Casino Night

For our first activity yesterday we had to build a bed out of cardboard and other materials in small groups, each kid then had to build their dreams and place it in the bed. Afterwards we went to see another groups bed and look at what they had designed. Suddenly rumours started going around that one of the beds had been trashed by another group, which got some groups so angry that they destroyed the bed they were looking at.
However no beds were destroyed before the rumours started, but afterwards a few got trashed by the kids who then later on had to build them again from the remains of the previous bed of dreams.
The whole activity was a lesson in how easy it is to build something from scratch, but building things from the ruins of what used to be is very hard. Which was discussed in the evaluation afterwards.

In the evening we had a fancy dinner, where the kids could ask each other on dates for the dinner - and the JC's would help everyone with getting a date if you didn't have one. All the leaders and JC's were taking orders at the dining tables and brought the kids their meals and drinks.
After the dinner it was time for the Casino to open, which featured a human slot machine, a black jack table, a poker table, arm wrestling, a chapel and much more. Was a great nigth filled with dancing, friendship certificates and laughter.
All the kids were tired after a long day and fell asleep very quickly when we put them to bed.

//Kasper

Open Day and a strange morning

When the kids woke up this morning they all said that they had experienced something strange during the night. They had been woken up, blindfolded and guided through different stations around the camp site - however none of the leaders or JC's knew anything about such activities during the night. *cough*
After hearing all the reactions from the night, we started preparing for our Open Day, where we had invited several people to come and visit our camp. Every country had prepared a small presentation and our beloved camp direction Jesper had prepared a small speach on behalf of the village.
The Open Day was a huge success and everyone had fun, both participants and visitors.

Besides that, I'm back at camp once again and running the blog once again. It's good to be back at the camp once again and I got a HUGE welcome from all the kids who seemed to have missed me as much as I had missed them.

//Kasper

Trust day

Today we did some trust games, first we did “The falling tree” where a group of eight people stand around a single person, and the person closes his/her eyes and lean backwards and let the people around him/her catch him/her and pass push around the circle. After that we did the human catapillar, where we all lay down on our backs and hold our hands up, and then one person at a time had to lay down stiff on the hands held up and then get passed all the way down the row, without anybody dropping them, it was very fun but there was only one go per person because after everybody was way too tired to hold their arms up anymore.
For the evening activity we got to learn about Canada, they held their national night. It started with some quick facts and then they showed a small skit about how Canada got its name. For a final round up to see if everyone had paid attention, they did a quiz about the facts that they had just told us, but when it came to the length of the border between Canada and USA only Zach from USA got it correct, and got to go up and get the canadian handouts as the first person.
//Bertram (Danish JC - standin for Kasper)
(pictures will be comming as soon as possible)

29/07 2010
shopping day! uhuuu we startet out erly, went with Metro to Kongens nytorv, where we let the delegations loose in small groups, to go shopping crazy on Strøget, everyone had a blast, then we met up on the central square, and went to a local park where we ate lunch..
After lunch everyone was stoked about going to TIVOLI www.tivoli.dk uhuuuu! even more! everyone was ready for 7 hours of pure fun and laughter and funfunfun..
we had dinner deliverd in Tivoli..
after a loong day we went home at 22 o,clock ready to go to bed every one was tired but in the best way posible..
/temp Blogadministrator..

Rich and Poor

Today the kids tried the differences between being rich and poor, 5 of the kids started the morning by getting a lot of money and a big breakfast with pancakes, and everything served to them, while just next to them was 10 poor children, that only got oatmeal to eat, without a bowl or spoon to have it in. Continuing the kids had to work to get money for the meals, the rich had people working for them and didn’t need to do anything to get paid, while the middle class had to work to get paid, and then the poor ones had to work really hard to get very little money.
For the evening activity we had national night with both the German and the Austrian delegation. They peformed a fairy tale called “Hanzl & Gretzl”. After that we had a german dessert which tasted very good before going of to bed and getting ready for the shopping day and a surprise afterwards.




// Bertram (Danish JC - Stand in for Kasper)

JC Land Day - Tuesday

Yesterday - was JC Land Day - and the kids loved it.
It all started in the morning after flag time when it was announced that all leaders and staff were prisoners in JC land and that all kids were allowed to tell the prisoners what they should do or not do.

The prisoners were only allowed to use one hand during the whole day - so one hand was fixed behind the back with a small string.

The kids were really good at handling this new status and gave us all lots to do.
It started of with the cleaning - 20 leaders and staff cleaned the whole school and much more....It has never been so clean. The kids really enjoyed their new status.

During the day the kids were split in groups where they were asked to work as a team. Their task was to create a country of their own with flag, dances, language, rules, songs, etc. A fantacy land.

Each team had a prisoner and the 3rd activity was a session where each prisoner was dressed up and face pained and stuff and each team had to protect their prisoner form other teams who might want to throw water at the prisoner - this of causes ended up in a water fight - with lots of laughter and fun.

