On Thursday, the fifth day of camping, we had to wake up later, good news! But, bad news for a lot of people the reason why is that we had to do hiking. Fortunately the trail started from the camp site. After the breakfast, we had to take a bag in order to transport the lunch up to the mountain, because yes, we climbed to the top of a mountain, we hiked for more than an hour through the Canadian woods. Going up and down, up and down… Very tiring. But it was nothing, because after we had to climb literally the mountain and at the end I think everybody was exhausted but the view was beautiful! We could see all around us, the mountains, the forests, the sea, and the mountains behind the sea (the US)…

A lot of people were sleeping before lunch, but some of them were contemplating the landscapes, enjoying the break after the pain despite the cold wind, while someone was taking pictures of them. On this one we can see Fynn, Victor, Cristina and Cecilia just watching the woods and behind –But we can’t see it on the picture- the sea.

Then we had lunch, burrito, or something which looked approximately like a burrito, because everybody put too much food inside: the vegetables and the meat flowed from the sandwich. After that we just hiked down the mountains –and it was easier, even if the stones were slippery- and we came back to the camp for a shower very deserved.

I really liked this activity, because I like walk and hike, and it’s great to enjoy the view when we suffered to come up to the top!
--Alex


This week we went to Vancouver Island to camp. The place where we stayed is called Goldstream Camp. It was exciting!! We did lots of activities every day.

Wednesday afternoon we did kayaking in the ocean and it was very hard. In the evening everyone was tired but after dinner we ate marshmallows with chocolate and cakes seated around the fire because the evening was very cold and windy. We slept in tents inside a sleeping bag. In every tent there were four or five people.

Thursday morning we went hiking and at the top of the mountain we had a picnic for lunch. In the afternoon we came back to the camp and we took our towels and we went to another part of the camp to have a shower.

Afterwards we went to play mini-golf in groups of four people. I liked it so much and I had a good score.

That evening was teacher’s free evening so we had to wash all the dishes and we could stay up until one in the morning.

Friday morning we prepared breakfast also for the teachers and we ate pancakes, eggs and bacon.

At ten we left the camp and we went to Victoria city to go shopping in a mall but I didn’t buy anything.

We had lunch in the mall and I ate greek food. Then we went to whale watching and it was amazing! We saw lot of orcas.

The evening was Craig’s free evening so we couldn’t ask him anything, only if he needed help. Ema at the end of the dinner fed Craig with Lev’s birthday cake.

This morning we came back to UBC and we had to take a ferry.
--Alice


Last week, we went to Victoria by the ferry. It’s a big ship that I have never seen before. We parked our bus in the last deck, and then we enjoyed our trip in the ferries for two hours. We went camping in Goldstream. The scenery there was beautiful and special with the difference of the trees.

Also, we went hiking. I thought it was the most difficult hiking I’ve ever tried. We had to walk in the forest, and climb the rock. The rock was very big, and we had to take care of ourselves.

During these days, we went to many interesting things, like Zip-trekking, Caving, Kayaking, and Whale watching. These were very special experience for me. Zip-trek, was very exciting. We went to somewhere very high, and then zipping down the forest. I was scared and shouting at the first time, then I could enjoy the Zip-trekking. The wind was breezing on my face. The scenery there was awesome. But I felt a little sad that I didn’t see any animals in the forest.

Caving was a special experience for me. In my country, we usually walk in the cave maybe 10 minutes and then we were done. But now, everyone had a helmet and flashlight on the head, and we had to climb it. We didn’t know where to go. The cave was dark and wet but it was just adventure so everyone enjoyed it.

Kayaking was very hard for me. This was my first time kayaking. We had to try to use our arms for power to go ahead. But I moved very slowly, I just ran out of the power, and enjoyed the kayaking. It was interesting that I saw a seal in the water.

We took a boat for whale watching, it was amazing!! I saw many whales, and they were big. The size of the whales were the same like the whales in the aquarium. Every whale had its name, but I wonder why the staff of the boat knows the names and information about the whales. The whales all look similar in the sea.

During the camping days, we cooked the food for ourselves. When the sun set, we couldn’t see anything, so we burned a fire to sit together for some games and singing the songs. We enjoyed all the time we played and learned together.
--Allison


We spent six days camping. For most of us it wasn’t the first time. But it was very fun.

The first amazing thing was the ferry. You can’t imagine how big it was! The ferry is like a town with a lot of shops and a café. We went to Victoria Island.

So after we put up our tents. Our camping site was called Goldstream. There was a very big field with grass where we were playing volleyball, frisbee and football. And I want to tell you about caving. The trip to the caves was very long. It took us three hours of travelling on the bus. We arrived at a big forest and had lunch on the shore of a lake. We ate our favorite sandwiches. Everybody liked it!:)

So we met our guide and put on helmets with flashlights. The first cave was Main Cave. The entrance was very narrow. It was dark everywhere and cold. You couldn’t walk without light. We climbed a lot. Sometimes it was dangerous, because of the descent. Also we climbed a waterfall in the cave. I was totally wet. At the end I was happy because I could see the sun and the forest everywhere.

And we went to another cave. We needed to climb a hill. Sometimes it was difficult for me. The next cave looked like a hole in a rock. But the cave was huge. Most parts of the cave were covered by brown and white calcium. It was very beautiful! But we weren’t allowed to touch it, because it would die. Calcium is very important for science. In the cave we saw strange figures made by calcium. There were figures of a wolf, a crocodile and a spiral. Then we turned off our flashlights and we were sitting in absolute darkness. It was strange and sometimes scary because I couldn’t see my hands in front of me. It’s worth it to visit caves.

I liked camping. It was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
--Anastasia


The first day we woke up, ate breakfast and we went to the ferry that took us to Victoria. The ferry took 2 hours, and it was very cold and I was just wearing a light sweater. When we arrived in Victoria, we went to the Goldstream campground and then my team and I pitched the tents. In my team was Stacey, Allison, Izabela and myself. Then we put our things in order because it was a mess. After, we ate lunch and we played football the rest of the day. The second day we woke up, we ate breakfast, and we got ready for the day. During the afternoon, we went to French beach and it wasn’t sunny, but it was very cold. The third day we went kayaking. Roger drove us downtown and there we had a kayaking lesson. It was so tiring but it was fun. While kayaking, we saw a seal. The next day we went hiking at Mt. Finlayson. After 2 hours hiking, we arrived at the top of the mountain and ate lunch and we took pictures. When we returned to the campground, we ran to our tents and slept all night because we were very tired. The next day they took us shopping. Alice, Carlos and I went to Guess and we bought too many bracelets and clothes. After that store, we watched a man who was from Argentina doing a funny show. We were laughing a lot and we didn’t want to go, but then we found Philip and Ema, so Carlos stayed with them and Alice and I went to shop more. We went to Garage (a store), which was very cool. I think it’s the best store. And the last day we woke up at 7:30 am to eat breakfast and prepare the tents. Then we took the ferry and returned to Vancouver for our final week at Wynchemna.
-- Berenice


