Bringing legendary to a whole new level

Well my friends, its been about 2 weeks into second session and all I can say is that we are bringing the word legendary to a whole new level here at ISCM.

This second session of camp has been absolutely insane and so friggin fun that it makes me not want to leave EVER!! I cannot believe there's only 1 week left today, its gone by very quickly but I will break down the highlights of the past 2 weeks:

• My campers = amazing!! I have 8 wonderful girls (Shira, Dana, Yulia, Mika, Lauren, Keren, Lana and Alex) from all over and they are so friggin great. They aways stick together and are such a team and so good to me PLUS they are never late for anything which makes me super happy since that's my only pet peeve. I have 4 campers living on the bottom floor of camp and then the other 4 are actually living right below me which is a littler weird but they are nice and close if I ever need them although running back and forth is giving me a good workout :)
• I went on overnight with Scott and Elsi and it was just unreal and the most relaxing night I've ever had there. Usually I'm screaming at campers, telling them to stop doing whatever bad stuff it is that they're doing or repeating myself a thousand times but our campers did everything we asked and then some...they were so lovely and quiet it was unbelievable, we were just waiting for them to stop playing tricks on us and become little devils but it didn't happen. It rained our whole hike there and back but despite the weather it was sweeeeet
• So I made a bet with my friend Jon to go out 12 nights in a row :( him and another guy Brian went out 18 nights in a row last session so this session they're going for 19...I said that would kill me so I promised on 12 and have already completed 5 maverick nights, only 8 to go :S The past week we have had many amazing nights out including a wine from around the world tasting party at our camp cafe, an 80's party for Miss. Christy Jones's 21 birthday (check my FB soon for some fabulous photos from this one), a birthday night for Logan at Amadeus(our favorite hang out spot) but by far one of my favorite nights was a mav night where myself and my friends Tom, Hovda, David and Christoph all took it upon ourselves to go out hard just the 5 of us at Amadeus and then once we got to the bar all the lovals there had their shirts off so the boys joined in and we had a no shirt party at the bar....only in crans montana!! Last night was our underwear party which is pretty much just an excuse for everyone to see eachother half naked but everyone went all night with everything from lingerie to onesies to just plain boxers. It was def a messy night for everyone and this morning and whole was not a fun one, I was useless and in my dark place along with half the staff but it was totally worth it. Tonight we have Swiss day celebrations and then tomorrow is a fancy dinner for our senior section so its going to be a busy weekend!!
• We've had quite a few visitors over the past few weeks and will continue to have more which makes camp that much more fun. Last thursday my bff TARYN BOND came for a week long visit which was amazing especially when I know I won't be seeing her for another year. She was working in England and then hopped over and stayed with me and joined in on many of the night time festivities and I hope we showed her a good time!! I miss her already and wish she was still here because it was so great having a piece of home close by for awhile (Hope you're reading this babe...love ya :)
• This week has been filled with excursions with the kids...we did river rafting on monday which was awesome. The water was very cold(glacier water) but because the valley is so warm it was beautiful and perfect. Wednesday we took the campers to Aqua Parc and then to Montreux which again was so amazing and sometimes I can't even believe we get paid to have days like that. Then friday I had the glacier walk where we take the gondola up to Plaine Mort glacier and wander around and then hike back...its not the kids favorite excursion but I always love it and its nice to get out of camp.

I think that's it for now...I will update again tomorrow since its sunday and we have a nice relaxed morning including a sleep in and brunch woot woot!! Tonight is Mexican themed dinner night and I cannot wait to stuff my face with fajitas and guacamole mmmmm so I gotta run and check on my campers to make sure they're ready for dins and then our black and white disco and then fireworks for Swiss day....so much excitement in one day!!!!

Until tomorrow,
jane xo

End of 1st session yay!!!

So I know its been awhile...totally my fault, I've gotten wrapped up in life here and have already become the worst corresponder ever but all that will change starting NOW! So alot has happened since I last posted and I will start from there.

• Sunday I was fortunate enough to get to go with the junior staff to the overnight hut for a little team bonding ie. food eating and wine drinking :) It was amazing, we had such an awesome time! We made a bonfire and sat out with some music and some wine and it was perfect. The best part is a bunch of us slept outside by the fire because it was such a mild night....we huddled together for warmth and passed out only to wake up to a beautiful morning....when I say perfect I mean perfect. We had to wake up at 6ish to get back to camp in time for work that day(hungover I might add) but it was worth it.
  
