Well this is it! I made it back from almost 6 weeks overseas…some headaches, but other than that no fever, no virus, no H1N1, etc. I am healthy!

This time of the year also means it’s time to get into camp mode…Matt Unger will be moving to camp in about 5 weeks and me shortly thereafter. I typically have moved to camp in mid-April, but it’s time for me to pass the torch to Unger. He will do an incredible job at getting things ready to welcome our first precamp group on Friday, April 30th. I will of course travel back and forth between Philly and camp throughout April and early May until I move up, but it’s now Unger’s turn to give it a go! It may sound awesome to be at camp in mid-April, and trust me it is great. Of course most of us would prefer to be at camp than at home. But, let me tell you from experience there is so much more than you can imagine that goes into preparing for summer. The most obvious is turning the water on, which is not an easy task. Throughout Matt’s first few weeks at camp, he will squeeze in time to be a guest blogger and update all of us on what is going on up at camp!

Back here in Philly, Jaycal and I are putting the finishing touches on the Where in the World is Eric Forti recap, some quick facts about the trip, and of course…announcement of the WINNERS! We had more participation this year than ever and it seems like many people enjoyed the twitter. I have a feeling there will be a Round 4 next winter, so don’t despair. I promise though to Robin, who has been so amazing at accepting my crazy schedule, that I won’t twitter/blog while we are on our honeymoon. (Well if you promise not tell on me, maybe I will a little bit!) Speaking of honeymoon, we haven’t figured out where that will be yet. I have traveled to all continents except Antarctica, so what do you think Robin of an Arctic honeymoon?

Getting back to the office has been CRAZY after being out so many weeks. Payroll to run, bills to pay, year-end tax returns to finalize and file with the lovely US government, on top of finalizing the staff for the summer, camper visits, new prospective families to visits, etc. Again, all the best parts of working for a camp year-round:)

Next week, the  office will be closed on Wed and Thurs as we all travel down to Atlantic City for the American Camp Association Tri-State Camp Conference. It’s always a blast, but I will admit I am ready to sleep in my own bed for more than a few nights in a row! We are staying at the Borgata though this year (comped rooms), so I guess I can’t really complain. Someone to make the bed, cook the meals for us, etc!

Well that’s all for tonight. A short blog because I am exhausted. Am I allowed to use jetlag as an excuse still? Have a wonderful evening and I will be back in a few days to announce the winners of Where in the World:)

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!

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.

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

NBC News (oops, Eric’s blog) just received confirmation that Sara Sommers from Sewing (Summer 2009) who is celebrating her birthday and….

She also got ENGAGED!!

Congratulations Sara from one fiance to another and from your entire camp family!

Sorry we have been slow with blog posts, but the internet was very expensive in France. Robin is at her gate for her flight home and I am at mine (different terminals unfortunately) headed to DESTINATION UNKNOWN for 2 more days of work. We had an amazing time in Paris. We took it fairly easy by the Forti runaround standard when on touristy vacations (I was still wiped from Australia), but we ended up seeing some great sights and working fairly hard! We went up the Eiffel Tower (that’s what Robin really wanted to do), did a river barge cruise of the Seine (it was freezing, even on the inside), did a bit of walking (actually a lot), and yesterday went to the Jewish section of Paris. It was so neat- falafel stands, borekas, kosher restaurants/bakeries, etc. We loved it. We also went to the Shoah Museum (Holocaust museum) of the French jews and we found it to be fascinating. Aot of material and unfortunately we didn’t have enough time. Eating wise, I (Eric) was being a pain and didn’t want to eat long drawn out dinners, plus alot of French restaurants serve frog legs and steak tartare, so we ate at more casual places, except one nice Italian restaurant. We shared the Sole and a pasta, it was great. Believe it or not, I ate meat only once and that was chicken out of 5 days! Maybe that’s why I was tired?

The croissants, pain du chocolate (chocolate croissants), the apple tarts (pomme de tarte), and baguettes are all amazing. Despite all that, we ate relatively healthy and well, with a few sweet tooth items here and there. Oh, let’s not forget the crepes- but we only had them ONCE the whole time! Chocolate/Banana for me, coconut/banana for robin.

We really had a wonderful time together (no cell phones except a few texts from Jaycal/Unger) so we had some time to be together without lots of interruptions.

AuRevoir for now…I will check in from my next destination and stay tuned for Clue 2 (Video) of Where in the World to guess where I am headed next (without Robin).

Well hello everybody from beautiful Sydney, Australia. Sorry I haven’t blogged very often, but it seems that we have been receiving excellent feedback on the use of our new twitter page – http://www.twitter.com/whereisforti. We have had an overwhelming number of emails answering random trivia questions throughout my stay here in Australia and I am glad to see so many campers remembering former staff amongst other random facts about Australia!

