Camp Days

I spent the past two weeks helping out at a small summer camp in the nearby city of Nahodka. All the Rotary Exchange students had been invited, and while not everyone could make it, I was excited to see at least some of my friends for the last time. I'll admit the main draw was to see my exchange friends again, but at the end of the two weeks, I was leaving one of the best experiences of my exchange. 

I arrived on June 1 at the tiny camp of  "Byhkta Otrada," which was nestled between two hills that formed a small bay on the coast. I guess it wasn't all that small since this camp hosted 150 kids (up to 14 years old), and during the next session it will be hosting over 300. It was the cutest place you've ever seen. Everything was arranged in a straight line. The dining hall, all the houses,  the "club," the store, and a sports area were all lined up along a road. On the other side of the road were gardens, play grounds, and a soccer field. We exchange students lived in small houses made from storage containers, two per room, that were perched on a hill behind the dining hall. 

I was at the camp with three other exchange students: Carolina from Brazil, Adrian from Mexico, and Fritjoff from Germany. We arrived at the camp, were greeted by the director, shown our rooms, then left to our own devices. This resulted in pure chaos for the first few days. We had no idea where we were supposed to be helping, when things were scheduled, or whom to ask questions. We ended up playing on the playground with the kids all day. I remember we were supposed to be helping in the different "squads" of kids, but no one told the leaders of the squads we were coming, and we couldn't find our squads anyways. It also took a few days for the kids to warm up to us and for everyone to figure out who we were and what we were doing there. It was a crazy couple of days. 

After the initial confusion, we developed a routine and soon were having the time of our lives. We really had no responsibility, so we made up different jobs such as "playground security" and just played with kids. Though it took awhile for them to open up, once they did we got mobbed everywhere we went. Once we had our schedule down, we decided that there was not enough required of us and we took matters into our own hands. We planned a week of craziness where we would make up a theme for each day, dress up in costumes, and go around throughout the day getting kids involved. The first day was Sports day and we jogged around the camp getting kids to join us in exercises. The second day was Nature day and I taped branches to myself and was a tree. Soon all the kids were hugging trees and spreading the word about the theme. The kids got so into it they would come up to us and ask which day it was. One day we woke up late and just decided it would be Sleep day and everyone walked around in PJs with their pillows. Every morning we would stand outside the dining room door as the kids filed in to wash their hands, and we would lead them in camp songs that we learned from our own days in camp. Soon the kids came running in to meals begging to sing different songs with us. We considered it a great success and even all the camp leaders were joining in. 

The structure of the camp was very simple. Breakfast was at 9:00 every morning, then from 10:00 to 1:00 they had informal English lessons, just with camp leaders. We helped a lot with that. Lunch was at 2:00, and at 4:15 they had a huge game with all the kids from the camp. Dinner was at 7:00, and every night there was a concert in their "club" at 8:00. At 9:00, there was either a dance party until 10:00, or there was something called an "ogonyoke," which was something involving candles and talismans. We didn't actually go to that so I don't know for sure. The kids had a lot of free time at the camp, but they were always busy. Part of this was due to the fact that every day each squad had to come up with a short skit to match the theme for the day. Everyone performed at the concert at the end of the day. They were the cutest little shows! 

One of the things we thought was extremely odd were all the random people walking around. There were often people or children about or playing on the playground who were not actually part of the camp. It was also odd the number of parents who came to visit their kids or even take them home for a few days.  While we spent lunch comparing camps from our countries, we all agreed that parents coming to camp, and all the time kids spent on their cell phones, just did not seem right. 

The camp itself was absolutely incredible. It was in a stunning location, with the hills rising steeply and covered in lush, bright green forests. In the morning, the mist covered the tops of the hills, creating a feeling and atmosphere that made us question whether we were actually in Russia. However, even better than the scenery, were the wonderful people. The camp directors and leaders were fantastic young people who were so interested in us and our program. They welcomed us right away and soon we were just one of them and we became close friends. But the kids were the best of all. They loved the fact that we were foreigners, and proceeded to explain things to us and teach us new words. They often taught us things we already knew, but their unique perspectives and opinions had us busting up laughing half the time. It was awesome to be with them, and they made me realize how comfortable I am with these people and how hard it will be to leave them. 

The people I will miss the most however are those crazy, amazing exchange students. In Russia, we exchange students don't really get to experience the "exchange life," where you hang out with other "exchangers" all day, every day, or see them on a regular basis. This is because most of us are alone in our cities, which are many miles apart, and I've only known most of the students for about a month's worth of time, if you add the time we've spent together since we've been here. However, in that time, we have grown so close and made so many memories. Unfortunately, one collective memory that's not so pleasant was the camp food . It made a lot of people sick, so after spending the first week being sick off and on, we mainly stuck to a diet of bread and tea. Thus, as Fritjoff described it, we set up a bread mafia and snagged any extra bread from anyone who could spare it. By the end of our time, people just brought us the bread. Our best conversations were while we sat at our table with a plate of bread and a teapot. Everyone else ate so fast that we were always the last ones in the dining hall and the cleaning ladies would have to kick us out. Another way we combated the food issue was by just eating the food  we brought ourselves, which mainly consisted of peanuts, chocolate, and a lot of Nutella. We would sit up late into the night in our room eating Nutella with "borrowed" spoons from the kitchen. We also had a great time exploring the beach in our spare time. It was closed off, but the gate was easy to climb and no one missed us while we were gone. It was a beautiful bay, and so quiet. The coast line was stunning and we climbed out on the rocks and counted all the cargo ships heading to the port in Nahodka. 

Of course, since we were from four different countries, some things did get lost in translation between all of us. I remember once that a lady explained to me an activity we would be doing the next day. She spoke very fast, and it was a complicated explanation, so I didn't understand much. However, I understood that certain tourists were coming the next day with butterflies and we were doing something in the field by the creek. When I told this to Fritjoff and Carolina, our conversation went kind of like this:

Caro: "Like an exhibition?"

"Yeah, I heard they are from Sweden and have come to play football with us," Fritjoff said. 

And so from this conversation we gathered that Swedish footballers were coming to put on an exhibition of butterflies for us by the creek. 

The next day we wandered down to the creek, excited to meet some Swedes. We stood with the kids as a group of people were setting up something around the creek. "Are those the Swedes?" asked Fritjoff. Craning our necks to see them, we watched them closely. 

"Wait," said Caro, "isn't that Yevgenia?" 

Sure enough, our program director was among those in the group. As it turns out, there were no Swedes. The "tourists" were a tourism firm that organizes rope courses for children's camps. This is the company Yevgenia owns. The butterfly was the name of one of the obstacles in the course. As for the footballers, they were actually Russians who had been to the camp before and wanted it join the daily game. So while we never got to see any butterflies, we spent the rest of the camp wondering where the Swedes were. 

It was an amazing time and I loved every minute of it. It was hard to leave all the people there, especially my exchange friends, but we made a pact to see each other again someday. Who knows when that will be, but for now we have many memories to treasure. It was touching to see the love the camp kids gave me on the day I left. One girl came up to me and hugged me. With her arms wrapped tightly around my waist she said, "I thought Americans hated us." Tearing up, all I could say was, "Of course not. I love you."