2011年10月26日 星期三

美國童軍BSA夏令營水上活動安全制度

  美國童軍營地夏令營服務員(International Camp Staff Program)是我今年參與國際童軍活動的重頭戲,此活動只給三十歲以下經該國童軍總會推薦出的童軍所參加,營地內,服務員必須依照任務的分配,協助夏令營的進行或是指導美國小童軍相關童軍技能。營隊每一梯次為期一周,從星期日到星期六,當童軍們抵達營地,報到(需繳交個人健康記錄)完後就必須參加游泳能力檢測,每周一的中午另有全營緊急事件警報演習。服務員須時時提醒小童軍們無論到哪裡、做什麼事,都必須在夥伴制度的要求下,找一位夥伴跟著你活動,以免在營區內發生意外……種種的要求,都希望小童軍能平安快樂地在營地內活動、學習,較消極的想法是避免家長因意外的發生來控告你(美國人興訴訟)。如此嚴格的規定帶給我極大的震撼,畢竟台灣的營地相較之下,規矩等要求是相當鬆散的,我一方面也思考,若我們不論在哪個地方活動時都能有如此嚴謹的規則,活動者也都能尊重並且嚴格遵循,台灣每年常常發生的意外,如山難、溺水等,人數或許能大幅下降。以下我將針對美國童軍營地水上活動規則制度來做介紹:
  美國童軍安全游泳機制(BSA Safe Swim Defense
1. 合格監督員。合格的成人監督員在水上活動期間須全程監督。
2. 個人健康記錄。每一位泳客均須繳交完整的個人健康記錄。
3. 安全區域。游泳區內需無任何可能的危險因子存在。
4. 救生專業人員。當游泳區內有泳客時,救生員必須配戴相關救生器材全程於岸上執勤。
5. 瞭望台。瞭望台上需有專人觀看水上活動內所有人的動向。
6. 分級制。分為三級,不會游泳者、初學者、會游泳者。每個人必須根據他的分級在指定的地點內活動。
7. 夥伴制度(Buddy System)。童軍絕對不允許單獨入水活動,入水時一定要找另一名同伴進場,活動中兩人並應保持能就近照顧的距離。
8. 紀律。童軍們必須知道並尊重相關的規則,並且總是遵守救生員或是其他成年服務員的指導。
  游泳能力檢測制度:童軍們到達營地的第一件事就是參加這個檢測,並根據檢測的結果評斷是否可以下水活動。施測時,受測者在施測者(合格救生員)的監督下,必須1.腳下直立跳入水深過頭的水中;2.身體正面朝下,以任一或多種方式往前游75碼;3.身體正面朝上,以基本仰泳的方式往後游25碼;4.100碼中至少展現一次突然轉向的能力;5.游完後在四肢不動的情況下,向施測者展示能在身體正面朝上的情況下,漂浮於水上。測試結果依照程度分三種不會游泳者(Non-swimmer)、初學者(Beginner)及會游泳者(Swimmer),測試完就會拿到個人專屬的泳技能力名牌。
  泳技名牌制度(Swimming Tag System:此名牌平時掛在水上活動區外的名牌木板上,要進入水上活動區時,一定要再找另一個夥伴跟你一起活動。每個人得在柵欄外將泳裝換好,親自取下名牌後,再將名牌交給救生員,由救生員依照名牌上的泳技標示,將名牌掛在該放的位置,接著你才能進入活動區。不會游泳者和初學者只能在淺水區;會游泳者可在深水區及充氣冰山攀岩區,並且可以參加其他水上活動,如滑水、獨木舟、風帆等。活動結束要由救生員將你的名牌取下,你再把名牌親自放回到名牌木板。
  水上活動區其他注意事項
1. 聽到打雷聲時須立刻上岸,從最後一聲雷響起算30分鐘後都沒有聲響,才可再進入水中活動。
2. 在水中時要與你的夥伴保持一定的距離,當救生員喊「確認夥伴」(Buddy Check),須在十秒內牽起夥伴的一隻手並高舉,以表示你跟你的夥伴是在安全距離之內。
3. 水上活動區內除了要有救生員外,救生員的監督員也應在場,才可開放泳客們進行活動。
4.在水中打鬧時絕對不可用手臂勾住其他人的脖子,以防溺水;沒事不要隨便呼
  叫救命(Help),以免干擾救生員的判斷。

 報到後的童軍們等待接受游泳能力檢測。圖中甲板的右半部,近端為初學者游泳區,後半部為會游泳者區;左半部近端為不會游泳者玩水區,遠端充氣冰山處只有會游泳者才可以去玩(須穿救生衣才可攀爬冰山,爬到頂端後從背面直接溜入水裡)。浮球線內的範圍僅限游泳,線外為其他水上活動區(獨木舟、風帆等),游泳檢測結果為會游泳者才有資格參加其他水上活動。
 
 水上活動區外的名牌木板,若名牌上的顏色有紅藍兩色,表示該持有者屬會游泳者;只有紅色的表為初學者;白色的為不會游泳者。若要進入水上活動區,須親自取下名牌後由救生員幫你「Check-In」,再進入。活動完要將名牌放回至木板上,若名牌沒有放回,仍掛在Check-In的木板上,但是水上活動區看不到你的身影,營地就會啟動失蹤泳客搜救(LSSLost Swimmer Search)系統:包含主集合場播放警報集合所有人員點名,以及所有「會游泳的」服務員全面入水清查是否有遺體存在。
 

2011年9月4日 星期日

Special Chef @ Special Food

Photo by Anders Frick.

Special Chef @ Special Food,我在第22次瑞典世界童軍大露營成人供餐區(Adult Food)裡的特別廚房擔任廚師,特別廚房裡供應了哪些特別食物?特別廚師裡九成九都是瑞典人,只有我一個外國人,我在這裡學到、看到了哪些東西?跟著我一起來瞧瞧吧!

Special Food,特別食物
乍聽之下似乎是在準備"今日特餐",事實上,這是世界大露營為那些對食物過敏、純素或是有其他生理需求如糖尿病、LCHF節食的夥伴所提供的服務,以免讓那些夥伴跟著其他人吃一般食物時吃出了問題,變成"吃這個也癢,吃那個也癢"!特別食物由專屬的特別廚房所製備,特別廚房外觀雖然其貌不揚,跟貨櫃沒兩樣,但內裝可是一應俱全,應有盡有,正所謂麻雀雖小五臟俱全也。特別食物主要供餐給對食物過敏、有特殊生理需求的夥伴,素食者與回教徒(食用清真食物Halal)因為數量過於龐大則由大廚房統一供應。大廚房號稱每餐可供應一萬人次之伙食,特別廚房則只供應約一百多人的份量。份量小雖小,其複雜程度卻讓我乍舌不已,主廚在帶我認識工作環境與內容時,我只差沒扶著下巴接住口水,因為真的太"特別"了!

