Week One: Welcome back to America

Okay, I know I’m a little late posting, but I’m a busy guy again. This is the first time I’ve been able to sit down with my laptop, and I’m not even on the Internet! Right now I’m sitting in ‘Totem Lodge’ at Ockanickon Scout Reservation after a days hard work, trying desperately to type over the noise of people talking about rotten fish in broken freezers…

So what have I been up to this week. Well, first and foremostly, it would appear that I have arrived in Yankee-Doodle land again. I’m not sure how, but I think I got on a plane. Many of my American friends asked me how the trip was. I know that they are just trying to be polite, but what do they expect me to answer with? We were attacked by dragons mid-flight?

Of course my answer was ‘boring’. I still can’t quite understand how boring flying is. Why did people ever get excited about it? Yeah, yeah, I understand the whole against nature thing, but still – BORING! Although I do have to tip my hat to British Airways once again – superb service and a new entertainment system. It was amazing, I was able to use the entertainment system like BBC iPlayer or YouTube. Hundreds of movies when I wanted it. Despite all of this, they still wouldn’t let me drive!

So, I landed at Philadelphia Airport (I have to say that Newark was a nicer flight, and airport last year), and was told to expect one of the Asst. Camp Directors, Tom (he’s not the one that I went hand gun shooting with last year). I came out of international arrivals, and was expecting to find Tom looking grumpy waiting for me. What I was greeted with, was 8 of my colleagues from last year. Even Pat (the health officer), who I hadn’t expected to see. Most amazing arrival party ever! There’s the bar there Mum and Dad…

By the way, in between writing these paragraphs, I have had dinner, and carried out a rescue drill on the High Ropes course. It’s now 9.30pm.

After arriving in the US, what’s the first thing any normal person would do? (Apart from go through US Customs, and get suspected for being an illegal working immigrant) That’s right – go out and get some Mozzarella sticks! We stopped by a bar called Bennigans (Irish themed) and had drinks and a few snacks.

Since arriving, I have mainly spent my time doing that dreaded r word. Now, what is it again? Re- Re- Rela- Oh yeah, relaxing. It’s been terrible. I haven’t been able to do anything else but. Although having said that, I have found that I’m particularly good at the singing part of that Rock Band Game.

On Friday, I went with a couple of guys to a local theme park – Six Flags Great Adventure. If you have really good memories, you may remember that I visited this place before I left last year, but some of the rides were closed. One in particular I was really gutted about. Kingda Ka shoots you (using some sort of magnet system) at 128 mph into a vertical 450ft climb. The ride only lasts about 30 seconds, but the speed and the view were amazing. The car even began to shake as we neared top speed (just like the taking off in the Space Shuttle I would imagine).

I left a curious comment last week about driving a big ol’ American pickup. Unfortunately, the plan of borrowing a GMC High Sierra 4x4 Pickup has fallen through. My friend (and Asst. Camp Director) Terry is letting me borrow his Toyota. How about that for irony – I have travelled 3000 miles, and the car I am lent is just like a small European car. I guess that is why Terry gave me a 1st Class in driving in the US!

So with all of that in mind, I know launch whole heartedly into Camp Ockanickon’s summer season 2008. I guess, as it’s now 11pm on Tuesday, I have already launched, but I’ll leave those frustrations until next week. Yip-dee-do.

If you drive a big American truck, why not leave a comment saying how high you sit in the road.

If you drive a smaller car, why not leave a comment saying how good your petrol mileage is (or gas mileage if you are American).