Weekend #1 & My 1st Day on the Job

Let me back track to last Thursday, my last day of orientation. As I mentioned, we took a tour of the pools and got an idea of how the transitions for lifeguarding works. There are 3 pools; Purdy, which is a really nice indoor pool inside the Purdy Gym, Green Beach which is one big pool and one baby pool, and Command Hill which is pretty small and only has 3 lifeguards at one time. Here's a pic of the pool at Purdy Gym:

We also finished our posters for all our Fun Fridays. At the end of each two-week swim lesson session, we celebrate the kids' achievements by decorating, dressing up, playing games and singing songs, and parents are invited to come hang out with their kids and bring food. This summer our Fun Friday themes are Winter in July, Olympics, Hawaiian, and Under the Sea, so we created posters on shower curtains to hang up. Here are pictures of the two posters I helped create:

4th of July Poster 

My favorite, Olaf, for our Winter in July Fun Friday

Thursday evening we had a meeting to go over our staff manuals and get our schedules. I will be working from 10:15 to 6:30 Monday through Friday for the next two weeks at Green Beach pool, which is less than a minute walk from TPU where I live. After a long week of orientation, our directors decided to surprise us and take us off base to the daiso, which is the 100 yen store AKA the Japanese dollar store. I basically just grabbed whatever candy and snacks looked interesting or tasty off the shelves and ended up with two bags full of snacks. Here are a few of the things I tried:

Frozen Snow Cubes - gross.
Pineapple Pikachu Hi-Chews - haven't tried them yet.
Gummy Soda Candy - yuck.
Not really sure what the other two are... 

Green Tea Mochi - disgusting.

Princess Cookies w/ Strawberry Filling - YUM!
(Similar to YanYan, Robin)

It was so refreshing and exciting to finally get off base and get to see a little bit of what Japan is actually like; much different than base! I didn't take a lot of pictures because it was hard to capture just how awesome it was on my iPhone camera, so I didn't think the pictures would do it justice.

On Friday, we had our first big trip off base to some shrines in Kamakura. We didn't actually end up going to the Great Buddha, because apparently we are going to do that all together another time later in summer. Here are a few pics I took at the shrines and Kamakura:

Japanese man wearing traditional attire and geta (shoes)

Little place where you're supposed to wash your hands before entering... I didn't (whoops!)

Pretty sure these things are supposed to contain beer or something like that...
Ask my mom, she'll tell you all about everywhere I'm going.

I really suck at taking good pictures, but this was a big statue of a guard.
There were two and they were pretty awesome and intimdating. 

The details on this place were amazing... Animals all over the walls!
Not the best picture but this one is a tiger. 

Unicorn I think?

It rained while we were here, but it was still kind of hot...

Regrets or wishes that visitors write on these cards and hang on this little post thingy... 

Sasquatch in front of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu

Random apple stand I decided to take a pic of...

And some pineapples.

One of the ponds that leads up to the shrine... 

And my selfie with the shrine!

My roomie Tamara taking a Snapchat selfie with the shrine...

View from the Hydrangea Walk

Hydrangea Walk - this was really freakin' beautiful.
I want it in my backyard.

Cute little statues that lined the pathway on the Hydrangea Walk

There were a lot of these guys... 

There's me again with Buddha! 

Vegetarian dumpling thing...
I don't remember what it was called but it was delicious and cheap.

Mochi balls with soy sauce flavored glaze...
Not sure what it was actually called but it was okay. Also cheap!

Okay, that was more than a few photos. Anyways, that was our trip to Kamakura! We took the train to get there, so I had my first Japanese train experience. Basically, you buy a card and load yen onto it, and then you just scan your card when you get to the station and when you are leaving your next station and it automatically deducts the cost of your trip because the machines know how to tell how far and fast you travelled. The hard part is figuring out what trains to take. I still don't really understand the train system because it is CRAZY. Every station is like the size of an airport with levels up and down and upside down... Just kidding but it is pretty complicated, at least so far. 

On Saturday a few of my friends and I decided to try and tackle the train system anyways and visit Yokohama. We left around 1:30 PM and didn't really get into the city of Yokohama until about 3 to 3:30 even though it's only a 30 minute train ride... BUT WE MADE IT after a short detour to a 7/11 for some ice cream and a 20 minute walk, I was starving so we decided to go to the Ramen Noodle Factory first, thinking that we would get to try and eat some ramen. When we got there we paid 500Y just for admission. 

