Fun on Long Island, and More Crochet!

Posted on by Pam Levi
Alexis Levien holding up her stationery – all packed for camp!

I had a great time this weekend getting to know some of the Long Island girls who will be coming to Camp Canadensis for the first time this summer!  My first stop was at Alexis Levien’s house.  She is in 4th grade, and will be a Lower Inter at camp.  I first met her when she took a tour at camp this summer, and she really impressed me when she sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” on our camp stage.  She is still singing and acting, and she is going to be in the show Annie coming up.  She is also in another show that is about to start, so she has a lot of rehearsals in her future!  I spent time with Alexis, her parents, and her sister Jordan (who is probably going to do the Sibling Tour and More this summer).  Her dad went to sleepaway camp and is preparing her for some camp responsibilities, like clean-up and inspection.  We talked about what to pack for the summer of fun ahead, and Alexis and her mom already have a great start – she has a pink camouflage sleeping bag and her stationery all ready to go (check out the photo of her holding up her stationery above!).   Alexis is an early riser, so if she is in your bunk she will help the counselors drag you out of bed!  She also is a JETS fan, so they must be excited for the big game coming up this weekend.  Her biggest question about camp was “what happens if I get lost” – which definitely won’t happen, but just in case, let’s all keep a look out for Alexis this summer!
Rachel Fisher – wearing her newest Canadensis t-shirt
My next stop was at Rachel Fisher’s house.   She is friends with Alexis from day camp, and they are in the same dance class.  They take Jazz, Tap and Hip Hop, and they are learning a dance to the song Magic by B.O.B.  In addition to dance classes, Rachel loves to make art, and goes to Hebrew School twice a week.  She is in 4th grade, and will be a Lower Inter at camp this summer – and she is definitely going to sign up for some art and ceramics electives this summer. We watched the new camp video together (which should be hitting everyone’s mailboxes soon!) and she got really excited for the activities in store for her, especially the Lower Girls Graffiti Party!  She really enjoys reading, and is wondering how many books she should pack for camp!  She reads almost every night before going to sleep.  She has a younger sister named Ava, and Rachel will be the first in her family to go to overnight camp, so she has to practice writing great letters to all her family and friends who will be at home.  Rachel is totally pumped for camp!
My last stop on Long Island (besides dinner with my Grandma!) was at Elana and Jake Abrams house!  Jake will be a 3rd year camper in the Freshman division, and Elana will be coming for her first summer as a Junior.  Technically, Elana was a Tour and More Camper last year, but this will be her first full summer.  Elana has a HOT PINK bedroom, and stays busy everyday of the week with Art Class, Gymnatics, Dance and Hebrew School.  She knows the lyrics to every single song, and she’ll be a great bunk mate because she thinks about other people, and put’s their feelings first.  She enjoys reading, and loves things in the multiples of threes…she has three favorite pillow pets, three favorite after school activities, three favorite colors…etc.  I was so impressed with the paintings that she and her brother have made at art class – I will upload photos soon!  Elana didn’t have a lot of questions, but Jake wanted to know all about the overnight Cooperstown trip that the Freshman Boys go on, and all the changes that happen as he starts to make his way on to the “Senior Side” of camp.  After we chatted for a while and enjoyed some NY bagels, I sat down with Elana, Jake and their Mom to watch the new DVD – and Jake was in the Color War extra’s section!  But, I agree with mom – he’s gotta do a better job of getting in front of the camera this summer.
Photos of Elana and Jake Abrams coming soon!

Besides visiting some of our awesome new campers, I’ve been making time for my favorite winter activity, which is crocheting!  I thought I’d upload some photos of my recent projects…
This is a hat I made for an adorable kid!  It has a HUGE pom-pom and a removable “beard”
I didn’t want her big brother to get all the ‘crochet fun’, so I made a quick flower headband.
I’m going to convince as many kids as possible that Crochet is Cool!  I’d love to have a “knitters circle” at camp this summer.
The last thing I have for today is the announcement of a new recurring blog posting that will be starting this Monday!  It will be a segment called “Annie the Dog” and it will require a lot of participation from you at home, so please log back in after the weekend!

