Greetings to one and all from Sandy, Utah, for the first time in three weeks! It's been a long time and many of you might not even know why I was M.I.A. these last two weeks. I assure you that it all has an explanation. Allow me to elaborate. Topics to be discussed today: The reason for my absence, sleepwalkers, the EFY Strike, the Reality Review, and yet another reason to hate Kobe. On we go!
Perhaps you've noticed. Maybe even shed a tear. Your inbox may have felt a little empty these last two Tuesdays. Here's the deal - I was hired as an EFY counselor a few months ago. BYU offered me six weeks of work throughout the summer. Because I assumed that I would have a permanent job by now, I turned down five of the weeks and accepted one in the middle of July. Well, three weeks ago, EFY sent out a mass email saying that they needed more male counselors in Provo. I initially disregarded the email and kept job hunting, but after thinking about it, seeing that I still didn't have steady work, I emailed them, telling them that I would be available. Three days later, I was in Provo with two thousand kids. So yes, the rumors are true - I have been up at Especially For Youth, a summer camp for LDS youth, working as a counselor. So much has happened in the last two week that I don't really know where to start.
Week One:
Two weeks ago, I worked with a group of thirty six 16-18-year-olds. I was really hoping that I would get the older kids (as opposed to 14 and 15-year-olds), so I was happy about that. Let's try to make this quick. Basically, the kids were great. I loved working with them. Despite a few obedience challenges, it really was a great week. All eight of my boys came by themselves, which was great because it forced them to make friends with the other kids in the group, instead of staying in groups of two, three, or four. I felt that the group was extremely unified, so nobody was ever really left out. My co-counselors, Britta, Heather, and Spencer, were amazing. I couldn't have asked for anyone better than those three. One of the best things about the older kids is that I am not too much older than them, so it was easy to develop friendships with them. The dances were great. The kids and I were able to develop and polish several dance moves, the most notable of which being "the Running Man." Good times, I'm telling you. Good times. One of the most memorable moments of week one came on Friday night at about 1:15 AM during what we affectionately call "Lockdown." The purpose of Lockdown is basically to make sure that the kids go to bed and don't sneak out on Friday night, so the counselors have to stay up in the hall for at least an hour after the final light in the hallway is out. We had a couple different sleepwalkers - or at least kids who wanted us to think that they were sleepwalking, but the funniest of them is something that needs to be shared. Five counselors, including me, were sitting in the middle of the hallway, just talking and waiting for the kids to go to bed, when out of nowhere, we hear a beeping noise from down the hall. One of the counselors mentioned that it sounded like an alarm that goes off when somebody breaks a window or uses the wrong door. We looked down the hall and saw one of the kids come out of his room. He had on his glasses and had his cell phone out. We asked him if he had his key and he immediately threw back his head and groaned. We went down to his room and opened the door for him. As we unlocked the door, we asked him a few questions, such as what the noise was and where it was coming from, to which he issued the same response: "I don't knooooooooow!" We finally got inside the room and found out that the smoke detector was going off. The room was cold, like the window had been open. Only one kid was inside, which was sort of problematic (the other one was downstairs and rather easily found). As the building counselor probed for more information, the kid panicked, I guess, sleepily admitting, "I feel like I just wet myself... without the wet part..." We had a good laugh about that one and concluded that what he was trying to tell us was that he had just dried himself.