• Monday (the morning after the overnight debacle) I spent the day on an excursion with the pioneers at Aqua Parc which is just a big indoor outdoor waterpark and by far the most amazing and easiest excursion ever. My wino headache was not sitting well on the way down the mountain on the bus with all the winding roads but my excitement could not be contained once we got there. The kids might love Aqua Parc but the staff LOVE Aqua Parc!! The pioneer staff (Logan, Tom, Natalie, Elsa, Jeremy, Josh, Laura Zoe, then Allison and I)went around going on as many water slides as we could with the best one being the orange slide which is literally the fastest slide I've ever been on. You drop so quickly and cannot even register whats happening and then its over....the best part was watching everyone get off the slide at the bottom and the shocked looks! It was most beautiful day so we hit up the lazy river which goes from inside to outside and relaxed before having to round up the kids to get back on the bus. Such an awesome day to be a staff member at ISCM!!
• Tuesday I spent the day with my friend Logan and we went down to Sierre for a little wander. Sierre is pretty small and there's not much there...just a few shops(including H&M) and then a mall called The Manor (sounds like a strip club and is one in Guelph). The trip to the Manor had a purpose and that was to buy as much Jagger as Logan could possibly carry in his backpack. Jagger is the drink of choice this year and whether its Jaggerbombs or shots that is what everyone loves to drink SO we got 10 bottles of it and almost cleaned out the store and then proceeded to get laughed at by the cashier who thought we were crazy. Where camp is in Crans Montana is great because its up the moutain and when its hot, we still have a breeze and its not brutal but in the valley ie. Sierre geez it gets friggin hot with no breeze and all humidity. We couldn't possibly leave without snacking on some McDonald's for about 17 CHF you can buy a Big Mac Meal and for 12 CHF a chicken nugget meal....these prices are ludacris but I can justify it since I only eat it once in a blue moon.
• Wednesday I decided to continue my week of fun by joining the senior staff on their excursion to Geneva. Again....excursions are amazing!! So Allison, Brian, Amanda and I joined the buses and set out for our first stop to the Red Cross museum. Usually on excursions to cities we try to do something educational and although I've been there twice already for about half an hour we walked around until it was time to hit up the town. Geneva is beautiful and its nice to be in a big city for a few hours for the shopping and eating. Switzerland isn't very Americanized you could say so yes they have McDonald's, which is where you can always find campers, and yes they have Starbucks, which is where you can always find me, but that's about it so its a nice change. Brian, Allison and I ate lunch and then headed to H&M ofcourse and then spent the rest of our time wandering around town with our last stop being Starbucks for me :) There are photos on facebook documenting our adventures that day. It took about 2 hours to return to camp and once we got back it was dinner time and then STAFF STUNT NIGHT!!!! Stunt night is like our staff talent show....all the campers on previous days have their own within their sections but this is our time to shine. We had everything from African dance to singing and guitar playing to fire show by a former circus instructor to some funny skits....its always a good show and a fun night for the campers to enjoy.
  
• Since I have my days off...I get the question "What do you do" or "Do you ever work" on a daily basis....usually because most of my day is spent by the pool whenever the sun is out or in the staff room....well Thursday was one of those days. Yesterday was actually the perfect day, from morning to night, we couldn't have had better weather and haven't yet so it was much appreciated by staff and campers. I literally spent from noonish to about 5pm out by the pool swimming and tanning and ofcourse many staff members joined me on their time off or during siestas....it was just awesome and such a nice way to end off this session. Last night was the junior campers turn to do their version fo stunt night which is called Entertain the Specialists. It's honestly the cutest and most amazing night where the juniors invite all the specialist to the clubroom where we sit at tables and they walk around serving us wine and guacamole with chips. The theme was Under the Sea so the whole room was decorated with sea creatures, a sail boat, streamers that looked like waves and the kids serving us were all wearing life jackets.....it was honestly so awesome and such a fun night with the juniors who are so adorable anyways. So that was my second last night working as a night guard in the junior villa and I'm actually going to miss it oddly enough...I love the kids and the junior staff but I'm also so so so excited to be a senior counselor again and can't wait to have my own kids.
• Today (friday) is the last day at camp with tomorrow being departure day so its again a very relaxed day that's meant for packing...cleaning....and getting the campers ready to go home. Tomorrow after departures we have a few meetings with our new sections and then a big staff BBQ to celebrate the end of session down by the lake which I'm so looking foward to. I have major cabin fever and cannot wait to get out more and enjoy the social life of ISCM staffers.

