Eric has arrived in Australia!

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.

Forti has officially left the United Stated and is heading off to a new destination to be revealed soon…You can follow his travels on his NEW twitter page at www.twitter.com/whereisforti. Send your guesses to Forti’s questions to editor@canadensis.com. Winners will receive special prizes this summer at camp.

Eric’s latest Tweets:

@WhereIsForti: Still in the windy city. Up early to get a quick gym workout before 2 LOOOONG flights!

@WhereIsForti: Landed safely in the windy city. Guess where I am? Email editor@canadensis.com

@WhereIsForti: Sitting bored at JFK trying desperately to get the internet to work! Upon check in I received my official itinerary! Will be in USA overnite

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!!

We stayed out very late, catching up and laughing about camp times (they are the greatest, after all!). Finally we decided to call it a night and head back to the car. Little did we know that the valet was off duty, so when we got back to the spot where we had left my car, it was parked on the street with a note in the dashboard. The note had the address and phone number of the location where we could pick up my keys. It was like our own little version of National Treasure!

We finally got my keys back and everyone got home safe and sound. It’s always fun to plan a weekend with camp friends, but it’s the unexpected events that make for the funniest of memories!

Finally, here’s your Eric Forti clip of the week:

Although there is SO much to write about the wild events of my camp-filled weekend, I’m going to share two photos as a sneak peak for now…

Hello Canadensis!

First off, let me say, “Shame on me!”  It’s been a few weeks since my last blog entry and I didn’t want another day to go by without catching up with online cyberspace camp community.  There are no excuses except for the fact that since our Reunion a few weeks ago, things have started to move quite rapidly in our plans for the upcoming summer.

But, first things first.  Since I haven’t had a chance to comment yet, myself, I wanted to say thank you to all those campers, parents and staff who made it to our Annual Reunion.  Once again, we are happy to announce that we had over 300 campers in attendance along with more than 50 staff members there as well.  What a turnout!  The two hours we had together seemed to go by in such a hurry but it was so great to see everyone.  If you haven’t done so yet, be sure to check out the reunion pictures as well as a Special Reunion Canadensis Today Show in the Media Room.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, we also use this weekend as an opportunity for our leadership staff to get together and discuss camp.  Our winter staff, head counselors and programming staff spent the entire Saturday coming up with new plans and ideas for the upcoming summer.  It was a great day as we discussed a full array of different topics from Special Days at Camp to Evening Activities to the menu to Color War.  In fact, the Color War names for Summer 2010 have been picked!  But, of course, that will remain a secret until Color War breaks on August (oh wait, that is a secret, too…Ha Ha!).

It was also great to see a number of camp families join us on Wednesday, January 13 for the Philadelphia 76ers game versus the New York Knicks.  Because it was part of the Jewish Heritage Night, all tickets were rewarded with a hebrew 76ers T-Shirt.  After the game, won by the Knicks by one point, Grammy Award winning artist Matisyahu performed for all fans that chose to stay.  Audio and Videos from that performance can be found here:  http://www.matisyahuworld.com/tourarchive#2010/01/13 .  On February 9, we will be doing the same event in New York City.  Hopefully, many camp families will be able to attend this as well.  We hope you can join us.

In the past few weeks, I have continued to “hit the road” to see our camp families.  Here’s who I’ve seen…

I was in North Caldwell, NJ to see 2010 Lower Inter Boy Alex Frieder who will also be joined at camp this year by his younger sister Rylie Frieder.  Rylie, in the 3rd grade, will be in the Junior Girls division in 2010.  She is involved in a number of activities in the fall, winter and spring.  Her soccer team, where she played as a midfielder, finished in 1st place this past fall.  She is also involved in hip hop dance classes, a Brownies troop and an Indian Princesses group that just recently went rock climbing as well.  On top of that, she is a big New Jersey Devils fan and has been to several games this year.  This summer, she is excited for waterskiing and the opportunity to make new friends.  As for Alex, he was so thrilled to let me know that he just recently got the lead role of Mowgli in the JCC of West Orange production of “The Jungle Book.”  For those that would like to see Alex in this role, performances are scheduled for March 11, 13 and 14.  Back in the fall, Alex also took the stage for the same theater company in their production of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” where he was in the Candyland chorus.  Alex has also been busy snow skiing every Tuesday in Mountain Creek as well as playing tennis.  This summer, he can’t wait to get back to camp and hang out with all of the friends he made in 2009’s Boys Bunk 4.  He is also excited to be up in the Art Center, particularly in glass fusion.  Here is a picture…

I got a chance to make my way to Scarsdale, NY to see 2010 Freshman Girl Alexa Binday who is coming to camp for her fourth summer with Lower Inter Girl and sister Carly Binday.  Both Alexa and Carly have been taking art classes and each showed me the pictures they had been working on.  Carly had some really great cartoons to show me while Alexa has been working with chalk pastels and creating a number of human figure and scenic drawings which were really amazing!  Both told me about their recent trip to the Sanibel Islands which they really seemed to enjoy.  While at home, Carly, who is currently in the fourth grade, also likes to play soccer, gymnastics, tennis and swimming as well as just hanging out with her friends.  Alexa, who had a great time at the reunion, was also happy to tell me that she also has one of her bunkmate’s birthday parties this weekend and will be seeing some other camp friends as well.  Here is a photo…