Airline Meals

Posted on by Eric Forti

Since I am intrigued about eating on flights and not having a clue about what time/timezone/appropriate meal it is, let’s see what I ate in the past 48 hours:

A. Eggs/potatoes/croissant

B. Salad and Asian Salmon w/ green tea rice (yuck). Then they ruined dessert with coffee flavored ice cream with a hard chocolate shell. I will admit to chipping away at the hard chocolate shell, hahha.

C. Popchips snack

D. Peanuts snack

E. Chicken stir-fry with lo-mein (YUMMY!)

F. Tortilla chips and salsa

G. Salad, Chicken with Thai curry, and apple cheesecake for dessert (just a few bites)

H. A roll

So, since Friday morning (it’s now Sunday morning in Bangkok) that’s what I ate. A nutritionist would yell at me, and it’s weird not eating breakfasts and only having alot of dinners. Trust me, I didn’t go hungry, but my mom and Robin’s cooking is WAYYY better!

Where in the World am I? Even I don’t know!!

Posted on by Eric Forti

Hello All from my usual stopover point of SOUTH KOREA! Trip 1 of Where in the World began 3:15 Friday morning with a van shuttle pickup at my house. Of course I felt bad that Robin woke up from my final packing and preparations, but when I called her at 6AM, she certainly fell back asleep!

I arrived at Philly Airport way too early, but its an international itinerary so they say you need to be there like 18 hours early. Checked in and said goodbye to my one, 53.5LB suitcase (it’s heavy because A. my clothes are heavy and B. I have the new tabletop Canadensis display that many of you saw at the reunion). Hopefully I will see my bag in Melbourne, Australia, my final destination, but I am nervous. Rewind 6 months ago when I thought it would be “fun” to travel to Australia the longest possible way. I thought I did that the last 2 years, but I one upped it and this year my routing is:

Philadelphia – San Francisco – Incheon, South Korea – Bangkok, Thailand – Melbourne, Australia

Getting back to the bag issue, they could only fit 3 cities on a bag tag, so my bag got 2 tags…a first for me! So the first tag said San Francisco and then the other “full” tag says Melbourne by way of Korea/Thailand. My concern is my bag made it to San Fran and is now going round and round on the carousel waiting for me to pick it up…hopefully I am wrong!

So, my flight from Philly to San Fran went off without a hitch. I couldn’t really sleep well, I don’t know why, so I talked to the 2 flight attendants for about 1.5 hours about travel, camp, etc. Had a 1-hour layover in San Fran and boarded a United 747 for Korea. The 747 has two decks and I was lucky enough to be seated on the top deck. For the first time ever, I actually sat in a BACKWARDS facing seat. I know you all think this is dorky, but it was awesome to experience takeoff facing backwards! The seat was amazing and I took a few pics, which maybe JCAL will post here, or else you need to hop on over to my facebook page (see: Camp Canadensis: Where in the World is Eric Forti). It was about a 12 hour flight and I only slept about 4 hours. So, tons of TV watching and tons of eating, but what else is new.

On the plane, I also met 2 ladies in their early 60’s whom are traveling around Bangkok, Vietnam, and Cambodia. We got started talking about camps and they went to a camp in Maine I have heard of and recently just spoke to the owner of! Such a small world. I was telling them how great Canadensis is and one of them has grandchildren in Virginia whom she wants to send to camp, but the grandchildren’s mother is not ready yet. So, maybe one day!