特別食物製備時最重要就是要知道夥伴們不能吃的食物。廚房牆壁上早已密密麻麻貼滿由行政組轉過來的資料或是夥伴個人手寫的需求單。我雖然會瑞典文,但沒有好到所有的字都認識,所以主廚用英文跟我解釋了一次,聽完之後,我發覺我的頭變超大。夥伴們的食物過敏原歧異度也太大了吧,以我在台灣社會生活的經驗之下,某些人了不起就是不能喝牛奶(乳糖不耐症,華人不耐比例可到93%),或是不能吃花生(歐美電影也很常演),怎麼這裡好像吃什麼都會造成問題耶。食物過敏原大宗仍為乳糖(Lactose,很特別,瑞典人根據維基百科不耐比例只有2%,但這裡還是有很多人對此過敏),其次為麩質(Gluten,一種蛋白質,可稱麵筋,來自小麥、大麥、黑麥及燕麥),再來就是花生、黑白胡椒、甜椒、洋蔥、大蒜、馬鈴薯、番茄、小黃瓜、紅蘿蔔、黃豆、海鮮、有殼海鮮、四隻腳的動物、兩隻腳的動物、糖、檸檬酸(人工添加物)、人工色素、吃全素且不吃植物素肉(Quorn)......族繁(多到滿出來)不及備載,有人甚至列出他"只能"吃的食物清單給我們,我估測了一下,應該不超過一百種。天哪!這些人是怎麼存活下來的啊?特別在瑞典或是歐洲是以馬鈴薯、麵包及乳製品為主食,這些東西不能吃,能長到這麼大應該是神的恩典!我心中頓時也感謝起我的父母,倒不是因為得了獎,而是他們把我生得那麼健康,什麼都能吃(人肉、貓、狗等不吃啦)!
Photo by CPC. 這是一般IST都會吃到的食物,裡面包含了多少敏感食材?牛奶(乳糖不耐症的不吃)、雞蛋(純素者不吃)、麵粉(對麩質過敏的不吃)、糖(糖尿病的不吃)、甜椒......?

再來就是怎麼烹煮。吃特別食物的夥伴並不希望因為自身的緣故而跟大家吃的差很大,所以我們還不能隨心所欲地"亂煮"。供餐前兩小時我們開始備料。主廚得先了解大廚房供餐的內容,所謂的內容是指詳細地食材原料表,這表在食品的外袋或是包裝上都找得到。特別聲明一點,瑞典營地食物與台灣營地食物差很多,台灣這裡會"真的"烹煮,從洗啊、切啊、炒啊等,如果廚房人手不足忙不過來就直接廠商外包,基本上維持一湯一主食四菜一水果的規模。但在瑞典營地,瑞典人本來就吃得很簡單,加上又希望食物直接由營地供應,活動人數眾多的情況下,最理想方便的食物來源就是冷凍食品,冷凍食品外包裝拆掉後排在烤盤上,放進烤箱中時間一到即可供應,你連調味都不大需要。主廚將食品外包裝上的原料表拿到手之後就要開始思考要怎樣煮才會煮出外觀看起來差不多的東西,我們烹煮的原則姑且稱做"減法原則"吧,如果這道料理由10種食材所構成,但裡面有3種食材會造成過敏,我們就要再另外煮不加這3種食材的料理。為了我們自己省事及省時,主廚有時會直接煮別的東西,例如大廚房供應中東風味烤肉串,因為這裡面有牛肉、甜椒、麵粉、胡椒調味料等太多過敏原,我們就準備只用鹽巴調味的水煮雞胸肉。除了主食,瑞典人吃飯都會淋上醬料,因此我們也要調製他們能食用的醬料出來。有一次我被要求調製糖醋醬,這糖醋醬必須要符合有人不吃番茄、不吃甜椒、不吃馬鈴薯等等的需求,所以最後我用了三個鍋子,調出了a.番茄醬(不含任何添加物)+糖+玉米粉;b.市售番茄醬+糖+醋+玉米粉;c.三色甜椒+糖+醋+玉米粉這三種不同的醬料(其中有一個是中式料理定義的糖醋醬,你知道是哪個嗎?這醬好到夥伴吃完了還跑來跟我說謝謝:這醬料太好吃了!ps.謝謝我中餐丙級周承俊老師的指導)。

Photo by CPC. 特別蛋糕!奶油不含乳糖,鬆餅則不含麩質!最上頭的番茄玫瑰花是我從清邁烹飪學校學回來的。

Special Kitchen,特別廚房

Photo by CPC. 特別廚房左翼。

大廚房跟家用廚房裡的廚具長相就是不同,如何使用是門大學問,洗碗機、爐子、烤箱、鐵板燒、保溫箱等等等,這些廚具會用還不是重點,使用時如何不讓自己 受傷最重要(這次又差點上演削指事件)!另外,鍋具的部分也要小心,為了讓某些對食物非常敏感的夥伴不因為烹煮時鍋具重複使用而有交叉汙染的情況發生,所 以我們有所謂個人專屬鍋具,特別是平底鍋,每一把鍋子的鍋柄上面貼心地貼了人名貼紙,以方便提醒廚師們給誰的食物只能用他所屬的鍋具來煮。

Special Offer,特別供餐
工作地點除了廚房,特別廚房裡的廚師們也要到餐廳站台,打菜給夥伴們食用。食物準備好後放入保溫箱中,再將保溫箱推到餐廳Special Food供應站(大餐廳在7號站,小餐廳則是20號站),供應站上放妥所有的食物,時間一到,就開始運作。夥伴們需上前表明自己是哪一種"人",我們就要依他說的把他可以吃的食物呈給他。根據一開始所描述的複雜情形,其實你也知道供應站上的食物相當多元,夥伴一開口,你就要立即反應,以免後面大排長龍,但我真的記不起來什麼要給什麼人吃啊!剛開始我還死背,到後來因為每一餐餐點都不同,所以我只好做筆記,拿紙膠帶,將料理標記起來,另外還用一張紙寫上:(- 即為減去、少掉的意思)
-Lactose→
-Gluten→
-Bell pepper→
-Tomato→
-Potato→Rice  
-Sugar→
-Pepper→
-Onion→
-Garlic→
LCHF→  
Vegan(純素)→
Vegetarian→吃6號站或19號站所供應的食物
Halal→吃21號站供應的食物

