part II

so now i go walkabout.

'It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.'
henry david thoreau

the american dream?

so i've been talking to a lot of my friends about this. The whole 'see the world' vs. 'go to college' thing, and how different it is for Australia and America.

In Australia - a gap year is perfectly normal, travelling to see the world before settling into uni/work/life commitments is absolutely reinforced, and the expectations of getting into a "good school" (any uni you go to is good in Aust. really, yes?), getting a "good job", having a "good partner" and "good kids" and repeating it ad infinitum is not really there at all.

In America - there are really big expectations on most of my friends to go straight to college, then get a good job, etc. and continue the cycle of study-work-family-debt before considering travelling. It's almost as if there is a bit of a feeling among the general populus that "well! i was born in america! where else do i need to go?". Of course i am speaking REALLY stereotypically, and not at all reflecting the whole view. It's just what i have picked up?


"Did you know that for pretty much the entire history of the human species, the average life span was less than thirty years? You could count on ten years or so of real adulthood, right? There was no planning for retirement, There was no planning for a career. There was no planning. No time for plannning. No time for a future. But then the life spans started getting longer, and people started having more and more future. And now life has become the future. Every moment of your life is lived for the future--you go to high school so you can go to college so you can get a good job so you can get a nice house so you can afford to send your kids to college so they can get a good job so they can get a nice house so they can afford to send their kids to college." John Green

the american dream?


australia doesn't need it...

camps overrrrrrrr

summer camp's over!

I'm now working what's called "Bob's Camp" for this week - it's a camp for kids who are in temporary adoptive care. They are obviously very troubled and some are quite difficult for their staff to manage (we camp jewell staff don't have to have any responsibility for the campers ourselves so we are not stressed at all which is good!) but it is in general SO SO very relaxed compared to summer camp, which is awesome.

Here are some more pictures from Boston, by the way:

and the night before, at some time between 12am-2am:

I also have a plan formulated for travel post-camp! Woo.

i'll update more when i can next be bothered (probably tomorrow). lots of love

ah bahsten

Hi there...

So much has happened in the past weeks that i have barely had time to check the internet!
To list a few, in Boston i...

• only arrived at the city with all the other Camp "Woodstock" (we renamed ourselves) internationals at like 12am at night, found something to eat at the Cheesecake Factory (oreo cheesecake) and got the to YMCA youth hostel at 2.30am for a little shut-eye

• went to Quincey Markets, a huge market full of super delicious foods

• had a Boston Kreme donut from Dunkin Donuts

• tried clam chowder

• visited a fraternity house

• visited Cambridge... MIT university and Harvard, all the trendy little shops and cafes around there

Fourth session is now rolling on and it seems crazy, but i only have 2 and a half weeks left at Camp Jewell. In lots of ways i really don't want to leave, as this has been my complete and utter home for the past 10 weeks of being in America. It is so beautiful here and you really don't take day-to-day life for granted as it is just so, so action-packed and filled with having fun.

However it will be nice to finally have some time to myself and to sleep. I think it will take me a couple of weeks to catch up on it.

This weekend is Corn Roast, a big event on the Camp Jewell calendar, where all kinds of previous staff and campers come back for a kind of 'reunion' where they roast corn and everything. We are also going to be having a movie night outside on the hill which should be pretty cool.

This session i am teaching the most gorgeous group of kids. I am teaching the Haflingers, which is now the highest riding group in the one-week program. I have five girls, all between the ages of 8-11, and they are just the most helpful and skilled little riders i have seen so far! They really make teaching very fun, and i have been able to do all kinds of games with them, including trotting over cavaletti poles and doing little obstacle courses.

I am also finishing up this session in the Bucks cabin again (which i started in and which is probably one of my favourite age groups) with Julie as my co-counsellor. We have really chilled out so much more for this last session and i can tell we are both enjoying it a lot more. Tonight is our cabin challenge and we may do something like some low-ropes initiative courses or a hike up Sunrise Mountain.

So far my third session was my favourite session as i was in the Appy's cabin, which is basically 13-15yr olds and they were all so mature and helpful that it was awesome.  And i also didn't have a riding group then so i was able to teach a lot more of the non-horse-related-activities like outdoor cooking, candle-making, arts and crafts, and tie-dye which was pretty cool.

I also had a bit of an emotional roller-coaster in third session which was interesting, but which i am feeling pretty good about now.

When fourth session ends we have the staff banquet on the evening of Saturday the 21st, with most of the staff's work contracts ending on the 22nd. That will be pretty sad. My contract goes for another week, until the 30th of August, as does quite a lot of the internationals.

And then comes the solo adventure... i am planning to travel with Emma for the first two weeks, and then when she leaves i may come back near camp and head out with another international friend, Mel, and do a trek or something. The basic plan is to call on as many of the counsellors' colleges that i can...