1) On the first day, our classes named themselves. Mine was extremely divided by gender, but they finally agreed on The Devils. Later in the day, the afternoon Olympic teams named themselves. My group couldn't decide on anything until someone suggested the devils again, and I thought, what about The Angels? So in the morning I'm a Devil and in the afternoon I'm an Angel. The Devils are pictured, with their placemats that they bring for lunch.2) We went around and did an introductory song/game in my class last Monday, and part of it was saying your favorite singer/band. I had been wondering if my kids this year would know Lady Gaga, because she was never mentioned last year even though Poker Face was the song of the summer. No one said anything until my last three boys had their turn. It went Gaga - Madonna - Gaga.
3) The first day, my kids were so happy to learn that in America, we really do have lockers and cheerleaders at our high schools. This was the most exciting part of the get-to-know-you morning activities on the first day for them. The least exciting for me? Watching them spend 20 minutes deciding on what kind of block letters to use for our class poster only to paint outside the lines anyway.
4) On the second day, my best English speaker told me that she lived for a year in America. Where? St. Louis. Why? Her dad was a visiting professor at Saint Louis U. "My sister went to Ladue Middle School!" Coincidences abound here.
5) We went over foods and drinks last week before a class field trip to the local supermarket. I had them brainstorm for a long time, and the asst. director came in to help translate. I was asking about drinks and one girl said "Sangue!" Sangue means blood. The asst. director made a "drawing blood" motion, and the girl nodded. "For vampires!" she added.
6) I have a camp girlfriend. Hope (the one I traveled with) and I are dating, according to our campers. The day they all decided this was the case, one of my campers (who's 12 but looks 16, and who will be mentioned later) asked me, "Do you want to smack Hope?" "What?!" I responded. Then he made a kissing motion, and I asked, "Do I want to kiss Hope?" And he nodded. They proceeded to chant "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" which is infinitely better than "Smack! Smack! Smack!" This romance has also boosted my standing with some of the boys in my group, especially the old-looking one. One day when waiting in line to go to lunch, he told me: "Love is big." Oh, the wisdom.
7) There is a 7 or 8 year old camper who I'm pretty sure is gay. Not just European, but gay. He and his best friend are always all over each other, rolling around together, or actually kissing. And when he's not with his best friend, his hands are all over other boys. I'm not sure whether to stop them when they're doing this and not doing camp activities, because I might stop them if they were a boy/girl, but I don't want them to think that I'm stopping them because they're both boys... but that might not even register for them.
8) FOOD. For lunch our directors brings us tutors food from a nearby restaurant, where they don't really have a menu, they just cook whatever is fresh that morning (+ french fries, annoyingly). It's usually really good. And the kids eat SO MUCH. Many have a sandwich for snack. The old-looking one had four sandwiches for lunch today. And some of their lunchboxes could pass for small suitcases. But most of them are super skinny anyway.
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