Camp Erdman: Conquering Your Fears (Part 4 of 6)

Continued from the previous post...

After lunch, we did two hours of drama training with Amy. Then it was rock climbing and the Confidence Pole. The Confidence Pole is exactly what the name suggests: a tall lean pole that one climbs up to test one's confidence. Once one has reached the top, one has to stand (way scarier than it sounds because it is very high up) on top of the pole and then jump to get a bandana that hangs about two feet away. The challenge is definitely many times harder than I made it sound here. Erica and I agreed that this was actually the scariest challenge - more so than the Odyssey. During the Odyssey, we weren't alone and there were people there giving us help and support. On the Confidence Pole, you were on your own. Of course, I chose to do some rock climbing because it was on my list of "100 Things to Do before I Die" and I've always wanted to try it. (However, I never imagined the chance coming so soon as I didn't know where you could get the chance to go rock climbing in Hawaii. Now I know: camp!)


Rock climbing!
Is it a coincidence that Luli just happened to be the instructor for rock climbing?! There are other YMCA camp instructors, but I always end up in his group somehow. He keeps showing up doing all kinds of crazy stuff. Perhaps he really is the superman he claims to be. *laughs*

Janelle went rock climbing first and really struggled. This worried me because Janelle was a lot stronger than me so if it was difficult for her, I would die up there. She later told me that it was mostly her nails getting in the way. Rachel went next and watching her made it look so easy! I couldn't stand waiting any longer so I was the third person to try it.

I thought it was easy, but it was harder than I imagined it to be. I didn't think too much about strength because I assumed all you needed to do was grab onto these tiny rocks and reach the top. Of course, it wasn't so simple. (Why am I such a simple minded person?) Before I went on, Luli stopped me and pulled the harness tighter on me. I guess he was scared that it was loose but I felt it was secure enough. I was really embarrassed when I first started because I couldn't even lift myself up on the rocks. No one else had trouble getting themselves up. I knew I was weak, but I didn't realize I was this weak. If I couldn't even get on the wall, how could I expect myself to climb up? I had to take off one of the rocks on the side and put it on the way bottom so I could step up. Watching others gave me time to think up a strategy. I planned to follow the rocks in a certain way (go zigzag) but it was harder than I thought and I couldn't do it the way I planned. Many times I got stuck, not knowing where to go. When I was halfway up, I really got stuck. I had no rocks I could reach. I couldn't climb any higher. I knew I was testing everyone's patience because I was extremely slow. I also knew everyone was watching me down below and this made me feel really bad. I didn't want Luli to help me, but I wasn't going any forward, so he gave me some instructions on where to go. When I was really stuck, he told me to go for a rock that I could barely reach. Everyone told me to just go for it and that it was okay if I fell. I jumped but slipped. That was when I felt like I cheated again. I could feel Luli pulling me up and I eventually grabbed the rock.


I'm almost there!
Afterward, I slowly climbed my way up and reached the top. When I came down, he patted me and said, "Good girl." =.=; After I took the harness off, I felt like I was still wearing it since he pulled it so tight around me. I walked around feeling like I had a wedgy. Cam went after me. I hate him. He reached the top quickly because of his height. Ms. Nagareda was also pretty cool. Juri was the most impressive. She was the fastest girl to reach the top.

After rock climbing, I felt really tired. I was glad to have an excuse to not try the Confidence Pole. I actually don't regret it, either - that challenge doesn't really interest me after going up on the Odyssey III. Erica, Jenni, and Misaki did not go on either one because they were all dead tired.

After the activities, we had some free time to do whatever we wanted. If we chose to, we could stay in our cabins and sleep or rest. We could go swimming or do some archery. I ate an orange and went out to the camp store to buy a postcard as a souvenir. I was disappointed with how ugly the postcards were because they were only drawings of the place and not actual photos. Camp Erdman is so beautiful - I don't understand why they don't take advantage of that. On my way to the store with Jenni, Erica dragged me along and forced me to take some pictures with her and others. We walked by the beach and fooled around. I talked with Tammy and Misaki. I never intended to go swimming, but I wanted to some archery. However, my hands were sore from going on the Odyssey and rock climbing. It hurt to move my fingers. My palms were bright red and scratched silly with small cuts and blisters from holding onto the ropes. In the end, I didn't do any archery. I did some archery at school before and I remember needing to pull really hard. If I knew my hands were going to be sore, I would have brought gloves along. Archery would be no problem. After walking around on the beach, it was our "quiet time" again. This time we wrote about:

1) What we did to accomplish our goals of building better friendships.
2) Whether or not we were successful with building better friendships with the two people we named previously.
3) How we grew personally so far.

