Good Bye AmVil, Next Stop Morocco!

Well this blog has suffered a complete blow of child abandonment, blog being child, and I being (as expected) the ill attentive father. I will at least say in my defense that I was playing father and role model to the children across France. My last month after Barcelona was a completely amazing one, and I want to write this as a tribute to the people and times I enjoyed.

I worked in the Pyrenees, back to my Chateau and bakery paradise, finally to a new site where I got to see a lot of my old compatriots. The job became more and more fun as you got all of the zany counselors mixing about the camps and wanted to add their own flare into the program for the kids. I spent a couple of weeks in the Pyrenees harassing kids as an east Indian crazy man, a week as a Slytherin being ruthless, competitive, and malicious as possible, and a week convincing grown men I was a woman in an inappropriately short black dress and Gladiator sandals. (Not to mention spreading the new makeup and fashion phenomenon ‘?’) Alas I am convinced there is no better way to say ‘Hello!’ and ‘Welcome to American’ than through deeds such as these.

I know my job may sound like a whole bunch of Nonsense, dress up, and playing around, and I dare say it is. However the kids only have fun when we have fun and give them all the crazy energy and attention we can. All I can really say is that I enjoyed everyday of my spring spent at American Village and any of the more dim moments just make the rest that much brighter. I thank all of my co-workers and friends for being as crazy with me as I could hope and giving me a plentiful pocket of memories to take with me along with my over packed and abused luggage. FARE WELL AmVil!

If anyone who has heard of my crazy and fun times working this spring and are interested in perhaps doing the same ask anything you would like to know and check out the camp at: www.americanvillage.fr

A Glimpse of the Pyrenees

Well my first week down in the Pyrenees has been an interesting one. The weather has been the coldest I have experienced since I left Norway and it even snowed during our camp this week. However a lot of France and Spain have had a rough week full of cold weather and rain so I can’t give the new site a bad rap. Although it isn’t as modern as the last one it has a great cabin like charm to it and is set right beside a river called Nestle (said a little different than the chocolate) The new staff was so fun and welcoming and the night of my arrival they had made real hamburgers from scratch, not the piddly ones they feed us on the night the campers arrive.

The nature around the area is amazing, so green, full of hills and nearby mountains. The hills look like they have been piled with thick carpets of moss like the pelts of animals, they are so lush and thick with vegetation. The stream is lovely, yet cold, and the air is fresh as anything. We live a few minutes from a very small town but the quaintness and the welcoming attitude of the people is great. The owner of our camp Guy, and his family are so very nice and on weekends he goes out of his way to cook us a great French meal paired with the right wines, cheeses, and all the fixins.

The campers this past week were great. They were hard to keep from talking long enough o do anything, but they were also so full of spirit and life. They loved doing everything we had planned for them no matter how silly or crazy. There are always a few you want to steal. The highlight of my week was definitely the 30 or so person snowball fight we had with the kids. I have not had a snowball fight in years and one of such size was SO MUCH FUN. I also managed to have the kids speak like Borat all week, chiming around the camp saying “How Much”

This week our camp has been closed and so many of the staff I have just met are getting split up again, so next week working will be another bag of craziness. I am currently in Barcelona on my week off and will have more to write about soon!

A Month in a Castle's Court

It has been 3 weeks or so since I have updated the blog, I have been so busy with working and ventures on the weekends. I have officially been at the castle in the center of France for a whole month and it has been a wonderful month indeed!

The KIDS are crazy and always so full of energy. We keep up and manage just fine but some days you wonder how they still want to run around after hours of intense activity. It reminds me of my friend’s chocolate lab that would still force me to play with her even though her heart was beating out of her chest and her lungs puffing for air. I have never been one to like children or get attached in any way, but I have found myself warming up to them. A bizarre combination of being a kid’s parent, teacher, and best friend for an intensive week of 14 hour-a-day contact causes you to really love the kids like they were your own child or little brother or sister. We have definitely had some campers who have driven us to insanity, some antagonize you and boo you whenever you enter the room, some tell you about diarrhea, and some don’t listen for the life of them. However there are some that dress up in drag and prance around, some buy you candy, many cry when they have to say goodbye and every week there are a handful that you just want to adopt.

The STAFF have become like family to me. I have made contacts and friends from all over the world and each of them have become very dear to me. I have been blessed to have such a great group of co-workers because it is like working with your best friends everyday from when you wake up till when you go to bed. A lot of crazy jokes have been made and times have been had. We share music, media, stories, and sometimes bedrooms. This job would not be nearly as good without the staff and friends I work with.

