Important day

Good day everyone! My name is Alena (Peppa Pig), I’m from Moscow. It is my first experience here. I enjoyed every day in the Kingsland, but unfortunately session is closed to the end. And today we had important day — test day. Читать далее…

We passed English tests, everybody was worried about it, but I hope we will have good results and we can be proud of it. Also during two days we were prepared our movies. Every team had saying and genre, we had soap opera with tounge twister: three short sword sheath. First of all we created script for our movie and then started to shoot video. It was a story about one family where something bad was happening every time. It was funny and interesting process to be involved in this work. In the evening we have watched movies from each team and even from the stuff house. I liked most of all scared video from the blue team, story about counselor revenge. It was so good edited! But anyway all the movies deserve to take 1 place. But judges decided to give three first places and one of them for us. We were so happy and cheerful! Also during candlelight we got special attribute of our team — yellow string, we were tied together and because of it we felt our great teamwork! Really cool day! Tomorrow we will have forest camp probably, that’s why we have to be ready for that. I’m going pack my backpack and go to bed. See you!
Герасимова Алена, 11 лет, г. Москва, Yellow House.

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Hi, my name is Katie Smith, and I am from California. I am 21 years old, and this is my first time coming to Russia. I study Chemistry and Russian at the University of California, in Santa Barbara. In my free time, I love to play volleyball and hang out with my friends. This session I was a counselor for Red House, and it was the most memorable experience of my life. Alena was my co-counselor, and I couldn’t have asked for anyone better. I knew this session was going to be lots of fun when, on the first day, someone walked up to me and said “Oh you got paired with Alena? She literally knows everything about this camp – she’s awesome!” They were right. When I came to this camp, I was so nervous with no idea of what I was doing. She was right there for me every step of the way. She is crazy, with amazing dance moves and the lyrics to every random song she feels like singing. Yet she also is such an intelligent person who understands how to work with kids. Watching her interactions with the kids and the relationships she has built is a sight to see.

The kids themselves are incredible. I did not know what to expect because I have never worked with this age group, but it was an unforgettable experience. Red House this session had 22 kids, with 5 boys and the rest were girls. Yeah, Alena and I were nervous. Little did we know that right from the start these kids were like one big family. Instantly, they worked together like they had been on the same team for weeks. Every team building drill we did was bittersweet. Good, because they worked and communicated so well together that they finished almost always in less than five minutes. Bad, because that meant that us counselors had to figure out on the fly what to do with 22 kids for the next 45 minutes. All jokes aside, watching the relationships grow between these kids was amazing. They not only grew as a team, but as individuals. I cannot articulate it enough, how enjoyable it was to watch the quiet kids loudly share their ideas, the shy kids shine on the stage, and even the independent kids hold hands with others and learn how to work as a team.

When we started this session, there was no definite goals that we set aside, but that made the results better. Almost without thought, we became this giant family as we followed the rules that we made for ourselves and did the activities requested of us. Now, not a day goes by without someone mentioning how much they love everyone on the team, and how they feel like they’re a part of a family. This team did it all, and I am so grateful I was present for the journey. The kids taught me so much beyond what I expected. I have learned some stuff about their culture, I have learned words in Russian that I can never forget, and I have even learned ways to better myself. This trip will no doubt cause me to come back to Russia begging for more. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The Knight of the Red House Katie Smith

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