I built better friendships through the challenges. Everyone also cheered for each other during the rock climbing so I felt that everyone was being very friendly, encouraging and supportive. I don't really talk to Ha or Ally very much, but they were helpful during the Odyssey. Ha would hold her hand out for me to jump over and Ally and Sam would pull me up when we were finished. I think I definitely grew personally through those challenges. All my life, I've been quite a baby. I didn't want to try new things. I stuck with the familiar. I didn't want to get dirty. I was scared of everything. I didn't take risks. Once I tried and failed, I would cry about it and not want to do it ever again. I always cried. I think that part of me changed a bit. I'm trying to live my life fuller and to be at least a little bit more daring. The one thing that Ms. Nakamura emphasized on our first day to her class was that we would "try to step out of our comfort zone." By challenging myself, I think I did just that. Plus, all of that was a big workout!

After dinner, we played charades for a while. During the first round, I pretended to be a mime and during the second round, I pretended to skydive. The last one was the hardest, though. We had to act out "The Lord of the Rings". Sam did an amazing impersonation of Sméagol and repeatedly mouthed the words, "My precious..." over and over. She made some gestures, pretending to put on the ring. We were the Ring Wraiths going crazy when she put on the ring. People couldn't tell what we were doing and Ha shouted out, "Brokeback Mountain!" Everyone burst out in to laughter. How could she mistake "The Lord of the Rings" for a movie about gay cowboys? According to her, we seemed like the gay cowboys and Sam looked like she was...with her finger. They're so crazy! I would never have guessed that in a million years. Then we put on a short skit for the highlights of camp. Janelle, Michelle, Juri, Cam, Sam, and I were in a group. It was a lot of fun and everyone said this was the first time they've seen me act so crazy. @_@; Was I really?

To be continued...

Camp Erdman: Odyssey III (Part 3 of 6)

Continued from the previous post...

The moment everyone had long anticipated finally arrived: Today, is the Odyssey III Challenge Ropes Course! The Odyssey III was the biggest highlight at camp. It is also the greatest and scariest challenge the camp has to offer. Newly installed in January 2006, the Odyssey III Challenge Ropes Course is only available to a handful of camps around the world. In fact, there are only six that exists in the entire world. It is a great privilege that one is located here in Hawaii! Aren't I lucky? =D

Everyone looked slightly nervous as we slowly walked toward the Odyssey. There was much talk about whether people were going to try it or not. Before camp, we even had to send in a liability form. I walked with Cam and he exclaimed how high the Odyssey looked. I asked him if he was going to try it.

"Well, we paid for this thing so we might as well try it. I'm not going to waste my money."

I realize that what he said was very true. Although it was gigantic, I actually didn't feel at all scared. Rather than fear, I felt a sort of adrenaline rush. It's strange why I felt this way when everyone else said how scared they were. I was surprised to see Luli again, carrying some equipment. The class split into two groups and somehow, I ended up in Luli's group again. There were eight girls including Ally, Misaki, Hoang, Erica, Ha, Samantha, Juri, and myself.


Odyssey III high up.
After we put on our harnesses and helmets, Luli guided us to the high-level (thirty feet) first. He claimed that if we tried the harder challenge first, the low-level one (eighteen feet) would seem very easy afterward. Ooh boy. ><;


Hera we are, thirty feet up high. I'm wearing orange!
On the first obstacle, we were allowed to hold on to the ropes at the top. An occasional pole suspended by the ropes would show up and we were allowed to grab onto it. Although this turned out to be the easiest, I remembered how much my arm ached as I held on for dear life. It hurt so much that it literally felt like it was about to break off. I continued to hold on because I didn't want to fall. I felt so happy when we finally finished the first course. Walking on a thin rope thirty feet up high in the air was a terrifying experience, but it wasn't so bad afterward.