I’m already returned from six days of camping in Vancouver Island. I must admit that at the beginning I was a little bit scared from the camp experience because I knew that we would sleep in tends with a lot insects and the hygiene would have been precarious but now I have to change my mind because I had a lot of fun every single day! We had a beautiful big patch of grass all for us where we put ours tends and volleyball net where we played every time we had free time. We had also a shelter with tables to eat all together and tap where we had unfortunately in turn dishes. Every morning we woke up about at 9 o’clock and we had a delicious breakfast that ours teachers dearly prepared for us, usually pan cake, French toast or bacon and eggs. In the afternoon we had all time different sports like hiking, mini golfing, kayaking, caving or swimming, they were very tiring but also very funny! The most amazing thing was caving, either for the spectacular landscape with a lot of big old tree and because along the caves you felt like a young explorer.

The part of the day that I preferred was the evening, where we were all around the fire to eat marshmallows on a stick or sing a lot of song while Craig played the guitar. Sometimes we also played with card at “werewolf”, a game whose aim was lying to the other players and it was very fun because every one tried in their own way to hide the truth.

I was also able to made friend with a lot of people that maybe before I didn’t know very well, because being so long together you start to know the most hidden things of everyone.
-- Bianca


We arrived on July 17th , it was raining so we put up the tents, had dinner, played some volleyball and went to bed !

The day after, we went to have lunch next to the cave (it was three hours by bus!). We had some sandwiches then we were separated in two groups with one guide for each group !

First, we put a helmet on and we walked for about fifteen minutes up a mountain to arrive at the first cave. We had some instructions, for example, we always had to have three points of contact and NEVER touch the walls!!

In the cave, it was totally dark. We could only see because we had a light on our helmet! We were in the darkest place of the world!

It was really cold and wet inside it! Then we went in a second and last cave, a smaller one but more humid. We had to climb over a waterfall so we were completely wet! Fortunately, it was warmer outside! Sometimes, we had a really narrow way to go forward! It was really fun and the guide was nice! Then, we came back by bus and had dinner…

On the 19th, we went to the beach and had lunch there: hamburgers! The sea was extremely cold but some crazy boys swam! We left the beach after lunch and went to the swimming pool. There were some slides and a rope swing to have fun! We, then, drove back, had dinner, and we played volleyball, like every night! We also made a bonfire…

On Wednesday, we went ziptreking. We were in a small group of about seven people in each. That was a really great moment! The two guides made us play some games on each line!!

Then we went kayaking. That was a hard job for everybody I think because we needed a lot of muscle in our arms to paddle because we took a long trip! When we came back, we had dinner, and made a bonfire, we sang some songs together and that was a pleasant moment!
-- Chloe


Camping
For the past six days, we went camping in Victoria. We did a lot of activities. Sunday, we arrived at the campsite so we put up our tents and we played volleyball. Monday, we went to the caves. We saw many calcite statues including a wolf and a crocodile. It was really fun even if we were dirty and extremely wet. It took three hours to go to the caves so we didn’t have the time to do another activity. Tuesday we went to the beach in the morning. I didn’t like this activity because I was cold and it was windy. To get warmer my friends and I went on the bus. Afterwards, we went to the swimming pool. I didn’t do this activity because I was really tired and I didn’t feel like swimming. Afterwards, we had a shower for the first time in three days! We came back to the campsite after everyone took a shower. Wednesday, we went ziptreking. I really liked this activity because the weather was hot, it was sunny outside and we could enjoy nature. We were in small groups of seven and we had two guides per group. In the afternoon, we went kayaking in Victoria. We had two instructors who showed us how to get into the kayak and how to stay balanced. Kayaking was fun but it was really tiring. Thursday, we went hiking on the mountains. It was the worst activity we did because it was really long and boring but I was proud of myself when I arrived on the top! In the afternoon we went to the mini golf. We were four in each group. There were exactly 18 holes. Saturday, we packed our tents and we ate breakfast early to arrive on time to the ferry. I bought two rings in the shop and I ate chips. For lunch I ate sushi. I really liked camping and will probably do some again one day.
-- Jeanne


The trip began on 17 July. We traveled three hours after that we arrived in awesome Goldstream camp. We unpacked, prepared our tents and started cooking. After that we just played volleyball and some card games like werewolf or a@#**&e.

Second day was caves day. We took a lunch next to the awesome lake and then a beautiful experience with the best staff ever. We learned something about the caves.

Next day was a day on the beach. That was a really cold day and a few crazy people like Ema, Philipp, Victor, Cristina and Finn decided to try the ocean. Then we ate some really healthy burgers and arrived at a pool, where we took a really important shower.

The fourth day we tried ziptreking which was really fun and wet kayaking. We woke up at 8:30, made a breakfast and left again. Ziptreking was really awesome and a beautiful experience. The best feeling was when you made a flip and saw everything upside-down. Kayaking wasn't that cool because somebody started with a water fight and that is why I am sick.

The fifth day was hiking and minigolf. We defeated the really pretty and little bit dangerous Mount Finlayson. Afterwards we had a brilliant shower and played minigolf which was really fun.

The last day we visited Victoria shopping center and after that we went whale watching.
-- Jakub


I’ve just finished to spend my second week here in Canada with Wynchemna! Can you imagine that I’ve been camping for a whole week? At first I thought that I would be impossible because I’ve never gone camping and six days are so much. However I’ve mounted my tend with my tend-mates and everything’s gone well. We stayed in Gold Stream Camp and we had a lot of space for tends, a shelter where we could eat and a big space for play, in fact we have also mounted a volleyball camp. The place was so beautiful, I could appreciate the wild nature and enjoy outdoors life.

We did a lot of interesting things and funny sports like kayaking, hiking and caving. We also did whale watching and we saw an eagle, many seals and killer whales! That was awesome! In Italy, where I live, you’ll never see killers whales in captivity.

I loved the caves because I felt like an agile animal, even if I’m not so agile, I mean here in Vancouver I spend more time on the ground than standing because I continue to fall down!

For lunch we used to eat things like sandwiches, hot dogs or hamburgers but for dinner we ate every time an international meal. That was pretty good but I ate too much!