Now I am in Seoul, South Korea sitting in the airport lounge and it’s 10 degrees Fahrenheit outside, but in the lounge it’s like 120 degrees. No exaggeration, it’s so hot in here. I don’t understand why they need to pump the heat in Asia and keep these lounges so darn warm. I just took a shower and changed into a….Canadensis t-shirt of course with a Canadensis long sleeve shirt over it, HAHA. Too funny! Lauren Berry (GL from 2010) and I are skype IMMING or whatever it’s called because all of you are sound asleep.

I will check in again soon, but remember to check in at twitter- http://twitter.com/#!/WHEREISFORTI and  “like” my facebook page by searching Camp Canadensis: Where in the World is Eric Forti.

For now, goodnight!

Birthdays, Holidays, and Reunions!

Posted on by Cara

Happy New Year!!! I hope everyone had a safe and relaxing winter break, and I REALLY hope everyone found some time to catch up with Camp Friends! As always, I’ll be telling the story of my Winter thus far through pictures…

Dinner Party for Dani's Birthday!

The first big event of Winter Break was the exciting 18th Birthday of Lower Inter Counselor (and my sister!) Dani Corradetti! Because Dani’s birthday falls between Christmas and New Year’s Eve I knew I had to start planning early if I was going to make it an amazing night! I started by calling some camp friends and trying to find a date that worked for most of us. From there I was texting non-stop to try to organize a Birthday Sleepover SURPRISE Party! I think I had Dani completely unknowing until the morning of the party itself. She overheard us ordering dinner for 11 people and knew something was up… this might not have been the first surprise party I’ve attempted to throw her (although last year she was TOTALLY SURPRISED!). Once she knew about the party I told her that I was about to leave to go get Mara from the train. After she jumped and cheered around the house as if Color War was breaking, we ran to my car just in time to drive off to pick up Mara Bernstein. On the way home we took Mara to Virago, a bakery in our town that specializes in Gluten Free baked goods. Mara picked out a delicious cupcake to enjoy later in the evening when it was time for dessert. Seeing Mara pick from all the beautiful cupcake options reminded me of being in Disney with her, and meeting the Chef at Planet Hollywood, one of my top 10 Camp Memories of All Time… but that’s a story for another blog post…

Mara Shows off her Cupcake!

Once we had some baked goods secured, it was time to get back to the house and start to greet the friends who had traveled from all over for the party. No one knew Dani was in on the surprise, so it was like a little mini-surprise each time someone new walked in the door! When we got home Danielle Faden and Becky J were already waiting for us to arrive. They didn’t know Mara was coming in to town- another set of surprises! Shortly after that we were joined by Rebecca Waxman, Jess Cook, Rachel Dender, Jen Romberg, Alexis Vardakas, and Elana Sharir. The house was SO loud as we laughed and told stories… there might have even been a short musical singalong to a medley of song from The Sound of Music, with the Upper Inter counselors reprising their famous MTV night dance. We were then interrupted by my mother returning from our favorite Italian Restaurant, arms full of takeout pans, which we devoured in the dining room, continuing to tell wild camp stories in between bites of pasta and salad.

Ready to Nom Nom Nom!

Once we were stuffed it was time to play our favorite table game- “Most Likely To…”. Most Likely To, or MLT as we say at camp, is a really easy game to play when you need something fun to do. I learned how to play at a Sorority retreat in college, and taught the CITs and Staff in summer 2008. Ever since then, it’s been a staple in our nights in the HQ. Everyone rips up a piece of paper into nice even strips. Then the group picks a number (usually it’s 5, but we went for 10!) and writes that many “MLT”s on the strips of paper. Good examples are “Most Likely To own a camp someday” or “Most Likely To become President” or “Most Likely To jump in lake lenape in their pajamas”. The possibilities are endless.

Working on our MLTs...

Once each strip of paper has an MLT on it, we fold them all up and toss them in a basket, mix them up, and distribute them. Everyone reads the MLTs that they were given, and then decides which person at the table is most likely to do what’s on the paper. Then you fold it back up, and place it in front of the person you chose. This part gets crazy, with everyone putting papers in front of everyone else; you have to be careful not to give away the ones given to you! Once that’s done, each person takes a turn reading the ones they got, and the hilarity ensues!