Our first obstacle with the poles.
The next challenges weren't as easy because we weren't allowed to hold on to our ropes at all. There was one where I had to push a rope in front of me and I kept losing my balance and falling backward. Luli would keep holding me up. I really need to work on my core muscles! u_u; The hardest challenge was when we had to share a rope between two partners. Erica and I were partners holding one side of the rope while Hoang and Ha held the other side. We couldn't hold onto anything else except that one rope. This really required teamwork and it was difficult for us because we kept apply different amount of pressure on the rope at different times. Erica and I would pull with all our might and it wouldn't be balanced because Ha wasn't helping Hoang pull the rope. When Ha did grab for the rope, the force became so strong that Erica and I couldn't hold on because we were weak. Erica kept threatening to fall but I tried to hold her up the best that I could. I'm glad she's so small because it would have been more difficult if it were a heavy person. XD There were many times that her imbalance through me off as well and we were both about to fall, but Luli was in the back of me so we didn't. I knew that we were safe even if we fell because we were attached securely in our harness but I still refused to fall.


Another challenge we had to do - and it's way harder than it looks!
Misaki's crow bar would get stuck every time so it was difficult for her to move forward when the rope was holding her back. During this challenge, it was the first time Misaki and I talked so much. She confided in me how scared she was. Although I didn't say much, I felt that I was actually the weakest in the group. Even though Misaki's crow bar kept getting stuck, she was brave enough to move on forward and keep on going.

When we finally finished the second level, we were supposed to jump down. We would swing across on the rope (almost like a roller coaster) and go back and forth (depending on our weight) until we reached the ground. When it was time for Ally and I to jump, we shouted, "1...2...3!" Ally jumped on the count of three, but I froze. I was thinking to myself the whole time, "Finally we're finished with the high-level! Jumping down looks like fun. I can't wait until it is my turn to jump." I kept telling myself that this was easy. But when the actual time came, I froze! I FROZE! Nobody else froze, not even Erica and Misaki (the ones who were supposedly scared). I was the only one who hesitated. Luli stood behind me and said, "Well, it looks like you need a little help." Without any further warning, he pushed me off. Once I was in the air, it felt so much better.

We had only thirty minutes left before lunch after finishing the high-level. We decided to quickly go through the low-level. Misaki didn't want to go on the low-level, but we all persuaded her to try it. The high-level was harder but because we went there first, the low-level should be easy-peasy. In fact, to challenge ourselves even further and because we were also racing for time, the low-level became a sort of race between our team and whoever got across first would be the winner.

It was easy, except for one of the courses in which we had to jump from one platform to another on the ropes. Misaki went first. She leaped, missed, and fell. After watching her fall, I grew scared. I cheated and walked on the ropes even though I wasn't supposed to. This proved I was the biggest coward. I regret cheating now and I feel really disappointed in myself. It was the same at Ice Palace. I always needed to feel safe. When I'm skating at the big side, I would stick to the edges. I wouldn't even challenge myself to let go and skate in the middle because I was terrified of falling. When I was up at the Odyssey, people said that it was scary at first, but once you fell, it became fun. I knew nothing was going to happen to me but for some reason, I still couldn't bring myself to fall. I don't know why I am so petrified of falling. When we had to jump on some more platforms, I decided to just go for it and leaped. I was glad to be able to hold on to Misaki's hand when I reached the other side and also have Ha help me.

One of the other challenging obstacles in the first level was when I couldn't hold on to anything but my partner. In this case, my partner was Sam. We held onto each other's shoulders and slowly crept along, counting one and two as we took each step. This really tested our sense of balance and while everyone else rushed and fell, we concentrated on each step and made our way carefully through without falling once.

I felt so happy after completing the Odyssey III. We didn't go to camp just for fun. Teamwork and communication was stressed, emphasized, and said repeatedly. This is Leadership camp, after all. During the Odyssey, we had to work together with our teammates and trust and depend on our partners. If one person fell, it is easy for everyone to fall with them, which was why we needed to work together. People you don't normally talk to are there to help you. Some said they were glad to experience going on the Odyssey III, but wouldn't try it again. Ooh, I would love to go a second time but I highly doubt I would. It seemed like a once in a lifetime chance for me.

