Camp and the Sense of Community

When I was trying to write about the camp story, I started to digress. I thought it best to put this as a separate post to keep structure.


Following my parents' advice, I went to the Christian camp. PCUSA had rated it highly. I thought PCUSA had something to do with Korean Philadelphia churches, but having looked it up right now, it's actually Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This advice was probably more so to avoid any bad influences on their "only son." Drugs and sex were definite no-nos for any Christian boy. Too bad I had already learned all about sex, including anal sex impregnation from the week in Mt. Misery, which was also a magical experience. Now that I think about it, the main reason they probably wanted me to go to camp in the first place was because they wanted me to socialize more. Most of my childhood teachers had told my parents that I was a quiet child and that the one thing that I could improve on was to speak up more. I was an introverted child who was extremely shy and self-conscious.

As most introverts, I was shy in the outset, but once I got to know people, I could talk to them comfortably. Getting to know them was inevitable since I was living with these people 24/7 and sleeping with roommates in this sort of outdoor tent-cabin of some sort where it had wooden structures to place sleeping bags, but no doors or windows. The best description would be one of those child playhouses except the two shorter walls are removed and the playhouse is large enough to fit 4 adults and little space for storage.

We got to do many things in camp, one of which was to go on a zipline after climbing up the trees and crossing a single line of wire. You had the safety gear on, so you were completely safe. The wait was far too long though because almost everybody else was afraid of falling. I asked to make sure if I would be safe if I fell because everyone was acting so scared as if they were going to die if they fell. When my turn came, I got up the trees and then rushed across the line. I didn't want the others to wait too long. I still remember one of the camp counselors singing "Spider-man, Spider-Man! Does whatever a spider can!" when I was going through the whole thing. This inspired my fellow roommates to also go through it quickly. I was still the fastest, but they were close behind. Too bad my badassness was shattered when I screamed like a girl when it came time to go down the zipline. It's the only way I can breathe when riding rollercoasters or falling down great heights. Back then, I had a higher pitched voice and my scream was higher than all the girls. I didn't mind. My puberty came late.

Electronics were banned at camp, but for the most part, it was a good thing. You didn't have any distractions and you felt more one with nature. I did however, get a chance to play on the Game Boy Advance one of the counselors had. She was playing in one of our gatherings and couldn't beat the final boss of Mario vs. Donkey Kong. I said that I could help her beat it (having played platformers for many years at that point), but after having seen her play, I thought it to be a difficult challenge. I did attempt it a few times, but failed each time. She tried many times after and finally beat it. I was surprised because she did do worse than me at the start, but she got it after much persistence. I think it would've been better had I not played the GBA; to be without all electronics would've made it more of a better experience, but that's probably just my OCD.

The camp was fun and one of the most memorable and rewarding experiences of my life. A sense of community made the whole thing one of the happiest times of my life. As one black girl touching my closed eyes pointed out, "It feels like there are no eyeballs!" I was at peace and I hadn't known that, until years later and many years later I found out that the reason for "having no eyeballs" was because I wasn't stressed and I was genuinely happy, though I did want to play video games and I wanted to go on the internet.