After dinner we used to play again all together game like werewolf (a game with cards) or we used to eat marshmallows on a stick, play music and sing near the bonfire. I think that eat marshmallows and sweets all together, with just darkness around you, shining stars and fire is the classic American film scene, where everything’s fine and everyone is relaxed.

I loved go camping and I personally think that now that I’m in college I’ll miss it. So at least if someone would tell me now to go camping I wouldn’t be worried anymore because after this experience I’m pretty sure that I would have fun again.
-- Cecilia


Here we are, blogging again after a whole week of camping in Victoria. Sleeping in tents in the middle of the trees was very exciting, but I must admit that it’s good to be back in “civilization”. Where shall I start? Well, first of all we reached the island with a big ferry, on board of which we relaxed, played cards, and ate junk food (as usual!). Later on we drove to the campsite and set up the tents very close to each other so that we could have a wide area of free space to play. We spent a lot of time at the campsite, and we played a lot of volleyball every evening, sometimes boys against girls and sometimes just for fun without keeping the score – and it was more of a “ball over the net” game than real volleyball. Washing lots of dishes every time was a bore but I will never forget the common brushing-teeth time: everyone bending over the sink fighting to get some space to spit… so hilarious! Also singing around the fire at night watching the stars in the sky was unforgettable. One exciting activity was caving: we were split into two groups and we explored some very wet, dark, and narrow caves. There was a lot of growing calcite, the water-mirror, and a couple of small waterfalls, and we got really dirty. On Wednesday we went zip trekking: I had never tried it before, and I found it absolutely awesome. Going upside down while sliding on the rope was so thrilling! In the afternoon of the same day we went kayaking, and it destroyed our arms. I would’ve never thought I could paddle so hard for so much time! I was hoping to remain dry, but after all the splashing with the oars I was completely wet. The hardest activity was undoubtedly hiking: we climbed to the top of a mountain under the sun and with food in our backpacks… so tiring! On Lev’s birthday we went shopping in Victoria in the morning, while in the afternoon we went whale watching for three hours. We saw seals, seagulls, an eagle and some orcas, and I had a really good time. I think this week has been a good opportunity for everybody to get to know each other better and become better friends. I really enjoyed it!
--Chiara


CAMPING TRIP
For the past six days, our group consisting of 22 students and three teachers went on a camping trip on Vancouver Island. We went in Victoria, a city of British Columbia located in the southern part of Vancouver Island. We left Vancouver in the morning, we took a ferry and we reached Victoria in 2 hours. The weather was almost the same; Victoria was probably a little bit colder than Vancouver. We arrived at a huge camping site, bigger than the one from the first week. We then set up our tents and we played volleyball, girls against boys. I very much enjoyed my time spent during this camping trip. We did a lot of different activities, like for example; caving on Monday, zip trekking and kayaking on Wednesday, swimming at the wave pool on Thursday and shopping in Victoria (awesome) on Friday...we also played mini golf. In the evening we ate all together, and we tried different types of food. After supper we had always to wash the dishes … after that we gathered around the fire singing beautiful songs (‘’country roads’’, ‘’Yellow Submarine’’ and ‘’Wonderwall‘’), playing the guitar and eating delicious marshmallows with chocolate and graham crackers. We spent a lot of time all together and we got to know each other much better. I enjoyed almost everything of this beautiful experience (except for the toilets). We have been pretty lucky with the weather, it rained only in the evening, when we were in our tents sleeping in our super comfortable sleeping bag. The most exciting thing I’ve done was probably on Thursday, when we ate on the beach and I jumped in the cold water. The hardest thing was when we had to hike for 2 hours to reach the top of Mount Finlayson. The view was great and for this reason we took a lot of beautiful photos. This experience was absolutely beyond my expectations.  
--Cristina


While camping in Victoria, I really enjoyed ziptrekking, it was really exciting and awesome because we seemed to fly over and through the forest. The view was beautiful from that height and it was amazing to have fresh wind going against our faces at that speed. I also really enjoyed it because the staff was really kind and pleasant. Unfortunately we were split into little groups because we were too many and each group waited for half an hour before starting the activity. In spite of this, we had a very good day. The weather was good and it was hot.

Another activity that I liked a lot was caving. Caving is when you descend into a cave that is formed by the flowing of water from rain and rivers. It was awesome because it was very dark and cold and everyone was wearing a helmet with a light on it. The guide was very worried about the calcite (a white material) in the cave because she told us that it’s very fragile and that if someone touches it, it can became darker and then die. We also climbed a waterfall in the cave and we saw strange calcite figures (for example a wolf, a Buddha, and a crocodile). I really liked it because it was very exciting!

Another thing that I really liked about camp was that we were all together all the time and I think we got closer to each other day after day. I liked sleeping in tents, it was uncomfortable of course, but it was also exciting and different.

I liked singing songs and eating marshmallows with chocolate and cookies near the fire. I think that camping has been effective in forcing all the people from the different countries to mix. For these reasons, I would really like to do it again.
-- Elisa 


I can’t talk about last week camping without talking of Monday, when we went caving. What I mean by that is that this unusual activity was really impressive. But before talking about caving, I have to start from the beginning of the day.

So, after breakfast, we did a three hour bus tour to go to the caving site. On the bus (always driven by Roger) everyone was sleeping or listening music and because of that, when we arrived to the caving site, everybody had a lot of energy to spent in the caves.

When the bus finally stopped, the group was starving so we sat near a lake to eat lunch. Maybe lunch sandwiches were not super originals, but they were really good.

After everyone had eaten, we met the guides for caving. The group has been divided in two teams (who did the same activities but just not in the same order).

My team began by visiting a cave open to the public. How to describe caving? Two words. Cold and wet. Oh, wait! I forgot. Muddy, no doubt caving is muddy. My white t-shirt remembers it. That’s it: cold, wet and muddy. I know that look like this, this activity may seems not so great, but caving is really interesting and fascinating.

The second cave that my team visited was deeper than the first one and with a lot of calcite and nobody was allowed to touch the walls to protect this rare kind of rock formation.

Finally after this exhausting day, when we returned to the campground (oh, surprise!) everyone was asleep and falling on each other. No doubt, Monday was a really interesting day!

--Elizabeth


What is zip trekking??? Zip trekking is a kind of sport where you are hung a harness that is attached to the zipline, and you “fly” from tree to tree. I think that is really... awesome! There are a lot of ziplines through the trees and you can do all of them; the guides are nice, funny and they can zip very well. They told us that there are a lot of “positions” when you zip: the “spaghetti eater”, the cannonball and the torpedo. They are very,very funny and just a little bit difficult. We arrived at 9 o clock in the morning at AdrenaLine (zip trekking place) and the teachers divided us in three groups. We used rock climbing harnesses and we got to the first track by two very big ATV Rhino Quads called “Jack” and “Jill” and we just stopped for seeing the biggest and oldest tree in the woods. Our zipline guides suggested that we play two very funny games; the first one was that you had to do as many positions as you can and the other one was that you had to touch as many trees as you can. I think I won the first one because I liked it but I lost the second! There were a lot of different lengths of the lines: the shortest one about 300 meters and the longest one about 1.7 kilometers and when you do it you can stick out your arms and the wind and the speed will turn you very, very fast.

