The Massive Summer Update
Alright, it's time to update this thing finally. Here's my summer in brief (but not too brief):
The rest of camp went well after my last post from there. The progression I'd been told would happen indeed did - the second to last week, the staff were all exhausted and grumpy and wanted to be anywhere but there. (Major crises didn't help things either; that week the dean got sick and was essentially MIA for a couple days, and we had two counselors leave on the same day, one more voluntarily than the other if you know what I mean, but both under less than ideal circumstances.) The very last week, we were all going crazy, too tired to be tired, and things got a lot more fun. I think it all ended on a very good note.
In retrospect, I'm really glad I did that this summer. I could have found plenty of jobs that paid more - such as working for Parks & Rec in St. Paul, cutting grass and other such fun outdoor work. But I think doing CLV was more than worth the low pay, possibly even worth not doing research or anything more "productive" resume-wise. Being responsible for kids teaches you so much about yourself. I expected to have fun, to do my job pretty well and learn a lot of language, but I was really surprised by that part. It teaches you to notice everything about your own behavior so much more, including when it's immature or self-absorbed or otherwise flawed. I really think I got a lot out of this summer in that respect.
It's also making me (well, it's a small part of what's making me) reconsider possible after-college objectives. I've always known I'd like to go into education, and I still think that, but I'm less certain that I'm cut out for academia. I'd love to be a writer. Maybe even high school teaching is the way to go. I can't really decide on anything now, so for the moment I'll keep doing what I've been doing academically. And my disillusionment with the academic research world I think has more to do with these feelings than the positive experience of teaching younger kids, cause I'd definitely love to teach at the college level. But I've seen some things about how scholarly research operates that I really don't like, and I'm less and less sure I could do it if I meant I had to play by the rules of their game as far as what I can say and what I can't, and how.
Shortly after getting home, took off for the annual family vacation at Castle Haven, a "resort" (I dunno what else to call it - but it's housekeeping cabins where you cook and clean yourself, none of this luxury-resort-we-have-three-pools-and-two-golf-courses crap) on the North Shore of Lake Superior. As usual, it was just a fantastic week. Hiking, exploring beaches and the rocks, eating wild blueberries and raspberries, reading, relaxing, eating (family friends from Iowa always go with us, and the dad in said family is a phenomenal cook), working on my tan (ha!), even some swimming as the lake was warmer than usual this year for whatever that's worth. A week there reaffirmed my feeling that Lake Superior is a second home for me. Maybe just because I've been going every summer since I can remember, maybe it's how unchanging the place is - more so than my parents' house and even that is always almost comically the same after I've been away for months - I don't know, but the North Shore just has that powerful feeling of "I belong here" as soon as I step out of the car. It's really hit me the last few times I've gone. It even smells right; the local vegetation gives the air a unique smell that's a little different from here in St. Paul. I could definitely live there - if employability weren't an issue. Not much to do to make a living, unfortunately. That and you kinda have to have already made your living to afford to buy a house up there.
Since getting home I've enjoyed being at home with no strict schedule - another perk to my choice of summer job. I've got plenty to do; planning to declare my major this fall is a significant project ahead of me; there's some preparation for my seminar in Japan (in less than 2 weeks!); and a lot of Mixed Co work to get ready for recruiting and auditions. Conor and I had a 2-hour phone conversation last week to kick things off, and I've been devoting a substantial amount of time to a cappella stuff since then. Going to get going this week with a new arrangement, probably Parachute by Guster.
Other recent highlights:
A banquet honoring the 25th anniversary of the MN State High School Math League. They invited all former ARML all-star team members in addition to coaches and other bigwigs, so naturally, I had to go. It was actually quite a lot of fun. Saw some newspaper photos of my old coach, Mr. Kunz, back in the 80s when he still had brown hair. Wow!
The usual traditional get-togethers: a game of diplomacy, a party at Noah's at which I finally saw the legendary Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter, a free concert at Harriet Island (Flogging Molly at the Irish Festival; definitely a better show than last summer when a few of us went to an utterly terrible Violent Femmes show in the same park - can we say "Washed up 15 years ago"?), and a lot of low-key hanging out. I missed the annual golf excursion this morning, when I woke up barely able to walk due to pain in my Achilles tendon. I'm guessing it had something to do with a 20-mile bike ride on Sunday afternoon, but who knows? At any rate, I'm doing alright now.
About half of the Mori no Ike staff.
My cabin for the last 4 weeks - all 14 to 16 year old boys.
"Restaurant night" - we got Mexican food for a change from Japanese.
Every 2 weeks, the staff got 24-hour blocks of time off in two shifts. In a blatant abuse of the village van, the four of us pictured went to Duluth. 400 miles of driving, round trip, in one day!
The rocks at Castle Haven, where my family and I stayed.
