Advice For New Campers (v1.26)

So I have reposted the things I erased and I'm sorry I forgot to do it when I said I would. —Ruth Reply

Things to Know About Travel

• Make sure to wear something you can take off and put on easily for the bus ride, because as unique and cool as the twenty layers of pretty shirts and pants can be, you're probably going to be baking under them all. Also, keep a small journal/drawig book so you can write down your thoughts, it's a long ride, and you might get bored. —Lanora
• Amtrak, inevitably, will be very early or very late if you take it. Try to travel with another camper so you don't get too freaked out if Amtrak weirdness occurs. And it will. We should have a Who has the worst Amtrak story? competition sometime -eira

• Make sure you have some way to contact people if travel complications come up, a cell phone, phone card and pay phone, etc. You probably won't need it, but I had one year where the busses almost left before my train came in, and another year where they just forgot to pick me up. Don't worry about it, but be prepared. —Amy

• Go to the bathroom like your mother told you to. You will have to pee on the busride. —Marina
• Pack food. you won't be getting to camp till 7pm and by then you will be so hungry you might be eating the buss seats, your cloths, your friends cloths ect. so pack food! —Heather

• If you go on Amtrak, bring a waterbottle! The water is really gross looking, kinda whitish cause of all the chemicals. Yuck! ~ AnyaA
• Planes are great. If you fly into Eugene, take an earlyr flight so you can connect with campers at the airport. (Michelle youre awesome. Airports with you = rock on) —Fuser

• This may seem a bit obvious, but if you have special dietary needs (vegan, lactose/wheat intolerant, etc.,) take food for whatever transportation you use, with the possible exception of airplanes. For the return trip, make sure you either bring something really non-perishable or bring enough money to buy stuff in Eugene. -JuliaL

Things to Know About what to Pack

• It's been said before, but really do bring a very warm sleeping bag. Really really. Why, you ask? Because sleeping outside is FUN, in fact, it's total Sweetness! And you will be sad if you can't do it at least once. I slept outside every night I could last year and didn't regret it!. yakri~

• Do bring a camera! And put your pictures online when you get home. We love seeing pictures people take and trying to relive camp vicariously through a small picture on our screen. At the same time, don't experience all of camp behind your lens, put down the camera once in a while. -eira
• seconded absolutely! i brought a half-full disposable camera to camp and ended up having about one picture for each day, which, believe me, isn't enough. ~heather mcf

• Label everything you bring if you're prone to losing things. Something will inevitably end up in the lost and found box, and it makes it easier for all of us to recover your items if they have your name on them. -eira

• A testimonial; in 3 years of going to camp, I never saw rain while I was there. Naturally, in my 4th year I decided that any sort of rain appropriate gear was a waste of space. It rained for what, half of camp? Luckily I'm a Seattleite, so I was OK, but all you sunny weather people might want to come prepared. — AlexG

• always bring a washcloth! and enough socks! I always mess up one or the other of these every year, and I'm always sad because of it. -eira
  • I mess up on socks all the time, but I usually bring too many. If you like going barefoot, prepare to forget you even own socks and shoes. — AlexG
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• >>*I think there where about 3 or 4 pairs of shoes in the lost in found last year, because I tend to kick them offwhenever I can. I plan to only bring 2 pairs of shoes this year. —Lani

• bring a warm sweatshirt! it gets chilly in the mornings and when you have to get up to pee in the middle of the night. -eira
• bring something funky..that you want to get your groove on it for prom—breetel

• A rule of travelling is always pack less then you think you'll need, if you're fairly new to travelling, pack less then you think is less then you'll need (did that make any sense?). -Dave
• Warm things. Cold things. Sunscreen and a waterproof down jacket. But not more than you can carry. (In eight sessions, I don't think I've ever got this perfectly balanced.) Don't bring the books you'll want to read (well, maybe one...) but bring books you'd like other people to read. Funky things are good. Wellness-inducing things are Good. —Marina

• Don't bring as many clothes as you think you're gonna need. I always end up overpacking and going home with clothes that have never been worn. -FionA