I think that zip trekking is very fun and I think that it is the most fun thing we have done in the camp.
-- Ema


July 17th – 23 at the Goldstream Campsite on Vancouver Island. In my second week in Wynchemna Summer Camp we went camping. We started our trip to the Goldstream Campsite on Vancouver Island at 11.00 am on the 17th of July after two boring lessons of English at UBC. After the 90-minute crossing with the ferry and a short bus drive, we arrived at the Goldstream Campsite on Vancouver Island. As we arrived we set up our tents in our tent groups, and unpacked our baggage. After supper (hot dogs and caesar salad) we went to bed early. On the next day, we went to Horne Lake where we caved, which was quite interesting, but as well wet and narrow. On Wednesday we had pancakes with blueberries for breakfast, and after that a zip trek through the forest with two guides at over 30 feet height. In the afternoon we went with the bus again to a harbor where we tried our luck at kayaking. We splashed each other so much that we had to take a very cold shower afterwards to get rid of the salt. On the 21st of July we had an hour-long hike to a mountain where we had to climb a bit to get on the top, to welcome our lunch that was waiting there. On the following day, which was Lev’s birthday, we went to Victoria, a harbor city, to go shopping in a quite uninteresting, small and not very pleasant mall. But in the end we ate lunch at the food court on the 4th floor, were we had the choice between burgers, sandwiches and Chinese food. After that we went by bus to the Victoria waterfront to get a boarding pass for a whale watching boat. Finally we gaped at the orcas and minky whales that were crossing all over right next to out boat. In the end we returned tired to the campsite where we ate awesome Coconut Chicken. After that we went to bed, to get up early the next morning to go back to UBC.
-- Fynn


The camping week in Victoria was absolutely amazing! Every day was different from the other. I have never done so many activities in one week and never spent so much time in nature.

Everything began on Sunday 17 July. We boarded the ferry in Vancouver and went to Vancouver Island. We spent about two hours there and then we finally arrived at our campsite. It was raining but the weather got better very quickly. Then we put up our tents and prepared some dinner.

Next morning we went caving. I have never done it before and I was really curious about that. When we arrived we had some lunch by the coast of the Horne Lake. Then we got helmets to protect us. In the caves we could see many statues and we also climbed a waterfall – that was a big surprise for me. Unfortunately we got dirty a little bit and we could not wash this day, but after a few days it was not anything unusual 

Next activity that was completely new for me was ziptreking. I think that was the best activity we did during the whole week. We were divided into three teams and I was in Halana’s team together with Bianca, Lev, Jeanne, Cristina, Philipp and Alison. We put on our stuff that we needed for this activity and then we jumped between the trees like monkeys. We also played a game where we had to touch as many trees as possible. There were many beautiful views and heights…Everyone wanted to repeat it!

In the evening we usually made campfire and we were singing our favourite songs.We also played Craig’s favourite game called werewolf. I am really sorry for killing so many people when I was the real werewolf but I promise it was not done on purpose! :D

I enjoyed the time very much and I will never forget it. Thanks everyone!!
-- Izabela


I liked all the activities because they all were new for me. First, I will tell about zip trekking. It was really fun! We did it for about two hours and everybody enjoyed it! I call it “brains out” because it was very fast. I especially loved the last two zip lines because they were the fastest. It wasn’t scary. I always was first because I loved it and I didn’t scare. But Allison was very scared because it was very high and she afraid of high.

After zip trekking, we went kayaking. I loved it! We were kayaking for a long time, so we were very tired but it was worth it! We had a lot of fun. And boys splashed each other.I watched it and thought that they all very crazy. My arms were very tired!

Also we went caving. It was really cool! I loved it! I was very exited. We were climbing up the waterfall. We were very wet!

I must say a lot about my birthday, which I celebrated during the camping trip… I was very, very excited. I will tell you why. As a birthday present I wanted IPod Touch. I wanted it very much. But I was not sure that my dad would buy it for me. When he came to our camp to celebrate with me, he suggested that he might buy me an IPod Touch as a birthday present! Dreams come true...

On my birthday we also went shopping. I bought a present for myself – a game for PSP. I didn’t buy souvenirs because I decided to buy them on another shopping trip. We also went whale watching. We went by boat, so I was very wet but I liked it! As you see it was the most perfect birthday!

I loved camping but didn’t like sleeping in tents. I don’t know why. But I really enjoyed it.
-- Lev


This week, on the 17th, we went to the city of Victoria by ferry for camping!!! The first day, we went to visit some caves on Horne Lake… When we came back, we played volleyball until we couldn’t see anything…The second day, we went to “French Beach”. The boys, Philipp, Fynn, Victor, Ema and Cristina swam in the very, very cold water (again! )! They were frozen after! We did a barbecue on the beach, and, as everybody was cold, we were on the bus and then we left the beach early. The third day, we did zip trekking in the trees. It was really fun, and different than in France! In the afternoon, we did kayaking. It was so tiring ! Everybody wanted to stop for sleep after ! The fourth day, we hiked on the Mount Finlayson. I was with Chloe and Ema, and we did a lot and a lot of breaks, because we couldn’t walk, too tired. When we arrived on top of the mountain, (we were the last, everybody arrived half an hour ago), we had lunch on the rocks. The last day, the 22th, Lev’s birthday, we shopped in Victoria all the morning. The afternoon, we went on a boat to watch whales. At the beginning, we were on the bridge of the boat, but we were so wet, so we left the bridge and came inside. Most of us were at the same table, so we talked and played… Today, we came back at UBC, we unpacked, did laundry and… English lesson!
-- Lola