I had a wonderful week as always. I was here the shortest amount than I have ever been here- 6 days on the ground…which considering it took almost 3 days to get here, that’s a short stay. No complaints though as I had an amazing week full of visits to the beaches, an impromptu surfing lesson, visits with SOO many former staff members in each city, and oh yea I hired a great set of Australian Staff here for Summer 2010! All of the staff are so excited about coming to camp for this coming summer and meeting all of you- the Canadensis Family! Of course ya’ll will greet them as you always do and welcome them to our summer home.

Well short blog as I prepare for my last dinner here, which is actually a Sydney Harbor Cruise! I did it last year as well, and it’s an awesome vantage point of the beautiful well known Sydney Opera House, Sydney Bridge, etc. You all know my love for boats, so it should be a good night.

Tomorrow I head home and I arrive Monday evening in Philadelphia (quicker on the way home b/c I don’t go through Korea this time!). I leave Thursday for my 2nd round of Where in the World is Eric Forti and these 2 countries on the itinerary this year (plus a stopover in a 3rd city) are all-new ones for Where in the World. I will be sure to bring you videos, trivia questions, and pictures from there, so keep checking back MATES!

Oh, one last thing. That VERY embarrassing image of me surfing is 100% legitimate- no photoshopping whatsoever, because if it was photoshopped it would be my head on Will Armon’s body!

Goodnight all.

Well technically, I am certainly not a Singapore Airlines Crewmember, although that would be a cool job, but according to the computer that I found tucked away in the gym at my hotel, I am! See, technically there is a crew room with a computer for Singapore Airlines, but since nobody else is here at 8:30am, I figured I could pass as one, so that I can blog for all of you.

Good morning from Brisbane, Australia. I say it every year, but I love Australia. The people are friendly, the city is clean, and the weather is amazing! Yesterday I arrived here at 6am and was met at the airport by a very nice staff member from 2009! She woke up at 430AM to get me from the airport. I can’t say her name, but hop on over to www.twitter.com/whereisforti and you will see a picture of her (or scroll down and see a blog from yesterday). Guess who she is and you can win a point towards great prizes! Email editor@canadensis.com with your guess.

She took me to the Gold Coast, which is about 1.5 hours outside of Brisbane City. It is amazing beaches, including Surfer’s Paradise, which truly is Paradise. I have done alot of traveling, but the clarity and color of this water was truly splendid. We walked on the beach for a while, had some lunch outside enjoying the nice hot weather, did a bit of walking through shops, and then on our way out stopped at my favorite place of all time- Boost Juice. They have fresh fruit smoothies/ice drinks, but its just so fresh and great. I had a Lemon Crush, which is sorbet, fresh squeezed lemon, orange, and ice blended together. Yum.

In the afternoon, I took the train back to the city and walked to my hotel. Checked in, grabbed some dinner, and went to sleep nice and early. On my way to dinner, I literally walked right passed a former staff member- Tim Pearson. Tim worked in Summer 2006 or 2007 (I don’t remember!) and was on his way home from work grabbing something at the market. It was grea tto catch up just for a few minutes before he had to catch his train home. He is headed to vacation in Bali in a few days, so I won’t be seeing him again.

I slept about 10 hours last night, but remember I hadn’t slept on a real bed since Friday night and now it’s Monday- so it was well deserved, if I may say so myself! Today is Australia Day. Basically, everything is closed and everyone goes to the beach with a big barbie (not the doll, a BBQ).

I on the other hand have been told by Jim Price that I MUST learn how to surf after all these years. I am nervous (OK, terrified) to try to surf and I am sure I will look like a beached whale on the surfboard. He is on his way now to my hotel to pick me up and take me to the Sunshine Coast (similar to the Gold Coast I am told, but nicer!). For my next trivia question, see my twitter where it asks how many summers Jim price has been to camp?? Email editor@canadensis.com with your guesses…

Well before I get caught and am arrested for “impersonating an airline crew member”, I better get off this computer! Hello to all and I will update you on my surfing, or lack thereof, on my twitter.

Finally, many of you were probably watching the Jets game yesterday and may have seen CIT 2009 Josh Schultz at the game. Below you can find a video from that game. Josh can be seen around the 1 min and 9 seconds mark.

Eric

Hello everyone and welcome to the official launch of Where in the World is Eric Forti, Year 3, Part 1. I am back at what has become my transfer airport of choice, or so it seems, Seoul, South Korea. Unfortunately my layover is only a few hours until my next flight, so I am unable to leave the airport. One year I must schedule a longer layover and spend the day sightseeing in South Korea (not to be confused with North Korea!).

