Language and Local historical camp – Tokaj
Today, after a very long and tiring journey, we arrived in Tokaj, the location of our foreign language and local history camp. We got off the bus, collected our luggage and checked into our rooms. After settling in, Uncle Roland opened the camp and we laid down the rules for the week and set up a house rule. Before dinner we had a short walk around the camp site. After the meal we had an Activity led by Zalán, which we concluded with a game called Sleeping in the City. By the end of the day we were all pleasantly tired and it was nice to relax afterwards. We are excited for the days ahead.
Day 2: After the first evening in Tokaj, everyone arrived for breakfast well rested. The morning was then devoted to language lessons: the Germans in a small group, the English in two larger groups. In English, the children had the opportunity to learn about maps of Europe, the cardinal points and to test their foreign language skills in their target language country-city. Although the lessons were not strenuous, they were a respite from the arrival of lunch. The filling meal was the perfect way to start a tiring afternoon. We got up, boarded the boat and made the pilgrimage up the Tisza to Szabolcs. There we were able to watch a short film about the history of the place, see a small exhibition, visit the Mudrány Mansion and climb the remains of the former earth castle. After returning to our accommodation, we walked to a nearby ice-cream parlour, which capped off an exhausting afternoon. We didn’t retire immediately after dinner, a final game of football and cards was played by all while a few last bracelets were put on our wrists. At curfew, our director, Miklós arrived, wishing all the campers a good night.
Day 3: Today, the Nagybajom 3 and Pécs 3 groups had the opportunity to learn more about the world of advertising and filmmaking. They wrote their own stories, which they then filmed, and played various communication games. As usual, working with the Blue Pixel team was a great success, enjoyed by young and old alike. In the afternoon, the young people played a number of team-building games with the help of the mentor assistants, and in the evening we split into two teams, one of whom still had energy left to play football, and the other half of the team made a variety of colourful Paracord bracelets in the hostel.
Day 4: Today, following the usual schedule, we woke up together at 7:25am to start breakfast, after which we immediately started the language lessons, where we learned about the region and its curiosities with fun exercises. Afterwards we visited the Nyíregyháza Zoo, where we got together in groups to see all sorts of interesting, beautiful and special animals, from lions and baboons to peacocks walking among us, and then we watched a half-hour show of the local seals at 3pm, which we enjoyed and thanks to the many fish they got, the seals enjoyed it too. Afterwards, we made another round together to see the animals we had missed, including the giraffes, and then made our way back to the hostel. We had our dinner at the restaurant next to the accommodation. In the evening some of us played football, but there were also opportunities for badminton, ping pong, bracelet making and even Uno. After these games, tired but still with new experiences, we all went to bed to start our last day of activities with renewed energy.
Day 5: We started our last day in Tokaj with a summary quiz: from the camp activities, to local curiosities, to the funny little events of the week, we summed up the past days with questions about everything. At half-time we also had a short chat with our volunteer Chakee via video chat. The children were interested, asked lots of questions and were sorry that the conversation ended so quickly. A busy morning was followed by a delicious lunch and an even busier afternoon. The party was divided into two mixed groups, and so we set off canoeing and horse-drawn carriage riding; half the party paddled upstream on the Tisza, where they swapped with the other group and rode home by horse-drawn carriage to the campsite. We started filling in the camp questionnaires before dinner, leaving enough time after dinner to go for one last ice cream before it was time to pack up for the evening. Luckily everyone finished quickly, giving us a chance to get a good night’s sleep before the long journey.
Pictures of the camp can be found in the Gallery.