Preparation and 1st day of Camping
Sunday, the 17th of July, we left UBC with direction Ferry to Victoria, but before we were able to get on the bus and forget about lessons for 6 days, there was still a lot to do. On Saturday we tested our skills in pitching tents. The activity revealed some opportunities for improvement, not to say a lot. It was also a competition that consisted of a beauty and stability. In the end the Mountain Lions won with a slight lead in front of the Grizzlies, us. The next day the most important thing was to pack. After everything was done, we had to load the truck which Craig had rented in the meantime, with sleeping bags, mats and a whole lot of bins. Then, after lunch, we could finally start off to the ferry. At the counter of the Ferry we caused quite a bit of anger among the people behind us in line, because Craig had to buy tickets for all of us which appeared to annoy them. On the ferry a hunt for the non-existent Starbucks began, that ended in the realization that there is only “proudly brewed Starbucks Coffee.” Like on the bus ride to the ferry, we also played UNO on there. After riding the ferry for one and a half hours through beautiful landscapes, we re-entered the bus and started our way to the campground. The first things that came to our eyes were two things that were actually not there: water toilets and showers. Then we had to use our practice and put up our tents for longer than 20 minutes. What soon became apparent was that the opportunities for improvement had not been used. Before we prepared our first camping supper (hot dogs) we set up the volleyball net, which we immediately used, by playing almost the rest of the day. After supper and the meeting we had free time until eleven o’clock, when we had to sleep.
-- Victor

Yesterday, we had an international dinner what's that? Obviously it was a dinner and as we all are from different origins, every country prepared a meal, and taught it to other people. We were in groups of 3, the head chef and two students, who had to help him to cook. I was with Roger and Cristina. Roger showed us how to make a traditional African meal. First of all, we had to buy the ingredients: meat and vegetables. We got all that we needed at Safeway. Roger cooked beef with ocra, spinach, mushrooms and rice. It was a little bit spicy but I think it was the best meal of the night, even if we were half an hour late. We also had spaghetti carbonara from Italy, quiche with tomato, cheese and tuna from France, sausages with ketchup and curry from Germany, tacos with meat and vegetables from Mexico, a meal from Czech Republic which looks like potato pancakes but I forgot the name and a dessert from Russia without name. It's really interesting to be with people from other countries and see what they eat and how it's different than our home. Finally we had a big cake from British Columbia- for Chiara's birthday. -- Alexandre

On Monday, we went windsurfing and it was exciting! It wasn't my first time; I have windsurfed once before in Italy. The water was very cold but we put on a wet suit. The weather was not very good but it didn't rain and unfortunately there wasn't much wind. There were two teachers that showed us how to use the board and before we went in the water they used a board on the sand to teach us some positions. We didn't stay in the water for a long time because we had only one hour before lunch and then we had to leave for Lynn Canyon. At Lynn Canyon, we took a walk and then the boys tried to go for a swim in the canyon but the water was too cold.
On Wednesday, the weather was not very good so we didn't go to Whistler. Instead, we stayed at the camp and we did a talent show. Everyone did something like play an instrument or sing or dance. It was very funny. -- Alice

These days, we had more than 10 students join us. So we became a big family. Everyone became good friends. We did many sports. We went to wind surfing, skating, and the popular sport---lacrosse. A few days ago, we went to the skating rink two times. At first I was afraid of that, and even didn't know how to do it. One of my friends helped me. I thanked her. We went to downtown for a game to find some clues and take some pictures. I think it was fun, that we could know more about downtown. We had good team work, we had many good pictures. But we didn't have time for shopping. We did some activities, such as painting cups, and a talent show. I think the talent show is the most interesting part for me. We had $20 to buy anything that we needed. And then we went to Value Village to buy them. Value Village is a big second-hand market. We could buy all the things there. I enjoy the life here. It is a lot of fun. -- Allison

It was my first week here, at Wynchemna. I've met a lot of interesting people, and we have fun a lot! I did so many new things, and I like it because it was amazing! I'm looking forward to another new thing! I would like to tell you a story about one fun day. We had breakfast and lessons in the morning, and after we went to the ocean. There we tried to windsurf. Teachers showed us some rules. We put on a special suit. I think I looked strange. At the beginning it was difficult to balance on a surfboard. After few falls I caught a breeze. It was my lucky chance! We had not much time to do it, but it was very funny. I'm sure that I'll try to windsurf again. It was Carlos's birthday and he lost his glasses in ocean. Poor boy. At the lunch we ate delicious pizza. We got on the bus for a very long trip to Lynn Canyon. All of us had few minutes of deeply dream at bus. Lynn Canyon is a very big forest with many beautiful waterfalls, tall and old trees, animals and birds. You can see me, Allison and another guys at a photo. We were on the Suspension Bridge. Sometimes it swung and I was afraid of this. A fast river and stones were under our feet. I heard a singing of different birds. I took many pictures of nature. When we returned to our campus, I had a shower and fell asleep after 5 minutes. I liked that day! -- Anastasia

This picture of Victor, Izabela, Eli, Lola, Matt and me. It was very cold and I was freezing. That day we went exploring Vancouver's downtown area. It was very fun because we were completing a scavenger hunt. This means we had to take pictures from a list that they give to us. For example, we visited Nelson Park, Tim Horton's, BC Place, hotel lobbies. We also had to find a girlfriend for Craig! We walked for four hours, and we stopped to ask for directions for places like Tim Horton's, Pan Pacific Hotel, etc. Then we arrived at school, we were the first ones! Then Matt and Craig showed the pictures that everyone took on their scavenger hunt. Each team received a point for each picture they took. Our team won the competition! They gave us Canadian stickers and KitKat chocolate. Our pictures were the best because we were always together and always having fun a lot of fun! Then we had dinner. We made pasta for dinner together. Victor boiled the pasta, Matt put in the ingredients and I fried it. Then the teachers gave us free time and we went to Starbucks to buy coffee and to talk about the long day we had. -- Berenice
Hi everyone, I'm Bianca! I came from Italy and I have been here for one week. My flight was VERY long becouse I missed my second flight and I stayed all the night in a hotel in London, but when I finally arrived all became better. The most amazing day since then was my second day in Wynchemna, Monday. We woke up 30 minutes later than the other days and we hadn't our usually three hours of lessons but just one (the day started well!!). At a quarter to eleven a.m. we took our fantastic yellow bus and we went to a very big beach where you could have a lot of fun doing windsurfing, sailing and paddling. We did windsurfing, my favourite! I had never tried it before, so I was very excited. When we arrived a man gave us wetsuits and then he explaned the best way to surf, like how turn left,how to turn right... but I think that my biggest wish was just to stand up on the board! When everyone had his own sail and board we finally put our boards in the sea and we could start. The start was a little bit critical and from your board you could see a lot of guys that fell down many times. It was so amazing! After about fifteen minutes we started to learn how to do it and we started to become better and better. After windsurfing we had a shower and then we ate some pizza. In the afteroon we went to Lynn Canyon, a very big forest with a lot of spectacular falls. Some of us swam in a very cold lake! I thing that they are crazy! We walked a lot, for about two hours, but it was so much fun and interesting! Then we had dinner in the cafeteria and after this we had about one hour of free time and I with my friends went to Starbucks to drink something. At half past ten we were so tired and we went in our own apartment to sleep. It was a tiring but very fun day! -- Bianca

