Nagoya camp: the short version
Well, Nagoya started off to a bad start. The hotel sucked, we weren’t sure what the facilities at the camp were like, and it was raining. Add on to that that the nearest place for food was a 20 minute walk away, in a downpour that caused minor flooding, and you get the idea. We were thoroughly soaked when we finally made it to a Mos Burger for dinner.
After dinner, we went over to an electronics store that was nearby, and spent the better part of the next hour sitting in massage chairs, for lack of anything else better to do. Afterwards, we stopped at a convience store, and got some drinks, and headed back to the hotel.
At the hotel, we planned as best we could for the Nagoya group. Not knowing what to expect really made it difficult. We weren’t sure if there were other groups there, what was available, and how good it was. Finally, we called it a night, and went to bed.
The next day, we had to take a taxi over to the school where we met up with the students. There was a total of 16 students, all junior high schoolers, who were preparing for a trip to Australia. The English camp was required for them to get governmental funding. The kids seemed like a nice group from the start, and we quickly started making friends.
The trip to the camp took about two and a half hours by bus. Once we arrived at the camp, we were shocked. The camp was better than any of the other camps we’ve been at I think. The facilities were very modern, and like the others, it was nestled in the mountains. The weather was so-so from the start, but seeing as how it is the rainy season, it doesn’t really come as a surprise.
I’ll post a more full entry at some future point, but the camp went very very well. The kids were very intelligent, and their English skills were amazing. We had kids nail all the phrases on the 1-minute drill, and the skits were great. When it came time for graduation, the emotions hit everyone. It may have only been a two and a half day camp, but you work with these kids all day, and there’s only 16 students, so you get to know them all.
During the graduation ceremony, most of the students were crying, especially when we handed out the certificates. We even handed out one to Tsunenori, who was the government official in charge of the Australia program, who had come along to supervise. He was a funny, easy to get along with sort of guy. When he got his certificate, he was so surprised and happy that he started crying.
The counselors held out for the most part. We had Tomomi do a closing speech, and she was balking saying she wasn’t good at speeches. When she started talking to the students, she broke down. This was her first camp, and she was so happy with the results. I only caught part of her speech (as it was all in Japanese), but she reiterated how proud she was, and how happy she was.
After her speech, we were preparing to wrap things up when the students gave us a surprise. We knew they had been up to something earlier, because they took over a room, and basically forbade us from entering. After the graduation ceremony, they brought each of us handmade cards of appreciation with little messages from everyone in each group.
At that point, all the counselors started crying. There isn’t a person on this earth that wouldn’t.
Afterwards, we gathered up all of our belongings, cleaned up the places we had been using, and jumped back on the bus to head back to Nagoya.