If you have a flat sleeping bag, bring it. They can be zipped together with other flat sleeping bags to cuddle up under, like for, say, a peoplepile. -Moria Reply

• -bring something (or many things) your proud of!!!= it's taken my 5 years to reolize this. no matter how big it is! i've writen poetry for years and only taken a few to camp and each freeking time i've regreted it. —Heather
• I agree. Bring things that you feel express who you are (as much as any object can). For me, for example, that would be my music, my tarot cards, the manuscript of the book i'm writing, my swords and my favorite clothes. Also a good thing to keep in mind is that camp is one place where no one cares what you're wearing. i plan to wear my sluttiest dress to prom, because I know it's safe. ~heather mcf

• I almost resent that, but at least I'm infamous if nothing else. And since I've already planned something even worse this year, I don't think my infamy is going anywhere. —Daedalus

• Yes, you are very infamous. And yes. Slutty at prom= FUN!!!!! —Lani

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• Remember to bring a sweatshirt. It gets cold in Oregon. If your not used to to all vegetarian/vegan food, bring jerky, cliff bars, dried fruit, teabags, canned tuna, ect. I lived off of luna bars my first year. A lot of guys do drag for the prom, so if your into that bring something fun.

Things to Know about Avoiding Sickness

• Eat a fucking clove of garlic once a day and you will (I swear to God, or math, or the members of the popular rock group Kiss, or whatever it you people swear to), you will live to be 800 years old. —Dave

• We love you Dave. —Morgan —Cosmo

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• Not exactly avoiding sickness, but still on topic: If you get sick, even though hugging is awesome and loving, try not to hug people as much, because some of them go to second session, which can end up with alot of sick, miserable people. I hated not hugging people as much, but I'd hate to see them unhappy even more. —Lanora
• Snuggle like there's no tomorrow! Well, this is probably bad, spreading germs, but it's a lot of fun. -Alex l.
• Astragalus. Everyone find some astragalus extract, take a dropperful every day (you can barely taste it in water, or not at all in tea) and you will not get sick no matter what. Honest. ~heather mcf

• Emotionally speaking, give yourself a time-out every once in a while. Go and sit for couple of minutes and just breathe. Are you tired? Are you happy/sad/terrified/exhausted? It helps. —Amy

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• Wash Your Hands befor you eat, and any other time you think about it, look at them! they are filthy!
• It can be hard to remember to drink enough water when so much exciting stuff is going on, so I bring my own bottle with a clip so I don't loos it, it's easyer to get sick if you are dehydrated, and easy to get dehydrated when you are doing more stuff. —Ryland

• Bring Emergen-C with you! It's this powdery stuff in a little packet, and gives you something like 600% of your daily Vitamin C. I don't know if it actually helps anything, but it's always fun to drink and makes me feel like I'm doing something nice for myself. -eira
• eat a LOT of raw garlic before you go...it'll build up your immune system.—breetel

• Do NOT sleep outside. Oh man, trust me on this one. Every time I've slept outside I've regretted it. So cold ... so very cold. Actually, getting enough sleep in general is a good call. If you're up late hook up a nap at some point during the day. —Zen
• eat something Green and crunchy at least once a day, veggies are your freind, and they make your body happy. —Ryland

• Ditto what Zen said about sleeping outside. Plus, actually bothering to sleep does wonders. So does remembering to eat. Take time every day to chill just for a little bit. Half an hour of lying out in the sun or sitting somewhere calmly and talking with people is very very refreshing and I know it helped me from getting sick in 2001 and 2002. 2000 was actually the only year I got sick, 'cause I got wise to the wonders of sleep. -FionA
• brush your teeth, don't rub your eyes, avoide hugging (just kidding:P), don't lick peoples eye balls, don't eat the knewts.. but in all honesty, theres a part of nbtsc each day called spontanuse time. its a good idea then to chill out and take time off. instead of bring candy to nbtsc, bring vidamines. extra if you can, so you can share them with your new friends!