For dinner the JC land team had arranged a very special barbeque outdoor - Hot dogs the danish let's hygge village way.....yummi.

The last session of this great day was where each team went on stage in front of the whole village in order to present their fantacy land to all of us. This went very well and all kids participated and had fun.

Then the JC land train took us to the Hygge room where a few sketches were performed and the finale was the famous "milkshake".....yummi (Jos!)

After that we ended the day with a JC land Disco (in order to get the kids to get closer - even boys and girls holding hands while dancing)....and after a great day at Hygge land the kids were in bed at 23.00.

I will try to get a few pictures uploaded during the day

Jesper (stand in for Kasper/Rasmus/Bertram)

Back in the village

Today, the first complete day after the weekend homestay, we made the day “politeness day” where we had to adress everyone nicely, say please and ask for permission before borrowing each others stuff “like in the 18th century. Actual actvities we played capture the flag, where we each team had to get the flag of the opposing team without being caught, it was hot and sunny but everyone had great fun.
After lunch we evaluated how everyone liked the village and their homestay and everyone was very pleased and happy with everything on the camp.
For the evening activity the Mexicans had their national night where they danced and showed a beautiful movie of Mexico, before everyone came up to knock down the piñata.

/Bertram (Danish JC - stand in for Kasper)

Second homestay

So it finally became time for all the kids to go to their 2nd homestay, but before we handed them over to the host families, we had an activity in the morning and then packed our bags.
We played a game called Stereotypes, in which you had to draw your own country on a big piece of paper, then pass it around to the other delegations so they could write what they knew and associated with that country. We got some laughs over things that weren't true, like Denmark having mountains and wether croissants really came from Germany or France. But ask our German leader about that, apparently she knows the true story about the originality of the croissant. ;-)
Anyway... The kids had been paired 2 and 2 beforehand of the arrival of the host families and were all looking forward to spending some time out of the camp and with their new friends, as they were going with someone from another delegation.

On a more personal note, I'd like to thank all of you for the positive comments on the forum. However I'm going to have to pass the responsibility for the blog to one of the other staffies, seeing as I have a prior engagement to take care of for the next week. Rest assure that your kids will be taken well care of and hopefully the blog will still be going strong, otherwise the other staffies will have to face my wrath when I get back. ;-)

//Kasper - signing off for now

Today we had enviromental day, we learnt how to avoid waisting water, and how we could recycle at home and here, and how we can use the trash for something cool and usefull
// Rasmus (temporary sitemaster)

2nd excursion

This morning a bus came and picked us up shortly after breakfast, everyone had packed their bags with water bottles and sunscreen.
We started out by going to a small ecological dairy farm and watched the production line, saw some of their new products and got to taste some as well.
Afterwards we headed to an Open Air Museeum where we got to see how houses looked in Denmark 200-300 years ago, how people lived and saw some farm animals as well.
Everyone were a bit tired when we got home, in need of a shower and somewhat hungry. Luckily it was showertime straight away and then dinner was ready afterwards. Had some fun with the Mickey Mouse game afterwards before it was time for flag time, lullabies and then bed.
Was a good day and looking forward to what tomorrow may bring.

//Kasper

US National Night

This day brought us a lot of hugs when we played hug tag, was nice to see all the kids hugging each other and having fun. As nice as it were, it was almost equally fun to see them trying to do a pigs face blindfolded.
After lunch we split into groups of 5-6 kids and had to make a copy of a construction we had created beforehand. However they could only send 3 people to look at the construction and once you had seen the construction you were not allowed to talk nor touch the materials for the copy. Some groups got really close to the original and it was interesting to see them trying to communicate without being able to speak.
After dinner USA had their National Night which brought us a pillow fight, some Texas dancing, a disco and a light version of Texas-hold-em.

//Kasper

Water balloons and treasure hunt

This morning we started with an extended cleaning after the breakfast, seeing as most of the kids rooms looked as though someone had exploded their bags so all the clothes had ended all over the place. It took some time, but now the rooms look inhabitable once again. ;-)
We did some few tag games later on, did a small video greeting to other camps around the world and celebrated the birthday of Kasia from Poland.
After lunch and siesta, we had everyone gather out by the flag poles in their swim suits, where we ran some games involving water balloons. All of us had a blast and didn't feel like stoppping.
In the evening we went on a big treasure hunt, where we split into 2 groups, one with all the girls and one with all the boys. They had their hands tied together and walked around the campsite while trying to gather clues towards where they were going next and pieces for a puzzle.
It seemed as though everyone had a nice day and enjoyed the activities we has planned.