So if you are following along with my twitter, you will know that this morning (I dont know what day it is, but the morning I left the US) there was some drama at the airport. The agency that I am traveling with for staff recruiting (yes, there is a purpose for doing these trips!!) was responsible for getting me a visa for the country I am headed to in a few hours. Well they put my birthday on the visa as December instead of September. Sounds like no big deal, but for those who travel alot, you know that’s pretty serious. Fortunately for me, Korean Air helped me get a new one issued on a Saturday morning and after about 20 minutes of nerve wracked waiting, visa was in hand and off I was to board the plane.

The flight was uneventful. Exactly 13 hours and 3 minutes. The food on the other hand was quite eventful. The first meal (lunch) was fairly normal and I opted for the fish since dinner I chose beef. Lunch was OK. Airline fish is so so, many of you are probably thinking I am nuts for eating fish on an airplane! Dessert with lunch was HAAGEN DAZS ice cream! Sorry Cara, no Ben & Jerry’s, but they did have dulche de leche flavor (Robin’s favorite!). Dinner I ordered Korean beef. I figured it would be like all other Asian beef dishes- beef in a brown sauce, like beef & broccoli. No such luck- it was like a Korean meatloaf. Silas’s meatloaf at camp = amazing. He makes it for us during pre/post camp when it’s staff only nights. Korean meatloaf= YUCK! I don’t mean to be culturally insensitive- I am sure Korean meatloaf is wonderful to most, but airline Korean meatloaf I do not recommend. So, I ate bread, a salad, and white rice and I am definitely full. Don’t feel so bad for me, when I get to my destination, I will definitely eat some Tim-Tams (uh oh, thats a hint!)

Here in the Korean lounge I just took a shower. Doesn’t that sound weird, a shower in an airport! It definitely helps me feel refreshed and I am sure my seatmate on the next flight will appreciate it too:)

Some of you may remember the infamous toilet episode here in Korea. Well, the toilet is STILL HERE! The funniest part is there is a puddle on the floor in front of it, which means no doubt some other “dumb American” did what I did last year. In case you didn’t read about the toilet last year, I promise it’s worth your time.

Have a read here:

http://www.canadensis.com/blog/eric/?p=312

Well hopefully no more drama and just a peaceful, uneventful, good food and good sleep 9 hour flight to my next country. I am sure many of you already know (thanks facebook) where I am headed, but the contests will be on the twitter about other things in this country, so stay tuned.

Busy week in the office getting ready for my upcoming adventure. This year I will be taking 3 separate trips overseas, some of them similar to the past few years, but there are also new destinations. Also, I am now on twitter and I will be doing most of my updates on where in the world from the twitter account. So hop on over to www.twitter.com/whereisforti and become a “follower”. There will be contests throughout my trips in which you can reply to my tweet by emailing editor@canadensis.com with your response. You can earn points and the people who collect the top points win great prizes, including as an ice cream sundae party for your bunk, an exclusive spot on the Canadensis Today Show, and much more!

Otherwise, I look forward to seeing as many staff as possible from the past years at my first destination. I will post videos with staff members right here on the blog and pictures/contests to the twitter. So, for the next few weeks check back often and enjoy Part 1 of Where in the World is Eric Forti!!

Hello all from the windy city! As you all know, I never sit still and so following the reunion, I headed out to Chicago for a menu planning/food conference through our purchasing group. But first, the reunion was absolutely awesome! Every year it seems we have a bigger turnout and it was so great to get to see so many campers and their parents.

The younger camp may not know, but around 2PM we had a quick meeting with the Seniors/CITs in the room up front at the bowling alley and it was so amazing to hear how excited and spirited the CITs of 2010 (pronounced twenty ten according to them!). We announced the details of our options college tour for our Super Seniors and CITs and they responded with interest.  We also announced that the Super Senior trip will be a trip to Niagara Falls (as in the past) as well as Cleveland. We have decided to stay out of Canada for the main reason of dealing with passports. It has become increasingly difficult to cross the border with a group of kids (without parents) and the documentation necessary has been challenging for some of our families. Also, we have had problems in the past crossing back into the US with some of our international staff. We are so excited for the Cleveland addition, which will include a visit to Cedar Point (the largest amusement park in the US), a visit to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and some other exciting additions to the program. We will of course still do the popular jetboat tour in Niagara and additional attractions.

I hope you all had an amazing time at the reunion and for those campers who missed it, we missed seeing you! BUT, the good news is we will be coming to an ice cream parlor near you. We will be holding “Canteen on the Fly” in 6 towns over the coming month, so stay tuned for exact dates and locations.

I need to get back from Chicago quickly because tomorrow is our Sixers Night. Camp will be hosting a group of over 50 campers, parents, and alumni at the Jewish Heritage Night with the 76ers. If you will be there or are coming with us, please be sure to wear a Canadensis shirt and show your pride! If you are from NY/north Jersey, we have a night with the NY Knicks upcoming as well.

Well that’s all I have for now! See many of you tomorrow night- did I ever say how much I love/hate flying? It’s definitely a love/hate kind of thing:)