Friends and I posing with a giant Cup Noodle!
Not sure what the deal is with that chicken but it was all over the place there...

Next we went into this room that was like the holy shrine of ramen noodles. It was basically a glass case covering 3 walls that held every kind of instant ramen noodles in the order they were invented... a ramen noodle timeline! Then we watched a 15 minute animated video on the invention of ramen noodles which was actually pretty interesting... Not going to go into detail about it. Next we got to make our own Cup Noodle for only 300Y. We got to decorate our cups and choose which flavor and toppings we wanted on our noodles, and watched them be packaged which was a lot of fun. 

Cup Noodle Brochure

This was supposed to be a panorama of the timeline, but it didn't work.
SO here's a crappy pic of the beginning of it!

Everyone coloring their cups! 

Right before my phone died... My blank cup!

Unfortunately we didn't get to sample any ramen, so we decided to go to an Italian restaurant in a shopping center across the street. For anyone that is currently in Japan or wants to go at some point, don't buy pizza in Japan! I ordered spaghetti with eggplant which actually was pretty good... Could've used a little more sauce but I enjoyed it and ate the entire plate because I was starving by then. My friend ordered a pizza though, and it was pretty much flappy doughy crust with weird cheese on it and the bare minimum of toppings... Definitely a learning experience. Next we went to Cosmo World, a small amusement park right across the street from the Ramen Noodle Factory. This place was adorable and so much fun! It had rides that I had never seen before in the states! This place is known for it's giant ferris wheel that we didn't get to go on because we ran out of time, but we will definitely be making a trip back. They also have a roller coaster that goes underwater in a tunnel (for a split second) but that was still pretty cool too. One thing I've noticed about Japan is that there are very few trash cans and nobody litters. I could count on one hand the amount of times I've seen trash on the ground here. Also, the Japanese are very big on recycling. Every trashcan and dumpster is separated into combustible and decomposable (I think that's right?) and I honestly don't know how to separate my trash, but they do it all the time! The walk back to the train station was much faster, because we actually found the closest train station to our destination... Yay us! Another thing that is different about Japan is how people act on the train. People are very quiet... So quiet that it is common to see people nodding off to sleep. The trains are all air conditioned, thankfully, because they really do get crowded. I haven't seen the train stuffers yet (if you don't know what I'm talking about, take a look https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7kor5nHtZQ) but it has gotten pretty snug on a few trains I've been on. Finally we made it home around 10 PM and I think my feet just about fell off after that!

On Sunday I pretty much spent the day deep cleaning my room, doing laundry, and getting organized. I did go to dinner at this Indian place in Yokosuka though, and it was delicious! I got butter chicken curry with cheese nan.. Yum! I will definitely be going back to this place!

Today was my first day of work! I got up around 8:30, got ready, and walked to Purdy to swim a 600m. Everyday of work we are supposed to swim a 600m, and add 100m every week! Then I walked back over to Green Beach and started my first day! I'm not sure what I expected, but lifeguarding was very easy and not as stressful as I had anticipated. There are 9 different stations, and we rotate every 15 minutes, and we have to stand up on each "5", so 12:05, 12:15, 12:25, etc. which keeps me awake. There is also one station in the water at the bottom of the slide, which really wakes you up! I had one hour for lunch, which was honestly plenty of time to eat and get back to the pool. The pool closes at 6 and then we have to clean up around the pool and the locker rooms, and then go home! I won't be teaching swim lessons for the next two weeks, but I will probably try to go watch a few at Purdy to help me prepare for teaching.

To summarize, I am LOVING Japan and the friends I've made and my new job as a lifeguard. I feel like I sound really cheesy in all of this blog, but I really do love it here. I could go into so much more detail about everything but I've been writing this for at least an hour and a half and I'm tired!

Ask me if you have any questions or comments or suggestions or whatever!

Xoxo, 

Sasquatch

P.S. I'll try to remember to actually take some pics of Sasquatch next time I go out... LOL.

5,000 Miles Later...

