I’ve spent just over a week now in Romania, and I’m having a great time!
After my arrival, I had a short time to get situated. In less than 2 days, I was already starting work here.
As I’ve said elsewhere, I’m here to work at an English-language focused summer camp.
My Summer Camp Experience
Each camp session lasts about 4 days, with an opening ceremony for the next camp group the following day.
Every camp day begins with breakfast and morning warmups, then is followed up by three separate, informal, 50-minute lessons with breaks in between. The first break is 10 minutes, while the second is 20 minutes and includes fruit for everyone.
After that, we have several free hours before lunch and then some afternoon activities, followed by dinner and evening activities. These change every day within each camp session.
For myself and the other trainers, the first camp session was the toughest and will probably stay that way. We didn’t know how all of the events would actually play out before running through them once, and we had no idea what the lessons would entail.
Many of us just planned to do some introductions and basic games for the first day to assess our students’ fluency and interests. This pattern will repeat as we get new students, too.
It’s worth noting that a sizeable portion of our job here is simply just to be English speakers. It’s a summer camp. We aren’t drilling them on grammar or vocabulary.
Because of the large variety of age groups, many of us end up planning vastly different activities to accommodate the skill levels and ages. So far we’ve had kids from 7-14, but we’ll be getting some older ones next session. Even 16-17 years old!
My first group, for example, was 9-year-olds. I had 27 of them, and a Romanian native speaker to assist me with the lessons. This is helpful for several reasons. Managing that many kids alone is tough, but I also don’t speak Romanian and thus would have trouble helping kids who are struggling.
My First Camp Group
This group of 9-year-olds, being my first, was a bit tough. For one thing, I had planned on teaching older, more fluent students, which forced me to quickly adapt and come up with some activities.
Again, the Romanian trainer came in handy here.
They were pretty energetic and chaotic, and since I taught my lessons outside for that camp session, it was often tough to get them to focus. From the moment I showed them a ball, they wanted to do nothing but play football.
Many lessons consisted of a simple vocabulary review for something like animals. We went over the animals, then did other activities with it, like running a relay race and naming an animal at the end or having them guess the animal card they’re holding on their head by asking questions.
I quickly learned many of the kids’ names, but it’s tough to learn 27 names in 4 days.
Other events we did included arts & crafts, sporty games like archery and ziplining, and a talent show. The talent show is something we actually devote several of our lessons to. Oftentimes, the kids follow a Just Dance video to perform, or some of the older kids will design a skit or more elaborate performance.
At the end of it all, we have a closing ceremony with fireworks and a bonfire!
My Second Camp Group
This second group has been a different experience. We’re having our closing ceremony in just a few hours at my time of writing this, and I’ve had a lot of fun!
This group has been a lot less chaotic (to the extent that kids are capable). The main thing, really, is just that it’s a lot easier to get their attention than my last group. I think that a combination of being inside for lessons this time, having a bit more experience, and the kids all knowing each other beforehand just made it so much easier.
For the talent show, they did amazing! Some of them were hesitant about dancing at first, but after a bit of encouragement they had a great time!
The song included a pose requiring 4 people at once, and after practicing a few times they perfected it!
Today will be my last day with them. The closing ceremony is tonight, and I have a new group in two days! They’re 13 this time, so I’ll need a very different set of lessons and plans!
The Trainer Experience
As a trainer, I get room and board covered, alongside some payment and free trips after each camp session.
When I first arrived, I thought I would have a day between each session to relax, meaning 5 camp sessions total. I was wrong. We have 7 camp sessions, but that just means that I get to go on two extra trips.
Our rooms are a bit small, being hostel rooms that I share with others. They are by no means low quality or uncomfortable, though. Housekeeping comes by nearly every day, and we have everything we need in the room.
The food isn’t always perfect, but they give us very large portions and we can take as much as we want.
In addition, we get a free cocktail from the bar on the resort grounds every night. I don’t like to drink all the time, but there are a few non-alcoholic options that are still really good!
As for the other trainers, we all get along great! In any living/working/travel situation like ours, there are bound to be some issues, though. There’s been a small bit of drama, as is inevitable with this sort of thing, but nothing crazy. When politics come up (as is to be expected), we are all very friendly about it and willing to actually talk rather than just yell and argue.
We each have our own groups of kids with their own struggles, and have been good about helping each other with lessons and advice.
Everyone has been awesome, and it’s so fun to meet new people from places like Ireland, Scotland, Australia, China, and of course Romania!
The Benefits
At the end of each camp session we get free wine for that night. Another trainer’s birthday is today, and our boss took us to one of the gazebos to give us cake and free champagne to celebrate! Some of the best champagne in Romania, from what I was told!
She calls all of these little treats ‘bribes’ alongside jokes that she’s exploiting us. It’s all in good fun, though. She’s really nice! The work really isn’t that bad either, and the benefits more than make up for it! I think the first session felt exhausting because we were new but now it’s not so bad.
Speaking of benefits, we also get paid-for trips to various places around Romania. Between sessions 1 and 2, we visited the city of Brasov, about a 30-minute train ride from Predeal. It was really cool, even if we did have to skip one of our intended destinations because of construction!
Tomorrow we’re headed to Sighisoara, a beautiful citadel that our boss Mihaela has nothing but praise for!
Conclusion
I’m loving this trip so far, and if you saw my last post then you know how nervous I was about it.
It’s amazing to be able to find ways to travel without paying while still experiencing the region and culture!
Find something that works for you, and you’ll be out in the world in no time!
