Only Time Will Tell...

     ...how this camp will turn out. But right now, I have high hopes. As a preview for later in the post, there's been some pushback from students on certain things as usual but overall the mood is positive.

     There was a comment from my dad on the last post with some questions that I wanted to share here. It's all information I failed to include due to not thinking clearly yesterday while I was writing. My dad wrote:

Questions: How many students total at camp? Three groups again? How many students in your English class? How is the rest of the team?

     We have 31 or 32 students. I didn't hear a final tally. We actually split intermediate again into two groups. After the first day, Austin and Gretchen are taking one and I'm with the other. I have 8 students but the camp photographer, a translator and a camp helper stick around as well. The other group has the same.
     The rest of the team is tired, but doing well. Gretchen hurt her knee a little bit before the trip so she's not doing anything too strenuous. But so far, other than me feeling sick, the team is good. I can say that, at least by lunch time, my situation was improving. I wasn't nearly so achy later in the day. The team in general is working on getting used to this new situation. Most of them haven't done anything exactly like this before and being thrown into a new situation is stressful enough. Add in a different country, two unfamiliar languages, and the uncertainty of learning new skills and it becomes a big drain on people. All things considered, the team is doing well.

Gretchen leading a discussion of English idioms.

     As for Tuesday, this is the update you've been looking for. Tuesday, like Sunday, dawned way too early. My alarm went off at 7AM and I still hadn't rolled out of bed by 7:27. That's when I realized I finally had to get moving. It wasn't easy. The staff meeting was scheduled to start in three minutes. I made it in time but only because the other staff hadn't all arrived yet.
     I'm done complaining about being sick/tired so I'll just say it's not been or going to be an easy week. And the morning devotional reflected that. Zhenya, the camp leader, emphasized that we wouldn't be able to do any of this without God's strength supporting us along the way.
     I skipped the morning exercises in favor of resting and printing extra materials for the English lessons. Austin and I had more people than we expected. I had printed out ten copies of each lesson before camp and I needed an extra eight this morning.

     As you can see above, this is a jam-packed schedule. Sadly however, there is no jam. A common complaint among the students at every camp is that there isn't enough free time. I would agree with them but there is a good reason for it. The camp staff can't fit everything they want to do into a day without packing every minute. It is partly a bang-for-the-buck thing. Concurrently, I suspect that the tiring schedule helps with getting their message into the students' heads.
     I noticed in my first English camp in 2014 that there was initially a lot of push-back from students on Max's talks. But as the week went on, it seemed like they were more and more open to his views/opinions/message. I distinctly remember writing "they're thinking" in my journal from the that week. In the team time, the staff has a series of questions that are supposed to work along side of the lectures. During the team time, they go around the circle and ask everyone these questions. It's interesting to hear some of their answers. You hear new theories and ideas that you never expected. And for the purposes of the team time, no answer is wrong. It's essential to tease out their thoughts to force them to think clearly about what their beliefs really are. They then have to examine their beliefs in light of the information Max conveys in the lectures.
     Changing tacks a little, English was a lot easier today. It was scheduled as the longest lesson time this week. 10:20 to 1PM. Fortunately I got to use our biggest lesson for today. It helped make the time pass quickly. I also have been remembering my old teaching style and refining it a little for this camp. I started off with a game of hangman to review the lesson from yesterday. It turns out the students liked it. I'll have to remember that in the future. I also spent a longer time on their pronunciation with emphasizing how to say the "th" sound.
     Lunch was good again. Although I didn't eat everything laid out on the table. Take a look at the picture and you might be able to see why. That big purple mass is called салат (sallat). It's closest American analogy is coleslaw. This is made primarily with mayonnaise with some cabbage and other ingredients thrown in for good measure. I never acquired a taste for it. Probably never will. And yes, that is a good approximation of chicken noodle soup. About the only difference was the added parsley and potatoes.
     In the afternoon, before the lecture, we had scheduled "fun." I thought it was. We did an activity called "living library" or "human book" depending on how you translate it. Basically it was a conversation time that we could talk with students one-on-one both to practice their English and to get to know them better.
     The rest of the day was fairly standard. Team time, lecture, dinner, more team time, and then capture the flag. We did however have the option to go play table games. When I was walking into the room, Vitaly, who I know from English club, called me over to play the cajon and shakers. It's been about eleven months since I played but it felt like stepping back into a familiar place. I haven't forgotten the basic beats and can generally keep time well enough. We ended up playing together for over an hour. Two other people joined in while we were playing. Gretchen sang for a few songs and Igor, whom I also met in English Club, played bass. It was a good way to round out the night, playing some familiar songs as well as new ones.
     Tomorrow looks to be very interesting as we have a huge block of time simply labeled "Quest." Judging from quests in the past, it will certainly be unique. I'll try to take pictures along the way but I can't promise. It also depends on how awake I am when unearthly-thirty rolls around in the morning. Supposedly it's only at 7:20 that we need to meet but it's blocked out 'til 1:30PM tomorrow. It'll be a long morning. I should go sleep so I can function then. Good night.