記得有一次我同一個人連續兩次給錯食物,最後還追出去把他手中的餐盤給搶回來換成他可以吃的!如果沒有這張紙幫助我記憶,大概會有很多人死在我手裡......我們不僅供餐,也會供特別飲料給這些人,如有不含乳糖的牛奶或優格、黃豆做的飲品(如豆漿,有藍莓口味的豆漿耶!)或優格、穀類飲品(如米漿),供應站另外還提供不含乳糖的酸乳(Crème fraiche)、不含乳糖的奶油、甜點、不含麩質的麵包、甜點。大露營頭幾天大夥搞不清楚特別食物是在供應什麼食物,很多人常常跑錯站,我有時被問到煩了,嘴巴裡就會開始說一些五四三:We offer special food only for special you! Are you not special enough? Normal food, other sides please!大部分的人我都能應付,但有些人的要求或問題會怪到你搞不清楚他是真的對這食物過敏還是只是單純的"挑食"!如有位老太太每次都"質問"食物裡有沒有加Fried onion(類似台灣的油蔥);有個媽媽每次都會帶小孩來我們這,他們兩個都不吃含乳糖的食物,不過,媽媽似乎很寵這個小女孩,小女孩如果哭叫什麼不吃(如沙拉,非其過敏原),媽媽就要我不用夾給她。我心想,這樣教育小孩很容易會養成偏食的情形,很多人這個嫌那個挑的,搞不好是從小沒有被好好地教育學習品嚐不同的食物!還有一次雞胸肉烤到有點燒焦,某位夥伴再三地追問雞肉焦黃是因為烤焦而不是加了醬油吧(他不能吃黃豆)?很多時後也有人不相信我們的說法,直接要求看食品包裝外原料清單,確認好沒有他不能吃的才拿。所以如果包裝沒有留好,我只好每被問到,就要跑進大廚房或我原屬的特別廚房找主廚問個清楚,每次值班跑個五趟應該還算是少的了!

工作心得
1.對過敏原以及特別食物需求的認識。因為這一次的工作經驗,使我認識到更多元的飲食要求,例如LCHF節食法、何謂清真食物,食材,如Quorn,我也養成了看食品原料表的習慣,當然不單純是練習瑞典文,但你總是要對你吃下肚的東西有所認知,有時對於跑錯站的其他夥伴,我也可以侃侃而談告訴他特別食物與一般食物的差異,趁此教育他!

2.地域文化不同的差異。這裡特別指烹調方式與食品多樣性,中式料理中很少使用到乳品,主食也是米飯,因此對乳糖或是麩質不耐的人來說沒有差別,怎麼吃都沒有問題,在台灣營地的食物選取上也不需要特別注意,頂多就分吃葷的和吃素的。反觀瑞典,料理中加牛奶加優格是相當普遍的,主食除了馬鈴薯還有麵包,這兩種不能吃的人因為這樣的飲食習慣使得有需求的人數比例大大提高。當然,瑞典對人的尊重與包容是舉世共睹的,因此這些人相較之下很容易找到可以吃的東西,種類什麼的選擇也多,舉例來說,對麩質過敏在台灣是很少見,因此要找無麩質的替代食品(指的是看起來很相似卻不含過敏原的其他產品)相當困難,以我朋友的小孩為例,她對小麥過敏,因此所有的麵包、蛋糕、餅乾啦都不能碰,吃了就會肚子痛,可是小孩還小,她哪裡懂這些,看到別人在吃香噴噴的麵包時,一定也是吵著要,因此做父母的很困擾。最近他們一家到瑞典旅遊,發覺瑞典超市裡竟然有專門提供無麩質食品的專櫃,他們高興地不得了,大買特買要帶回台灣,還當場拍照紀念這感人的一刻。

Photo by Chia-Ling Yang. 瑞典超市裡不含麩質的食品們。對麩質過敏的人還是有春天啊,淚~如果你生活在瑞典的話!

3.對衛生安全的重視。衛生安全是料理最高指導原則,這個我在學習中餐丙級時老師就耳提面命再三提醒,瑞典這裡也有自己一套管理模式:首先在廚房餐廳工作的人都要受過衛生安全講習,約一小時;上班時要換上工作服(白色T恤或是廚師服)及換鞋;供餐時要戴手套和帽子;食物沒吃完的就倒掉;垃圾分類也分的相當嚴格;廚房外的食物倉儲區有另外管理人員,廚師有需要就跟他們說,讓他們拿食材給你,倉儲人員是不准踏進廚房區的;倉儲區主要分為冷藏貨櫃區與室溫保存區,冷藏區再依照食物種類有不同的貨櫃,室溫保存區多為水果及盒裝飲料,因不想久放導致敗壞,所以進貨量都有控制,特別的生鮮食品也盡早就食用完畢。

後記
感謝這次的經驗,讓我的履歷表更加豐富,以後除了當老師、導遊,當廚師應該也是沒問題了!(笑)

2011年8月17日 星期三

美國營地回顧

六周咻一下就過了,看了很多,學了很多,當然也賺了很多(誤)。以下簡單記錄所聞所見:

1營地規則
a.營地內不可穿拖鞋、涼鞋、Crocs 等等露趾、跟鞋,只能穿運動鞋或登山鞋(全包式),以免受傷。
b.營地內不可跑步,可以快走,因為怕你跌倒!
c.不論去哪裡,請夥同一位同伴前往(Buddy system),以免發生不測。
d.要保持喝水,即使是陰天,不要脫水中暑了!(Dehydrated)
e.進入食堂時要脫帽。
f.聽聞升降旗時要原地立正。
g.每堂課時間為五十分鐘,主講人沒有說下課時不可離開,不過喝水上廁所是允許的。

2工人守則
a.工人年齡分為18以下、18以上到21之間、21以上,三種年齡層有不同的福利!
-18以下的每周末一定要回家;18以上的則可以於周末時待在營地鬼混。
-21以下的算小孩,21以上是成人,小孩和成人不可同住一間房,根據法律必須分開,以免有狎玩孩童之情事發生。
-每個工人周間有一天的晚上是Free night,18以下的要在當晚11:30之前回到營地;18以上到21之間要在12:30前回來、21以上在隔天早上升旗前回到營地即可。
b.根據合約,不可與他人討論薪水。
c.根據合約,簽約時即已同意營地有權使用其肖像權(如果照片有拍到你又被公開的話)。
d.不可抽菸、喝酒、嗑藥。
e.