• Bring vitamin C!!!! If you bring nothing else but a toothbrush and the clothes on your back, bring vitamin C. Oh, and you should probably take it too. Never assume you won't get sick. — AlexG
• Echinacea and Airbourne actually help. As does tea. Drink lots of tea. —Fuser

• Emergen C really helps.
• Avoid exchanging saliva with sick people, or if you're sick and they're not. (yes, we know it's hard)

• If you are used to eating alot of suger, start cutting back slowly a week or so befor hand or the reduced suger diet can be a shock to your system, the food is really good made with quaility ingredents and love by people who know how to cook tasty food, but it's most likely differnt then what you are used to, just like the people who live next door to you eat differntly then you are used to, be open minded to food, and try to eat a ballenced diet to keep you healthy.
• I know I'm repeating what's been said before, but you can never get enough good advice. Anyway, DO rest occasionally. I didn't really rest much at all last year, I just put 100% energy into everything, stayed up late and had fun. Unfortunately It finally caught up to me the last day of camp, so for the last night of camp I was dizzy nauseous and running fever. It wasn't too horrible, but it knocked me out of action for the very last of camp, and for two weeks after getting home. So if you don't have an extrordinary constitution, or your staying for more then one session, or you just don't want to get sick. Take a break once it a while. yakri~ (PS. I'd do it again if it was just one session. But this year I'm going to two, hopefully three, so I'm going to take it easy a bit more.)

Things to Know about the week at camp and Camp Itself (Workshops, Advisors, Cabins, etc)

• dont obsess over/be nervous about your looks and stuff!!
• take notice if you are geting overwelmed and do what you feel is right for your self if that is happening, also, try to make it to a number of workshops in the first few days, they are a great way to meet people who are interested in simaler things as you, this is more important in my mind if you are shy, talk to people, they don't bite (very hard) —Ryland

• Yeah, ditto that! What I usually end up doing is what Roya calls a grocery list journal, such as massage workshop, hugged Gabe, singing in dishline, four hours peeling garlic, Amos and kitchen sinks, photo from Zaria. It's Good. You'll Be Happy You Did. Seriously. It'll make you cry and spend the whole day grinning when you read it three months later. —Marina

• Heh, I never loosen up til two or three days into it. It's weird. —Marina

• Yes! I ditto this, Alex. I tried a workshop because I didn't want to miss out, but it just caused me a whole lot of worrying, and I never did it anyway. Good if you want to, but not if you don't. Or if you're new, that can overwhelm ya. —Lanora

• Those chains hanging above the doors to the kitchen. Don't swing on them.

it's funny how happy this one makes me. Thanks, Neal Reply

You are welcome, may I ask who posted that? Reply

What, you can't guess? .. How many people have tried swinging on them? Reply

• The funny thing is, last year I almost tried to swing on them, but then I remembered this post... Thanks. —Lani

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• Hey, um... I have never been to camp, and i have never seen these chains, but..why should you not swing on them? —Nola

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• Because they will not support your weight, and they DO have a function, and it is an important one, and if you break them there will be many people displeased with you.

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• The staff are your friends. If your feeling homesick or out of sorts, they'll listen. Actually, talk to them anyways. There all neat people.
• If you want help with something, ask! ask anyone, a new camper, an old camper, staff, anyone, a fool is the person who is afrade to ask a question.

Things to Know about campers!

• Lanora talks about sex. Alot. She doesn't mean to make you uncomfortable, it always made her feel welcomed, so she's also very weird. Say something if she overdoes it, she listens well, or so she'd like to believe.
• Remember, campers are so super accepting, and even if some of them seem way too cool for the likes of whoever you may be, they're open and friendly, and camp is a place where you should let your guard down, be open and free and don't hold any piece of your spectacular self back! (Unless you're partially homicidal, in which case you may want to restrain those urges... grin) —Lanora, the weeeeird.

• eira will try to proselytize to you about the wonders of a game called Big Booty

As will Emily V. Reply

• -Moria spends a LOT of time without seeing anyone face to face other than her parents, and so is easily excitable. Fair warning. She isn't intentionally spasto.

