Begeisterung-ed Out

I'm back in good ol' Salemtowne. Right before I went to Waldsee, I mentioned it was kind of a halfway home between Germany and the US, which it certainly was, but I think it'll take a few days to recover from that halfway home. Man, Waldsee. It was ultimately a positive learning and growing experience, but it took a lot out of me. 

UND WENN DU LEIDER NUR ZWEI STUNDEN GESCHLAFEN HAST? MEHR BEGEISTERUNG!

The best way to describe this camp is as a big, turbulent tsunami that you just kind of jump onto, with or without a surfboard. At first you're simply attempting to keep your head above the water and not drown, and by the end you're either rocking out, catching the waves and having the time of your life or just about to hit rock bottom under a million tons of water. 

Counselors in their natural habitat.

The gig was a total of seven weeks-- one orientation week and then six of the real work. Every two weeks I received a new house full of ten to fourteen two-week campers, who were thirteen- to eighteen-year-old girls. There was always at least one other counselor living in the house with me and I think bonding with our girls in the house was one of my favorite pieces of being a counselor, or as they say in German, a Betreuerin. 

Midnight shenanigans with some of the best coworkers ever. 

Bonding with the other counselors, though, was definitely number one on that list of highlights. It's such an interesting mix of people, some in college, some graduated, some finishing high school, some living in Norway for a while to figure out what they want to do, some from Austria, Germany, Minnesota, Ohio, Florida, California, or even Eugene (!!!), some studying Germanic languages, others piano, computer programming, or ship building, and a surprisingly high number of fellow CBYX alumni. 

Since it is a German language immersion camp, all of the counselors were responsible for helping run language learning groups. I ended up running an "adventure in German group" called Waldsee Digital, which teaches kids the language via technology. It was interesting incorporating technology since we were in the middle of nowhere and a major aspect of this camp is to escape from anything that pings, beeps, or types. In my final two weeks we put together a full-length talk show featuring the one and only Ellen DeWaldsee. If I could just direct kids, write sketches, and edit movies all summer like I did these final two weeks, I'd consider signing a contract now.

They were definitely a very full few weeks.

I am glad I did Waldsee despite the constant sleep deprivation, self-esteem roller coaster ride, frustration with the kiddos, stress while figuring out what I was supposed to do, and the thousand other pressures the ginormous Waldsee tsunami brought with it. There were countless unforgettable moments and I've made some friendships that'll last years. But for now, it's back to the real world. Well, back to the real world once I've slept for about three days straight. Bis nächstes Mal Waldsee!