Week Two:
Last week, I worked with the younger kids (14-15) and it was a different experience from the first week. The young kids were much more obedient - they were never late and I didn't feel like I had to babysit them, which was a great relief. Week two was the smaller of the two sessions that week, so it provided us with a few opportunities, such as outdoor dances and such. There were just a couple problems: Weather and sickness. The weather last week was pretty crumby. It rained pretty much every day, which was too bad. The kids got a little wet on several occasions, which would have been nice to avoid. One of the two dances was moved inside with the other session, but the dance on Friday night was outdoors. It only started to rain in the final five minutes of the dance, so it wasn't so bad. That night as we were heading home, thunder clouds were looming, so they made the guys and girls split up a little earlier than we expected. We wanted to get them back as soon as we could before it rained. We had to run, so we split them up immediately and they didn't really get a chance to say goodbye. It was somewhat humorous to me. It reminded me of the military or something - those scenes from movies where a soldier gets on the train and the girlfriend is left in the dust, so she tries to chase down the train while weeping. You follow me? It was funny. Then we got poured on. That wasn't funny. The other problem from last week, as I mentioned, was sickness. I'm not sure what was going around, but there was definitely something. A lot of kids and counselors were getting sick. Whether that was because of the rain, the lack of sleep, or something else is anyone's guess. I was lucky to escape the flu and the fevers and only felt a little congested last Tuesday. Other than that, I felt fine, so you can uncross your fingers for me. Unfortunately, there were a few casualties from the diseases going around - and I'm not saying that anybody died, but several consequences arose. The administration came out with a new rule - the "no touching rule." This rule outlawed any possible high fives, hand shaking, hugs, escorting (gasp!), and yes, even slow dancing. Needless to say, the announcement of the rule was met with a chorus of boos from the audience - participants and counselors alike. The next day, the coordinators announced that we would, in fact, be able to slow dance, but everything else still stood. That was good news. This also lead to the development of the so-called "EFY Strike," which has less to do with labor unions and more to do with bashing elbows. Basically, if you felt like high fiving somebody, instead of slapping hands, you simply bash elbows. This was a bit of a hard transition for me because during week one, I high fived everybody! I got used to it, though, which was evident on Saturday night. My sister, Amy told me that she had been reading her scriptures. After she explained what she had learned, I totally went for the EFY Strike. She looked at me like I was crazy.
I am scheduled to work one more week at EFY this summer, but might try to pick up a couple more weeks if possible. Therefore, if I don't send out the Newsletter on a given Tuesday, I'm probably at EFY. Don't cry, kiddies.
**QUESTION TIME!!**
Q. "Dear Aaron,
How about a reality TV update, huh?"
Just Curious,
- The Junior Mounties
A. (SALUTE!) Well Survivor ended a couple weeks ago. I didn't really have a favorite in the finals, which is never fun. It seemed like most of the bad guys made it far this season, so I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was one of my favorite seasons of all time. You gotta love Survivor, though. Wipeout has started up again and if anything says "Summer 2008" like Wipeout does. The show is back and bigger than ever before, featuring all new obstacles like a giant rocket ship, a huge catapult in the Wipeout Zone, and perhaps my favorite addition, the "Hurtles." Of course, our old friends, the Big Balls, are back, so there are plenty of wipeouts to be had for everyone. I am super excited about the return of "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" tomorrow night. Hopefully this week they'll have more likeable contestants than they did last year. Judge Bob, the host guy with the crazy hair, and the Sayonara Boys will all be back again this year, so good things are certainly in store. If you haven't ever watched this one, I highly recommend it. And finally, I don't watch "Dancing with the Stars," but my mom does and we've occasionally had Questions about the show here in the Newsletter. Perhaps you remember that I predicted a winner these last two seasons during this segment of Signs of the Times. Two seasons ago, I predicted that Brooke Burke would win. This past season, I put my money on Olympian Shawn Johnson. And if you've been paying attention to the competition at all, you know what I'm about to say. I've been RIGHT BOTH TIMES! That's correct - there is no need to even watch the show. I'm 2-0 when it comes to predicting the correct winner of the Mirror Ball and I vow to continue my winning streak next season as well. Thank you, thank you.
You can submit your own Questions to Signs of the Times via email at tarheelglory19@yahoo.com.
It's time for The Boo Box. Obviously, there is a group of people that are deserving of this dubious honor this week and that would be the Los Angeles Lakers. I hate the Lakers. I only watched about thirty seconds of the Finals because I frankly didn't care. (Might I add that I also correctly picked LA in five? It's not like I wanted them to win. That was just my prediction.) Let's just say that I started a riot when the Lakers won the championship, too, but it was probably not for the same reason that Californians did. Everybody together now - BOOOOOO!!
Makes you Feel Good every time, doesn't it? Time for the Shoutout of the Week. This week, the Shoutoutgoes to Whitney Jones. Whitney, Whitney, Whitney... You doubted my card playing ability. I know you did. But I showed you, all right! Straight to the top! All the way to the very top. My advice is this - never underestimate me again, lest I bust out my sweet card playing skills yet again.
I suppose that's about it for this Time. Kind of short, I guess, but if you want more EFY stories, you could do something old school and maybe like... call me on the phone or something. It's almost as if I have no friends anymore. Believe me, I've got some good stories. So uh... if you're interested, prove it. That will be all.
Until next Time,
Move It! Sell It! And Leave the Door Open!
Aaron
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