• People at camp really, really care about you. It might not seem like it sometimes, but we really do. Not all of us can read your mind, so if you need our help, you might have to pipe up and ask to have a talk or a hug from someone. 2004 will be my fourth year of camp, and I've never met anyone at camp who was intentionally and blatantly mean. If you only remember one thing before coming to camp, remember that people here really truly care about everyone, whether you've been coming for years or this is your first time. -eira
• AlexG just wants to add that the staff have a huge amount of love and respect for campers; they respect us (or should I say, we respect you? I'm an ex camper and an aspiring staffer) simply for being there and being who you-/-we are.

• Don't get romantically involved with campers. Or do but know that someone will end up hurt and that chances are good you'll always have to see them again.

• That's like warning someone never to bother trying, after all, you might fail. Nothing is impossible.

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• Don't be too intimidated to talk to people! The person I'm going out with right now I was intimidated by at camp, so I never even talked to him there.
• Campers are all evil masterminds, so you'd better have your own plan for world domination ready to go. —Neal
• Don't be afraid to talk to people. A lot of campers know each other from other things, but that dosn't mean we don't want to talk to new people.
• Remember we love you!!! - TheOtherJulia
• camp feels like it lasts WAY longer than a week, 2 weeks, however long you go. WAY. So don't rush yourself. Get involved, but listen to yourself. Make sure you are paying attention to what is going on all around you, and remember that everyone wants to talk and relax and get to know you. And you WILL be hugged. —Lani

Things to know about staff

They don't bite. Usually. -JuliaL Reply

Marina hangs out on wiki. Bwahaha. Reply

Questions by new campers!

Q4: Is it hard for new campers to make friends at camp? Do most people already know other people there? Are there groups or does everyone basically hang out with each other? — Adam (I'm new and probably going to the Oregon sessions this summer) Reply

A3: Everything that Cassia said. Camp is the most accepting and friendly place in the 'verse. As soon as you get there you are covered in hugs and offers of help carrying your stuff. There are groups, but often the people in the groups also hang out with other people. At each session I've attended, I have not spent time with EVERYONE there, but with maybe half (which is still close to 60 different people). You'll get along with some people and not with others, and you'll have more in common with some than others. And older campers know most of the other older campers, and some people come from home with established friendships, but that doesn't stop them from meeting new people. Like Cassia in reverse, some of my best friends are older campers, and some of them were new at the same session I was new at. It's different for everyone, really. But you will not lack for people to talk to, I promise. ~BlueberryEmily Reply

A2: As a new camper at 08 OR session 2, it was the easiest time I've had making friends with people in my entire life. When I first got their I was particularly shocked to find that a lot of people already knew me on sight! I later learned that this was because the session 2 directories with a handy dandy photo of me (supplied by me of course) had already been handed out. (remember to get a photo of yourself uploaded, it helps!) The long and short of it is you will have a great and easy time making friends at NBTSC. ^_ Now as for people hanging out in groups, and people mostly knowing each other already. I think a lot of people already knew each other, but there were also a ton of new campers. And although groups did form to some extent, for the most part everybody hangs out with everybody. By the end of camp I got to know nearly everyone there. I hope to see you there this year! ^_ yakri~ Reply

A1: Adam, if you let people know that you are new, you will never want for friends again. Sure, there are already established groups, but 1., those groups blend and overflow into other groups until you can't really tell what the groups were, and 2., you will be willingly welcomed just about anywhere simply because you are new and interesting. When I was a new camper, I made quite a few friends, one of whom I am now dating and live with. My second year, I met a ton of new campers, and a few of those new campers are now some of my best friends. & my third year, I met two particularly important people who were both new campers. I went on vacation with one of them last month, and she is definitely going to live with me come summer. The other person is probably going to live with me as well. I'll be honest, there are a few people who've been going for a while and who aren't really interested in the new arrivals, but anyone with any sense to their name (and this is most of camp) will be open to making friends with the new campers, because they remember that they were new too, and that everyone they know and love was once new, and that they'll probably end up loving you too. This was probably rambly and didn't make sense, but if you draw nothing else out of this answer - you will have no trouble making friends if you put yourself out there. (& even if you don't.) You will have absolutely no trouble at all. NBTSC is honestly one of the friendliest places I've ever been. —Cassia Reply