Tiff, Izabela and me on a suspension bridge. We were in the forest. I used sunglasses because I lost my glasses when we went surfing, and it was a hot day. We walked for 2 hours more or less. It was a great experience because I never walked in the forest. The bad thing was that some people saw animals and I could see nothing. I bought a Rolo and it was very delicious. Then Ema, Fynn and Phillip swam in the river. The water was so cold. They were the only three that swam. The surfing was an excellent experience and that day was my birthday. The bad thing was that I lost my glasses. When we back to Wynchenma at lunch time, Craig gave to me a big cake (it was delicious) and I cut the cake in 25 pieces, but very crooked because I could see nothing. -- Carlos

Hi Everyone, I'm Cecilia from Milan, Italy. I arrived in Wynchemna just one week ago, but I missed my flight from London to Edmonton so I and Bianca, my friend from Italy, were late. Then I couldn't find my baggage at the airport of Vancouver after a long trip that took me almost two days! I thought these holidays would be so boring at first because I was so unlucky but here in Vancouver I have a lot of fun so I really don't mind about what happened. On my first day we had classes in the morning then lunch all together in the cafeteria and after that we split into groups and went downtown in Vancouver to do a scavenger hunt. I was in Tiff's team so I met new funny guys and made friends with Cristina, another girl from Italy, Chloe, Carlos and Jacob. Unfortunately we've not won the competition but we had a great time and I really liked it. Vancouver is a very beautiful city, that's so big! We walked around for a long time so I got very tired, however, I saw many things and many expensive hotels. One of the hotels in fact was the tallest building of Vancouver. Here we do a lot of interesting things and that is for me the most important thing. These are always fun. For example we went windsurfing, hiking and we played hockey. We've also already had a talent show and an international supper. However we still have time to have fun. -- Cecilia

Yesterday, July the 14th, the entire Wynchemna team got the chance to experience the awesomeness of hockey. After the three usual lessons, everyone went to have lunch at the cafeteria to gain all the energy needed for the long afternoon. Being attracted to the chilliness of the ice in these quite warm summer days, the 22 students were eager to put on their ice skates and get on the rink as soon as possible. The travel on the bus was not too short, but it was enough for everybody to get into the right state of mind and mentally prepare for this challenging activity. As soon as we went in, we found out it was rather cold, but we knew that with a little bit of movement our body would get used to the climate. It was the second time for some of us (we'd been ice skating a few days earlier), whereas others were very comfortable in their ice skates. The group split into two sides: those who played to win and those who played for fun. Needless to say all the girls played for fun and all the boys played to win. It was very fun to watch the girls struggling to keep balance, crashing against the walls and sometimes falling down, and the boys simply killing each other to take control of the puck. Cristina hurt her thumb with Cecilia's stick; it was swollen and a bit dark. But except for this, everyone had a really good time. -- Cristina

We went in Downtown Vancouver and each of us was in a team! We had instructions to follow like take a picture with an expensive car or take a picture with a beautiful girl! So we had to go downtown by bus and first, because we didn't know the city well, we had to ask lots of information! We first took pictures of things we knew where they were. We had to walk a lot so we sometimes had a break in a coffee shop! Once we met another team in front of a hotel we had to take picture of! We also met Tiff's friend and she helped us: she tried her best, but she didn't know the city well! We saw lots of strange or funny things too like a big buffalo (a statue of course!) but it was in middle of the street!! We also saw a yellow snake and lots of other things! For the expensive cars, we found lots of them, like a limousine or a Ferrari! In front of the hotel we took a picture with the guard, he was nice! and happy to have some visitors! That was so much fun. We laughed a lot with our team! I would do it again without any hesitation! -- Chloe

TALENT SHOW IN WYNCHEMNA Here in Vancouver we always do crazy things, things to have fun and stay together as a big family. One of these was the Talent Show that took place on the 13th of July. We were divided into four groups, like for the treasure hunt. Guided by our teachers we staged different performances. We had to compete for the title of: - best team performance - best duo performance - best solo performance We were able to watch different types of performances. Many people exhibited with the piano, like for example Bianca, Chiara, Jeanne, Lola and Allison. Others entertained us with amusing dances, such as Halana's team and Tiff's team. Chiara and I were active in solving the Rubik's Cube, Cecilia sang "one of us" by Joan Osborne -- she wowed the crowd. Carlos played a famous Mexican song with the guitar; he was very good! Jeanne and Philipp made card tricks (more or less successful), and Roger performed a magic trick using a rope. Those who the audience enjoyed the most were Bianca and Alex, with "Barbie Girl" by Aqua. They danced for us, exchanging roles: Alex played the role of a girl and Bianca the role of a boy. It was very funny and we all laughed a lot. This evening was a good opportunity for everyone to have lots of fun and stay all together. -- Cristina

I really like the picture at the lake where we did windsurfing, we are all together and ready to jump into the water and do our best. I like this picture because I really enjoyed that experience. I never had a windsurfing lesson before, but it was interesting and a little bit of a challenge. I would really like to do it again because it was very interesting to practice a new sport and discover that it was nice. Maybe I will continue have windsurfing lessons when I return to Italy. I had a very good time doing that activity, it was amusing and we spent a lot of time all together and we got to know each other better. The water was very cold and we had to wear a wetsuit and a life jacket, but in spite of everything we had a lot fun. The weather was also a little bit cold but after a hot shower we felt all better. After windsurfing, we ate pizza in a bar and after that we went on the bus to get to the Lynn Canyon. I will remember that experience as a very interesting experience and I really want to do it again. -- Elisa

Below, there is a picture of Anastasia, Jeanne and me before skating. This activity was really funny but in the arena it was too cold (but after a hot French Vanilla I was warm enough). It was not the first time I was doing ice-skating, so wasn't too bad. We had a lot of fun and this activity allowed us to get to know each other. After skating, we went in a park near to the arena and we ate Subway sandwiches and a birthday cake for Victor's birthday. In the afternoon, we went to Stanley Park on the school bus, driven by Roger. Sunday was Vancouver's 125th birthday, so there were music shows, activities and a lot of people. In this park, we just hung out and ate a lot of ice cream. For supper, also in Stanley Park, we ate really good burgers and we stayed a little later than what was planned to see a concert. After this relaxing afternoon, we returned to UBC and of course, we went to Starbucks. Finally, we can say that Sunday has been a really enjoyable day for everybody! -- Elizabeth