So... I'm actually in Japan. It still sounds really crazy to me, but so far I haven't freaked out or had butterflies or anything like that. I'm going to try to briefly cover the past few days starting with my flight.

As I mentioned earlier, this was my first big flight. The only time I had ever flown before was a few years ago from San Diego to Sacramento with my brother, Jake. I was expecting it to be much more complicated and difficult than it was, but it ended up being just fine! Mom, Jason, and I got up at 5 AM, ate a quick breakfast and drove to the airport. Apparently we were kind-of pushing it on time, because when we went to check my bags, the man that was helping us seemed concerned that I would miss my flight and had me cut the entire line (which was not a problem with me). When he was looking up my flight, there was some issue, so he called someone and got it figured out before Mom called Camp Adventure Headquarters and freaked out (she had the number ready, though). Everything past that went smoothly. I said goodbye to Mom and Jason, made it through security within 5 minutes, and found my gate in less than 10 with over an hour to spare. My flight was delayed by about a half hour, but was short and sweet even though I didn't have any other Camp A people on it. When I got to LA I only had about 20 minutes after getting off the plane and the time I was supposed to board my flight to Tokyo, but I found my gate quickly, and again had time to spare. At first I didn't see any fellow Camp A counselors, but I ended up sitting right next to two girls I had known from training which was awesome. The flight to Tokyo was 11 freakin' hours. I watched two movies (Gone Girl and Interstellar- ya gotta see 'em both!) which killed about 5 hours, and the rest was a lot of squirming around trying to find a good sleeping position. I landed at 3 PM on Saturday, 11 PM in California. We had to wait for all the Yokosuka Camp Adventure counselors to get off their flights, so we didn't end up leaving the airport for 2 to 3 hours after I landed since people were coming from all over the U.S. to Tokyo. Then we took a 2 hours bus ride around the bay to Yokosuka, and I pretty much slept the entire time. However, I did wake up to see the Disneyland Resort Hotel, which I have to admit was pretty exciting to me. 

We arrived in Yokosuka around 8 PM. We got our initial room assignments and carried our luggage up 4 flights of stairs. The housing is basically dorms; 2 twin beds, a desk, mini fridge, microwave, 2 closets, 2 night stands, and a TV that may or may not work. Everyone else has Jack and Jill bathrooms with their neighbors with one shower and toilet, but I don't have any neighbors, so my roommate and I get the bathroom to ourselves! A group of us walked to the McDonalds on base to get some food. I went to bed around 10 but struggled to stay asleep past around 4. Side note, the sun rises at 4 AM and sets around 7 PM which does not help with jet lag. We are staying in the TPU (Transient Personnel Unit) which "was built and furnished for the sole purpose of providing temporary living quarters, while transitioning to your final destination." It's also an "unaccompanied living" building, which from my understanding means it's really only for sailors who don't have any spouse/family living here on base with them. 

On Sunday morning, we all met up and made a group trip to the commissary, which is the grocery store on base, similar to SaveMart I would say. Everything on base is REALLY cheap and there is no tax. We had some free time to explore base a little bit, and also had a little tour of a few places on base including the gym which is probably bigger than Cal Fit in Rocklin, the school age center AKA the SAC, the teen center, the bowling alley, the movie theater, two different food courts, the Navy Exchange AKA the NEX which is just like a mini department store with everything you'd ever need for a really good price. We also did a few team bonding/building activities next to the bay to get to know one another and how we work as leaders in the workplace. I was pretty tired by the end of our walk, but I decided to try to stay up until a normal bedtime and unpack and get settled in.

Monday marked the start of orientation week. We spent the morning listening to presentations on things we should know about living on base in Yokosuka including information on our housing, our access to medical care and the hospital, fire safety, and we also learned a little about how the law works if somebody from base gets in trouble with Japanese police... Yikes. The Commanding Officer Capt. Glenister introduced himself as well, and encouraged us to make a bucket list and set goals for ourselves for the summer, so I will try to post that as soon as I've come up with one! During my lunch break I went to the commissary again and bought a bunch of healthier food because I hadn't been feeling the strongest between our busy schedule, jet lag, and the transition between home cooked meals to living off of a microwave and mini fridge. In the afternoon we had our Water Safety Instructor in-service which gave me an idea of what swim lessons are really like. We practiced swimming the different strokes, and broke up into rotating groups to simulate different swim lessons; Parent-Infant, pre-school aquatics, Learn To Swim level 1, and Learn To Swim level 4. I learned a few tricks to make swim lessons more fun and more productive for the kids and for me, but I have to say I am most nervous for teaching swim lessons. After the WSI in-service, I went back to my room and made myself some brown rice and steamed veggies which were actually really satisfying for a microwave meal, then to Starbucks to get some free Wifi, and then back to my room for some much needed sleep! I've taken Z-Quil the past two nights and actually slept all the way through the night until my alarm went off, so I'm hoping I've conquered jet lag and have adjusted to the time zone.