2011年6月28日 星期二

Day 17 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

Crazy Hat Day today!
The campers of this week had more crazy hats than last week. Actually, there was a troop which could win the name of "the most CRAZY troop!" I guessed their troop leaders did. When they took off their hats, everyone had a new hair cut! All the boys! Wowwwww! One boy had a "water course" hair cut (about 5 cm wide) crossing from his forehead to his afterbrain. One boy only shaved his hair for one side of his head. And, one boy with Asian face had his head like a Japanese Samurai. Hahaha! To get along with his purple and fuzzy hat. So cute!

Morning class
You bet. I was supposed to teach First-Aid this morning, but we had knots and fire making eventually... Fine, I had a good time today with kids. The kids needed to show us how to make a square knot by using the EDGE method.
E=Explain
D=Demonstrate
G=Guide
E=Enable
Some of the kids were really good at teaching, although they were only 10-11 years old. I was very touched by two kids' conversation then. One of them was too nervous to show me the EDGE, so I said, "relax, and I will go back to you later, okay?" The other boy, who had shown me the EDGE, came to him and started to teach him how to make a square knot. The teaching lasts at least 15 minutes, I was very impressed at the guiding boy's PATIENCE. That's awesome! Finally, the boy learned how to make it with any help. The guide and I were cheering for him! I gave them a small gift from Taipei Confucius Temple. There were some good phrases (in Chinese though) on it. X的,手殘把後面原本打好的英文稿刪掉了!我的天哪!好,反正,孔廟小卡是要鼓勵他們一個是很棒的小老師;一個是很認真不放棄學習的好學生!至於這麼好學生後來我才了解他才剛成為童軍,什麼都沒學過,所以完全對技能沒有一點經驗,我一直鼓勵他繼續嘗試(他後來還學會了雙套、雙半和營繩),希望他不要因為這些小挫折回去以後就再也不當童軍了!

*和其他童軍聊天,有一位團長曾去英國的世界大露營,他說他很喜歡該露營,我真不敢告訴他我很後悔付這麼多錢去那裡......XDDD
*有一位小童軍七月也要去瑞典世界大露營,到時候見了!
*營地工人群中有一位擁有三顆木章,簡單詢問後了解,美國木章取得制度和台灣差不多:兩階段露營、一大堆作業和承諾要做(18個月內要完成),然後就能取得!木章制度基本上全世界都一樣吧?

傍晚降旗典禮上終於把所有的"梗"都用掉了:場上說話的人要是說到關鍵字如Announcement, Points, Notes 所有的工人就會上前把那個人團團圍住唱歌做弄他,超好笑的,這個我喜歡~我一定要把所有的歌都學起來。上星期的閉幕營火,有一群小朋友學J說話說到這三個關鍵字之後工人的反應(衝上前去把人包起來唱歌),把大家笑得快死掉了。

晚上突然多了出來(本來要幫忙垂降的,結果說是暫停,因為授課者晚上放假),我和2G去玩射箭Archery還有散彈槍Shotgun。射箭這是我第二次玩,G幫我把弦調到剩約7公斤時我才有辦法把弦往後拉(一開始它讓我試10公斤,我拉都拉不動),我射得很...差,箭有些都飛不知道哪裡去,G說射箭要憑感覺瞄準靶心,哇勒,憑感覺哩!好吧,照他說的做,結果還越射越好哩,神奇,說真的我瞄的地方可是靶的右下角哩!(單憑左眼看時)。散彈槍就真的是第一次玩了,槍跟來福槍差不多重,不過瞄準和射擊的方式不大一樣。我一開始是搞不清楚S要問什麼,我以為他問我用哪一隻眼睛瞄準,結果他要問我是左撇子還是右撇子,兩個人位置因此換來換去,我覺得我真是蠢斃了。之後總算是要練習開槍了,目標是一個由機器射出來的飛盤,這也太難了吧,槍很重,還要將槍隨著飛盤移動的方向做調整,我整個人真得是很沒有這方面的天份,六七發都是亂打,慘不忍睹,還好S只在乎我有沒有覺得好玩,有沒有射到......下次再說吧。回房洗澡時我發現,右邊肩窩因為子彈發射後坐力的關係,黑青啦!有沒有這麼誇張啊!我好弱......

2011年6月27日 星期一

Day 16 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

I felt so bad for the teaching today. I'd never know when I would teach orienteering or what the schedule for today was. They said one schedule in the beginning, and then they asked me to teach orienteering next second! What's this!? Anyway, I felt very upset today. I realized that Taiwanese scouts are still very good in a way, at least, when it comes to giving a quality course to the scouts! (We are more and well-prepared!)

*There was a land turtle (15cm long) crawling to the shelter of Trailblazers today. Cool!

The waterfront was closed due to the continuous thunders! Oh. What a pity! I was planning to get some exercise today!

*There was a helicopter landing next to the assembly field in the evening. Kind of cool. Well, I hoped that the assembly could finish asap so that I could go to eat. However, the helicopter caught everyone's attention, also J's! Man, who cares about the helicopter? Give me food! I am starving!

I also helped the COPE this evening while other staff had "smack down" with other troop leaders. I tried the Zip Line today, super fun!

*There will be no picture on this camp journal, for the WiFi here is super slow! (It's killing me.)

Day 15 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

New campers are coming! We are going to run a whole new week!
However, I can't feel the campers' spirit and energy yet. (Hello guys, what's up?)

The staff holds the welcome campfire to the campers tonight. I still like all the shows, except the effect of the microphones. Hey! Are the run out of  batteries? I can't hear you...

2011年6月25日 星期六

Day 14 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

Holiday!

W and N took me to buy some food for the weekend. On the way to the destination, we had some sightseeing spots at a flea market (not very impressive) and a Chinese restaurant! The restaurant was named Chen's Garden. Ha! My garden! I was so happy to be able to eat (American) Chinese food, because we were served almost nothing (milk-I would have胃食道逆流, cereals-I don't like at all, cookie-super sweet=errrrrr... that's all. I didn't eat any of them then.) for breakfast this morning... Chen's Garden had its Grand Opening today, ohhhh, lucky me! This restaurant had exactly the same type of food I saw at other Chinese restaurant in US or in other countries, which means the portion was huge and the taste was more salty, sweet and fried. I had nothing to complain anyhow. I was just happy enough to see Chinese restaurant wherever, so that I could have them to cure my homesickness of taste. 

On the way back to the camp, we talked about the real estate in US, and W showed me a "Gated Community". To live in the community, you have to have your house the same as others and, be fenced. Crazy! I had no idea who would like to live here. However, the view here was gorgeous! (Saw a turkey!) The mountains spread in front of you.  You could see at least 100 km far, I thought, like at the top of 七星山.