Agate Beach in Gooseberry Falls State Park
I want to live in that gazebo...
The rest of camp went well after my last post from there. The progression I'd been told would happen indeed did - the second to last week, the staff were all exhausted and grumpy and wanted to be anywhere but there. (Major crises didn't help things either; that week the dean got sick and was essentially MIA for a couple days, and we had two counselors leave on the same day, one more voluntarily than the other if you know what I mean, but both under less than ideal circumstances.) The very last week, we were all going crazy, too tired to be tired, and things got a lot more fun. I think it all ended on a very good note.
In retrospect, I'm really glad I did that this summer. I could have found plenty of jobs that paid more - such as working for Parks & Rec in St. Paul, cutting grass and other such fun outdoor work. But I think doing CLV was more than worth the low pay, possibly even worth not doing research or anything more "productive" resume-wise. Being responsible for kids teaches you so much about yourself. I expected to have fun, to do my job pretty well and learn a lot of language, but I was really surprised by that part. It teaches you to notice everything about your own behavior so much more, including when it's immature or self-absorbed or otherwise flawed. I really think I got a lot out of this summer in that respect.
It's also making me (well, it's a small part of what's making me) reconsider possible after-college objectives. I've always known I'd like to go into education, and I still think that, but I'm less certain that I'm cut out for academia. I'd love to be a writer. Maybe even high school teaching is the way to go. I can't really decide on anything now, so for the moment I'll keep doing what I've been doing academically. And my disillusionment with the academic research world I think has more to do with these feelings than the positive experience of teaching younger kids, cause I'd definitely love to teach at the college level. But I've seen some things about how scholarly research operates that I really don't like, and I'm less and less sure I could do it if I meant I had to play by the rules of their game as far as what I can say and what I can't, and how.
Shortly after getting home, took off for the annual family vacation at Castle Haven, a "resort" (I dunno what else to call it - but it's housekeeping cabins where you cook and clean yourself, none of this luxury-resort-we-have-three-pools-and-two-golf-courses crap) on the North Shore of Lake Superior. As usual, it was just a fantastic week. Hiking, exploring beaches and the rocks, eating wild blueberries and raspberries, reading, relaxing, eating (family friends from Iowa always go with us, and the dad in said family is a phenomenal cook), working on my tan (ha!), even some swimming as the lake was warmer than usual this year for whatever that's worth. A week there reaffirmed my feeling that Lake Superior is a second home for me. Maybe just because I've been going every summer since I can remember, maybe it's how unchanging the place is - more so than my parents' house and even that is always almost comically the same after I've been away for months - I don't know, but the North Shore just has that powerful feeling of "I belong here" as soon as I step out of the car. It's really hit me the last few times I've gone. It even smells right; the local vegetation gives the air a unique smell that's a little different from here in St. Paul. I could definitely live there - if employability weren't an issue. Not much to do to make a living, unfortunately. That and you kinda have to have already made your living to afford to buy a house up there.
Since getting home I've enjoyed being at home with no strict schedule - another perk to my choice of summer job. I've got plenty to do; planning to declare my major this fall is a significant project ahead of me; there's some preparation for my seminar in Japan (in less than 2 weeks!); and a lot of Mixed Co work to get ready for recruiting and auditions. Conor and I had a 2-hour phone conversation last week to kick things off, and I've been devoting a substantial amount of time to a cappella stuff since then. Going to get going this week with a new arrangement, probably Parachute by Guster.
Other recent highlights:
A banquet honoring the 25th anniversary of the MN State High School Math League. They invited all former ARML all-star team members in addition to coaches and other bigwigs, so naturally, I had to go. It was actually quite a lot of fun. Saw some newspaper photos of my old coach, Mr. Kunz, back in the 80s when he still had brown hair. Wow!
The usual traditional get-togethers: a game of diplomacy, a party at Noah's at which I finally saw the legendary Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter, a free concert at Harriet Island (Flogging Molly at the Irish Festival; definitely a better show than last summer when a few of us went to an utterly terrible Violent Femmes show in the same park - can we say "Washed up 15 years ago"?), and a lot of low-key hanging out. I missed the annual golf excursion this morning, when I woke up barely able to walk due to pain in my Achilles tendon. I'm guessing it had something to do with a 20-mile bike ride on Sunday afternoon, but who knows? At any rate, I'm doing alright now.
About half of the Mori no Ike staff.
My cabin for the last 4 weeks - all 14 to 16 year old boys.
"Restaurant night" - we got Mexican food for a change from Japanese.
Every 2 weeks, the staff got 24-hour blocks of time off in two shifts. In a blatant abuse of the village van, the four of us pictured went to Duluth. 400 miles of driving, round trip, in one day!
The rocks at Castle Haven, where my family and I stayed.
Agate Beach in Gooseberry Falls State Park
I want to live in that gazebo...