| 23/6/2007 I've been at this Summercamp for...9 days so far. Today's a Saturday-sure doesn't feel like it. The campers finally arrived yesterday. Today and yesterday are the first times I had to wear jumper and trousers all day, since it had been hot all the time so far. Feels nice not to have to wear sticky spray all over my exposed skin though (the spray is a mixture of sun spray and bug repellant-genius!). I can't help but want to write a couple of observations about camp: Counselors and Kitchen Staff are divided. It can't be helped. But no one wants any rivalry/tension/competition/whatever. So we're told to get along and that's pretty easy. We all mingle together in the counsel lounge (where I am now-it's the only place to get internet access) and at coffee and cake served after 9pm. I haven't really noticed anyone actually treat me as lower than them or given me a degrading look, although they sometimes act a bit-um...blunt when being served food (I don't mind, I'd act the same in their position), but some other kitchen staffers are complaining that some counselors look at them and judge them as lower staffers. The counselors won't hurl any abuse though, otherwise they get a tongue-lashing or worse. When being served food though, the campers (this is a girls' camp so they're all girls) are very adorable and very polite. Lucy thinks they're generally more polite than the counselors. The staff tension (I honestly believe a lot of it's imagined-it's very easy to do that and I have found them easy to get along with) is non-existent with office staff. Office staff work the most hours and work directly with/for management. They get a certain amount of authority in some events but they don't treat anyone as being beneath them. That's probably why there's no imagined tension. Mind you, a couple of counselors are teasing me but only because they found out I watch wrestling. I think it'll stop now, especially since after watching all 3 shows that I watch (Smackdown, Raw and TNA Impact) I'll stick to watching TNA-it's so much better and both WWE brands just bored me to death. That and now the campers are here they get less free time and use more energy. But I don't like the fact that in all 3 occurrences I got the remote (either by asking or the TV wasn't being used) but then people complained and demanded I change the channel. If they don't like what I'm watching just leave the room. It's what I'd do. I'm obviously a kitchen staffer but my perpetual place seems to be in the bakery, helping 'Chef Jim'. Usually I'm baking cookies-very easy to do since the dough is pre-made. Mind you cookie baking is during breakfast. If that night's dessert is cake then I help him cut up all the cakes during lunch. Tonight's dessert is ice-cream. Yay! I've also got the additional job of checking all the cupboards are fully stocked of plastic/polystyrene cutlery and napkins-I do that in the evening. But yeah, Jim and I had this long conversation on British-American comparisons (namely on history and culture) and I found it rather funny when I said that many Brits saw Americans as "gun-toting maniacs" 'cos Jim answered: "We are". Even though he never held a gun, he said that. It also turns out that part of the campaign to ban guns is the row in interpretation of "the right to bare arms". Does it mean military or civilians? Why can't they just say military and everyone can go home? I also notice (very easily) that all the windows here are either made of or covered in netting. The nets keep the bugs out-obviously. Basically, open a window, a bug can easily fly in. Open a window but have no exposed hole to the outside world (because there's a net against the window-square) means no bugs. Genius-and necessary, since we're in the middle of a forest. Another pet peeve is that my laptop clock is still set GMT time. I thought that might be easier/clever but I'm on the laptop quite a lot and I'm getting fed up of seeing my clock 5 hours fast. |