It's chatting time for me and Anders during the weekend. I complained a lot about the weak internet. I became super upset that I couldn't speak normally. Thanks to iPad2 and The Fring, we finally could share our stories. I miss you... ~T_T~ 4 weeks to go. Heja på dig och mig!

Day 13 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

I had a great achievement with my English speaking, hooray!!

I helped the merit badge for Citizenship in the world today, because one of the requirements is the scout needs to talk to a scout from another country about his/her culture/holiday/food/value, etc. I introduced Taiwan to them basically. I thought I only gave them a very short introduction, but I found out I could keep talking for 50 minutes! Wow! In total, I had 4 sections of introduction with different scouts, which means I have practiced my speaking for almost 4 hours. That's impressive!

I didn't know what to say in the beginning, for I thought SCOUTS would ask questions. But no? Okay! I introduced Taiwan from Geography to culture, political status, holidays, and much more. For the first section, I didn't prepare any visual material to enhance their impression of Taiwan. I then took out the stuff with Taiwan's special (Taipei 101, national flag, flower...) I bought in 2010 Taipei Int'l Floral Expo to appeal their attention. In fact, the stuff worked very well! Kids asked me more questions, and we also have better and better interaction! Next week, I will try to prepare more in advance, like the "Unit conversion" and more statistic facts, or even some films!

In the afternoon, I chatted with Bill and Billy (盲胞童軍). Bill said because of Billy, he started to stop to think what is more important in his life. Job? or Company with Billy and discover the beauty of the world? I was touched. So many people lived without happiness and enjoyment. Why? Maybe because they have their jobs at the top of the priority... They loved to travel, and they have traveled many countries and have listed a LONG to-do list. I wish they could come to visit Taiwan in the near future!

Tonight would be the last night of the camp, which means campers parents would visit the camp, and the kitchen would run out of food in very short time. Yap, nothing fun to eat, errrrrr! I went back to cook my instant noodles instead... Poor me...:-(

At 8 was the closing camp fire. before it started, an man came to talk ma in Mandarin! He was born in China and had been living in Hualien in Taiwan for almost 20 years. That's why he could speak very fluent Mandarin. To my surprise, he was at the same age of my grandma, but he still remembered how to say. Awesome!!!
The camp fire was held at the side of the lake. I loved the show about Imitating John especially. That's so funny!!!! Hahahaha! Don't say "Announcement, points, or notes" at the Camp Grimes, otherwise... Kkkkkkk! The sunset was amazingly beautiful. A beaver swam casually through the lake. Fireflies held their small lanterns to celebrate this happy ending.
                                     Trailblazars and me!

2011年6月24日 星期五

Day 12 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

Afternoon
The highlight was I helped the blind boy swim~ Basically, I just watched him, since he has learned how to swim by his father. He swam super much today. When he had rest, we also chatted with each other in the water. He had a very positive attitude toward his life. That's my impression!

Evening
I had a night-off every Thursday evening after the assembly. Other staff had promised to take me to hang around, so I dressed up and became very excited. We had 5 cars in total. We went to T.G.I Friday's first to have some "real food". I had a special price (12.99. 16.34 after the tax and the service charge) for three dishes. They were yummy and tasty, especially the angel hair pasta with chopped tomato. I loved it! It reminded me my favorite thin noodles! However, the portion was huge. I almost couldn't walk afterwards with my giant belly. Man~~ S's girlfriend had her birthday today. 2C and J had a small play: They held the brooms and asked different people, "Is today your birthday?" Then, finally, they went to her and sang the birthday song! Other guests in the restaurant turned to see what we were doing at that time. Scouts always try to catch everyone's attention, haha.

Finally, we arrived at the dancing hall. Wow! The hall was full of people! A live band playing the music, too! The type of the dance is called Country Dance. The MC told everyone how to dance and then we enjoyed the music and the dance. It's hard for me to understand what the MC said, because of the bad quality of the microphone. My partner emphasized that the MC was actually not good at instructing how to dance at all (everyone was complaining), which means if I didn't understand him, not my fault! :-) Anyway, I was the representative of Taiwan and I have been dancing for a long time. I could easily follow up all the steps without any problem. Of course I made some mistakes, but I didn't care! We only danced three songs this night, for we were late there. I really loved dancing with other people, I wish I could come next week! I Love Folk Dance! Hooray!

2011年6月22日 星期三

Day 11 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

Today was Crazy Sun Glasses Day! Everyone wore funny glasses! (Yesterday was Crazy Hat Day)

Morning
I was told I should teach orienteering 20 minutes later. What? I thought we would learn knots and chopping today! Anyway, I tried to find required teaching materials from our poor teaching resources room ASAP. I didn't have everything I wanted, which made me stressed, "how can I teach without enough materials??". I was really nervous and didn't know what I was talking about in the beginning. I had a bearings game first. Second, I talked about the maps, like how to read a map and how to orient a map. I tried to explain as clear as possible with my poor English. However, maybe my speaking speed was too slow, the kids became sleepy. They turned to be alive until we had a small map legend/symbol competition. In short, I should speak faster; I should collect enough teaching materials before teaching, like paper, pens, camp maps, white board markers, corns, white newspaper, etc.; I should have more games and questions to the kids... Anyway, I have had a start, good for me! Nice job, Ching-Pei!

-Rundown for orienteering:
Introduction-Why should we learn orienteering?
Bearings game
What is a map? What can you see on a map?
Legend/symbol game
How to orient a map? Drawing your own map game
Knowing your compass. Something you can do and something you can't do with your compass.
Measure the bearings (practice one by one)
How to orient a map with your compass? (practice)
Closing and prize ceremony

After the orienteering, we had our chopping class, which the kids loved and expected most. I realized that USA had so many rules for using a pocket knife, a sawand an ax. To me, it was just complicated and confusing. I couldn't remember the different names and functions for knives and axes... In the end of the class, I also asked the kids to clean the surroundings up. I said, "Try to make the place better than you found it!" To my surprise, other staff was very happy that I announced this ( then we don't need to clean hard tomorrow morning!), and There were also quite many volunteers to sweep the floors! Good boys!

Lunch
I had a small interview by a blind kid and his father today. I was touched that the kid was keen to know my background and my story. He also told me that he would like to be in any international staff program when he turns 18. He was so strong and positive! Good job, Billy!
They went swimming in the afternoon. They had a very great time in the water. They tossed a ball to each other and swam within the beginner area... Waht a nice picture! He did have a very nice father to company and instruct him!

Afternoon
Water, water! I was lazy to put on sun screen... I would become dark anyhow. XDDDDDD I floated on an air bed. I kept moving my arms in order to get rid of my "butterfly upper arms!" (hopefully!) 