In Armonk, NY, I saw the Kruman Family, where 2010 Freshman Girl Alyssa Kruman will be back at camp this year for her 4th summer and once again joined by brother and 2010 Junior Boy Max Kruman, back for his 2nd summer.  While having a pizza lunch, they filled me in about their recent and annual family trip to Aruba.  Max, currently in 3rd grade, told me that he was once again playing left wing and center on his ice hockey team.  The past few weekends, he has also been into watching the football playoffs on TV.  Recently, he had a get together with bunkmate Ethan Cohen.  This summer, he is really looking forward again to Mountain Biking, an activity he enjoyed last summer.  Big sister Alyssa, now in 6th grade and returning for her 4th summer, continually video chats with camp friends each and every day.  She recently had a great time at a fellow camper’s Bat Mitzvah that was heavily attended by Canadensis campers.  This summer, Alyssa is really looking forward to the Hershey Park trip.  Max and Alyssa let me know that they plan on guest blogging in the next few weeks.  Here is a picture from my visit…

In Cross River, NY, I saw first time camper and 2010 Junior Girl Rebecca Seiler.  Rebecca, currently in 3rd grade, can’t wait for the summer to start and is excited for a number of different activities.  She is really looking forward to the zipline, climbing wall and water skiing.  In the fall, winter and spring, she is involved with activities such as basketball, soccer and tennis.  She also let me know that she will be playing the role of Kaa The Snake in her drama class’s upcoming production of “The Jungle Book.”  Performances are scheduled for January 22 and 23.  Rebecca will also be joined at camp this summer by her big sister Jessica Seiler, who will once again be returning to camp as part of our camp staff.  Last summer, Jessica was a counselor in our Junior Girls Division.  Here is a shot…

In Tenafly, NJ, I got to see two more camp families.  First, I saw 2010 Lower Inter Girl Samantha Waldman, back for her third summer at camp and now joined by younger sister and 2010 Junior Girl Ally Waldman.  Ally is excited to finally get the chance to come to Canadensis after she has seen all the fun Samantha has been having the past two summers.  Ally, in the 3rd grade, is involved with soccer, gymnastics and fashion design.  She also told me that she is going to be in her school’s variety show performing a self-choreographed dance with one of her friends.  This summer, she can’t wait to do horseback riding, soccer and water skiing.  As for Samantha, in 4th grade, she is busy with tennis and basketball.  She was so thrilled to see her bunk mates at the reunion and is counting down the days to be with the girls from 2009’s Bunk 4.  Here is a picture…

Also in Tenafly, NJ, I got to meet first year camper and 2010 Lower Inter Girl Simone Steinberg.  Simone, currently in the 4th grade, is a third generation Canadensis camper as her father Adam and grandfather David were campers at Canadensis back in the day.  Simone, whose older sister Madeline and cousins Leslie, Phil and Mitch also attended Canadensis, has heard so many wonderful stories about camp that she can’t wait to go herself!  She is really looking forward to kayaking, lake boats, water skiing, ga ga, Color War and canteen (as she is a self-proclaimed chocoholic).  This year, she was also the goalie on her travel soccer team.  She was also excited to tell me about an upcoming school project she will be doing on Betsy Ross.  At home, she also loves hanging out with her good friends.  Here is a photo…

My trips on the road have been great.  Talking about camp with returning and new campers has just been absolutely wonderful!  Between now and the summer, I hope to see as many campers as possible.

I also wanted to let our new campers that are currently in grades 1 – 4 know that our new camper get-togethers will be held on April 18.  Times are still to be determined.  But, mark your calendars!

Our camp families should have also received our first mailing for Summer 2010 which included the new clothes catalog from our camp supplier The Camp Spot.  You can also view this information on our website under the “Camp Store” link in the “Canadensis Families” section.  Also in the mailing was our new “Priceless Referral Program.”  For any family that refers a new camper for 2010, we will award your child with a “priceless” prize of their choosing.  The list includes being interviewed on the Canadensis Today Show, making camp announcements for an entire day and even watching 4th of July Fireworks from the middle of Lake Lenape.

Finally, I wanted to congratulate all those New York Jets fans out there.  As much as I root against the Jets, I am happy for all those fans of Gang Green that will be watching their team play in the AFC Championship game this weekend.  But, I will write more about the football playoffs later in the week.

Until then, I leave you with a question I’ve pondered.  What do we call this upcoming decade?  Is it the 10’s?

Have a great day…Brian

Happy Birthday to our Girl’s Head Counselor Robin Hasson, who also happens to be my very special fiancee!

We are just days away form the first leg of Where in the World is Eric Forti 2010! This year Eric is going to some really exciting places including a bunch of new stops! On Friday, Eric leaves the cold in Philadelphia and will be headed into the sun down under! Check back beginning Friday for the first of many updates from this year’s Where in the World. You never know where Eric might turn up and who he might be with!

Look for Eric on Twitter!!

@WhereisForti