2025 Mandarin Camp: Day 1
- Dave
- Jun 7
- 2 min read
After we left you at Taipei Gymnasium the trip out to Camp was relatively uneventful. One or two of the kids was slightly carsick, but after a short time at Camp, they were completely fine.
We arrived at Camp and got everyone settled into their tents. They had a few minutes to unpack their bags and arrange their tents. We then met up for some team icebreaker and name games. After the kids were familiar with the kids on their team (there are two teams, blue and purple.), we put the groups together to play some cooperative games. Cooperative games are mostly designed to get the campers to work together and/or figure things out, but sometimes we throw in some games that are just fun.
In the middle of the day, we have lunch, followed by a rest hour. The kids don't actually have to sleep during this time, but it is designed to give them a little down-time. They can play cards or similar games in their tents or out on the porch. (Each tent has a little porch in front of it.) Rest hour not only keeps them out of the heat and sun during the hottest part of the day, it also is a great time for the kids to bond with their tentmates and for the counselor to spend some time with them in a small-group environment.
The day is divided up into two 90-minute activity periods in the morning, followed by two more 90-minute periods after the mid-day rest period. For the afternoon activities today, the blue team had archery, and the purple team had climbing. They switched places for the second activity period.
By the way, if you are still in Taipei, I think you had some serious lighting storms this afternoon. There is a mountain range between us and Taipei, so when Taipei gets thunderstorms, we don't necessarily get it here. I mention that because we get concerned phone calls every time there is a storm in Taipei. Rest assured, we pay very close attention to the weather. We only got a few drops of rain here today. We had the rain coats out, but we didn't really need them.
The campers seem to be bonding well. We can already see friendships forming among certain groups of children. Everyone seems to be getting along and there don't seem to be any clashes of personality.
At the end of the afternoon activity periods, the campers get a bit of time to take a shower, and get ready for dinner. Dinner is served at 6:00 pm, after which, they have a bit of time to write in their journals. They are just finishing dinner now and will start on their journals soon.
In the evening, we have an evening program. Tonight is our campfire program. We will sing some songs, and play some games. We will wrap it up by roasting marshmallows and making s'mores.
That is all for today. Here is a link to photos. Please note that the password to this blog will change when the next group arrives (2 days after this one leaves). So please download any pictures you wish to keep.
