Monday, January 26, 2015

L.G. Cook - London Edition: Volume I

Volume I: London Blogging (Sorry. That was a play on a The Clash reference I'm even several years too young to legitimately attempt to make.)


Wait a minute.

That's not me in front of a tree on Camp!



That's not Jim in front of the Dining Hall!




That body of water is NOT Lake Shawanni!

What in the world is going on here!?!?


A very good question. But first, some back story:

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Have you ever wondered how we manage to bring our wonderfully-accented, super-awesome international staff members across the ocean to their summer home at L.G. Cook? Well, the trick is we manage it by NOT doing most of the work! No, most of the work is done by a fantastic organization called Camp America.  

Since 2001 (thanks to Camp America) , we've had 63 international counselors spend a summer here, a bit over 20 percent of all our staff in that time. Camp America places over 7000 international counselors at camps across the nation every summer. 

In the past, we've selected our Camp America counselors from afar, considering in depth applications and profiles, conducting Skype interviews, and so on. However, this year we decided to take Camp America up on their offer to journey to one of their overseas job fairs and hire our Summer 2015 counselors live and in person.

And so with that, Jim and I were London bound. Which is how we get back around to the rarity of non-camp located photos like this one:



Not only did the trip feature this tremendous job fair (more on that in future posts), and several other exciting events (also more on that in future posts), but it included a celebration of Camp America's 30th Anniversary at Parliament (more on that in this post. Right now). 


This is Parliament (or the Palace of Westminster).Yes, that building attached to Big Ben. And that clock's not actually called Big Ben. Big Ben is the nickname for the large bell, which is in the clock, which is on the Clock Tower, which is attached to the House of Parliament. These are things I now know.



And this is a model of Parliament. I never go anywhere that doesn't have an easily accessible model of itself for consultation. 


This is what the British call "a very nice hallway."





It was so nice it gave us some good ideas for remodeling the Dining Hall. The main theme? More statues.









This led us through an area where no pictures were allowed (use your imagination, picture a super cool big old ornate royal place where pictures wouldn't be allowed and it's just that), on out to a terrace along the Thames River where Camp Directors from across the country and Camp America staff got to celebrate all the great stuff the organization has accomplished over the past 30 years.










Needless to say, it was super fun, and a super honor to be there, and just overall pretty super.

More on our other London escapades and quest for International Counselors soon! 

Right now, I'm still jet-lagged and badly need a nap.

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