Every year at Wynchemna there is a show called Wynchemna’s Got Talent, where everyone tries to give the best performance in hopes of winning a very expensive prize: a KitKat chocolate bar!!! This was the fourth year for the show and we were divided in teams. This year, there were three prizes: one for the best solo, one for the best duet and one for the best team. This year I was a part of Craig’s team and we won the prize for the best team: naturally a KitKat chocolate bar. We played loads of songs in the “four chords mode”. In this mode, you play songs with only four chords. Chiara and Jeanne played the piano, Craig and Philipp played the guitar, Lev played the virtual piano and I played the drums with two pots and a bin. I named the song discombobulated because none of us can sing but it was really funny! We played “No woman no cry”, “Barbie girl” and others songs. When we finished playing, all the spectators were so excited and all the girls took off their clothes and pretended to kiss us (just kidding! ). We had loads of fun! -- Ema

Windsurfing in Vancouver On Monday, July 11th, we went windsurfing at a beach near the UBC in Vancouver. After a short introduction by some guys from the windsurfing company, we went to a simulator where we could practice, but finally, I think everyone was completely discombobulated. (Word of the day: If you don't know it, look it up). Then, we went to the beach with our boards and the sails to try our luck on the water. But unfortunately, there was almost no wind so that good board-coordination was helpful and necessary. I think that the whole group had a lot of fun, except maybe Carlos, who lost his glasses in the water. As you can see in several pictures above, we tried not to crash into each other, but actually it was inevitable. The wet suits were very helpful, because the water was about 10 degrees. Some guys, myself included, had problems to get back to the beach because of the wind becoming stronger. But in the end we did it, so that we could carry back our stuff. Afterwards, we had nice, hot pizza in the restaurant at the beach, after the very intensive and physically demanding activity. This was our windsurfing day in Vancouver, which was in conclusion funny, interesting but maybe a bit short (we had about 30 minutes on the boards). -- Fynn

ICE SKATING A few days ago I experienced ice skating for the first time. That was actually funny, that I had to come to Canada to try ice skating. The first thing that I did wrong was that I did not take enough warm clothes. It was freezing there, so I became a little bit sick after that. Never mind :D Then I saw the ice rink for the first time and I was quite scared. Almost everyone here had done it before but I had not. Well, I always wanted to try it, so I thought "girl, you do not have any option. I put the skates on and entered the ice rink. My Czech friend Jake told me before : "Oh, come on, it is one of our national sports and you do not have to be afraid". And he was right! When I tried it I realized "oh my gosh, what an awesome sport! My legs were not shaking in a couple of minutes, I did not need anyone to teach me how to do it and I could enjoy the time there. We took a lot of pictures. I was surprised that I didn't fall down at all and everyone told me that I did a really good job. I am looking forward to doing it again!! -- Izabela

Windsurfing One of the best experiences at Wynchemna was windsurfing. On July 11th we woke up at 8:30am, made breakfast, had 1 lesson with Tiff and then went to Jericho beach. We prepared to go with instructor Diego. He told us how to control windsurf and fun began. Everybody began testing surf. Everything was awesome, the water was acceptable, and the weather was quite hot, except for the wind. I really want try it again in Czech. After we cleaned up our equipment and ate our lunch. Next stop was Lynn Canyon. That was an typical Canadas amazing place where we hiked and some crazy boy like Ema swam in really cold water. After the hike , we came back to Wynchemna and had another 2 lessons with Helena and Matt. I think then everybody fell asleep very quickly. -- Jakub

Last Monday, we went windsurfing and after we went to Lynn Canyon. I really enjoyed windsurfing even if there was no wind because it was easy and fun. We didn't stay for a long time because there was no wind but we had the time to enjoy the activity. We had to wear a wetsuit because the water was really cold. We had some instructors that taught us how to use the board. It wasn't difficult to stay balanced because there was no wind. In the afternoon, we went to Lynn Canyon. It was really beautiful because of all the trees and the river. When we crossed the bridge it was exciting because we could see the river and the trees from a high point.
Tuesday we went to the aquarium. We saw some belugas and a 4D movie about the animals in the aquarium. I really liked the 4D movie because of the effects. There was some water splashing, some bubbles in the air, etc. In the evening, we went to Bella Ceramica. I made a mug for my family and I to share. These two days were really amusing and I think everyone enjoyed these activities. -- Jeanne

This is me, making a huge gum bubble! It's my talent. I just need some Hubba-Bubba and you will go crazy for my bubble. The audience liked it.
In this picture I'm with my group. I'm wearing a blue helmet. We are in an ice rink. We are going skating. Oh, skating is really not for me!
This is me with Allison and Anastasia. I can’t skate!
This is me playing bowling. I was a little bit unlucky but I liked it.
This is our team on scavenger hunt in Downtown Vancouver. We walked four hours and didn't stop, so we were really tired, but we really had fun! As you see I'm really having fun and enjoying this trip. My English is becoming better and I am meeting new friends. Here it's never boring and we haven't got any free time during the day because every minute we spend our time with benefit and pleasure. -- Lev

TALENT SHOW We were in the same team as the team for downtown Vancouver. First we had to think about something, a talent we had to prepare! So, during one hour we thought about it! Then, we went in a big shopping center to buy accessories. We had 30 minutes and 20 dollars to buy fancy dresses and accessories. Our project was to create a dress. Elisa was the model and Victor did the presentation. We bought a brown dress, a leopard scarf and a rope. We pasted all the afternoon to work on this dress. There were a lot of presentations, but the funniest were Alex and Bianca who were dancing to "Barbie Girl", with Alex in girl costume (with a blue bra and a pink shirt) and Bianca in boy costume (with brown short and a white skirt). It was so funny. Bianca and Allison played piano, Cecilia sang, Carlos played and sang a very famous Mexican song, Phillip and Jeanne did a trick, Chiara and Cristina did Rubics Cube, Lev did a bubble with his chewing-gum, and all the teams did something together. It was really fun. -- Lola

Hockey in Vancouver Yesterday, we went to Britannia Ice Rink to play hockey. When we entered the ice rink it was very cold and everybody was shivering. First, we had to wait for our helmets and the pucks, but then we started to play in two groups. On our side of the rink, we played with my team, Craig, Alex, Victor and me, against Jakub, Ema, Fynn and Carlos. On the other side, all the girls played for fun. Maybe it was not the best, most beautiful or the fairest hockey, but we had a lot of fun and no serious injuries. I think that we lost but nobody cared about winning. Of course, the best player was Jakub because he had played hockey for 13 years, but I think that everybody did a very good job. Sometimes the puck went into the girl�s side, so we were a bit discombobulated about getting the puck out of so many people. We crashed very often too. And one time Jakub fell because of a hole in the ice and so he unintentionally made a kind of sliding tackle and hit me, but nobody got hurt. After the hockey our hair was very wet and I was a little bit discombobulated about that because I didn't notice that I was sweating so much. -- Philipp

