international staff

[martha27]

whats everyones views on international staff at their camps?? do you think it's good to have a real mixture of counselors??
of course im biased, cos i'm a brit....i'm just interested in what everyone thought

[collissimon]

I think we're ace! ;)

[martha27]

haha amen to that :)

[ocean]

I think that they are the coolest people at camp. Always have great stories to tell!!!

[martha27]

i like you already!!
having lots of different nationalities definately adds to the wonderfulness of camp

[speedx5xracer]

some of my closest friends are international staff. I like the idea however sometimes some people only took the camp job for a visa and inturn become some of the worst staff.

[martha27]

there may be a minority who go to camp with the wrong intentions, but you could say that across the board(international or otherwise!) thinking that it will be one long holiday for example and then yeah, they become awful staff

[Dave]

Because we're a Jewish-based camp, we have a lot of Israelis working at our camp. They're very knowledgeable and nice people. Other than them, I don't really know of too many international staff. There are a few though that I know for sure are international.

[martha27]

we had roughly a 50/50 split. with americans from all over the country. the internationals were mainly from the uk and ireland, oz, canada and NZ

[camper]

ours add great things to our staff most summers. some even end up returning year after year. we believe it's really important to have a good mix of counselors that were campers and internationals, as well as new americans.

[speedy]

i personally love international staff (usually) the gs camps i've worked at always have had great internationals.. and we have quite a few that come back year after year.. we had a group who worked from summer 99-2002/3 from england and i am sooo excited because i am studying in ireland for the semester and i am going to visit two of them next weekend in england! yay! but i think they add a great dimension to camp and the camp i worked at in michigan hired internationals from all over- russia,malaysia,india,denmark,chile,aussie,new zeland,france.. and it was sooo great to hear all the different stories and see the cultures. because my other camp in jersey usually had brits, a few polish, german and irish.. so it was a great experience for me as well as the girls..

and i also love being in europe right now :)

[CAMPFRIEND]

I think that they can bring a lot to a camp staff. An the campers love them as well.
________
marijuana pictures (http://trichomes.org)

[Flukie]

Most of the International saff that I've worked with has been really good. We did have one bad summer when I was a CIT that some of our Internationals told a group of campers that they were horrible children and that British children would never be as rude or nasty as them. Oops. That didn't go over well with the Ad-Staff or with the campers - they rebelled. But as I said, most have been fantastic! I generally love working with them - particularly when they WANT to be at camp.

[rockinsmiles]

International staff rocks! i love meeting people from all over the world and making friends with them. plus i love cultures so its cool to learn about where people come from. and its always fun to see the international staff's reactions to "american" things and how they get use to it. or on time off to go to stores and stuff and they are loved by eveyone...though we (camp staff) might be the only ones who understand what they are saying. haha

[collissimon]

We have more Polish staff than we do American! Last year we had about 7 or 8 US Staff, the rest are Canadian, British, Aussie, etc... It's great to know people from all over the world.

[rhiannond87]

Our camp, had Internationals from 14 different countries (15 if you count Wales- and as Im Welsh I do!!!); Wales, England, Scotland, GErmany, South Africa, Russia, Turkey, Isreal, Oz, NZ,Canada, Mexico ..... there are more but I cant think where from for now.

I loved being an INternational in America - my Co was from England and at the start of every session I would give them a vocab lesson so they wouldnt be confused; most of the cabins LOVED it. Little things like a flashlight is a torch, a napkin is a serviett, a trashcan is a bin!

[ocean]

they definitely give girls more learning experiences because they are exposed not to different nationalities and traditions

[melon4382]

I love the internationals. They offer an awesome diversity that gets the kids to think of other places besides the U.S. The campers learn so much from the internationals each summer. I also love that they have different viewpoints on things and offer a different perspective than many Americans do.

[countrygal]

I luv how u consider Canada international!! Go team me!! LOL...Since ive been at camp the only one person I know thta has been from far away was BC canada...but thats not even out of the country. I think more internationals should come to my camp and I think my camp should advertise more for internationals. It would be awesome!

[~Imp]

I *love* international staff. You never run out on things to talk about - you can spend ages discussing differences in lingo/accents/lifestyle etc etc.

[collissimon]

I think also the kids get a better experience, because there are so many things that are different and so many things that are the same... I usually get told off by my campers for saying things like 'I'm just nipping to the loo' [going to the toilet]; and for saying breakfast dinner and tea etc. They do enjoy it though!

[ocean]

Its also so much fun to show them what America is like and hear them compare it to their country

[camplover86]

They add a ton of culture to the camp!