On Tuesday we basically had the same schedule as Wednesday, but with different presentations and a lifeguard in-service instead of WSI. We had a review presentation on child abuse, incident and accident reporting, and blood borne pathogens, and learned a little about the entertainment the base has to offer like the movie theater and bowling! I was expecting our lifeguard in-service to be much more difficult than it was, but it ended up being pretty fun and easy for me. Again, we had rotating stations with different scenarios and skills to practice. When I got back to the TPU a couple counselors told me that they were going to Chili's to celebrate another counselor's 20th birthday, so I showered and got ready faster than I ever have in my entire life, and 21 of us took a 20 minute walk across base to have dinner. It was fun to get to know some friends a little better and have a real meal, finally! To end the night, just as I was about to fall asleep the fire alarm went off. At first I wasn't sure what it was, and just kind-of laid their annoyed wondering when the buzzing would stop until I heard banging on my door and my director telling us to put jackets and shoes on. Thankfully it was nothing serious (99% sure somebody doesn't know how to cook popcorn or something like that), and we were back in our rooms shortly. Here at Camp Adventure we try to be "flexible and adaptable" and last night was nothing short of that, besides the few who slept through the entire thing despite the pounding on their doors... LOL.

Today we started the morning with some more presentations on some Japanese etiquette and cultural differences and the Mount Fuji briefing! The man who gave the presentation has climbed Fuji over 200 times! Here in Japan they say, "You are wise to climb Mount Fuji, but a fool to climb it twice." Basically he gave us the run down of how the hike will go and gave us a card to prove that we had attended the briefing so that we can make a reservation to climb later in the summer. This afternoon we had another lifeguard inservice that was a little more difficult than yesterday, but overall wasn't bad. Most of the other aquatics counselors have had some experience either on a swim team, lifeguarding, teaching lessons, or both so I am doing my best to absorb all I can during this week and prepare myself for next week when we actually start working. Since we were finished with our day around 3 PM, a few other aquatics counselors who didn't go out to dinner last night wanted to go to Chili's so I walked with them and ate their leftovers (thanks again, guys haha!) Now I'm sitting at McDonalds which is the closest place on base to get some wifi, but I'll soon be heading back to the TPU to go to bed.

Tomorrow will be our last real day of orientation week. We will be taking a tour of the other pools we will be working at (there are 3 pools on base), and planning and preparing for next week.

On Friday I should be getting a base ID so that I can easily go on and off base. Right now we have had to carry our passports and a letter stating that we are to have access to the commissary, Navy Exchange (which is similar to a Target or Walmart), and the "Welfare and Recreation facilities." I should also be getting my work schedule. Most importantly, we are going to be taking our first off base adventure to Kamakura to see the Great Buddha! Here is a picture of the famous Great Buddha:

Hopefully next time I blog I will be posting a picture of me in front of it, or maybe even inside it! We are also going to be taught how to use the train system here since it will be our main form of transportation while traveling off base. Unfortunately, my phone is dead and I don't have my USB cord with me at McDonalds to upload pictures I took on my phone to show you all a few pictures of the places on base, but I will definitely be posting a lot next time!

Next week I will start working at the pool, lifeguarding and/or teaching swim lessons. Like I said, I am nervous, but there's a first time for everything, right? I think that'll be my personal motto for the summer. First time flying alone, first time traveling internationally, first time moving out of the house, first time lifeguarding and teaching swim lessons and I'm sure there'll be plenty more firsts to come as I get to go off base more and experience Japan. 

Sending some love to California!

Love always,

Your favorite Sasquatch

P.S. If any of this doesn't make sense to you, comment and I'll try to clarify! 

