In 2001, I applied to work at Whispering Hills Girl Scout Camp for the summer. It was probably one of the best spur-of-the-moment decisions that I have ever made. I had been a Girl Scout all of my life, I had gone to Girl Scout Camp, and I had volunteered at camp as a counselor-in-training. So when I decided that I needed a change of scenery after a break up, it made sense to spend a summer sans men. Working at Girl Scout Camp was simultaneously the best job I've ever had and the most stressful. As counselors, we did everything together: work, live, laugh, play, and cry. I always credit working at camp as shaping who I have become. Looking back, I had a strong sense of my values and who I was, and I think I became the person that I wanted to be during my camp experience.
In 2001, I met Sardean and Hawkeye. Though we were friends during my first summer, we became even closer in 2002. At Girl Scout Camp, all of the counselors and staff members have camp names. Mine is flounder (I don't know why I don't capitalize the f; I just think my name looks better lowercase). To this day, we still address each other by our camp names. When Hawkeye took a job with the Girl Scout Council in South Carolina, Sardean and I followed her and worked at the Girl Scout Camp over the summer. Sardean was there from 2003 to 2005, and I was there in 2003 and 2005. It was in South Carolina that we were dubbed the Minnesota Mafia.
(Here we are at Sardean's wedding in the summer of 2007. From left to right, Hawkeye, Sardean, flounder.)
I remember the first time that I met Sardean. We were about 12 or so, and we were at this winter Girl Scout camping event. We shared a sled while sledding down this hill at Whispering Hills, and we hit a tree. From then on, we were tree buddies. Fast forward nearly 10 years, and we met again in 2001. I always refer to the sledding incident as the first time that we met, but Sardean tells a different story. During pre-camp training, Sardean and I were assigned to the same cabin. On that first night, we were getting ready for bed and talking. The floor of the cabin was a cold and dirty concrete, so as we were talking, I stood up on my bed and changed my clothes. While I did this discretely, Sardean always refers to this as a strip show. She says that at that moment, she knew we would always be friends.
After the summer of 2001, Hawkeye and I lived about 10 minutes from each other but we never visited. I was living in New York City, and she was just a short train ride away in New Jersey. It is ironic that that was the closest in proximity that we have ever lived, yet we never saw each other. After that year, we have always been separated by thousands of miles. I became Hawkeye's unofficial assistant camp director in 2002. My official title was the business manager, and I was in charge of the trading post, which is like the camp store. At the beginning of the summer, I held a contest among staff members to rename the trading post. We called it 'flounder's Bait Shop and Knick Knack Shack.' I had these hanging animals in the trading post that made animal noises when you depressed their stomachs. Hawkeye used to come in and press all the buttons to produce this cacophony of animal noises. She also used to steal the hanging animals too. I think that I might have banned her from the trading post. Hawkeye and I used to make these late night trips to LaCrosse for camp supplies. We were always tired, and we talked a lot to stay awake. One time, we thought we saw this gigantic tree morph and come to life; we called it the tree monster. In 2002, we also tried to solve this little camp mystery. It involved taking down a door, piecing together a letter, and a near dumpster diving excursion. And, good detectives that we were, I think we solved the case.
We did lots of silly and fun things at Girl Scout Camp. Some of the stories may be inappropriate for this blog. We played a lot on our time off: movies, eating out, shopping, etc. Halfway through the summer of 2002, we took a staff trip to this tattoo parlor for daisy tattoos. (There is this camp song about having a daisy tattoo on the second toe of your left foot. ) So, four of us got daisy tattoos, Sardean and I being two of the four. In 2001, we took a staff canoe trip down the Root River and met these middle aged men partying on a sand bar with a keg. Lots of things happened that day: a thunderstorm, a capsized canoe, and I sort of hit a guy on the head with my canoe paddle.
In 2003, Sardean and I went to South Carolina, the land of confederate flags, super hot and humid weather, and no Asian people. It was a bit of a cultural shock, but it was a good summer. I became obsessed with the Waffle House, and sometimes we would go there to eat breakfast in our pajamas. At the end of the summer, Hawkeye, Sardean, and I took a trip to Myrtle Beach and Charleston. Below is a photo of us taken in one of those Old Time Photo shops.