Sorry I know that was a loooooong one but it had to be done and now I'm all caught up. I'm starting to send out postcards to within the next few weeks expect something fun in the mail....or atleast I'll try to make them as exciting as possible :)
I'm promising that I will do a much better job at blogging and updating from now on.

Chat soon friends
jane xoxox

My address...just incase somebody wants to send me something *hint hint*

Jane Annett

International Summer Camp Montana

La Moubra, CH-3963 Crans-Montana 1, Switzerland

I would loooooove to receive mail...just saying it would be amazing :)

48 hours is a loooong time in my world

SO I have the bestest news ever....until recently, I have thought that I would have to fly home from Switzerland on August 23rd just to turn around and leave for Seoul on the exact same day but that is no longer the case because (drumroll plllllease) I get to come home for a whole 48 hours YAY!! Well atleast until August 25th, that's when I think I will fly out although I'm not totally sure but considering I thought that I only had hours, this is a HUGE step!! The crappy part is that my parents will be away the day I return but luckily I will hopefully(fingers crossed) get to see them if I am home for as long as I think I will be so another YAY!! It will be a perfect amount of time to do laundry, re-pack and relax and hopefully see a few people so I'll probably be running around like a crazy person but oh well, I didn't expect anything less!!

That was my news of the day...I will keep everyone posted when I actually know full details.

Smiles :):):)

Photos from hikes

What a day...

It is a known fact that at camp you have to accept that you will never catch up on your sleep....or if you have a day off and you actually sleep in and then get to bed early(which never happens) then at some point your going to loose it again so you have to deal with being eternally tired....atleast for the summer.

That was my day yesterday...my eyes were red, I was out of it, my body was aching...but alot of it had to do with being hungover from Canada day and from the hike of hell....first I'll start with Canada day. Canadians at camp really know how to do it up right so for Canada day we gave it hard! We had an awesome night drinking sangria that only costs $2.50 a bottle...how amazing is that! It was a late night filled with beer funneling, spin the Jack(not so much a fun game if you don't like Jack and who really likes Jack), hour of power Canadian style and so much more. Needless to say, I wasn't the only one hurtin the next day luckily I was able to sleep for a littler longer then most staff members cause I have the days off.

So on Canada day I woke up to the sound of my friend Leah coming into my room and waking me up ready to go on a hike. Now we had decided that we would go on an adventure for the day to celebrate being Canadian by being in touch with nature blah blah blah....but I was not ready for this hike. I met Leah and my other friend Allison at the Co-op to stock up on snacks and then head out. The hike would take about 3 hours and our goal was to reach this dam that seemed close. We had beautiful views walking on the side of the mountain to reach the dam but then it gotten a little sketchy. There were points where the rock would pertrude out which meant we had to duck to walk across the platforms that had been constructed. Then there were times were there were no platforms and just these tiny paths with a steep drop down which scared the crap out of me being that high and being afraid of heights. We made it and were inches away from reaching the the lake at the dame and didn't the clouds just come rolling in and it started pouring. We took shelter in a little rest stop to try and wait it out and THEN it started hailing. Freaking hail...you've got to be kidding me! We literally had to cover ourselves in garbage bags and trek back the way we came. We were soaked and filthy walking down paths that are muddy and covered in cow poo ewwww!! We lucked out because someone was driving by and Leah stuck out her thumb to hitchhike and it actually worked...it cut off like 1/2 an hour and was the muddiest spot on the path and randomly the woman knew someone we worked at camp with. Eventually the rain cleared away and it was sunny again so we finished the walk back with wet muddy feet but we made it yay!! I'll post some photos for you to check out becaue it was pretty amazing and I'd totally do it again minus the hail ofcourse :) Atleast I learned my lesson...never go on a hike in the mountains without a sweater and jacket...you never know how fast the weather can change!!

Peace out friends,
jane xo