Evening
Because of the heavy rain, we canceled the outdoor activities. In stead, we had a small show at the Open Shelter with FREE ice cream! We had a great magic show, sweet songs, and nice instruments playing... What a lovely evening~~~

2011年6月21日 星期二

Day 10 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

Morning
Our patrol went 5-mile hiking this morning. We had a quick look at what we should be careful with at the shelter, and then, it was time to go out. I didn't know how long was 5miles, so I just kept following. We had a small loop passing all cool activity areas (T introduced how fun they were and encouraged them to join at their free time.) and a big loop (still inside the camp). T kept asking kids to drink water in order to avoid getting dehydration. That's why we spent so much time on waiting for bottles filled up (This was killing me!) In my opinion, kids should also know how to deal with limited water (Holding a mouth of water for 1 minute and drink it very slowly down into your throat is a good idea to save your water), not just kept drinking water like this. Anyway, we are afraid of being sewed by their parents. Just follow up the right things they think. I don't want to try to change anything. The kids were well disciplined once again I wanted to mention, because they were only 10 to 11, they just kept walking and walking! Some kids of course became tired and started to complain how long have we walked or how many miles were left... As staff, the only thing I could do was try to encourage them, or told them the funny facts of the plants we saw. And never, ever, tell them we have walked xx miles or we still have xx miles to go. "You shouldn't let them expect anything", T said.

Afternoon
In the water again. The sun light was tooooooooo strong today! I must remember to buy Aloe Vera on the weekend... C observed the clouds (直展雲) far away were getting bigger and bigger. In the end, we had to go back to the shelter because of the thunderstorm warning! (According to the rule, once the thunderstorm is coming, the waterfront has to be shut down for 30 minutes until the waning is released. The kids and staff stayed in the shelter and had a short lesson about the advantage of fitness, which was good and very useful!
Ps. I lost my screw to the glasses. Shit! My most expensive pair! I will absolutely complain to the salesman when I go back!

Evening
I was helping watch the kids on belay, too. Some people in my group were missing. Why? Why didn't they need to come? They had night-off already? I don't think so!

2011年6月20日 星期一

Day 09 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

More storms came this morning! Gloomy Monday... +"+

Later on, we started to meet and to teach our small campers. Unlike 國中童軍營,we didn't have any game or something special to split out the patrols, which let me feel a little bit pity. Maybe I could do something fun next week? (Need to prepare more for my English teaching... TAT~~) T and I had almost 30 campers this week. They are all 11 or 10 years old. In my opinion, they did have very god control and discipline. We talked about first aid the whole morning, and they just kept answering our questions and got involved in the courses. Wow! Brilliant! I didn't teach very much today. I couldn't talk like a machine gun as my buddy did. When it was my turn, in order not to talk so much (I really couldn't make it. Too many terms.), I got an idea. I split them into even small groups, and I gave each of them different topic(such as, blisters, small cuts and scalds, snakebite, stings, minor burn, frostbite, sunburn and so on.)  to discuss with each other. After five minutes, they needed to come to the stage to tell everyone their conclusion. That's great, wasn't it? I didn't need to say so much. They got chances to review what they have learned. They learned how to give a speech in front of everyone. And, they also learned more by being questioned by other people. Anyway, for this week, I could do like this. I just need to memorize more for the coming week, so that I can handle more fluently.

Emergency Drill of LSS
Everyone is required to do this every Monday before the lunch. Once they have done this, they know what to do whenever they hear the warning alert.

Waterfront
In the afternoon, campers visit the lake according to their shift. We staff then had to WATCH them swimming. There were two shifts in the afternoon, so we kept in the water for two hours. The water was colder than last week though, G and I finally rested at the bank. G started to dig the sand. Guess what? He got clams! Awesome! the golden one! How come! Here in the lake! We collected a lot, and I almost wanted to cook the clam soup in the staff lodge...

Evening Assembly
When it comes to dinner, everyone has to dress up with their uniform. After the flag ceremony, I was introduced to all the campers. I said welcome to say 你好 instead of Hello and KONICHIWA (I have been thought I am from Thailand, Vietnam, and here you go, Japan!) when they see me. I heard 你好 everywhere then. :-D

Evening course was COPE. Rock climbing, Zip-line gliding and Belay. I observed the Belay carefully to see how they did. Basically, they did the same as I do in school. I just need to purchase more helmets and gloves to let the climbers and the person who helps on belay have more protection. Then, it should be Okay. One leader suggested one of the climber's hands should put behind the bottom to be the self/natural break. It could be an idea. Otherwise, you just ask someone else to do the lower check (The rope should wind through the person's left hand to back waist and out of the wight hand.).

2011年6月19日 星期日

Day 08 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

Campers are coming to town (camp)~
The weekend ended at noon. All the staff put on their camp uniform to welcome the coming campers. Staff in group gave each troop orientation of this camp. I was not assigned to do this, but I followed P and J in order to see how it was going.

The orientation/inspection steps were like this:
The campers were interviewed one by one by the camp doctor to see if they were in good health condition.
Then, we inspected their tents and made notes. Once they broke anything afterwards, they had to compensate. 
In addition,  they needed to do the swimming test. They might get their name tag and would be educated the safety in Waterfront area.

Dinner
We had too many campers this week, so campers had to eat according to their shift time. Today was our (Trailblazars) turn to be the servants. We washed our hands and had plastic apron and gloves to make the tray. Working in a big kitchen like this? So fun!

Welcome party
The show was arranged by the staff. The campers just sat on the bench and enjoyed the show. On Friday, it will be their show time!

Day 07 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

Lonely Saturday @ staff lodge with C and G.
We kind of did nothing the whole day. Well, we did chat a lot with each other. I therefore got some practice for my speaking at least! (My weakest part is absolutely SPEAKING... TAT~~) These two guys, one was qualified gun holder, and the other was very good at swimming. I asked if we could do something fun in the lake or at the range. They said NO! They needed supervisors(but everyone else was home now.) to watch them. Once they broke the rule, they would be kicked out of the camp right away! Ooook, sounded serious. So we kept staying indoors. In the afternoon, a big thunderstorm hit this place. Outside turned into gloomy in few minutes, and then strong wind and heavy rain everywhere! Horrible! It ended one hour later. I walked out and saw our ranger check the damage, e.g. fallen trees and power failure(!). All in a sudden, he looked at me and said I have something for you. Wowwww!! A whole new pillow and a set of cookwares! He was so nice~ I finally could cook my meal afterwards! I have ever used my element to boil the water for instant noodles. I also used the coffee glass pot to cook spaghetti this noon. My buddies and I decided we should have better meals for the next weekend, either Chinese food or, of course, American food.