On the WEEKENDS we have made our way in the close city of Montlucon, which has provided us with eating, shopping, and bowling at a very popular laser tag and bowling bar. In France it is a very popular Friday night activity for young people. That way they don’t just drink; they have something more to do. Of course Discothèques and bars are still a past time and we have managed to sample a few clubs and pubs on the weekends as well.

Our first time in Montlucon we decided to go for Chinese food because we were all dying for a break from the French food at the camp, however it was not all we hoped for. We ended up taking forever translating the French menu to a Chinese woman who spoke French with an extremely thick Chinese accent. It was very funny as she slapped at our hands and lectured us in bad French about how to properly eat the food (food that was not that good, and did not fill us up). The entire restaurant was watching us and it was quite a show.

There is also a lake very close to our camp that we have both driven to and hiked to on the weekends. We pack a picnic and spend the day sunning by the beach and playing in the lawns with random dogs that like to visit everyone at the Lake. The summer sun has definitely began shining in France and it is keeping me in high spirits.

The FOOD from the camp is free but could definitely be better. As a foodie, and culinary adventurer it has been hard to eat mass made institutional meals, eat at scheduled times, and eat exactly what is given to you each day. However some of the food is pretty good, we usually get spaghetti carbonara, chili con carne, and some decent Mexican and Thai salads. However a lot of the food (especially veggies) gets doused in a nasty dressing they seem to use on everything that is a mix of mayo, mustard, and oil or cream. I firmly believe they change the ratio to make it thick or thin depending on the application. However on the weekends there are private parties and rentals at the Chateau and we often get great food as a result, like braised rabbit in grainy mustard sauce and roast pork legs. We also get a wack of cheese and bread at all times with full wheels of Brie, goat, and blue cheeses. We go into the markets in town and try interesting things and have become regulars at an amazing little bakery where the lady and her husband routinely give us boxes full of pastries for free. (A direct result of eight people going to the same bakery several times a week) I miss spicy food, smoothies, and salmon but I will just adjust my tastes for the time being and enjoy what France has to offer. Bon Appetit!

As I write this entry I am on the train to a new camp however and I now have to say good-bye to my castle and good-bye to my new family I have been working with this past month. I am being sent to the south of France in the Pyrenees about half an hour from the Spanish border where I will be doing the teaching I love with a new set of great young people (or so I assume).

At Home in My Castle

Well I have left London, narrowly avoided being stranded by the train strikes in France, spent a night in Paris eating Moroccan food and Nutella covered waffles, mastered the Paris Metro, and after a long day on the train made it to Cosne d’Allier!

Cosne d’Allier is the small town where the camp I am working at is situated. It is in the center of France near Lyon. The weather has been a little up and down with rain but it is overall quite lovely here and the town is as quaint as anything you could find. There is a great little bakery and all of the amenities included a few stores, hairdresser (that doesn’t look like a barber) and some restaurants and bars. Our first few days at the castle were spent unpacking all of the decorations and materials to run the camp and setting everything up, we then had to plan the weekly program and all of our English lessons. The crew I am working with is the cream of the crop and their company is better than gold so I am having an amazing time working 14 hours a day.

A basic day at the camp consists of Breakfast, 2 hours of English lessons, a big Congress meetings where we introduce our theme day (Wild West, Hit Music, Discover America, etc.) by doing skits, teaching songs, and a little aerobics. After that we have lunch and then have free time for the kids. During this time we supervise, play with them, run the shop and so on, then they have 2 activities that we plan for them. The activities can be sports like baseball, big group games like capture the flag or ‘who stole the gold’, or making dream catchers and tie dying shirts. Then the kids have a shower while we have a meeting to make further plans for the week and get more prep done for the evening. We then have Dinner and give the kids a little free time that allows us to set up for our Evening program, which is something like a campfire, dance party, a carnival, or so on, and the event is usually based on that day’s theme. Then we warm the kids down and send them to bed.

The camp runs Monday to Friday and then we have the weekend off for some preparation for the next week and also free time for us. This weekend we went into the neighboring city of Montlucon for some Chinese food and to check out a bit of the night-life there, we even stumbled upon an odd French folk concert. The capper to our night was being denied a pizza from a 24/hour pizza vending machine because it only accepts French bank cards.

This Easter we will have more adventures and stories to tell and I shall fill you in soon!

Happy Easter!!!