For lunch, we had huge burgers. It was so huge that I couldn't fit it through my mouth even when I opened it as wide as I could. Cam sat next to me and laughed at me with everyone else.

To be continued...

Camp Erdman: First Day Challenges (Part 2 of 6)

Continued from the previous post...

After the orientation, we played some games at the open courtyard and then ate lunch at the campfire place by the beach. After eating, Ms. Nakamura gave us some free time to go back to our cabins and get settled. She told us to meet her at the open courtyard at 12:00pm with our notebooks and pens. It would be our “quiet time.” Everyone had to find their own private spot somewhere on camp grounds and for twenty minutes, we wrote about:

1) Anything. Our thoughts and feelings at the moment and any worries or concerns such as homework left unfinished...*coughcough*
2) The personal goal that we want to achieve here at camp.
3) Names of two people you are not close to and want to get to know better.
4) Our expectations from camp.

My goal was to relax and be able to communicate with others better. I only realize now that I am not much of a people-person (not at all). Outside the safe circle of my family and friends, I am very shy and tend to be antisocial. I have a hard time communicating with others...and I especially hate those awful, awkward silences! I expect to have fun at camp and to also become a stronger person, both mentally and physically.


The prettiful ocean.
I finished what I had to write quickly (I’m lazy!) and spent the rest of my time staring out into the ocean. It is quite stupid to spend all your time with your head buried in a notebook when the scene right in front of you is so breathtaking. The view was spectacular and unreal. The wave currents were strong and crashed onto the shore frequently. No one is allowed out into the sea, not even the best surfers. My glasses eventually became covered in what I thought was sand dust at the time but later found out was salt. It was crazy - the amount of salt there was. The salt hung very heavy in the air. By the end of the day, everyone’s hair was clumpy and well...salty.

We met with our drama training teacher at Crosson Hall after our free twenty minutes. The tall and lanky lady introduced herself as Amy from the Honolulu Theatre for Youth (HTY). We played some games and learned words like tableau. We did things like auto-imagery (freezing pictures) and formed letters with our bodies. Our session with Amy ended after about two hours. By that time, I felt a little exhausted. I had no idea so much more was coming.

We met with Luli in the grass and did some more activities involving planning, communication, and cooperation. Teamwork was stressed every time. We did an activity involving bamboo sticks and two golf balls. @_@; After that was completed, Luli told us a crazy story from his childhood. When he was five years old, he decided he was going to fly and jump from the second floor of a building. His mother was standing right outside. He jumped and flew to the ground. Nothing happened because he got caught in the hanging clothesline. It forced him to twirl a bit but it saved his life. He got away with no injuries. I was thankful for that because it would have been terrible if the clothesline was not there and something happened to him right in front of his mother.


Teamwork!
In the next challenge, all eighteen of us stood inside a red rope that was to be our "spaceship." We were to pretend we were in outer space. Our friend (a stuffed animal named Bumble) was thrown at a distance and we needed to bring him back safely inside the spaceship. The rule was that we could not go out of the spaceship by ourselves and everyone needed to be connected somehow or we would die. At first, we held hands and ran to get Bumble, but Luli kept kicking him father and farther away until we were stretched as far as we could go. Holding hands was not enough because we still couldn't reach Bumble.


We were struggling here. Gahh...just a little bit more.
Everyone resorted to getting down on the ground. I grabbed onto Ally’s ankle while Erica held on to my foot. That still wasn't enough to reach Bumble and we ended up holding onto one another's shoelaces. I winced at needing to get down on the dirt and getting my clothes dirty, but I had no choice. We eventually retrieved Bumble into the safety of our spaceship.


My lame drawings.
Our next game involved three wooden platforms and two boards. We were to pretend we were desperate Alaskans stranded atop glaciers. There was a big storm coming and we needed to hurry home before we all die. Our goal was to get to the third platform (representing home). The boards could not touch the water (the ground) and neither one was long enough to reach the other platform alone.


