My love for all things American started during university work placement in Florida when I was 19.  The following year I decided I absolutely had to get back out to the states!  I heard about the Camp America programme through friends at uni and decided that it was definitely how I wanted to spend my last carefree summer as a student.  I got placed at a girls scout camp in Ohio around March time and didn’t really know quite what to think.  Was I really a girl scout? Could l survive with no TV and hair straighteners? And heaven forbid no boys?!! I soon brushed those fears aside and became very very excited, then before I knew it term time had finished and I was at Heathrow- ready to start my adventure!!

After making a grand entrance on camp with enough luggage to last for about 5 years I got stuck straight in.  The particular girls scout camp I was at was rustic and fairly basic.  Many of the counsellors were American who had spent their childhood summers as campers there!  With a tiny number of staff totalling 20 including the four of us from the UK getting to know each other was pretty easy.  We each either chose or got given a camp name.  Mine was Queenie- apparently I sounded like the queen , was obviously a POM and must admit do love dancing to a bit of Queen!  So no longer Catherine, I was Queenie right up until the last day where the girls were all to guess our real names!!- a rather long and slightly tiresome game!!  After a staff training week where we were taught just about everyithing we needed to know about how things worked on camp the kids arrived and so did the fun!!  American kids really are hilarious!!!   Their lively spirit, random questions and comments and of course their love for camp is enough to keep you going and smiling however tired you get working at camp.

Girl scout camps have a strong emphasis on making use of the great outdoors!  Set in hundreds of acres of woodland we sure managed to do just that!!  Pitch tents were a way of life on camp and pretty fun too- to my surprise I soon forgot that hair straightening watching Neighbours and Hollyoaks and wasting hours doing absolutely nothing on face book were part of every day life and was able to embrace the simple life- still cant quite believe it!  Throughout the 8 weeks on camp I developed great friendships and bonds with the staff and the campers, some of which still carry on 4 years later.  London to Ohio was a big culture shock I must admit but with camp being such a fun positive environment adapting doesn’t take long.  I gained a lot from working in camp and im not just talking inches around the waist from the amazing toasted marshmallows!  Camp is great place to make new friends, conquer new challenges and importantly to know you’ve contributed to making some very happy campers have the best possible time.

Oh and it doesn’t stop there… I stayed with an American counsellor “Bubbles” I met at camp this year for a beach holiday-  its amazing to have those ever so useful overseas friends with a house by the beach!!  Not only that but when I returned to university for my final year I had some brilliant stories (and a cracking tan) from my time at of camp and my travel around California afterwards.  Queenie had an awesome summer and Catherine looks back with a smile ;)