2011年6月18日 星期六

Day 06 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

Clean it up!
Staff was going to have vacations on the weekend, so we were asked to do the cleaning first. Trailblazars was in charge of the staff lodge. It's not a tough job though, I also learned some new words at the same time, like broom(掃把) and dust pan(畚斗。They don't have a handle/pole/stick for the pan. It's so weird. How can you collect the dust? Ask for another person's help? I don't get it.).

Then, I became uncomfortable while everyone was waiting for dismissing. I mean, everyone will go home! How about me? Stay in the camp for the weekend? Awful!  But, do I have other choices? Well, I can ask for a ride to somewhere else... I think I am just lazy to ask. Besides, I have no idea what is fun in NC. Anyway, I was glad there were still some people staying during the weekend. We got no food on the weekend, so we went to town to buy some food then. It took us forever to reach the town, sort of. America is just huge, isn't it? Our destination was Walmart. Um, that's ALL. They said you got everything here in Walmart, but where was the fresh vegetable/fruits? Shit, I could only hang around with the cans and the noodles this weekend! Thanked God at least they sold INSTANT NOODLES and INSTANT RICE here. I got tons of them immediately! Other staff chose chips, cereals, candies, and so on for their meals. You can tell who is not American once you look at the shopping basket obviously (haha!). I wouldn't take those food as my meals. I would die of those shits, okay? Die! My short conclusion is Taiwan is the best food tasting destination. Everything is DELICIOUS and WARM and CHEAP and HANDY.  I want Taiwanese food... T_T~~~ I have lost weight within the five days... 
                                      Sightseeing hot spot in Marion(?)!

In the evening, I studied Safe from Harm and was certified in the end (Yahoooo!). The course is awesome. Everyone should study it. I just realize that in order to be a good teacher, I still have a long way to go. Communication should be more serious. Keep those points (from the web site) in mind.

Day 05 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

Today is the last day for traing before the camp starts.
In the morning, some "somebodies" came to visit the site. One leader (troop committee) had a "long" stop at our area. He asked all the details about our preparation from how to separate the patrols to the equipment. Everyone even did the teaching demonstration again in front of him again. In short, he was keen to know how and what we have prepared during the week and encouraged us to do our best for the coming weeks. I like this mental support very much. When I work in a Taiwanese camp, we also have Mr./Ms. Big to see how we are in the camp. However, they seldom ask for the details like the leader did today, basically, if they see everything is fine on the "surface", they become satisfied and then leave. Mr.S told me why those people came to the camp afterwards. We could call these people sponsers of the camp. They have donated so much to the camp, and it's time for them to see how their money is used to. I kept asking, how and why did you have so many sponsers? We always had problems collecting enough money to run a camp, e.g. 國中童軍營. He answered, you should step out and talk to people. Once people understand how good Scouting is, you will get what you need in the end from those people. Wow, interesting! He has the same thinking as my principal! But, I agree with that, Scouting needs better PR in order to let the public understand us.

In the afternoon, we had a LSS training. LSS, Lost Swimmer Search. It's a very serious training. Once the waterfront staff realizes that someone is missing (No one is in the water, but its name tag is still on the check-in wall.), the camp has to collect people by playing the alarm to the assembly field to see if it's only the person who forgets to check its name tag out or we do have a missing person. If it is the second, then all the staff has to put on their swimming suits and starts to search in the water. The waterfront is separated into two areras, swimmers' and beginners'. The swimmer staff is asked to search in the entire area, while the beginner staff only needs to help search in the beginners' area. ( Thanks God that I am only the beginner!) To search in the swimmers' area, the staff has to stand in line with their right arm streched to the next person's shoulder on the dock. Then, it's buddy check! The people in pair need to grab the other person's hand and to raise the hands up with counting off. The staff glides into the water. First, they need to check if the body is stock in the bottom of the dock. They dive into the water vertically. Once they touch the bottom with their feet, they may float up with their one hand raised over their head in order not to hit the dock with their heads. The staff turns around and does again the buddy check. And then, they dive into the water. When their hands touch the bottom, they have to swim three strokes before heading up. The lifeguard on the dock asks everyone to stay in line, which means if someone doesn't swim very far, others have to swim back until being at the same line as the person. For the rest, just repeat doing the buddy check and diving until finding out the body. As for the beginners' area, the staff stands in a line, side by side, with their arms escorted. The staff walk forwards with their feet feeling the bottom of the water. Once you touch some thing, you may shout out, stop! Everyone is supposed to stop wand wait for your checking. If it is a body, mission ends. Otherwise, everyone will continue searching. I helped out the begginers' area searching. After 20 minutes, my buddy found a fake limb put there by the lifeguards before. We shouldn't say it's great that we found it! I mean, you know how horrible it will be once you are look for a real body! In short, I appreciate this training, and it is necessary to do once your camp schedule contains water activities. BSA takes this training very seriously. We even have the alarm gathering training with all the campers every Monday morning!

We talked about how to evaluate our activities afterwards. Campers/Troop masters are our customers. Customers are not alway right, but they are still the customers! In order to let the camp run well in the future, we just need to work as hard as we can.


In the evening, we had our camp fire rehearse. The fire was at the other side of the lake. I felt so good that the fire place was next to the lake, although it should be at the center of the arena according to my experience. We had MCs, master of ceremony, to introduce the rundown. It's just so fun and everyone was laughing all the time. It was super dark when the camp fire rehearsal ended. I followed another group to go back to our rooms. The leader was a little bit lost his direction, so we spent more than 30 minutes until the destination. I was scared...

Staff's free time
Football, basketball and frisbee. I joined the frisbee, since I hate to play balls. I am not good at it!

2011年6月15日 星期三

Day 04 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

Now, I will use my iPad (show off) to post today's diary! (Thank to Anders!)
Work
We Trailblazars did voluntary work for Scoutcraft this morning. In addtion to that, Mr.D also guided us to review the knots and lashings. It's making me full when I tried to remember all the new vocabulary. You know what I mean... Keep fighting with new words.
In the afternoon, staff from three departments gathered together to have "teaching demonstration". That's so exciting! I was going to teach in English! My heartbeat turned into 130(?) immediately when It was my turn. My show was about orienteering: how to set up a map. It was the same as I had my demonstration at the Scout Association of China (Taiwan) two years ago when ICSP applicants went through all the tests. I was approved after all with many compliments. Well, orienteering is my strongest part among all the skills. If I failed, it would be no fun at all. I appreciated the activity very very much (more than I can say). I actually suggest Taiwanese camps should adopt this system before they go. You just want to make sure that all the kids can get qualified lessons, don't you? These program leaders were fantastic. They not only gave compliments to us, they also let you know how you could improve yourself next time. I was so touched and impreesed, for the leaders were still young. But, they absolutely knew how to deal with teaching approprriately! We sat down in a circle in the end. We took turns sharing which part we could be better next time, our greatest weakness and strength were, and so on, which made me reflect myself and made a wish that I would survive for the following 5 weeks!
Staff's free time - Song Feast
Everyone got crazy and enjoyed singing loudly at the Open Shelter. So fun! Although I only understood 50 percents of lyrics. = =; Never mind, you just opened your mouth to pretend you were singing and shook your body with everyone!

