![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
summer can begin!
Aug. 5th, 2007 08:11 amCamp is done!
I had a lot of preparation beforehand, but didn't do very much during camp itself. Still, it's a relief to have that behind me. I went up for the last night and pitched my tiny tent (the one we gave my son when he was three). I did fit, although just barely, and it was probably warmer than if I'd been in a bigger tent. It was actually FREEZING, and in the middle of the night I pulled on an extra pair of pants and wore basically all the clothes I brought. The camp was in a very pretty location outside of Coburg, if you know where that is, in the field of private individuals who offered (our original location was an actual campsite, but the village was having a 60-year-anniversary that week and our events clashed.) The family has an extremely cool house that they built themselves, made of all natural materials, interesting cupboards and woodwork inside. It looks like a hobbit house, actually. Outside, the way the tents were arranged made me think instantly of Aslan's camp in the recent Narnia film. We just lacked the banners and a few of the more interesting animals (although there were several dogs present). A lot of girls were there (the actual number was closer to 50), and despite some reported unpleasantness between cultures, I personally saw numerous instances of German and American girls getting together for very funny attempts at conversation (funny if you understood both languages, that is).
Hm, notes on younger teen girls, in the wilderness, with no boys around (unless you count the local boys who just "had" to play soccer at the nearby park while we were there):
They EAT. We had no leftovers, and NOBODY said anything about dieting.
They are still moody in the wilderness, especially if they don't get enough sleep and get up early enough.
Germans don't wear contacts very often (I think because insurance doesn't pay for them, unlike glasses), and when I took mine out under the lights of the big communal eating tent, they gawked and stared and thought it was rather gross to stick your finger in your eyes. They'd never watched someone take out contacts before.
On the other hand, Germans have no problems with handing a knife to a toddler to help cut up food. We were cutting up vegetables for stew and one of the kids from the house (or a cousin?) sat down and cut up some zucchini. The kid was 2? 3? The other American at the table and I found that rather notable. Cool that the kid was so accomplished, yet thinking how that scene would NEVER happen in the States.
Teen girls like people who like them. This happened at the last teen trip I was on, but I would much rather be one of the adults who gets called by first name and dutzt (familiar form of "you" instead of the more formal Sie) than someone who commands tons of respect. I like these people, and while I'm clear on the difference between adults in authority and the teens being authorized over, on another level we're not that different. Oh, and one of them says she wants to borrow another YA book from me (she has Twilight and wants New Moon), and it delights me to share reading interests!
The other interesting thing about the area was that we drove past some villages on the way that according to some people, some of my family comes from. I think I definitely need to look into this!
At the moment, though, I need to step back into the Mom job and get small children breakfast. Hope you're having a lovely summer!
I had a lot of preparation beforehand, but didn't do very much during camp itself. Still, it's a relief to have that behind me. I went up for the last night and pitched my tiny tent (the one we gave my son when he was three). I did fit, although just barely, and it was probably warmer than if I'd been in a bigger tent. It was actually FREEZING, and in the middle of the night I pulled on an extra pair of pants and wore basically all the clothes I brought. The camp was in a very pretty location outside of Coburg, if you know where that is, in the field of private individuals who offered (our original location was an actual campsite, but the village was having a 60-year-anniversary that week and our events clashed.) The family has an extremely cool house that they built themselves, made of all natural materials, interesting cupboards and woodwork inside. It looks like a hobbit house, actually. Outside, the way the tents were arranged made me think instantly of Aslan's camp in the recent Narnia film. We just lacked the banners and a few of the more interesting animals (although there were several dogs present). A lot of girls were there (the actual number was closer to 50), and despite some reported unpleasantness between cultures, I personally saw numerous instances of German and American girls getting together for very funny attempts at conversation (funny if you understood both languages, that is).
Hm, notes on younger teen girls, in the wilderness, with no boys around (unless you count the local boys who just "had" to play soccer at the nearby park while we were there):
They EAT. We had no leftovers, and NOBODY said anything about dieting.
They are still moody in the wilderness, especially if they don't get enough sleep and get up early enough.
Germans don't wear contacts very often (I think because insurance doesn't pay for them, unlike glasses), and when I took mine out under the lights of the big communal eating tent, they gawked and stared and thought it was rather gross to stick your finger in your eyes. They'd never watched someone take out contacts before.
On the other hand, Germans have no problems with handing a knife to a toddler to help cut up food. We were cutting up vegetables for stew and one of the kids from the house (or a cousin?) sat down and cut up some zucchini. The kid was 2? 3? The other American at the table and I found that rather notable. Cool that the kid was so accomplished, yet thinking how that scene would NEVER happen in the States.
Teen girls like people who like them. This happened at the last teen trip I was on, but I would much rather be one of the adults who gets called by first name and dutzt (familiar form of "you" instead of the more formal Sie) than someone who commands tons of respect. I like these people, and while I'm clear on the difference between adults in authority and the teens being authorized over, on another level we're not that different. Oh, and one of them says she wants to borrow another YA book from me (she has Twilight and wants New Moon), and it delights me to share reading interests!
The other interesting thing about the area was that we drove past some villages on the way that according to some people, some of my family comes from. I think I definitely need to look into this!
At the moment, though, I need to step back into the Mom job and get small children breakfast. Hope you're having a lovely summer!
