CXR OH!EIGHT._ Camp is an experience every year. This year, however, was the first year that I was actually looking forward to going. From the years 2002-2007, I've just never been particularly excited about it despite the post-camp trend being I love it beyond belief. But this year, maybe it was because I was going to be a counselor and experience things from the flip side - or maybe it was because I was weirdly secure in my faith. Either way, I expected a lot out of CXR and once again, God has not failed to impress me in what He can do. My expectations and experiences were a little different than before because, yes, of the fact that I was a counselor. I got to know so many of the campers and in doing so found out that faith knows no age. Some of the tiniest little guys and gals are probably the most spiritually mature out of the whole group and just really blew me away. Their insights are just amazing to me, and I had a lot to learn from all of them. Which is not to say that my one-on-one's weren't exhausting, because they were, both physically and mentally. But, despite hearing ramblings of this-and-that guy and so-and-so bratty friend drama at school, I'm so glad to have talked to my girls. But one-on-one's, being Camp Mom on the hospitality committee with Annith, being on the worship team, being director/lead of the counselor skit, leading cabin time, mediating drama - that just sounds exhausting to say. I can't believe I did all that as a noob. The responsibilities got to be a little too much for me to really concentrate on God, but on Monday, I received my own overdue God time. Even on stage during the counselor skit, I felt Him there. In me, in the other counselors on stage, in front of us, all around us. Saturating us with His presence, all throughout the end of altar call to campfire. Amazing.
Our speaker Sam Oh, was, without a doubt, one of the most amazing speakers I think we have ever had. He was just the right mix between hilarious - to get some of the more tiao-pi guys to pay attention - and convicting. His speeches were just what I needed - a new spin on old talks, facets of God that I have never even thought of knowing before. I got to talk to him on a few occasions as well, and he's just generally a laid-back, great guy despite being Korean :P.
My warm fuzzies this year were also another thing I was really looking forward to. Can I just say I love love love them? Through the written notes I realized just how many people I touched with our counselor skit in particular (another thing I was so psyched for). We as counselors came such a long way with that one - from half the group being skeptics about whether we'd be able to pull it off or not, to executing it perfectly. I can't wait for Xiao to put the video up. Anyway, I carry the warm fuzzies around with me now. Yep. That's how much of a dork I am, lol.
Camp will never cease to awe me with what God can do. In the water balloon fights and the yuuummmyyyy mealtimes (even though I never got to do the eating contest with Leon - next year!) and the worship practices and the hi-larious skit nights and the early-rising counselor meetings (the last of which I never made it to thanks to exhaustion =_=), He just... He moves mountains. I just wish I could live up there forever, surrounded by my brothers and sisters, clear mountain air, good food, laughter, tears, and God. Is this a glimpse of what heaven is (minus the less-than-great cabin conditions, especially the showers)? If it is, that doesn't seem so bad to me.
Counselor skit cast. Greed, vanity, drunkenness, death, lust, God, and the human girl.
POST CXR OH!EIGHT._ Many BCEFCCECD counselor hang-outs ensue. We're a bunch of crazy Asians. The Tuesday after we got back from camp, we went straightaway to Pho Duy II. (Mmm...). I was trapped between Mike and Ray in the car. You can guess what happened. Mike read most of his 'grammatically [or politically] incorrect' warm fuzzies in a horrible Canto accent, Ray was giggling, I was dying, John was being sarcastic, and yea. It was bad. Then I made the stupidest sounding comment of my life which shall not be repeated here but involved a moving motorcycle on a highway (duh...). Glad I got to be of some entertainment value. ><
Pho was basically a repeat, as I was trapped between Mike and Ray again. I didn't even finish half of my pho T-T.
Two nights ago on Saturday, I drove up to Boulder by myself - getting lost several times on 28th Street that turns BACK into US-36 at some point... - for our counselor get-together (plus Brian, ha) at Katie's parent's restaurant, Five Spice. Attendees (so you know just how BIG our table was): Ann, Jeff, Big-Jack, Jackjack, Amy, Angela, Rayray, Connie, Drew, Jane, Brian, Teddy, Ivo, Wayne, Ken, Xiao, John, Katie, Mike, aaaand me. The food was gooooood. Except for that one fish dish that reminded me of the one I ordered at Chopsticks the night before I almost died.
Afterwards, we cleaned up, of course loitered in the parking lot for about 15 minutes, and then went to Chatauqua Park for a NIGHTHIKE! I know. I don't go hiking. IN fact it's pretty much okay to say I detest hiking with a passion. Plus I was in flip-flops with absolutely no traction. But when I say nighthiking, it's basically a code word for us being a group of LOUD idiots traipsing our way a quarter up a trail before deciding to head back and fool around on picnic benches. I wish somebody had videorecorded the whole thing.
On the way up, Jeff and Jackjack were singing a particularly annoying song, the rest of us were trying to drown them out by singing something-anything-else, and Katie and I were rapping Fahrenheit. Jackjack kept taking his shirt off because he got really hot. And then Mike would make fun. Halfway up, we lost half our group and then began making up completely retarded monster theories of how they got snatched, which sounds stupid told in the daylight, but in the dark with only four flashlights and the perfect setting for a horror movie, it was kind of frightening. People kept breaking off to go find the 'lost' and then never came back. When we dwindled down to about 8 people, we decided to hike back down to wait for the rest by our cars. The way down consisted of making fun of different Chinese accents, Big-Jack and I having a British accent war, making fun of Taiwan (much to the grumbling of Jeff), and more singing of really... weird... songs. And I had 'what-what-in-the-butt' stuck in my head. And Jackjack did some more stripping up top. So that came out at random times. It was completely exhilarating, plus I probably burned 100 or so calories in the process. And I wasn't even tired.
On the picnic benches, we said goodbye about 100 times but nobody wanted to leave yet, so we started playing Asian nerd games and taking pictures and joking and such. I think some of the more 'older' people (re: Tivo and Wayne) got a little annoyed by the 'younger' batch (re: US) being irritably noisy, so they disappeared someplace... And then at around midnight I drove back to Denver with Teddy in my car to keep me company.
My dad was pretty pissed when I arrived home at exactly 1:04 AM. Not exactly thrilled, to say the least. It was good times.
It sounds kind of lame when I write it all out, but when I talk about BCEFCCECD get-togethers, it's a you-had-to-be-there kind of situation. If you were, you'd either be laughing with us or at us. We should have our own TV show.
I guess, though, what I'm trying to say is I love these people. I really do. I mean, yes, sometimes I get sick of seeing Tivo, Wayne, and Xiao all the time, but when we're all together with everyone else I get this feeling in my ribcage, like, I just love you guys. All of you. And I wish we could just live in one big house and be together forever. Of course that's not possible now because we all have school and jobs and busy lives. But maybe someday when we're all old (old? GASP. I don't want to think about it.) and our kids don't want us anymore (even though I'm not having any), we can all retire in one huge mansion in Rhode Island or Florida or China/Taiwan instead of a nursing home. And then it'll be a party every day. That's one thing to look forward to when I'm old, anyway.
Tonight is Jane's bbq in Boulder, and I'm hoping mama will let me go. She wants me to spend some quality time with the familia before I head off to Syracuse again, but I just hoopppppeeee she'll let me go tonight. I'll stay home the rest of the week! (Or, at least, Tuesday Thursday Friday!). I love my family, but I also love my BCEFCCECD family.
I haven't even talked about what's going on with my girls from elementary-middleschool-HS. That's for next time.
Us being us.
...and the start of another beginning?
chensqrd
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