Ally carefully crossing the boards.
It was a long and tedious process and took a lot of planning and thinking (I admit I took no part in this because I’m stupid). After what seemed like hours, we all made it across. We did accidentally let the board hit the ground 3 times so two people were "blinded" and Jenni "lost her leg."

The next challenge was the spider web. It was the same one he joked earlier about being the biggest spider web ever. When I walked closer, I realized it was made of wooden frames and ropes and was about the size of a goal post in soccer. We were to get everyone across the web through the holes. We could only use each hole once before it "closes up." Touching the ropes were also forbidden and we were allowed only seven touches. The holes looked extremely small and I didn’t know how were going to get through them. Janelle volunteered to go first so she could help carry others across. She slid in through one of the bottom holes.


"Here" indicates the hole I went through.
I was one of the last ones to go through. Without warning, people started to grab me and I was in the air. I didn’t even know who was holding me up and where, except for Sam who said, “I’m sorry, but I have to grab your butt, okay?” That made me laugh. It was slightly scary watching everyone lift one person up and through the small holes without touching any of the ropes, but I was surprised to feel so secure when it was my turn. No hands were wobbly or shaking and I felt extremely safe. I felt no fear of being dropped. I trusted these people completely (Tammy didn’t - she was scared to death and kept screaming). In fact, I’ll admit that it felt good when everyone was carrying me. *laughs* It was also awesome that there were people on the other side to receive me and carefully put me down.


From top-bottom, left-right: Erica, Misaki, me, Jenni, Janelle, and Hoang.
We finished the last challenge half an hour earlier than planned (it was 4:30pm) so we had free time until dinner at 5:30pm. We played around and took so pictures by the ocean. Erica looks so happy to be on the top of our pyramid! XD I was really curious about dinner and worried about what we were going to eat, but it was pretty good. There was bread, chicken, rice, corn, and chocolate chip cookies. I drank punch but I wished there were water or milk. After dinner, I swept the cafeteria floor. Jenni is such a sweetie because she offered to stay behind and help me. That was when I noticed pictures of the YMCA staff members pinned on a corkboard by the closet. It was interesting to see that the staff members come from all over the world - I remember seeing Taiwan, Japan, New Zealand, other states in the U.S., and Kosovo. Luli was from Kosovo. Oh yes, Ha. The words "Brussels" and "Kosovo" really sound alike! =)

After dinner, the teacher told us to return to our cabins and grab our flashlights. We played a trivia quiz game in the open courtyard for a while. I was on a team with Rachel and Tammy. Random questions were asked and I could only answer one: "What are the four main islands of Japan?" (This was before the Japan Wizards Competition took place, but I would kill myself if I didn't get it.) Our team came in last place since Rachel and Tammy couldn’t answer any question.

After the game, we went inside an octagon area in the main building and were given 20 minutes to come up with a 10 minute dance routine. I panicked for a while because I never choreographed a dance routine before. I kept thinking,
"Jang Woo Hyuk...help!" But Misaki and the rest of the group (Vincent, Julia, and Rachel) helped a lot so we made it work. Part of the dancing involved Julia and I doing the Egyptian dance. That was so much fun! On that night, I also gained new respect and admiration for Vincent for doing his wiggly dance in front of everyone. It was hilarious. It was also fun to watch what all of the other groups came up with. Everyone had entertaining dance routines. We all danced to a catchy and repetitive eighties song. The only lyrics seemed to be, “Jump on it!” (Does anyone recognize the lyrics?) After the dancing, Ms. Nagareda, our other chaperone, arrived. She is a PE teacher at school and was recently granted the title, "Coach of the Year." =D

She came just in time to conduct our scavenger hunt. We had to find a big toe covered in dirt (no, you did not read wrong), a four inch rock, a five inch strand of brown hair, a piece of plastic, a soda cap, etc. Our team came in second place because Ally and Juri were very competitive. Jenni and I didn’t have much work to do. XD

After the scavenger hunt, we grabbed our late night snack at 8:30pm (a corn dog) and broke into two groups. We had discussions about what our experiences were and how we felt after today. I looked up and realized that there were no stars out on that night. Erica reminded me that it was cloudy today so the clouds were covering all of the stars.

