2012年サマーキャンプ

キャンプでの生活で、まず大変だったのが言葉で、初日に質問をたくさんされて、なかなか受け答えができなかったので大変でした。食事の時は、おいしいものはサラミくらいで、生ものはマズかったです。
　初日にケガをしてしまって運動が出来なくなってしまい、乗馬にはまっていました。それからしばらくしてスイムができるようになり、バナナボートに乗ったら寒くてしかたありませんでした。
バンクでは、ベッドがとなりの子と少しながら話をしたり、絵をもらったりしました。同じバンクにすごくナンパをしている子がいました。本当に引くくらいすごかったです。また、ゲガをしたときに、オーバーなほど心配してくれた人もいました。キャンティーンでは、音楽がかかったらすぐにおどりだしているのは、日本ではなかなか見られないと思います。今回、文化の違いにふれることによって、人の考えかたの違いがよくわかりました。
　今思い出すと、バンクの中はとても平和でケンカなどは無く、スタッフの誕生日もサプライズで祝うくらい平和でした。バンクは赤いため、シャワールームやトイレなどに赤いペンキがついていました。しかし、しばらくするとそこにもなれていました。今ではまたそこに行きたいと思います。

中学１年

　Summer Campが待ち遠しかった。13時間の長いフライトを経てホテルでの一泊、私には、とてつもなく長い時間に感じられた。
　今回、French Woodsに行くにあたって私には大きな目標があった。それは、英語を母国語とする人に混じりtheaterを演じることだった。私は英語には自信があった。それが、アメリカでどこまで通用するか世界のレベルを知りたかったのだ。

オーディションを受けてみて私が入ったのはFunny Girlという演目だった。私はAnnieがやりたかったので内心ガッカリだったがshowに向けてこれから皆で１つのミュージカルを作り上げるのかと思うと少しワクワクもした。
　初めてリハに行ってみると早速、歌の練習が始まった。音は先生が出したのを聞いて覚えなくてはならない。台本には歌詞しかのっていないのだ。皆、初めての曲のはずなのにさらっと歌って、さすがレベルが高い!と思った。進みも速くどんどん曲ができてくる。ソロのある主役級の人達は歌のレベルが高くて本当に驚かされた。私は、アンサンブルだったけれど、それでも目立つチャンスはあったと思う。それは、立ち位置だ。立ち位置は自分の意思でどこにでもなれる。おかげで、私は凄く目立てていたと思う。

最高の舞台だった！ 3週間という短い期間でここまで完成度の高いものができるなんて想像を遥かに超えていた。何よりも、みんな楽しめたことが一番良かったと思う。
　このcampで今年私が「一番成長したな」「良かったな」と思うのは、常に自分の意思を相手に伝えてこられたことだと思う。それがあったからこそ、私は今回ここまで楽しむことができたのだと思う。積極性。それが、今回のキーワードだったのだろう。

今でも、友達やカウンセラーとは連絡を取り合っている。その人達とまた来年も出会えることを私は願う。

中学２年

マナベルのサマーキャンプ募集を知ったとき、私はすごいチャンスがきたと思いました。理由はアメリカに行くことが私の小さいときからの夢だったからです。なので、このチャンスを絶対にのがしたくないと思いました。

応募の作文を書くときは、アメリカに行きたいという気持ちがいっぱいで、苦労したことは全くありませんでした。応募要綱や作文を郵送したときは、２人しか選ばれないので不安もあったけど、行けることを信じていました。マナベルからの電話インタビューがあったときは、とにかく、これが私の夢だったことなんだということをがんばって伝えました。
参加が決まったときは、喜びと感謝で胸がいっぱいでした。そして、何かをつかんでこようと思いました。家族も友達も大喜びしていて、夢がかなったねと言ってくれました。

仙台の事前ミーティングに参加したときは、もう１人の人がどんな人なのか、またマナベルの方はどのような人なのか、どんなキャンプなのか、知りたいことがいっぱいありわくわくしました。
サマーキャンプが近づいてきて、不安も大きくなりました。向こうでの言葉、生活、食べ物、人間関係などが不安でした。マナベルからのＤＶＤを見ての感想は、親しみやすい人たちばっかりなので安心しました。

