Jun 27 2330
Yeah, I finally back to camp safely. Haha, 6 days has passed n it really didn急 seem tat long. I really had a blast! Seemed experienced a lot n had tons of fun, haha!!

1st of all, we only had 1 camper, a v. weird camper. Tex, actually David, but cos he旧 fm Texas, he picked Tex as his camp nickname. 13 yrs old boy, weird behavior. Anyway, I did not dislike him, but I also dunno how to get along w/ him. Haha. However, our A-team (A for Adventure) left last Wed. morning, our camp director Travis drove us all e way up north for 5hrs to Wilderness Canoeing Base, e camp which coordinate e trip for us. Then we met our guide, Shawn. Wow, long hair n long beard, I really tot tat he is in his 30s, but then I found out he is younger than me, only 21!!! Haha. So funny, cos he is a vegetarian, Tex gave him a nickname, 挿egena? hahaha, sounds like e female body part, then we all made fun of e name afterwards. So we stayed in e camp tat day, to learn e basic paddling skills, learn about canoeing, also had a swim test. Haha, I was surprised Brad (my co-counselor) was also poor at swimming, cos I tot all Americans should be gd at swimming?. Anyway, we had to step water for 5 min, I would die obviously, last time swim test for scuba diving 3 min already killing me. Then we found out we could wear life vests for e swim test, so both Brad n I wore la, then Tex kept making fun of us cos we counselors r even worse swimmer than he is. Haha.

So we started our canoe trip e next morning, 4 of us, 2 canoes, so most of e time Brad n I in one, Shawn n Tex in another one. We had to carry all e food, tent, cooking utensils w/ us, just like wt I did for trekking in e past for AYP! Anyway, we just need to put e stuff in e big big 窃uluth packs? n put em in e canoes. All e stuff were packed in e big plastic bags so wouldn急 get wet even thou e Duluth packs dropped into e water, fm what they said, haha. So we paddled n paddled, miles n miles, I dun really noe e way I went, I just followed e guide, haha, cos all e scenes were more / less e same, haha, v. beautiful thou, so where we went is called Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA), its reserved by e US gov急 to save e nature area, we need permit to go canoeing there lei. Haha. We were planning to paddle 7 miles only, but unfortunately we couldn急 find a camp site, cos each can only allow one gp of ppl to stay la, so finally we hv to paddle extra 4 miles to find one tat hadn急 been taken yet! Also, we had a ok long but super difficult portage, we hv to carry all e stuff n hiked a little bit to reach other side of e lake to continue canoeing, so e super heavy Duluth pack made me can急 walk at all la; also, I was wearing shorts la, so finally I got more than 20 bug bites after finishing e portage!! 1st day of trip already killed me, my arms were super sore when we finally got on land, I even had difficulty to lift up my arms lei!! So my arms were killing me tat nite, I couldn急 fall asleep at all tat nite, my super sore arms were one reason, 2nd reason was e 3 guys all snoring, super noisy n annoying! 3rd reason was e irritating American mosquitoes! All were trapped in our tent n so kept flying ard n bit me!! I really felt like I was in e hell, tortured by diff. kinds of punishments! >.<

So after e 1st day 11 miles paddling, 2nd day my arms didn急 feel any more sore. As we planned, we would stay in e 2nd camp site for 2 nites, cos we would make a day trip to Canada! Yeah, e waterfall was great, actually not tat big, but I still like it a lot, haha! Since it was a day trip, we only needed to bring food w/ us la. We also used one boat only, of course e 2 strongest guys paddled la, then me n Tex were like refugees just sat in e middle of e canoe, haha. So happy n relaxed, no need to paddle whole day!!

Many funny things happened in e trip la! I was surprised how diff e American camping would be fm e HK camping. All their food were in powder n dehydrated! So we just need to add water n cooked a bit la. We could still hv all kinds of American food in camping, tacos, macaroni n cheese, pizza, baked (steamed?) cake, cool-aid, etc?..Haha. We also drank water fm e lake directly la, I was surprised I didn急 get diarrhea, haha! E American camp sites r also more 贈dvanced?than e HK ones la, they hv 昼itable?toilets lei, haha, so we dun hv to pee in e woods la!!

Our only camper Tex was super weird but funny la, always made me laugh till suffocated!! He would really try everything la, when we r told black ants n lichen r eatable, he really tried em whenever he saw la, wt sweet n sour ants he also tried la, so funny! He even lied on e ground n licked e ants directly lei, hahahaha! He was also v. interested in sawing logs n made big fire. He would really spent hrs to saw down a tree, haha!! There were 2 nites he went crazy la, Brad was so mean n ordered Tex to 臓ully?me, poke/ tickle/ kiss/ bite me, tat crazy Tex really listened to Brad n obeyed la. I noe I couldn急 do any bad things on my camper, so I revenged on my co-counselor la, I really slapped/ kicked/ bit/scratched him to release ar, hahaha! Although I noe our guide Shawn really wanna stand aside la, but I wouldn急 let him, I would involve him in our gp la! so finally he had to wrestle w/ Tex to make him calm down n go to bed la, haha. When Shawn pressed Tex down on e floor, Tex said he saw god but w/ shorter hair lei, cos e long beard n hair Shawn had really look like Jesus, haha!!

There was a morning there came a suicide frog lei, e frog hopped into e fire, n then hopped out, but when e frog aware tat its skin was already on fire n bubbling, it hopped back into e fire n finally became a burnt frog la. Tex n Shawn watched tat happened, Tex was super sad about it la, cos he couldn急 save it. But we were so mean n made fun of him n concluded e frog might rather die than being caught by Tex lei, haha!!

So I was surprised I really didn急 take shower at all la in e trip, cos we r not allowed to contaminate e lake water ma, I didn急 swim either la, so I felt really gross, my sticky skin n oily hair!! My hands n nails were stained black lei, haha!! Luckily e Americans hv those 滞and sanitizer? so no need water we can sterilize our hands n eat la, haha!

So this morning when we headed back to canoe base camp, we went to sauna to bake ourselves n let e dirt steamed out la. I couldn急 believe I could stand e heat in a 50C room lei, haha, its really super comfy to take a shower afterwards to wash away all e dirts fm e past few days lei, haha!! I m really happy in e A-team or, just like a participant in e trip n enjoy all e fun, esp. I could hv free (paid?) trips n explore e famous parts of e USA!!

P.S. I m really going thro e 属ulture shock? now I m starting to build e sense of belonging here, n I was surprised I already had e missing feeling when I had to leave for e canoeing trip last Wed. I started to make more close fds here. I m v. happy n satisfied w/ my life now. Haha. I m also v. glad tat my 昼ecret buddy?really work hard for me, v. curious to noe who she (he?) is, fm e 1st note of glad I m here, e US$50 deposit at e trading post for me to shop, to today旧 big welcome back poster in my room, I think my S.B. should be a gal, although e senior staff r more wealthy, they wouldn急 spend e time to do some artwork for me, rite? Haha. Also, v. glad tat Tina told me she missed me when I was gone, v. sweet, haha. Sweet sweet, go, sea swallow, go!!