//Kasper

Video greeting:

Weekend update

Sorry for the missing update yesterday, but instead you'll get a double update today with pictures from each day.
Yesterday we had the Danish National Night, where we had a danish "fasterlavn". That's when people dress up and try to break a barrel full of candy with a bat. The danish delegation had dressed up as a the danish queen, a modern version of Hans Christian Andersen, a viking and Brian Laudrup (former football player).
Later on all the leaders and JC's went on their night out, so we had people from the local chapter to come babysit the kids. They made some drawings, had a disco and saw the Pixar movie "Up". What the leaders and JC's did is a secret though. ;-)

Today we had a sleep in and woke up to a lovely brunch made by the kitchen staff. We even had pancakes to celebrate Tallis' birthday. Afterwards we all went to the beach to relax and go swimming as well. We were there for the most of the day, so when we came home it was almost time for dinner and then the Norwegian National Night.
They had prepared some food, some activities and a video.

Yesterdays pictures and videos:




Todays pictures and videos:


//Kasper

World Cup and Thailand National Night

Today we did an activity explained in gibberish, however everyone understood the game and had much fun trying to get from one end of a room to the other, while only being allowed to stand on a limited amount of papers.
Later on we made banners, flags, pompoms and whatever we could think of for our own World Cup later that day.
Everyone was cheering for the playing teams and showing great sportsmanship as you can see from our pictures. ;-)
The finals was between Brazil and France, which ended up with a 1-1 tie and therefor provided us with 2 World Champions.
Later in the evening we had Thailands National Night, where they showed a slideshow with a bunch of great pictures of the delegation and Thailand. They also showed and tought us a dance, served us a spicy soup, got us tasting som thai candy and presented us with some small gifts for everyone and some special for the staff (which we really liked!). ;-)

//Kasper

Excursion Day

Today we went on our first excursion, we travelled to Vestamager Naturcenter, which is an outdoor nature school. We split into 5 groups and walked around to our different activities. There was canoeing, making postcard with things found in nature, making your own fire and cooking or smelting over it afterwards, woodcarving and a GPS tour. It was also possible to get to touch live mice and a snake.
Each person in the staff group were responsible for an activity, while all the leaders and JC's were walking around with they groups.
We had our lunch brought there and also ice cream to celebrate Zachery's (USA) birthday.
Everyone had a great day and were really tired when we arrived back home, but if was definately worth it and we're sure that it's a day we'll remember for a very long time.

//Kasper

Day of the Bastille

Yet again we had an awesome day! Were playing Street and Avenues, Drip-drip-drop and the Hospital game.
So we were enjoying the sun while it's still here, seeing as tomorrow should be a bit rainy. =(
In the evening France had their National Night, as it was the day of the Bastille in France. They showed us some slides, performed a sketch and played a bit of music. Furthermore they served us some "Tarte flambée".
Was a great day and we're looking forward to many more like it.

//Kasper

Our first National Night

We woke up to the rain drumming on our windows, which was quite welcome by everyone at camp, seeing as it made the temperature drop a little. It did stop eventually and we should be seeing the sun again tomorrow.
We did a few more name games today, just to repeat and moved on to doing a few activities in small groups.
We also decorated our Songbooks, so they all have their own personalized and styled binder for it. Everyone will be able to bring it home with them, so all you parents following the blog: you'll get to see it when your kids get home. ;-)
Later in the evening Poland had their National Night, where we all got to hear a bit about Poland and learn a little polish. They had also prepared a soup for us, which they served along with our dinner. It was quite good.
They also tought us a bit of polish dancing, which you can see in the uploaded video.

First whole day

Today we had our first day of activities - we did some name games, for everyone to learn as many names as fast as possible.
It's still very hot here, but we're trying to deal with the heat as best as we can.
So for the time being we'll be staying inside or outside in the shade until the weather changes.
The kids are all sleeping now and they're tired after a busy day, which has brought them a lot of new impressions and information about the camp.

//Kasper

The kids are here! =)

So we finally got kids in our camp!!!
When they arrived all the leaders, JC's and staff were standing ready to greet them. They got a tour around the campsite and after dinner they got to watch the World Cup final - needless to say, that the outcome pleased our spanish JC Paula.
Due to the overtime it got a little late, so all the kids were rather tired when they got to bed, so they're all sound asleep by now.
Another update and more pictures will follow tomorrow.

//Kasper

Kids coming tomorrow!!!

Our last leader Elisa arrived this morning, so we started going over a lot of the practical information about the camp today along with the leaders and JC's, so that everyone is prepared for when the kids will arrive tomorrow.
We have been decorating some of the campsite and it looks really great if I may say so - we'll get some pictures up of it tomorrow, seeing as some of it is not quite done yet.
It's been really hot today, so after an awesome barbeque dinner, we all went to the beach and most of us went for a dip in the ocean. It was a really nice and soothing way to end a long day.
We still have a few things to prepare tomorrow, but we're certain that everything is going to look great and be ready once the kids start rolling in.

//Kasper

Some preparations are done

As promised we uploaded a couple of pictures for you to have a look at some of the rooms we prepared at the campsite. We have the Leader/JC lounge, meeting room, bedroom and the kitchen with some of our kitchen staff present.
Our first leader (Eric) arrived this morning and is currently enjoying the danish summer. We look forward to welcoming a few more leaders and JC's within the next few hours.

//Kasper