Gold Rush!

Gold Rush, our 2014 Winter English Camp, ended just a few days ago, and thought it was only five days long it feels like I've left a whole other life behind me.

About three weeks ago, Andrey gathered some of the staff together to head up to camp and bury gold.  We had five big white buckets full of painted gold rocks, a rototiller, some shovels, and a plan.  We dug 12 claims and put equal amounts of gold on each, then covered the gold with dirt.  By the time camp started you couldn't tell where we had buried the gold, which was perfect.

We had 12 groups at camp this year, a total of 83 kids (TWICE as many as last year!) and on the first night, we auctioned off all 12 claims.  The next morning, the kiddos got shovels, screens, pans, and water to go dig up their claims.

Girls digging up the "Broken Bone" claim

Our smallest boys, 7-8 years old, hard at work

Alina, one of "our" kids who comes every camp, totally grossed out at the prospect of touching dirt

And what did they do with the gold they dug up? Exchange it at the bank, of course! We printed our own money for camp (yours truly was on the $20) and gave the kids time to make their own "town" after lunch. We had business where they could spend their money, and where they could earn it.  So, kids could sign up as waiters or guards to earn more spending money, or they could use their money to rent board games and sports equipment.  Aside from spending their cash on entertainment and services around town, the could also buy lottery tickets for a chance to win one free ticket to next year's camp, a pretty great prize!

A snapshot from our evening meetings; Andrey on the left, my boss, was the town mayor

I'm very pleased to report that the kids absolutely loved camp!  They loved digging for gold, they loved working (though we'll see how the feel in a few years when they have their first real job), they loved thinking up their own businesses, and loved the lottery.

Andrey's wife Natasha and our littlest camper (one of our staff member's kids)

English lessons are serious business!

I found my brother's signature on last year's banner; come back to me, Wyatt!

Not only was the camp program a total success, but I ended up with a team of 10 Americans, which is a miracle! I had a family of seven, an young married couple, and myself to work with.  We had a blast in our English lessons (we wrote poems, performed skits, and wrote new laws for Boomtown, the name of our city) and had fun playing with the kids and encouraging them to speak English.

One of my team members Cady Hayes on the left, one of our campers Polina in pink, Masha, and yours truly posing in front of our covered wagon

Now that camp is over, I don't know what to do with myself! That's not entirely true, I have things to do, but I'm already thinking about summer camp!  What can I say? I love my job.


Пока ребята,

Russian Jane