July 15 (Day 9 at the camp)
By Katya Borisova
Today was not like the usual days — because after morning exercises and breakfast, we went to our English lesson. I thought it would be better to just get it over with and then relax for the rest of the day, but actually the class wasn’t painful at all — it was fun, we laughed a lot, and most importantly, our teacher understands us, and the lessons are conducted in a game-like format. At the start of the lesson, we made short words from long ones, and at the end we had to come up with an app idea. It was really hilarious! We created a dating app for… fishermen! As strange as that idea sounds, it definitely stuck in everyone’s memory.
After the lesson, we headed to the sea. The time flew by as quickly as always, because we’re constantly busy with something — for example, today we played Durak (a Russian card game) after swimming. Meanwhile, Misha and Elena spent the whole time in the water. Today Misha set a record: one and a half hours in the sea and three hours in the pool!
(As we found out during our local candle gathering, many people felt uncomfortable on the bus, since there were several groups and it was very stuffy. We had to sit three or four people on two seats, but since I was by the window, it didn’t bother me much. The counsellors explained that they didn’t want to leave us in the sun any longer while waiting for another bus, but they promised that it wouldn’t happen again.)
After lunch, we had scheduled time for group activities, but we decided to take a little rest and went to our rooms. I slept for about an hour — just what I needed after such packed days, even if we’re already nearing the end.
In the evening, we went swimming in the pool, where we played and had lots of fun!
After dinner, Sonya and I watched K-pop dance videos and went through a magazine with posters of different groups — it was really engaging, and surprisingly, I actually got interested in Korean… (music/culture)!
The day ended with our reflection session, where we usually share vivid impressions, events, and compliments, and also try to guess messages from our parents (that’s my favourite part). Our reflection — our local candle gathering — is always very atmospheric and cosy, especially compared to the camp-wide candle circle we attended today.