Q3: What do you do most of the time? Do you hang out with a specific group? Do you walk around a talk? Is it different every minute? —Andy Reply

A1: It depends on you, really. It can change every minute. There are people who talk to the same five people all week and there are people who talk to every single person there. I personally feel like the previous people are missing something, but as I spent a lot of camp last year with the same people, I can't really talk. ;) Mostly it's walking around and stuff. People hang out at the picnic tables and the arts/crafts/whatever tables and the couches and Dogwood and the fire pit and all sorts of places, and groups will accumulate and have conversations that way. ~BlueberryEmily Reply

Q2: How exactly do Advisor groups work?—EMMA Reply

A1: You will have an Advisor (aka. totally awsome staff person) and up to about 10 campers in your groups. Each group is somewhat indevidual depending on the personalities of the people involved. You will spend about 30 minutes every morning hanging out with these people. You might play games, learn a skit to perform for the whole camp, write in journals or talk. Or maybe some of all three. The idea is just that you have a little time every day set aside to deal with some of the details of camp, have a chance to bring up issues you might not want to in front of the whole group, get to know some people and build a relationship with at least one staffer so you have someone to go to if you need something during the week (you can go to any staffer but it can be nice to have a staffer 'assigned' to you so to speak) —Ruth Reply

Q1: How cold does it get during Oregon 2? Aka how much warm clothes should I bring- or is coldness not an issue? Thanks! —Anna F. Reply

A1: It can get cold. I'm not sure degrees wise but a heavy sweatshirt or even a desent coat can make your life a lot better. Some years it gets pretty cold other years it's hot the whole time. But even then the mornings and evenings can be chilly. —Ruth Reply

Comments by campers!

       This year (2009) I'll be a camp 'veteran'. In other words, my third
    year. This always surprises me, not because I'm amazed I've been going to
    camp this long, but because it's impossible for me to grasp the concept that
    I have only spent fourteen days of my life at camp. FOURTEEN! I've spent
    more time than that at SCHOOL, for gods' sakes. But, of course, camp feels
    unestimably more like 'home'. I love every place there, the buildings, the
    fire pit, the cabins, Forest Dell, the bridge, the woods, the field. I love
    every person, from campers who've been there for years before me (who I look
    at with envy and admiration), to brand-spankin'-new campers I look at with
    joy, joy that these people will get to be free too. I regard all new campers
    as shiny things, to be discovered and marveled at. Basically, camp is my
    second home, the place in the world I feel like I can do whatever I want
    without fear (or rationalization). Because that's just what camp is like.

I was a new camper this year, I think that people were absolutely wonderful to me...yet I do think I bonded a little more with other new campers and not as much with the older campers because they tended to hang out with mostly old campers as well..Its completely understandable, but I would just like to re-itererate what has obviously become clear to me...that these people want to get to know you sometimes it can feel a little divided between new campers and everyone else, but i found that if you try and just put yourself out there, all the campers are awsome and everyone is interested in knowing who you are. Dont be afraid to go up to people and start up a random conversation, even if you've never talked to them before. love love and I hope to get to know you all!—-breetel Reply

• Yeah, me too. But I don't usually end up remembering to check my list! Kinda like in all the rest of my life as well. ha ha. :) -rachel h.

people at nbtsc are whole. there round. there beautiful. nothing is big enough with enough words to discribe these beautiful, splended people. get to know as many people as you can. as for me, you can tell that i'm heather because i'll likely be wearing some sort of fairy wings that day,talking really quickly, really excited (sorta overwellming i'm told) and will be lugging around a black binder full of poetry. (i'm finaly taking my own damn advice and bringing something i'm proud of) oh! and don't be suprized if i randomly come up and hug you serveral, once at least in the week. nbtsc has taught me how to let go.. to form new friends. to kiss the rainbow. nbtsc is my rainbow. i hope you enjoy it. come, learn to love like you've never loved before —Heather Reply