Preparing for Liftoff

Konichiwa Friends and Family!

First of all, I'm glad you found my blog, and I hope you enjoy following my adventures throughout the next 10 weeks as I take on my first international experience. I've never blogged before, but I think this is the best way to keep everyone updated!

For those of you who don't know (or just don't really understand this whole "Camp Adventure" thing) I'd like to explain what it is I'll actually be doing this summer (to the best of my knowledge prior to my arrival).

First, a little background about Camp Adventure:

Long story short, there was a National Recreation and Park Association Congress in Florida in 1984. Two dudes got to talking (Robert Harding, Command Director for the U.S. Eighth Army's Recreation Service Operation, Korea and Dr. Christopher R. Edginton, Head of the Department of Leisure Studies and Services at the University of Oregon). Dr. Edginton asked Harding "What do you do and what kind of challenges do you have in your work environment?" Harding was looking for a way to recruit, select, and train seasonal staff for recreational programs for children and youth in an oversees environment, and Edginton offered a solution to his problem; Camp Adventure. Ok that was boring, but I promise it gets better.

SINCE THEN Camp Adventure has made "contracts" with many military bases throughout the world in over 10 different countries including Japan, South Korea, China, Germany, Bahrain, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States (Washington, Washington D.C., Florida, Hawaii, Boston) and provided recreational camps for the children that live on base. Our goal is to, "create magic moments for children that last a lifetime," and hopefully some "magical" moments for ourselves along the way. The various camps include Day Camp, Aquatics, Sports Camp, Child Development Center (CDC), and Kinder Camp. I will be an Aquatics Counselor this summer, which means I will be teaching swim lessons as well as lifeguarding 5 days a week, and will have 2 consecutive days off each week to travel.

So how did I get involved in this cult? You might think that sounds funny until you see us blitz- then you'll have an idea of what I'm talking about (I'll share videos of that later on). My sister, Robin Wiegand had friends that were Camp A counselors a few years back, and they must've loved it enough to leave an impression on Robin. After I decided to stay home and go to Sierra and not go to UNR, I felt like I needed to find someway to travel and keep life interesting. I looked up Camp A and marked the day on my calendar for this "Leadership Assessment Center" thing, and did a little paperwork in the meantime. December rolled around and I spent a day at Sac State, where I had to teach a children's game and song to my peers, have a group interview, fill out a lot more paperwork, and get a small taste of what Camp Adventure was all about. In January, I returned to Sac State to turn in a uniform deposit and a big packet of paperwork, and as I was getting in the car to go back home, I received an email stating that I had been accepted into the program! Woohoo! I started training the end of that month, and spent nearly every Tuesday night from 5:45 to 10:15 up until the end of April learning songs and games and listening to presentations at Sac State and UC Davis, and completing readings and quizzes at home to help me prepare for the summer. Along with that, I had to get Red Cross Lifeguard certified and Water Safety Instructor certified. In other words, I truly did put a lot time into getting where I am today... and where I will be in two days; Yokosuka, Japan! Tomorrow, my mom and my step-dad Jason and I will drive to San Francisco and stay the night since I have an early flight on Friday morning.

This is getting pretty long, so here's a few details to wrap this up until next time.
Departure time: 8:12 AM
Arrive at LAX: 9:49 AM
Departure from LA: 11:45 AM
Arrive in Tokyo: Saturday, June 6th at 3 PM (which is 11 PM here- Japan is 16 hours ahead, but it's easier just to think that they are 8 hours behind our time.)

I should be flying with at least 4 other Camp A counselors to Tokyo. We are required to wear our full Camp Adventure uniform so that our driver can easily identify us, and get us on our way to Yokosuka, which is about a 2 hour drive according to Google Maps. Here's a pic of that beautiful uniform; long khaki shorts, tall socks, crisp white shoes, a brown belt, and a nice tucked in Camp Adventure tee (oh, and also my beautiful fam!)

Ok, so I think that sums up the jist of the program. Hopefully I've answered some of your questions, and probably raised a few, too, but I will explain much more later on. For now, I have to get some sleep since I'm not even done packing yet, and I've got lots to do tomorrow! 

Thank you for taking the time to read through all that! I'll keep you all updated as soon as possible.