Becky J reads her MLTs to the group...

After MLT it was time for CAKE… and coffee; Rebecca Waxman is a huge fan of the Keurig coffee maker, we spent most of our days off making individual coffees and lounging around the kitchen. After we couldn’t eat or drink any more we retired back to the den, where we all continued to catch up after being apart for so long!

Camp Friends Snuggled on a Chair!

We spent the rest of the night doing what all of you do at your camp sleepovers – talking about camp! It was so good to be together, and even though we were missing the camp friends who couldn’t make it, or live too far away to make the trip, it was nice to get to be together and pick up right where we left off in August.

After a fun and relaxing winter break, it was time to get back to the winter office… only to pack up and take off for the winter meeting! On Friday night Dani and I met Eric, Robin, Matt, Alyssa, Mike, and Karen for dinner at a Mexican restaurant! Seeing Mike, Alyssa, and Karen after being apart for so long was the best feeling ever… almost as good as the first day of camp!!! We had a yummy dinner, and then Dani and I took Karen back with us so we could get some sleep before the big Winter Meeting! While we were sitting around, Karen took the time Leopold to dress in her favorite hat:

Leo Rocks his Hipster Style...

After Leo modeled a few selections from his hoodie collection, it was time to get some sleep! We woke up bright and early and drove off to the Forti’s house, hoping to miss the impending snow storm. We all piled in to the camp minivan and drove off to Newark.

The winter meeting was a great success! We talked about so many great ideas for Summer 2011 and even got to play a new game, taught by the ever fabulous Pam! We had a great day, and then rushed off to our rooms to get ready to go out for a Hibachi dinner! Everything was delicious… Eric Forti even took this photo express just how full we all felt:

Eric Forti always keeps us laughing!

The next morning we all drove off to Jeepers, where we got to spend time playing games and having full with our summer 2010 campers and staff! It was a great day, and I’ll post some more pictures from the reunion soon!

I hope everyone enjoyed a snow day this week, and that you’re getting even more excited for camp now that we’re officially into 2011! Next month Pam and I will head off on our Staff Hiring Road Trip, and soon it will be time for New Camper Bowling, followed by Pre-Camp… camp is basically tomorrow!

What Would The World Be Like Without Hobbies??

Posted on by Pam Levi

I can’t imagine a world without hobbies!  I love spending my time crafting, cooking and playing games…many things that I first learned at camp are hobbies that I try to do whenever I get free time.  I’ve blogged about some of these hobbies before, but at the top of the list is the game of MahJongg.  I have taught a lot of people how to play, including the CIT GIRLS of 2011 who are awesome players!  I’m in the process of teaching a group of women who live in the Plymouth Meeting, PA area, and the organizer of the group is Heather Brucker – mother to David Brucker who will be a 2nd year camper in the Lower Inter division this summer.

This is a photo of David and his younger sister Marissa (who might be doing the sibling Tour & More Weekend at camp this summer) helping me setup the MahJongg tiles so I could teach everyone how to play.   It takes a little while to learn, but Heather and her friends are doing great – and our second class is in just a few hours!

While I was over the Brucker household, David and I compared camp photo albums.  This is a picture of him holding the t-shirt covered camp album I made a few weeks ago, and I’m holding the book his family put together of the many photos he was in this summer.  The pictures are incredible!!

Another favorite hobby of mine is crochet, and this is a great activity to do during the winter because you can make things to keep you warm!  I love making blankets, hats, bags, rugs, and anything I can create with my crochet hook…I’m not the best at following instructions, so every time I make something it turns out different and unique…kind of like snowflakes.  I will upload more photos soon…

This is a blanket I made for one of my friends who had a baby boy – I love teaching campers how to crochet too, and I’m hoping it catches on Canadensis this summer!

