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 Camp Journal - Leysin, Switzerland

    The latest news and photos appear at the top. Come back every day to see what's new here at "Summer Camp Europe" - Village Camps!

First Full Day Of Camp

Let's Get Going!

Today was first full day of Village Camps, Switzerland for 2008.  Everyone is registered and settled in and, after breakfast this morning, all the campers headed off to their respective assignments.

There are 19 campers in the morning group of tennis campers.  They had an early breakfast and then were off to the courts ready to begin the process that may lead to Wimbledon's famous Centre Court some day.  The second group of tennis campers - those that are also enrolled in a language program will leave for the courts right after lunch. The language classes are in full swing – teachers are checking to see if campers have been placed in the correct levels and changes may be made later in the day.  The multi-activity campers can choose from three different programmes - an outdoor adventure programme, a sports programme and a dance programme. The Junior Camp campers are on a scavanger hunt and then will be in the Arts & Crafts room.

For most afternoon activities during the coming two weeks, campers are grouped according to ages and placed in Colour Groups.  The breakdown for this session is as follows:

Green (7-9) -------24
Yellow (10-12) –- 66
Red (13-14) ------55
Blue (15-17)------37

 

Who Goes Where?

There are several different "camps" at Village Camps, Switzerland.  Every camper is enrolled in a programme that provides instruction as well as lots of fun. Here are the various camps and the enrollment of each one.

The largest camp by far is the Language Camp.  This session there are 73 campers in Language Camp -- 51 in English and 22 in French. 

The Tennis Camp has 39 campers enrolled. The morning session has 19 campers.  Another 19 campers are enrolled in both a language and tennis.  This group goes to language class in the morning and has tennis insturction in the afternoon.

The Multi-Activity Camp has nine campers enrolled in the Dance Club, 20 enrolled in the Adventure Club, and 20 enrolled in the Sports Club.

There are 24 Junior Campers (ages 7-9)   They are all housed in a separate wing of our building and spend ALL of their day as a group – they eat together, have the same counsellors throughout the day, and the counsellors live in the wing with the campers. The goal is to make this as much a home-like experience as possible.

 

Arrival Day at Village Camps Leysin

Tables are set up in the Grand Salon for arriving campers to register.  Mr. Phil (airport manager) is with his groups of counsellors to meet campers arriving by air and escort them to Leysin.  Other counsellors are stationed here to help campers arriving by automobile with their parents.   We already have close to 20 campers who arrived yesterday.  We will add some pictures throughout the day and Joe Rikley, our camp director will add a welcome message later in the day.

We have 183 campers scheduled for this session - the first of four sessions at Leysin.  As campers arrive at our campus in Leysin they are met by counsellors who take care of their bags and guide them through camp registration.  Language campers meet with teachers and are "tested" for proficiency so they can be placed in the proper class.  All campers meet with the health centre staff and any required medicines are stored in the centre to be dispensed by the nurses.  All campers also meet with the campers' banker who holds spending money for them and opens every day to allow "withdrawals."  After all registration procedures  are completed their are number of activities set up for them -- including swimming and the climbing wall.

  

It's been a wonderful day in the neighborhood. The weather has been beautiful -- a great day.  The kitchen staff set up a salad buffet with cold meats and cheese for arriving campers and parents.  There was also a hot meal with baked beans.  It is now 13h00 and campers have been arriving all day. We have just over 100 already registered, meaning that there are another 80 or so yet to arrive. 


They Came by Train, Plane, and Automobile!

    Welcome from the Camp Director   

After a busy and very enjoyable week of staff orientation, all of us are very happy that the campers are finally arriving. We are excited to be starting what we are sure will be another fantastic summer in Leysin.

Tomorrow we begin our first full day of activities and classes.  All the counsellors, teachers, and other staff have worked hard getting the building ready and we are all looking forward to a fun-filled, very active two weeks.  I hope you will follow the activities of our camp on this web log.  Jessie, our camp photographer, will be taking lots of pictures for us to share with you. We will try to give you information on what is happening at camp everyday and we will try to have 35-40 pictures on-line.

Joe
Joe Rikley, Camp Director

 

 

Camp Starts on Sunday 29 June

Camp starts on Sunday, 29 June so be sure to come back and enjoy our section of Campers Corner.  Throughout the summer you'll find lots of photos, stories, schedules, news and generally everything you need to know about camp life.  This will, of course, include seeing your children and their friends having the time of their life that always goes along with a Village Camps experience.

 
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