My time at Interlochen Arts Camp was absolutely fantastic!
I could end this short blog with that. Seriously though, the counsellors / staff were absolutely wonderful - any time something needed to be done, most of them would jump up and volunteer to help. I would work with Interlochen again anytime (even though Michigan doesn't quite appeal to me - being a cold state way up there. .. )
Last couple days we were there went something like this: started at 7am Thursday morning, worked until 12am, up at 5am Friday morning and worked until 2am, up at 7am and then crashed for a 6-hour nap at 11am when we were finally done with Institutes. In that span of time, we totaled 138 phone calls, killed hundreds of mosquitoes, drank only 4 cups of coffee, checked out hundreds of institute campers, welcomed 13 early camp arrivals, and trapped one very scared mouse under a trash can.
Overall, I am so glad I got to be there, and excited about the possibility of being there again next year!
~Elizabeth
Monday, June 24, 2013
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
First time in the hand-shaped state
After leaving the grand city of New York, I flew to Michigan - my first time for an extended period of time in this state.
Interlochen Center for the Arts is just a beautiful campus and arts center. The weather has been incredible in the 70's during the day and cooler at night - basically perfect. The Institute (the part of Interlochen that I'm involved in) is housed on the part of campus that is directly situated next to the Interlochen State Park and has been a joy to be able to run on forest trails. It's so much easier to run fast when you are more interested and focused on the flora and fauna than you are having to focus on your running form or breathing.
Training was.. well, training. But was not all tedious and boring. My Director (I'm Assistant to D.) is similar in my training style in that we say what is needed and expect comprehension and intelligence from those being trained. Not needless repetition or pointless discussion. We said what was needed. Exactly how I like to train / teach. Nothing extraneous. We went to a Lake Michigan beach one night and though cold, we enjoyed s'mores and frisbee and a great campfire. Love me some bonding time :)
After training and staff training, the 330 campers arrived and the fun part began! Days have been great - waking the kids up, breakfast, some office work / nap, lunch, more work / nap, run, dinner, evening activities, work, sleep. The counsellors are all really great people that I'm happy to be working with. The best example of this was on Saturday when the majority of campers arrived. There was a delivery of luggage from the airport that was sitting in front of our HQ and when I noticed, I asked if someone would just check to see who they belonged to and move them to their cabins for them. Of the 12 people in HQ, 7 jumped up enthusiastically and before I knew it, the luggage was delivered. What a great group of servants and willing helpers!
Though not over, this has already been on of the best summers in quite a while! I'd be rather happy if I got to work with Interlochen again someday.
~Elizabeth
"Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way." ~Jane Austen
Interlochen Center for the Arts is just a beautiful campus and arts center. The weather has been incredible in the 70's during the day and cooler at night - basically perfect. The Institute (the part of Interlochen that I'm involved in) is housed on the part of campus that is directly situated next to the Interlochen State Park and has been a joy to be able to run on forest trails. It's so much easier to run fast when you are more interested and focused on the flora and fauna than you are having to focus on your running form or breathing.
Training was.. well, training. But was not all tedious and boring. My Director (I'm Assistant to D.) is similar in my training style in that we say what is needed and expect comprehension and intelligence from those being trained. Not needless repetition or pointless discussion. We said what was needed. Exactly how I like to train / teach. Nothing extraneous. We went to a Lake Michigan beach one night and though cold, we enjoyed s'mores and frisbee and a great campfire. Love me some bonding time :)
After training and staff training, the 330 campers arrived and the fun part began! Days have been great - waking the kids up, breakfast, some office work / nap, lunch, more work / nap, run, dinner, evening activities, work, sleep. The counsellors are all really great people that I'm happy to be working with. The best example of this was on Saturday when the majority of campers arrived. There was a delivery of luggage from the airport that was sitting in front of our HQ and when I noticed, I asked if someone would just check to see who they belonged to and move them to their cabins for them. Of the 12 people in HQ, 7 jumped up enthusiastically and before I knew it, the luggage was delivered. What a great group of servants and willing helpers!
Though not over, this has already been on of the best summers in quite a while! I'd be rather happy if I got to work with Interlochen again someday.
~Elizabeth
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| Beach time! |
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| It was a beautiful sunset |
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"Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way." ~Jane Austen
The Big Apple
I had the great fortune to travel for my first time to New York City!
Once landed on Friday, I cabbed to Liz's building and was greeted with a wonderful hug from my friend. It was going to be a great weekend. Friday night we joined with some other SMU MBA's and celebrated Santiago's birthday with a dinner at a nice little restaurant . I won't pretend to remember where it was exactly.
Saturday, Liz and I met up with Sydney and we visited the 9/11 memorial, ate lunch on Stone Street (yes, you are right, it is a street of stone!), and took a ferry to Governor's Island where there was an art festival. The art festival was fun and we felt like we were either in the 70's or high (which of course we weren't). We hurried back to the city and got tickets for a the Broadway 'Chicago' - on Broadway.
Sunday was another day of tourist adventure as Liz and I took the subway to the north side of Central Park and walked the entire way through. It is much larger than either of us imagined it to be! It was really lovely and so many large areas of grass that people were sun bathing and picnicking. Loved it! We spent the evening preparing for our internships for the week at Barnes & Nobles.
Liz had work on Monday so I was left to my own devices. (muahaha). I decided to take the subway back to Central Park and run around a little in an iconic way. It was absolutely beautiful and I think that if I lived in NYC, I would definitely enjoy running there often. I grabbed lunch and headed to the airport on my way to Michigan and my internship at Interlochen Center for the Arts. (see next blog)
Overall, I really enjoyed NY and I'm so glad that I had good friends to be around and enjoy the city with. Especially as they were newbie tourists too :) And though it is the 'city that never sleeps', we thankfully got plenty of rest in order to be well rested for the work week.
~Elizabeth
"It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story." ~Agatha Christie
Central Park
Pony up!
Once landed on Friday, I cabbed to Liz's building and was greeted with a wonderful hug from my friend. It was going to be a great weekend. Friday night we joined with some other SMU MBA's and celebrated Santiago's birthday with a dinner at a nice little restaurant . I won't pretend to remember where it was exactly.
Saturday, Liz and I met up with Sydney and we visited the 9/11 memorial, ate lunch on Stone Street (yes, you are right, it is a street of stone!), and took a ferry to Governor's Island where there was an art festival. The art festival was fun and we felt like we were either in the 70's or high (which of course we weren't). We hurried back to the city and got tickets for a the Broadway 'Chicago' - on Broadway.
Sunday was another day of tourist adventure as Liz and I took the subway to the north side of Central Park and walked the entire way through. It is much larger than either of us imagined it to be! It was really lovely and so many large areas of grass that people were sun bathing and picnicking. Loved it! We spent the evening preparing for our internships for the week at Barnes & Nobles.
Liz had work on Monday so I was left to my own devices. (muahaha). I decided to take the subway back to Central Park and run around a little in an iconic way. It was absolutely beautiful and I think that if I lived in NYC, I would definitely enjoy running there often. I grabbed lunch and headed to the airport on my way to Michigan and my internship at Interlochen Center for the Arts. (see next blog)
Overall, I really enjoyed NY and I'm so glad that I had good friends to be around and enjoy the city with. Especially as they were newbie tourists too :) And though it is the 'city that never sleeps', we thankfully got plenty of rest in order to be well rested for the work week.
~Elizabeth
"It is ridiculous to set a detective story in New York City. New York City is itself a detective story." ~Agatha Christie
9/11 memorial
View of NYC from Governor's island
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