(no subject)
It has come time for one of my least favorite activities: changing AIM screen names. It takes me ages and can never think of good ones. I always want something simple, because, I mean, it's my NAME, you know, so I really wish I could have just plain "Lily." But of course, that is already taken, and so I will end up with T1G3RL1LYOMG17845 or something and I will be vaguely dissatisfied until I have reason to change it again. I have been upset about this all night.
Now that I have that bitterness out of the way, let's talk about some other stuff. The three big things going on right now are work and camp, which are now synonymous, and The Attempt to Get My Liscence, which is now an epic struggle that is taking ages. Because the process of getting one's liscence is fairly dull, I'll skip it entirely, but camp deserves something.
A week ago, orientation started. On Thursday, there was a CIT meeting, which consisted of a few basic parts:
1. Group dynamics-testng games.
2. Explanation of our role, i.e. coming up with festival offerings and doing whatever the counselours ask of us.
3. Being talked to about how we are very important to the program.
The next day everybody got together, and we did lots and lots of name games, manual labor, (I had to call parents! About bringing in their children's health forms! Goodness it was terrifying. [Seriously]), and a mock class, the purpose of which was to let us experience how a camper might feel in CRCAP classes. I was put into Cowbell Vaudeville, led by Seth B., and a bunch of other staff members were campers. We made up a skit with no end about cowboys, because someone had mistakenly called the class "Cowboy Vaudeville" earlier in the day, and it was very goofy but also provided insight, although not in the "camper experience" way it was intended. What I got out of it was an understanding of a few staff members' personalities, because I am still at the stage in my life where it is a bit of a shock that adults have personalities, and also a respect for Seth as an instructor. Cowbell Vaudeville is kind of a goofy class, but he had us do exercises and stuff to kind of understand the theory behind being goofy, and he said he also brings in stuff like Three Stooges tapes so the class will learn from the best of the goofy. Quite a bit of serious thought put into that class. I thought it was interesting.
After that whole bit, we did a mock day kind of thing where we went to the actual classrooms of our classes and met with the actual staff in the class and talked and such, which I found very exciting and official. We actually only had time for the first three periods, but anyway. I started out with Handbells, which is staffed by Bob, (obviously), me, and Miriam. We have about four kids in the class so two CITs is really a bit much, but it's very low-key and Bob is really good at making everybody comfortable with what they're doing, so that is exactly how I feel.
Then there is Drop Everything and Draw with Mary, and Mary is a lot like Ms. Neely, only the class is full of younger kids instead of high school students. She has a plan and everything, and my job is basically to fetch things, patrol around tables, and do duties when she requires more than two hands for what she has in mind. I had never taken visual arts when I was a camper, and I always assumed they are hacker than they really are - I mean, they are what you make of them, but there is a kid who is like 13 or 14 and she has as much to sink her teeth into as any of the eight-year-olds. That is the lovely thing about the visual arts: everyone does the same project, but the commentary they get is individual, so you can kinda do things at your own pace.
Daily Double is my third period, run by Emily and Miriam, and Jason and I are the CITs. Because Emily is new and Miriam is technically a CIT, the class is laid-back because everyone is reinventing the wheel a little. My two high points so far are getting the copy machine working and inventing the idea box, which is a shoebox I had lying around my room filled with scraps of papers I needed to get rid of, only they have ideas on them, of course. All I have to do during the class is talk to bored kids until they find their muse, and that is a fairly relaxing duty, so I'm all set. And that was the end of the second day.
The third day was sign-making day. Signs for everything! Classes, groups, nametags for yourself. There were some other things planned around the construction paper and markers, like meeting for fifth and sixth periods, and a mock noontime show, but really the day was all about making signs.
I got switched out of Set Construction at the last minute, (good call by some higher-ups), and so my fifth period is now Theater of the Absurd. It's an excellent-sounding class, but the staff is wayayay intimidating, because two of them have been there before, and the new counselour is a pretty hardxcore theater counselour who, it is easy to tell, is radically talented. So on the one hand, I have to be vaguely responsible with campers, but on the other hand, what it really requires is some comic genius and an outgoing nature that I really hope is just hiding deep inside me right now.
Last is Edible Art, a combination of keeping kids quiet/entertained in the kitchen, and patroling a little while they paint. Lacey is miraculous with small children and she has taught the class multiple times, so everything is under control.
Brief digression: in case you were wondering, the reason why this entry is so long is I have insomnia. I took a nap earlier because I was wiped out, now I sorely regret it, and my plan was to just kinda type until I got tired. I started forty-five minutes ago. It's not working. I think this entry is getting put under a cut riiiightt... now.
Done.
Okay so it turns out, (and I totally did not know this), that the hardest parts of being a CIT are most definitely not classes. They are check-in, lunch, and where to sit during the noontime show. I have learned over the past few days just how horrible with names I really am, as I say things to campers like, "Oh THAT'S where I know you from! You're..." and they look at me with expectact stares until I finally cave and ask their names. This shortcoming of mine is a glaring issue during check-in, where I am supposed to cross off their names on a little slip of paper. Also, lunch is hard because after the first day, I have been way way WAY too lazy to sit next to lonely campers and try to make conversation not awkward. I have to think of a new strategy. I think the way to do it is to partner up with another staff member you can play off of, and then invited lonely campers to sit with you. I shall give it a try today when I wake up in five hours, feeling like I've been hit by a brick, and go to camp. Work. Campwork.
Sleeplessness really drives me crazy, you know that? It's not like I am not trying to sleep, here.
This entry is already crazily long, but a few other things need mentioning. The first is that I have tried yoga now, twice, and here is the verdict: more please. But also, it is really really hard.
I went with my friend and neighbor and the first class we went to was in a heated room, (or, "hot"), and VERY intense. While I like the concept of doing hot, very intense yoga, I am pretty mediocre at it, and although it was a beginner class, not much explaining went on. So we tried a more low-key one too, and that one seemed almost harder, because everything was at a slower pace and thus drawn out for longer. It was more difficult to skip things, by a long shot. But more of the hokey stuff got explained, like breathing and meditating and namaste, and the instructor was pickier about form and more explainy, and so that is the class I am sticking with. The one problem is, the instructor is absolutely intruiged that we are teenage girls and I am not automatically good at yoga. I lack the arm strength to do the basic resting poses. She was floored. Somewhere in there is a very backhanded compliment.
Anyway, that about wraps it up for tonight. I turn 17 in 12 days; bonus points if you remember but no hard feelings at all if you don't. I just put it out there because it's my LiveJournal and I'm excited about it. I think I will go have another crack at sleeping. Wish me luck.