Scavenger Hunt Sunday it was time to discover Downtown Vancouver, by hunting for landmarks, which led us around downtown, so we saw most of the important sights of Vancouver. The first challenge was to find the bus downtown, so we, group Matt, asked a bus driver where to go. Then the real scavenger hunt began. We figured out the shortest route, which included all targets. However our first stop wasn't a sight, but a little tourist information, which we could not find for 20 minutes. We were really lucky to find a blue cab and an unusual object, a snake, both points on the list, directly at the beginning of our hunt. Passing a Tim Horton's and other points on the list, we headed to B.C. Place and then to Gastown's Steam Clock. From there we went on to the Pan Pacific Hotel, where we supported the biggest Coffee Shop Company of the world. Passing the "Sri Lanka" and its lobby we continued to Nelson Park, where this great picture of the whole group, except of Anastasia, the genius photographer, was taken. Afterwards we took a picture of us and St. Paul's hospital and went back to the bus station. Although we had arrived at the start of our tour we still had to take a picture with the Olympic Clock and the current Prime Minister, so we returned to the tourist information to use a laptop. After finishing the list, we took the bus back to UBC and in the end we won the competition. -- Victor

Ema entertains at Wynchemna's Got Talent
Cecilia wows the crowd with "What if God Was One of Us", while Halana and her Team, Bianca, Alice, Allison, Elizabeth, Alex, and Fynn, show off their dance number. Cristina and Chiara demonstrate their Rubik's cube skills, Jeanne shows Philipp a card trick and lastly Lev blows us away with this bubble!
The fellowing day everyone went windsurfing, it was a blast! Alice enjoying a time out at windsurfing
Alex catching some breeze
Lola and Anastasia windsurfing
The group ready to launch their windsurf boards
Fynn and Jakub avoiding a collision
Alice and Elisa carrying a board down to the beach

Here are Lev, Anastasia, Allison, and Lola at the Tropical section of the Vancouver Aquarium.

The next few photos were taken at Lynn Canyon, Twin Falls. We have in one picture Alex, Chloe, Elizabeth, and Jeanne and Chiara, Berenice, Bianca, and Cecilia in the other.

The whole gang hanging out on the rocks at 30 Foot Pool in Lynn Canyon and everybody relaxing before the big hike. Philip, Fynn, and Emanuele decided to get wet!

Anastasia is having fun taking some great photos before everyone makes their way across the suspension bridge. There is Tiff, Izabela, and Carlos in the first picture of the bridge, then Berenice, Halana, and Ema, followed by Anastasia and Allison and lastly Lev. It was a little scare but so much fun!!

Victor, Izabela, Elisa, Lola, Matt, and Berenice at Nelson Park

Tiff, Cristina, and Cecilia posing

Carlos, Jakub, Chloe, and Cecilia in front of Vancouver's tallest
building

Tiff, Chloe, Cecilia and Carlos pretending to read

Jakub laughing with a local woman

Chloe, Jakub, Cecilia, and Carlos in downtown Vancouver

Cecilia, Jakub, Tiff, and Carlos admiring the Canada flag

Allison sitting on an unusual pavement

Emanuele, Chiara, and Philipp adding to downtown graffiti

Jeanne, Chiara, Lev, Ema, and Philipp in the Fairmont hotel

Fynn, Alexandre, Elizabeth, Alice, Bianca, Allison, and Halana in front of the Pan Pacific Hotel

Everyone is having a wonderful time at Wynchemna summer camp in Vancouver!!! We've been enjoying the lovely weather while relaxing in Stanley park, learning how to skate and having fun playing some bowling! We also recently learnt how to play some Lacrosse with the new arrivals!! 

In the first picture we have everybody enjoying themselves at the skating rink.

Then we have Elizabeth, Chloe, and Jeanne enjoying Vancouver Live at Stanley and Fynn, Roger, Victor, Philipp, Emanuele, Jakub and Carlos standing around in a circle chit chatting/

We then have Cristina enjoying skating, Izabela (Izabela for the first time) and Carlos on skates, Lola and Alexandre at the
rink, as well as Berenice, Anastasia, Allison, Chiara, Lev, Allison, and Anastasia

The next few pictures are at the bowling arena; Alex bowling, Lev demonstrating the side throw, Jeanne getting ready to
roll and Berenice, Chloe, Alice, Emanuele, and Philipp having a blast at the bowling alley

The final set of pictures are the students playing Lacrosse with some of the new arrivals and Matt showing them how to play!

My name is Lev. I’m from Russia, Omsk. I’m eleven. I like playing tennis. I can do it very well. I’m learning English for five years. I like cycling, playing computer games. I like watching movies. I don't like going to school and doing homework.

I like swimming and diving. I like reading books. I’ve got many books. I like traveling very much. On my trip I’m going to make new friends and make my English better. Also I’m going to visit Vancouver. I’m going to kayaking, camping and I’m going to play paintball. I think it will be very funny!

So, here we are, after another exciting day at Wynchemna we got the chance to sit in front of some computers to write about our experiences. It’s only been 6 days since we arrived here, and yet it seems like we’ve been here for a long time.  Not because it’s boring, not at all, but because we’ve had so many different and amazing experiences in very little time.  Speaking in English all the time is pretty hard, in fact we sometimes get caught speaking another language and we have to pay 25 cents (I’m becoming poor!).  So, when the initial group was formed, we spent a few days at here at UBC, during which we had some English lessons. Some were about poetry and some about art, and they were actually fun, even if they’re called “lessons” (this word doesn’t convey any fun to me). The first day we went sailing – I have never had the chance to try it before. While listening to the guys who were explaining some theory to us, I thought it would be impossible and that I was going to fall all the time. When I tried it, though, I soon got the hang of it and found it was really fun. Later on we had the opportunity to let out our artistic talent by painting some white t-shirts with our very own personal design. But, above all of these things, one of my favourite activities so far was laser tag: a-w-e-s-o-m-e! We also went camping to Harrison Hot Springs for a few days: the sleeping bags, the washrooms and tents were not the most comfortable, but that’s the spirit of camping: staying in the middle of nature without all the everyday comforts and technologies, enjoying the wild and free life. We also played some Frisbee and volleyball at the beach, enjoyed the wonderful landscape at Hell’s Gate, and went water tubing, which was absolutely awesome in spite of the freezing water. I was so excited that I couldn’t stop screaming as I was being pulled by the boat!