Welcome to the 2010 Camp Director Fair in Kiev, Ukraine! As some of you may recall, the past 5 years I have traveled to Moscow and some years also St. Petersburg , Russia in addition to many other Eastern European countries. (I can’t reveal the itinerary just yet so you can keep playing along!)

Anyway, this is my first time in Kiev, Ukraine and the first time our wonderful agency, CCUSA, has taken us to Ukraine. It is a wonderful city with lots to offer. In my limited time here so far, it seems that Ukraine is a bit more modernized and the people seem friendly so far. Last night, I had the unique opportunity to go a Jewish synagogue and participate in Friday night Shabbat services. Upon walking in, it was almost like going to a temple in the US! This one was orthodox, so it’s definitely more Hebrew than I am used to, but once I found the page (which admittedly took about 3-4 minutes!) I participated in the services. Because this weekend is also the Jewish holiday of Purim, the services were extra festive and after one prayer the men marched around the synagogue about 20 times singing and clapping. I of course stood to the side, but for one rotation around I got dragged out there! Trust me, when I walked back past my seat after that, I hid the rest of the time!

Otherwise, today is the Ukraine hiring fair. Over 200 applicants will be walking through the door hoping to secure a job at a summer camp this summer. There are about 25 camp directors here representing their camps. Of course anyone who doesn’t get hired here in person, can still get placed at any of the over 1,000 camps our CCUSA Agency works with who haven’t flown over here.

One final note: I often get asked why do I bother flying all the way around the world to hire our staff? Besides the fun and vacation (haha, j/k), there is a tremendous value (in my opinion) to meeting our staff in person. From our counselors in Australia to our kitchen/laundry/maintenance staff in Eastern Europe, meeting our staff in person means we will get the BEST staff for the BEST SUMMER EVER! All of our staff are extremely important to running such a successful camp and by flying over here and meeting them in person, it shows our staff that we value them and want them to succeed at Canadensis.

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the snow. Ironically, we have less snow in Ukraine than you have in NY/NJ/PA!

I hope everyone is enjoying their SNOW DAYS. We are happy to again be receiving all the great Canadensis Snowmen pictures! If you make a snowman or have some winter fun pictures to share email them to jcal@canadensis.com and we’ll post them on the blog! Have a great weekend and remember to continue to check my twitter, www.twitter.com/whereisforti. Also, for every snowman picture we receive it’s an additional 2 points in the Where in the World is Eric Forti Contest.

No, I haven’t had a hot chocolate from the world’s best chocolate shop here in Poland yet, but hopefully in a few hours!

Good morning from Warsaw, Poland! Right now we are having our staff hiring fair and I have hired 4 wonderful staff members! Maryla and Mateusz will be working in our kitchen and Sandra and Ageta in our laundry/housekeeping department! All 4 are so excited to travel to the US and Maryla promised that she will make Russian pierogies (potato and onion- no meat for Robin) and Wedel hot chocolate. Wedel is the chocolate shop I blog about every year here in Warsaw. They have the world’s best chocolate hands down and the hot chocolate (also called “drinking chocolate”) is literally a chocolate bar melted into a glass. Hopefully I will leave this fair in the next hour and run to the mall next store for a hot chocolate! Tonight we are doing an evening tour of “old Warsaw” pre-communism times. Should be interesting.

It's always good to follow up a hot chocolate with the WW, Wedel's version of a KitKat (like 10x better than a kit kat!)

The flights over were fairly uneventful. We were delayed a bit leaving Newark, which worked in our favor because Randy from another camp coming in from Boston was quite delayed, but she made it in the nick of time. Flight was about 8 hours and I slept about 3.5-4 hours of the flight. We arrived for a 5-hour layover in Frankfurt, Germany where we walked around a bit, checked some email, and played Spit (cards). 2 hours later we arrived in Warsaw.

If you haven’t yet checked out the twitter (www.twitter.com/whereisforti), we flew with a double silver medalist in Ski Jumping from Poland. He was returning from Vancouver with his coaches, trainers, and the rest of his team. It was real exciting when we landed and there was a large reception waiting for him. Of course, I naturally thought the tv news cameras/photographers were for the Camp Directors who flew all the way to Poland to hire wonderful Polish students, but I was wrong.

Otherwise, back tracking to last weekend, special thanks to all of the families who came to our first annual (can I tell people that we will be doing this annually??!!) Canteen on the Fly. It was a HUGE success, seeing tons of families in Long Island and North Jersey. Our Syosset location at the Carvel turned into a block party with families inside and outside. Everyone was talking camp- stories of camp, catching up on what they do to pass the time between summers, and everything else. There were alot of camper reunions there. Also, a bunch of future Canadensis campers (hopefully!) stopped by to learn more about Canadensis. What better way than seeing other kids their age interacting with all of their camp friends. So, thank you to everyone who went out of the way and rearranged their schedule to stop by. Special mention of Ilene Calabretta (jaycal’s mom who doesn’t get enough shoutouts) as well as Matt Unger’s parents who all stopped by Carvel. It was great to see all of you!

If all this talk about canteen on the fly excites you, but you missed out on it, don’t despair because Canteen on the Fly is making it’s way to the Philly area on Sunday, March 7! We will be in Cherry Hill late morning, the mainline in the early afternoon, and Newtown in the late afternoon. So, we hope to see you at ones of those locations!

Well that’s all from here in Warsaw, Poland. Time for a hot chocolate- my mouth is watering, but weight watchers is telling me no!!!! Keep checking the twitter for tons of updates and clues for my next destination soon!