出発の朝、私は昨日の夜に岩手から夜行バスできたのでとにかく疲れていました。成田空港でみんなに会ったときは、同級生の人もいたし、しゃべりかけてくれたりしたのでうれしかったです。飛行機の中では、映画や大好きなgleeを５回も見ていました。
アメリカに着いたときは、“これがアメリカだ。ついにきた。”というわくわくとした気持ちでいっぱいでした。キャンプに向かうバスの中からみた光景は山でした。よっぽど山奥に行くんだなと思いました。

キャンプに着いたときは、うまくやっていけるかが不安だったけど、すごく楽しみでした。でも、最初からバンクを間違えられるし、道はわからないしで、とても困りました。しかしその日の夜に、同じバンクの人にキャンティーンに誘われ、いっしょにダンスをして、そんな不安もうすくなっていきました。
バンクの人は、ダンスやそうじの仕方を教えてくれるやさしい人でした。アクティビティーでは色々な人との友情ができ、最後のショーでやるヒップホップは、とにかくみんなで協力してがんばりました。 　このサマーキャンプは、国境の関係なく、つながる輪を様々な場面で実感しました。また、アメリカの文化についても学べました。
このような貴重な体験をさせていただき、本当にありがとうございました。私の一生の思い出になりました。

中学２年

　My summer in G15B was amazing. When I close my eyes, memories of camp flood back…

　It’s August 7th again and I’m back at my second home, the French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts. It was my third summer there and I was ecstatic, since I hadn’t been back in two years. I was placed in a lovely bunk, G15B. There were thirteen of us and three counselors.
My Majors were Basketball, Tennis and Fire. As I’d been wanting to do Fire for the past two years, I was thrilled. Training for the first five days was tough, though. The muscle training and running sessions were grueling.
But it was all worth it when we performed in the “Firefly” show. I was so excited about participating in this. When we lit our poi, it blazed and glowed in the darkness. It was beautiful. We were freezing though, because we had wet our hair for the performance. When I returned to my bunk after the show, everyone gather around, hugged me and said, “You were amazing tonight! Good job!” Their praises made me so happy.

〜（中略）〜

　I still recall one night, when we made a circle in the middle of our bunk. We talked about ourselves. When Sarah said she attended public school, Katy asked, “What? Why?” I was surprised that everyone went to private schools, except Sarah.
My bunkmates also shared their future dreams with each other. This was when I thought, “To make my dream come true, I’ll need to come back to the States to enter a high school for a year.” Studying in America has been my dream for a long time.
I felt very much at home with my bunkmates; especially with Marianne, Hermence and Regina. I spent a lot of time with them. I had studied hard before going to French Woods, but I felt that my English was improving more as I talked with them every day. It was the first time for me to make such deep connections with people at camp.

　Marianne and Hermence both came from Switzerland together. They are fifteen, just like me. They both speak French and English. They are very tall and looked like models to me. I did my minors with them.
I have no idea how much Marianne and I talked and laughed during our summer at French Woods. She and I are best friends forever. We spent so much time together. Near the end of camp, I said to her, “Can you believe it? In three days, we’re leaving and returning to our different homes. We can’t meet like this anymore.”
She replied, “It’s too sad. We’ll have to find a way to see each other. You can come to my house in Switzerland anytime. Seriously, you should. I’m sure my parents will let me have you over.”

　Hermence was the funniest person in our bunk. I love her as much as I love Marianne. We played basketball together until she changed her Major due to knee pains. After basketball every morning, she and I usually went to Jewelry or Chain Mail together. We sometimes went to Skate Park, Rocket and Trains.
Rocket was interesting. When Hermence and I flew them, we counted down in French and Japanese. “Cinq, quatre, trois, deux, un, zero!”Our rockets looked so cool shooting up into the blue sky.
When we were tired to do anything, Hermence and I stayed in our bunk and talked. We sometimes caused some mischief, but it was always in good fun. Spending time with Hermence was often spontaneous and always exciting.