After the discussion, we went back to our cabins. We were supposed to be in bed by 10:30pm at the latest because there was a big day ahead of us tomorrow, but of course, no one listened. There was whispering going on all night so I had trouble falling asleep.

To be continued...

Japan Wizards Competition (Part 2 of 2)

Continued from the previous post...

After eating, the award ceremony began. My heart started beating faster. It was the moment we've all been waiting for. I held my breath as they started announcing the third place winners. They read off our school name, Level II.

We won.

The name rang in my head. I froze in my seat, waiting for this to digest, unable to move. Keith and Damien had already walked halfway toward the stage so I had to run to catch up to them. But I still find it truly unbelievable that we actually managed to hold a place in the competition.

There was a question in the evaluation form earlier that asked, "What motivated you to participate in the Japan Wizards Competition?"

For most people, it was probably the all-expense-paid-for trip to Japan. But since I knew we weren't going to win [first], the trip was not an added incentive. Before entering high school, I had planned to take Japanese as an elective for all four years. But after being stuck in Yamada* sensei's class for two years, I knew I was wasting my time. I wasn't going anywhere with that class. When Yamada sensei asked for three volunteers to participate in the Japan Wizards Competition, I knew I should go for it. I didn't plan to take Japanese for another year so this competition seemed like my last chance. It is hard for me to express in words what I mean...

I've had a great passion and interest in Japan for as long as I can remember. (Of course, this attraction to Japan probably started because I was am such an otaku freak.) I couldn't wait to get to high school and take Japanese class. I remember stealing and copying Jenny's notes from class in elementary school and making myself memorize hiragana and katakana in middle school... (Dude, was I always such a nerd? o_o;) I would set goals for myself so that when I entered high school, I would be ready. Unfortunately, the past two years have been a major disappointment. The appeal of Japan's culture and language slowly died down over time. My interest in music also changed a bit too when I was introduced to Kpop music. Anyway, I guess the competition served as a last chance for me to prove myself and accomplish something. That perhaps taking Japanese class as an elective for two years straight wasn't all for nothing. This competition gave me the chance to go all out and to really learn about Japan one last time before I say goodbye (since I've given up on learning the language.)

For the past two months, I buried myself in Japan and tried to learn as much as I could given the limited amount of time that I had left. Of course, I gradually grew interested and enthusiastic about Japan again. The research was more fun than work. I studied about it because I wanted to (thank god Japan is an interesting country with strawberry flavored kit-kats and fish-flavored ice cream!) It was for myself and no one else.

This is why I was so surprised when I found out that it was my eagerness to do well, this passion, this desire alone that almost made us win [first] and land us third place, out of eighteen schools competing statewide. In fact, we were only question away from being tied with the first place winners. o__o; If we answered one more question correctly, we would have been on our way to Japan this summer.

I think that competitions (fair ones, mind you, since I've experienced many unfair ones in the past >>;) really show you who wanted to win the most and who worked the hardest for it. Because if humans put their minds on something and if they truly want it, they would get it. The first place winner undoubtly worked their way to the top, above all others. That is why I think whoever was given that trip to Japan deserved it because they worked so hard for it. =) I guess I can also say that our group didn't deserve to go to Japan anyway since my teammates did not work for it. In Level II, can you guess who won first? Why, it is that very group we beat twice during the activity games (don't you wish that was the real competition now?) and the one with that aggressive girl. I remember her. With that sort of attitude, I am not at all surprised she was first. =)

Oh well. It is too much of a stretch to have us go all the way to Japan...it would be a dream. I am content, though, because the result of this competition was already much more than I expected to receive. <3

Now, this will be the last "Random Japan Fact" since the Japan Wizards Competition is over:


I used to find the sumo wrestlers one of the more puzzling aspects of Japanese culture. Japan has some of the smallest Asians in the world, and yet they have sumo...it doesn't seem to fit. But don't think they get their enormous size from eating McDonald's Big Mac or chunky cheeseburgers. These guys gain weight through eating huge portions of healthy food. I guess these guys prove to be Japanese after all.