I am flying out tomorrow to our next location- destination UNKNOWN:)

UPDATE: Eric got his Hot Chocolate and chocolate bar!

Here is a video of Eric from last year’s trip from Warsaw getting his favorite Chocolate

Where in the World is Eric Forti Round 3 has begun! Late this afternoon Eric jetted off to his next Destination. Throughout the next 2 WEEKS Eric will be posting new clues on his twitter page and on the blog. Make sure to check both daily and send your answers to CONTEST@CANADENSIS.COM.

If you haven’t participated in the first 2 rounds don’t worry, it’s not too late to start playing! GOOD LUCK!

WWW.TWITTER.COM/WHEREISFORTI

We had so much fun yesterday at our 3 stops on our Canadensis Canteen trip to Long Island and North Jersey. Here are a few pictures from the event. Will post more throughout the day. Thanks to everyone who came out!

Please scroll down to check our more information from camp as the blog has been updated EVERYDAY this week with new stuff!

Hello Canadensis…

As I sit here on a Thursday afternoon, I am really looking forward to our first ever Canteen on the Fly, which will take place this weekend.  If you haven’t heard, we will be hitting the follow locations this Sunday, February 21!

Our First Ever Canteen on the Fly is this weekend on Sunday February 21! See below for locations and times.

TIMES and LOCATIONS

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21

SOUTH SHORE, LONG ISLAND from 12:00 – 1:00 pm
TCBY at 2203 Merrick Road, Merrick, NY
(next to La Piazza)
Store Phone #:  516.868-8471

NORTH SHORE, LONG ISLAND from 1:30 – 2:30 pm
Carvel Ice Cream at 403 Jericho Turnpike, Syosset, NY
(next to Patsy’s Pizza)
Store Phone #: 516.921.9895

NORTHERN NEW JERSEY from 4:00 – 5:00 pm
Colaco’s Creamery at 273 S. Livingston Avenue, Livingston, NJ
(in King’s Shopping Center)
Store Phone #: 973.758.0152

The Canteen on the Fly is one of several new events that have taken place over the past year since we left camp in August.  As we like to say, Canadensis is a camp that exists all year round.  In fact, one other event we had such a good time at took place last week, when we had over 50 campers and their parents join us for the New York Knicks games vs. the Sacramento Kings.  As part of the festivities, early arriving campers got a chance to go on the court at Madison Square Garden and participate in the fan tunnel, which welcomes the players out of the locker room and onto the court.  This was an amazing opportunity for the kids.  Even though the Knicks ended up losing in overtime, we had a blast.  Here are some pictures from the event.

Brent, Zach, Oliver and Sam; Inside the hallowed halls of MSG, waiting to go on the court.

On the court at MSG in our Fan Tunnel!

Waiting for the players to come out of the locker room.

Jake and Max with the Knicks City Dancers.

The campers even got on TV!

Camp Alumni Brigitte Toledano and Adam Scharfberg joined the festivities, too!

A picture from our seats. The Knicks blew a 15-point fourth quarter lead and ending up losing in overtime.

Last week, it was also great to see some amazing camp spirit from some of our campers and staff as they built Canadensis snowmen during the snowstorm on Wednesday.  The pictures were posted on our twitter site at www.twitter.com/canadensis, but I figure I’d post them here as well.

2010 JC Greg Ricken and his Vegas Gold Snowman!

2010 CIT Morgan Hirschorn and her Canadensis Snowman!

As always, we continue to hit the road and visit our camp families whenever we can.  Last night, Eric and I got a chance to see the Podell Family and campers Brett and Katie in Newtown Square, PA.  Brett is returning to Canadensis for his second summer and will be an Upper Inter while sister Katie is joining us for her first summer and will be in the Junior Girls division.  Brett, now in 5th grade, is busy with basketball and his team will be going to the playoffs after his last regular season game this week.  He has also been active with baseball, skiing, soccer and lacrosse.  This summer, he can’t wait to get back on the lake and do the triple dare again.  Of course, he is excited for Color War, too.  Katie, in the 3rd grade, is having fun at gymnastics and basketball, as her team is also playoff bound.  She is also involved with her school’s Service Club, which performs community service in the local neighborhood.  Katie told us that she recently read to children at a day care center.  She is also busy with skiing, soccer and field hockey.  This summer, she can’t wait to meet new friends and anxiously awaits Color War, too.  Here is a picture…

Me and Eric with Katie and Brett Podell.

Finally, I forgot to mention this a few weeks ago, and I know it has been mentioned on the other blogs, but special thanks goes out the Rebecca “Becky J” Jacobson who created a page on Wikipedia for us a few weeks ago.  Please check it out at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Canadensis.  Thanks, Becky J!  The page is awesome!

Camp Canadensis is now on Wikipedia!

Well, that’s all for now.  I hope we’ll see as many Canadensis families as possible on Sunday!

Until then…Have a great day…Brian

Here are the latest standings for WHERE IN THE WORLD IS ERIC FORTI 2010! Thanks again to everyone that has been participating.

1st Place: Alex Ehrenthal- 15 points

2nd Place: Rorry and Jordan Miller- 14 points

3rd Place: Greg Ricken & Noah and Ben Rubin- 9 points

Round 3 Begins on Monday! Be sure to participate and it’s not too late to join in the fun!

Please note all answers should be emailed to CONTEST@CANADENSIS.COM