〜（中略）〜

　Then there is Regina. She came from Mexico City and likes One Direction. She arrived at camp at 10 p.m. on the first day. She was fourteen but became fifteen on the last day of camp. It was hard to talk to her at first because she has an accent. I tried to talk to her but we couldn’t keep our conversations going. She’s an amazing friend now. She was always so calm and that relaxed me at camp. I slept on her arm once during the Rock Show. It felt comfortable. That’s why I love her, too.
Besides English, I learned French from Hermence and Marianne, and Spanish from Regina. When I told them that French was too difficult, Marianne said, “While this is true, Japanese is impossible.” I’m planning to study both French and Spanish.
“The French Table” is a table in front of BSL. People who can speak French gathered around and played cards. Marianne and Hermence were sometimes there. I sat there with them and played cards. They were nice but I couldn’t understand anything.

〜（中略）〜

　The last two days of camp were visiting days. Every summer, I was with my Japanese friends because everyone’s parents came except ours. But this year, I wasn’t alone. I was with Marianne, Hermence and Regina because their parents couldn’t come to visit, either.
On the last day, I spent three periods packing. When we were all chilling out when Sarah’s brother entered the bunk. We suddenly sat up properly just because he is cute.
After lunch on our last day, Marianne and I went to Skate Park together. We climbed the half pipe again and again. After that, we sat on the large mattress and reflected on our three weeks. I said to her, “I really don’t want to leave here. I’m immensely happy, having made amazing friends, like you.”

　She replied,” I don’t want you to leave here without me so I’ll always be with you no matter what. I’m so glad you are in my bunk.” We then fell asleep for an hour.
Georgia left camp first. She took a video because she couldn’t find some of our friends in our bunk before she left. It made me cry. She cried and said good bye to us.
When I was sitting on my bed, Marianne came over and started writing something on the wall. “Karin & Marianne Friends forever” And when Hermence saw this, she added, “AND Karin & Hermence, too. And Marianne & Hermence, too.”

　After dinner, we went to the Circus Show. I told everyone, “I’m leaving here after the show.” Even my friends who hadn’t signed up for the show came to see me off. I promised Lily that I would say good-bye before I left, so we dropped by the backstage of the Pavilion. Lily was there with make up on for the show.
She said, “Oh my God, Karin. I can’t believe that you are leaving now. But we will keep in touch okay? And I will see you next summer. Don’t make me cry. I can’t do this because my makeup will come off. But I can’t bear this anymore.” She finally broke down and said, “I love you so much! I will miss you, Karin.” I kept weeping after that.
I hugged my friends many times. Parting with them made me really sad. Hermence and Marianne held me really tight. I promised to visit them in Switzerland. Before I finally left camp, I said, “I love you!” and they said, “I love you, too!”

　My last two summers at camp were different because everyone looked after me. I didn’t talk a lot and couldn’t speak English before. I also spent most of my time with my Japanese friends. Everyone from Japan did well and I only shared with people the good side of camp.
This year, however, I spent all of my time with my bunkmates. And I had a blast – just like any other camper from the States. My friends and I could share both the good and bad times with each other. This is why I can say that our friendships are honest and real.
To be frank, this summer didn’t have as many campers like the other years before, so it wasn’t as lively. I was disappointed about that at first. But it didn’t matter in the end because I was able to make some amazing friends. If we experienced something bad at camp, we told each other, either by complaining about it or thinking of the solutions together. And that made us all feel better.

　While I think my amazing experience there was great, it was also bittersweet. My three weeks at camp passed so fast. I already miss my friends so much and I’ve been keeping in touch with them. I’m caught up in my memories, twenty-four seven. There’s no doubt that French Woods is my home and the best place I’ve been thus far.
This summer, by far, has been the best one in my life. I need to go back there next year. I have to see all my friends again. One thing is for sure. G15B was the best bunk and we were awfully lucky to be placed together. I’ll never forget the memories I made there and I want to thank to my family for their love and support.

高校１年