Sardean went back to South Carolina in 2004, and we both returned in 2005. This is when I grew tired of hearing all the Southern accents, I decided that I never wanted to live below the Mason-Dixon line, and I couldn't wait to go back to Minnesota. In a month, I will be back in Columbia for Hawkeye's wedding. And, I'm kind of looking forward to visiting South Carolina again. The three of us are excited to be reunited again. I'm not sure if we have any ongoing traditions, but one of them might be tie-dying. We tie-dyed underwear, t-shirts, and pillowcases pretty much every year at Girl Scout Camp, and we tie-dyed underwear the night before Sardean's wedding. I think the tradition is going to continue. I talked to Sardean the other day, and she said that tie-dying underwear is something we should do when we each get married.
When I worked at Girl Scout Camp in 2001, I never thought that I would make such good friends. I had no idea that Hawkeye, Sardean and I would still be friends so many years later, be in each others' weddings, and be aunties to each others' children. Yet, here were are, eight years later: these friends have become the family that I have chosen.
In 2001, I met Sardean and Hawkeye. Though we were friends during my first summer, we became even closer in 2002. At Girl Scout Camp, all of the counselors and staff members have camp names. Mine is flounder (I don't know why I don't capitalize the f; I just think my name looks better lowercase). To this day, we still address each other by our camp names. When Hawkeye took a job with the Girl Scout Council in South Carolina, Sardean and I followed her and worked at the Girl Scout Camp over the summer. Sardean was there from 2003 to 2005, and I was there in 2003 and 2005. It was in South Carolina that we were dubbed the Minnesota Mafia.
I remember the first time that I met Sardean. We were about 12 or so, and we were at this winter Girl Scout camping event. We shared a sled while sledding down this hill at Whispering Hills, and we hit a tree. From then on, we were tree buddies. Fast forward nearly 10 years, and we met again in 2001. I always refer to the sledding incident as the first time that we met, but Sardean tells a different story. During pre-camp training, Sardean and I were assigned to the same cabin. On that first night, we were getting ready for bed and talking. The floor of the cabin was a cold and dirty concrete, so as we were talking, I stood up on my bed and changed my clothes. While I did this discretely, Sardean always refers to this as a strip show. She says that at that moment, she knew we would always be friends.
After the summer of 2001, Hawkeye and I lived about 10 minutes from each other but we never visited. I was living in New York City, and she was just a short train ride away in New Jersey. It is ironic that that was the closest in proximity that we have ever lived, yet we never saw each other. After that year, we have always been separated by thousands of miles. I became Hawkeye's unofficial assistant camp director in 2002. My official title was the business manager, and I was in charge of the trading post, which is like the camp store. At the beginning of the summer, I held a contest among staff members to rename the trading post. We called it 'flounder's Bait Shop and Knick Knack Shack.' I had these hanging animals in the trading post that made animal noises when you depressed their stomachs. Hawkeye used to come in and press all the buttons to produce this cacophony of animal noises. She also used to steal the hanging animals too. I think that I might have banned her from the trading post. Hawkeye and I used to make these late night trips to LaCrosse for camp supplies. We were always tired, and we talked a lot to stay awake. One time, we thought we saw this gigantic tree morph and come to life; we called it the tree monster. In 2002, we also tried to solve this little camp mystery. It involved taking down a door, piecing together a letter, and a near dumpster diving excursion. And, good detectives that we were, I think we solved the case.
We did lots of silly and fun things at Girl Scout Camp. Some of the stories may be inappropriate for this blog. We played a lot on our time off: movies, eating out, shopping, etc. Halfway through the summer of 2002, we took a staff trip to this tattoo parlor for daisy tattoos. (There is this camp song about having a daisy tattoo on the second toe of your left foot. ) So, four of us got daisy tattoos, Sardean and I being two of the four. In 2001, we took a staff canoe trip down the Root River and met these middle aged men partying on a sand bar with a keg. Lots of things happened that day: a thunderstorm, a capsized canoe, and I sort of hit a guy on the head with my canoe paddle.
In 2003, Sardean and I went to South Carolina, the land of confederate flags, super hot and humid weather, and no Asian people. It was a bit of a cultural shock, but it was a good summer. I became obsessed with the Waffle House, and sometimes we would go there to eat breakfast in our pajamas. At the end of the summer, Hawkeye, Sardean, and I took a trip to Myrtle Beach and Charleston. Below is a photo of us taken in one of those Old Time Photo shops.
When I worked at Girl Scout Camp in 2001, I never thought that I would make such good friends. I had no idea that Hawkeye, Sardean and I would still be friends so many years later, be in each others' weddings, and be aunties to each others' children. Yet, here were are, eight years later: these friends have become the family that I have chosen.
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