It Was The Best!

No doubt about it, the youth camp was the best I've been to, although it was the shortest. I owe it to my almost-flawless planning and my perfect committee. They definitely showed initiative, responsibility, and commitment to the success of the camp. I am not going to list down a blow-by-blow account of the camp, but I'll just jot down some thoughts and reflection on certain events:

Friday
We got stuck in a minor traffic jam on the way there. Luckily I was the driver, as the people behind were stuffed with luggage. My boot was already filled to the brim with camp equipment, so they had to put their bags on their own lap.

Later that night, we had dinner in a special manner. Teaming up in pairs, we could not feed ourselves, only our partner. The same is vice-versa. I'm glad that everyone participated and it turned out to be great fun. It was only us committee that night, so it could be controlled. If it were all of us, some would never play along.

Saturday
In a rare occasion, our participants actually came on time and they got on bus on time! What was more of a miracle, though, is that they managed to arrive within an hour, 30 minutes earlier than expected. Somehow, the road the driver used is devoid of morning traffic. We had to push everything up! This was unheard of by me - a camp that is actually ahead of its schedule.

Making more things heated for me is the realization at 12.30pm that there was nothing planned for the 1pm - 2pm slot. Somehow, I missed that even after more than 3 months of planning. You'll see in my schedule:
            12.15pm - 1.00pm Lunch
            2.00pm - 3.00pm Session 1
Somehow, that 1 hour vanished, even after being viewed by numerous people. A very strange occurence indeed, but we managed to cover it up with 30 minutes of dancing and then pushing everything else up another 30 minutes.

That was a real bummer, as Session 1 was meant to be my talk on Buddhist leadership, and I had hardly had the time to rehearse. Thankfully, all my previous experience helped me finish the talk with no major hitches. However, it was not as refined as it could be, and it was evident during the feedback session on Sunday where I mostly got a "Good" rating and not many "Excellent" ones.

A very dirty games session came up next. I believe getting wet and dirty is a prerequisite for any successful teenager camp. The only strange thing that happened was that I was the only one who stayed clean. Usually, everyone in the camp is obligated to become dirty, but this time I walked away cleanly. A little disappointed, I am. A friend and fellow participant visited me just now, and he also said that they all felt I was a little detached from the camp. Part of the reason was that I was the only constant photographer during the camp so I had to take photos of them getting dirty. And holding a camera seems to give you an immunity from playing the dirty games.

Dinner, which was scheduled for 5pm, had to be delayed till 7.15pm as the caterer doesn't open till 6pm. We had to shuffle around some sessions, bringing up the chanting and delaying the night game.

The night game played out perfectly, and really achieved its potential. My kudos goes out to all the games people for putting together such a magnificent session! Again, I didn't join. I was quite tired by then, so I meditated for 20 minutes before going out to watch them play. It was real fun, and I would have wanted to participate as well.

The evening ended with a sing-along session. I insisted on "When You Believe" as the last song as I had seen the awesome effect on the participants. However, when "Heal the World" was used as the encore, it got much better response. This goes to show how we cannot stereotype camp participants, no matter how often we are involved in youth camps.

I really wanted to stay up the night to accompany those on night watch, but tiredness got the better of me. My official reason is because I had to drive the next day, so I need my sleep.

Sunday
The morning officially began with the Puja session. It was a conducted by a fellow coursemate of mine, and I think he did really well. Although I did Puja before, it was more complete this time.

Everyone played games again. And again, I didn't join in. But it was nice to see everyone participate actively.

We checked out at 12, and after having lunch, it started to rain heavily. But as they say, the show must go on, so we continued with the performance session where each group acted out a part of the Buddha's life. It was funny and fun, although some events were heavily skewered to be funny.

Presents were given out, but not everyone seemed enthusiastic. The emcee still has some way to go in order to pump up the participants, but she's doing fine for her first attempt.

The point when I realized that I barely made an impact on the participants was when everyone got everyone else's autograph but mine. What a shame!

We were supposed to end at 3.30pm, but due to a special request we got them to the Four Seasons House where it had been summer for 5 months already. Cheapskate.

We finally left the place at 4.30pm.

When we got back, I organized a committee dinner at 7. I planned to treat everyone, as a gesture of appreciation. But my Vice volunteered to share also, so I agreed. In the end though, everyone contributed RM10 as a 'donation', and I ended up only paying RM27.45 of the RM187.45 bill. We ate at Pizza Hut, by the way, and this being a Buddhist Society event, we had to take vegetarian. But I felt that having 6 Veggie Lover pizzas won't be nice, so I managed to order the Hawaiian Chicken pizza.... without the chicken, of course!

In the end, I am REALLY glad and happy that the execution went without a hitch. I guess I have finally proved my mettle to the main committee, as I was one of the only ones left without having organized an event. But even after all that, I do not plan to run for another term. I have a weird feeling that some of them are starting to think of me as the next Club Chairperson. That may just be my ego-created hallucination, but if it's true, I might have to break their hearts.