached to these girls, but had had enough of London, who I had sensed a lot of tension with. She takes the lead a lot and makes me feel like an incompetent counsellor. Like when one of the girls dropped the salsa into the lake, she said “well hasn’t this night got even worse- I won’t eat dinner without salsa!!” I said “well the girls won’t be that fussy, but if you really want it you can go back to the lodge and get some.” Which she ddin’t do, so she must have listened to me.
Trina has taken to playing with cardboard, instead of the other girls. London keeps calling her insane.
The girls put a hell of a lot of effort into their Lion King performance at campfire. It was nothing like the other performances, because the others were giggling etc during performances. When the music of the circle of life came on and we watched out girls rising up from various spots in the crows with masks and face paint, like animals ,and slowly descending the stairs, I got shivers, and I felt so proud that these were ‘our girls’. Their performance was amazing, apart from rafiki dropping simba on the ground. We got standing ovations all round.
I wanted the girls for the rest of the summer, but not London. On our day off I swum the tri-dock for the second day in a row (its 1.6km straight swimming)!! And we went into carnation and had icecream. Star and I got into a spitting lemonade fight, and we came out of it very sticky and hysterical. Ah memories!! Got back to camp and we made a deal: I cut her hair (pretty well I thought), and she cut mine. VERY short. I look like dad / betty boop!!!!!
Only two weeks left ☹
posted by Amy at
11:36 am
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