Summer Camp

The English school we work for (MES) offers a 2 night/3 day summer camp for our students ages 9-13. Each "foreign teacher" (that's us) had a group of 9- 10 kids that we were in charge of.
This is where the camp was held, which is set up specifically for group camps. Inside the building was a huge cafeteria, a ton of bedrooms with bunk beds, an auditorium, an onsen (public bath), and a craft room.

We had activities planned for almost every minute of the day...so we definitely got our exercise. We started the first day with a picnic outside. We both had all girl teams; Melissa's team was the pink team and Frank's was the purple team.

We then went hiking up a mountain for an hour to a river where we all went swimming. We think the kids enjoyed the hike, but then again, it's hard for us to tell if they are complaining or not due to the language barrier. It's actually a lot better this way! By the time we made it to the river, we were all really hot and sweaty.

Once we got to the river, we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, rafting, and catching fish with nets. This was our favorite part of summer camp.

After going back to the campsite, we all bathed and then ate dinner at the cafeteria. Each time we ate, 3 kids were assigned from each group to help serve the meal and clean up. Everyone had to wait until the entire group of 85 kids were seated before eating.

The next day we spent making props and practicing skits that each team had to present on the last day for the parents. Each foreign teacher had to write the skit and prepare the materials for their team. The kids were in charge of making their costumes and memorizing their lines in English.

That evening the kids cooked soba noodles and hamburgers on a grill for dinner, we had a campfire, did a dance, and then ended the night with a ghost walk through the woods. The ghost walk was pretty funny. Each foreign teacher wore a scary mask and hid in the woods until a group of kids walked by and we could jump out and scare them. Some kids ran away laughing, others crying.

On the last day, the parents came at 1:00 to watch the skits and take the kids home. The skits turned out really cute.

Here is a video of the ending of Frank's team's skit. In this skit, the kids find a big pot and keep adding different vegetables to it thinking it's soup. At the end, Frank comes on stage and says that the pot is his washing machine.

In Melissa's skit, the girls are shopping and find 3 mannequins with no clothes on. They each come on stage and dress the mannequins. At the end, they begin dancing around the stage and then accidentally fall down. One girl pops a balloon and one of the mannequins (Melisssa) comes to life and the kids are all shocked.

After summer camp was over, we went home exhausted. Melissa went to sleep at 7:30pm and slept for 11.5 hours! This was definitely one of the best experiences we have had working with the kids though. We were able to bond with them and get to know them on a completely different level. We're really going to miss them when we move back home.