Murmuring - Orienteering
I read the merit badge book for orienteering today. I just don't understand why BSA wants scouts to know "how to use a compass" right after "what is orienteering?". It doesn't make any sense at all! What is more important when it comes to "Orienteering"? Reading a map or using a compass? When you try to navigate yourself, you don't always have a compass with you, but you do have a map. I need to talk to someone who knows the system here to get its logic.

2011年6月14日 星期二

Day 03 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

Work
Lots of reading today, in order to know what we are going to do for campers. Thanked to iPad Anders gave me. I didn't need to struggle for words! Basically, I just clicked and looked it up! (iPad became a dictionary? Ummmmm.....)

Free time - Jogging
I got the camp orienteering map today. I decided to have a short exploring tour before the dinner. I memorized the route I would take, and then I went! The camp was big and steep enough for me to get exercise. I should do it more often to discover more beauties within the camp site!

Free time - Swimming
I became beginner for swimming today! Yahoo~ We staff had a swimming test in the evening to see who could be beginner or swimmer during the camp. Once you are certified, you can do the water activities based on your level. I was so nervous in the beginning. I asked for all the details with shaky body (The temperature was so low...less than 20 degrees out of water.) in order to get more time to prepare emotionally. I took off my glasses and became brave. I mean, I couldn't see well, I just needed to jump in. The guard said the water was not as deep as I thought anyway (2 meters). After some minutes, I jumped in and started to swim like a frog. Maybe 50-75 meters? Then, it's time for the last part: backstroke. Well, I do know how to float in My way. I failed to move my hands like a bird while I was swimming( never done that before). So I was only the beginner. The guard said I am welcome to learn and redo the test one day!

Evening lesson
We talked about Sexual Harassment after swimming. I just realized Taiwanese scout leaders need to pay more attention to this issue before their camp or so starts, since we rarely talk about this. This is absolutely a good way to prevent everyone, from children to adults, from harming (sexual harassment, bullying, abuse, taking drugs...) during the event. See, the 22nd WSJ also asks all the staff to get through http://safefromharm.se/ .

Ohhh, today was also a full moon day. So lovely when fireflies flew around.

Tradition of Camp Grimes
Yell/scream/shout out the sentence on your meal plate, and everyone should yell back! Very fun! ps. The sentence could be: Do not take drugs......

2011年6月13日 星期一

Day 02 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

It's a long day today~~~~~
I woke up at 6:30 in order to be in the Open Shelter in time. Getting up so early is just killing me, and we staff need to do this for 6 weeks! Man! But I have no other choice... This week would be staff's preparation week, and we will struggle with kids for the rest of 5 weeks.

My first meal at the camp.
I was so surprised that we got so little food (Am I not in USA???). I became super starving at 10. I even had stomachache. Anders said it could be from the jet lag. I would absolutely try to save some bread later on to prevent me from starving again. XDDDDDDDD

First task.
We didn't start to work right after the flag ceremony, for we had to get rid of a wasp nest with D-BEE first. Wasp nest? As Johan said to me last year in Ransberg, "You just take it down with your hands and cast it away like pitching a ball!" we could do the same here! Haha! Anyway, we cleaned out our shelter in good order then. I was also oriented today so I knew what I would do in the future. Basically, I would hang around with Tenderfoot scouts. I should teach them Scouting skills or so. I was happy that I bought a book called Camp Out some years ago so I could do preparation for tons of Scouting lingoes and terms before the camp. I still needed to fight with them, however, because my CPU is out of space....

Staff's free time
In the evening, all the staff went down to have softball game on the beautiful grassland. Softball? I have never played that before, but I still took a try. And, guess what? I succeeded! I did hit the ball for two times!! Wow~ I thought I just had this talent. (kkk~~) I appreciated my team members' yell and greetings! You guys were just awesome!

Day 01 - ICSP @ Camp Grimes

All way shaky to CLT from CPH... That's awful! However, here I come, North Carolina!

Mr.D fetched me in the airport. Thank to him so that I could arrive at the camp safely and in "dry". On our way to the camp, there was a super heavy rain with lightening. Well, NC greets me in its way. I am sure I will be fine here for 6 weeks loooo (遇水/雨則發). Mr.D treated me the most popular and famous food in NC, pork BBQ with sour and spicy chopped cabbage. The restaurant was full of pig's stuff, such T-shirt, doll, pictures and so on. I would really like to take photos for my sister. She would fall in love in this place! (Her zodiac is Pig.)

Camp Grimes was just huge and green. After being introduced to everyone, Mrs.N showed me my future room, which had 3 beds inside. I would be only one using the room during the summer. Isn't it a super nice news? I have my own room and 3 beds to choose which to sleep on every day!

2011年6月8日 星期三

毛地黃為何有"黃"字在裡頭?明明花是桃紅色的啊?

四月時帶日本人遊士林官邸,當時被問到毛地黃花明明不是黃色的,但為何名字裡面有個黃字(我寫漢字給日人看)。這個問題困擾我很久,幸運的是,五月我參加了植物生態導覽訓練班,其中的講師解答了我的疑問,讓我不再困惑,以下是原因:

毛地黃名字由來:它為何被叫毛地黃呢?是因為它有著佈滿茸毛的莖葉及酷似地黃的葉片,因而有「毛地黃」名字;又因為它來自遙遠的歐洲,因此又稱為「洋地黃」。
來源網站

原來是因為其葉子長的像地黃的葉片故名,至於地黃是什麼呢?地黃是一種中藥材,依其炮製程度不同,屬性與用途也不同。更多資訊

我們來比較一下地黃與毛地黃的圖片吧:
地黃照










毛地黃照-花與植株














果然!葉子是蠻像的,因為上面覆滿小細毛故名毛地黃。毛地黃現在這個時後就可以在台灣的山坡上看到芳蹤,但小心有毒!不過她可是可以拿來作為心臟用藥,對人類有很大的貢獻低~

每日一花,到此為止,謝謝收看,咱們下次見。