This is an ear warmer that I made in an hour…just in time to wear it for New Years Eve!  I attached a cute bow.

Another big hobby of mine is playing around with Photoshop.  The best part about this hobby is that I get to use it at work to create marketing materials like postcards, brochures and more.  I just finished working on this awesome photo of Callie Goodman who was a freshman girl at camp last summer.  It was the perfect picture to announce that we are going to the Philadelphia 76ers game on Tuesday, March 1st (email pam@canadensis.com to reserve $30 lower level tickets).  Of course it’s a funny photo because Callie is a funny girl!

I’ve also made about 10 other postcards…including this one featuring 2011 CIT Boy, Matthew “Chipper” Jacobson and Rachael Liberman captures all the spirit of camp during Color War!

In addition to spending time doing my favorite hobbies, over the next few weeks, Brian, Eric and I will be visiting a lot of homes.  We’ll be trying to see every new camper for 2011, and help get them excited for the summer of their life!  I’ll be making a trip to Long Island this weekend, and even seeing some campers on Martin Luther King Day, so I’ll have a lot of new photos to post in my blog next week.  Until then…Think Camp!

Guest Blogging: Mike Lindquist

Posted on by Canadensis

Hello world of Canadensis!

Seasons greetings from beautiful California, and what I mean by beautiful, I mean rain.  But rainy is good, because rain makes snow (and Corn, shout out to Boys Bunk 10) and snow allows me to ski, and work!

So how is life you ask? Amazing!  I am currently waiting for January to begin my teaching credential program at Norte Dame de Namur University and in the mean time I am speading my time either with my lovely fiance, Senior Girls Assistant Head Counselor Alyssa Thibodeau, or working at 2 of my jobs.  The first job is a part time job at a outdoor retail store and the second is coaching a JV team basketball team at Crystal Springs Uplands School.  At work, my job in selling skis and ski related equipment and also doing rentals.  So when it snows, business is good, and when business is good, Mike gets lots of hours, which allows me to suprise Alyssa with random dates!

Secondly, my JV team at CSUS has been more fun than anything else.  The players are great and reminds me of camp.  The has gotten off to a rough couple of games but a win before the winter break will give us some momentum before league play starts in January.

But most importantly I have been watching alot of sports.  Not because I have tons of time on my hands, but I am a life long fan of a certain San Francisco Baseball team, and also my Oregon Duck Football team who will be playing for the national championship the day after the reunion, January 10th!

Lets start in mid September, when my stress levels were way too high watching all the Giants games.  When they finally won the NL West,  I was just happy to be in the playoffs.  I thought we could beat the Braves, but I honestly didn’t think we could beat the Phillies.  Glad I was wrong! I enjoyed Game 1 of the World Series around AT&T Park where the Giants play to a great atmosphere and can not believe they actually won a Championship!  (Good thing we won it this year, now that Philly has gone and bought (and traded) for the best rotation of all time, however, the giants are have the best HomeGrown rotation ever.  Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, and Bumgarner were all drafted by the Giants) What more can I ask for…

Well I guess if that wasn’t enought, the Ducks have been the best football team in the country! I honesty do believe the Ducks might be able to beat the pitiful Niners.  If you have not seen a Duck game (or their amazing uniforms) you will sure be in for a treat.

So wedding planning… I don’t really do much, I just either agree or disagree with whatever Alyssa comes up with (most of the time agree ;).  However, she gets to plan the wedding, I get to plan the honeymoon… seems fair.

How many of y’ll ski?  These cold winter months would go by way to slow if it weren’t for skiing!  The resorts are Heavenly Tahoe, and Northstar at Tahoe, both are free for me due to my position working at the ski shop!While San Francisco is great I keep missing the 18325 and can barely wait another 6 months! Just think in 180 some odd days, you will alll be on buses going up the camp road, seeing all your friends and favorite counselors.  Keep warm this holiday season and look forward to seeing many of you this weekend!