|
Alloha! Wait... that’s not very Australian now is it? Let’s start over...
G’day!
I’m Nicholas of the infamous Smith family. In some circles, I’m known as Totora (a medieval character I portrayed many moons ago in high school) but “Hey Nic” will commonly work as a way to attract my attention. My 24 summers on this fair world have been pretty exciting so far, but I’m sure that Camp Augusta will make this one extra special.
This will be my first summer at Camp Augusta, but my second time as a camp counselor. The first was in 2003 way over in Detroit, Michigan. I was a general counselor and ran heaps of different activities from the Ga-Ga-Ga court and rocketry to cartooning and fencing. I had such a blast that I’ve decided to once more travel to the other side of the world in search of good times and great people. After camp is over for another year, I hope to travel North to Canada then hop over to China and slowly make my way South through Nepal and India. I teach English as a foreign language and have heaps of volunteer work lined up teaching in some of the poorer areas of these great nations, including a Buddhist monastery high up in the Himalayas.
I live in a little city called Perth on the West coast of a little island called Australia. My house backs onto national park and when I was growing up I spent a LOT of time charging through the bush making bike trails and jumps, climbing trees and discovering gravity, making dams in the creek, trying to sneak up on mobs of kangaroos and staying out late to spot satellites and shooting stars in the night sky. I love astronomy and all kinds of science and look forward to gazing into the somewhat different skies of the Northern hemisphere.
I graduated last year as a spatial designer from Edith Cowen University (what, you’ve never heard of it!?) and I love to make things with my hands. We design shops, furniture, window displays and even a theme-park ride. Somehow, I still managed to weave my love of origami into each of my projects. It is so rewarding to start with nothing but a big piece of cardboard and end up with something really neat at the end. I now teach at the same university and have a lot of fun helping new students learn about design and things like how colors influence our mood and appetite, and how to cut up foam core with sharp knives and walk away with all ten fingers and toes every time!
When I get a spare moment or three, I love to play with my fire poi (the sound they make as they spin past your ears *ffffwooOOOOOooosh*) and practice my contact juggling with my crystal ball. On a sunny day I like to take my bike out into the wilderness, choose a path at random and see where it goes. I haven’t gotten (completely) lost yet thanks to a working compass and a trusty map, but I’m hopeful. I just love the outdoors and still spend as much time in the bush as I can. I’m also currently playing around with various puppets and working on plenty of split personalities to share with you all at camp. Should be lots of fun.
Every day is a chance to learn something new and mind blowing. I remember the day my math teacher once doubled the number of infinity by telling us of this ‘number’ called ‘i’... when I learnt that gravity can make ripples in time... the first time I looked up at the desert sky during a scout camp and saw the Milky Way Galaxy stretching out forever... that there are entire worlds within a humble raindrop... our planet is an amazing place filled with exotic cultures and far off lands and it seems the more you learn about it, the more fascinating it becomes.
Speaking of far off lands, how much do you know about the great Southern land? Well here are a few little facts for starters...
Australia is about the same size as the USA.
There are more people in California than in ALL of Australia!
From my home it’s quicker to fly to another continent than to another state!
We have about 1500 species of spiders.
We all speak English.
Kangaroos have their own special lanes in traffic.
Tasmania Devils are real and bite harder than a crocodile.
Australia is one of the most amazing countries on earth!
(Ok, one of those may be a little lie... but just one!)
I’m counting the days until I touch down in the US of A. It will certainly be a summer to remember and can’t wait to meet you all, try some amazing new things, swap heaps of stories and forge a few new ones too.
Until then, take care and have fun.
~Nic
|
