Discover Something New #14

Hello everyone! I realize that I haven't written for a month, but that's because not much has changed, though a lot has happened. I'm still at the English program in Long Beach, but at the moment I'm writing from Las Vegas. We're here on a weekend trip with the students, and it's been very interesting indeed. I always thought that Vegas would be a rather dirty, artificially over-cheery place, filled with cheap entertainment at expensive prices. But I've actually really enjoyed myself here. The casinos are really beautiful and interesting, there are a lot of friendly people, and I quite enjoyed gambling a little. Being paid to travel here doesn't hurt, either.

Rather than list the usual Discover Something New items, I'm going to list the new experiences I've had in the last month or so, in no particular order.
- Sang karaoke for the first time
- Entered a casino (Circus Circus)
- Gambled at a casino. Won $10 at a 2 cent slot machine on my first try at the Excalibur Casino. Quickly lost it at the Black-Jack table at Circus Circus. Enjoyed it.
- Tried a shot of jager. Haven't decided if I like it.
- Went on my first really big roller coaster at 6 Flags Magic Mountain. Then immediately after went on a second. Then immediately after threw up my breakfast.
- Got yelled at and threatened by a crowd of hulking Russian teenagers, several times.
- After the frustration of being yelled at, I punched a nearby wall a little too hard, and for the first time hurt my hand badly enough that it's a little painful to type this 24 hours later.
- Participated in surprise room searches of about 20 room in search of illicit material. Didn't enjoy it or find anything.
- Learned again that no matter how much experience or understanding someone has of the interaction and motivations of people, there will always always always be something completely unexpected to shock you.
- Bought a new sword, a Chinese straight-sword (need to learn the correct name). Really like it and the price ($30).
- Helped in a "raid" in which three Spanish, four French, and two Swiss students were caught drinking. They have been or will be sent home.
- Learned to drive a 15 passenger van on a LA freeway. I'm not a fan of that.
- Ate sushi as a main course for the first time. Enjoyed it.
- Experienced how stress can seriously shrink one's appetite. Frustrating.
- Bought a plane ticket to Chicago (will be there probably from August 8th-14th) to visit Matt Slabaugh, Jessie Folk, and Steve Cone. Wheeee!

The program is now in its last week, and I have mixed feelings over that, of course. It has been exhausting, and quite emotionally draining. The most traumatic element was being abruptly taken out of the first program where I had put a lot of energy into a number of friendships. About half way through the second program with another 300 students started in another campus, and about half of the leaders were sent there. It was rather disjointing, and I never really recovered. For a variety of reasons it is much more difficult to develop friendships at this second campus, so there haven't really been any rewarding relationships with the students. The leaders have drawn pretty close together, but it means that there's a definite "us vs. them" mentality all around. Keeping 300 teenagers moving on time and getting to bed by bedtime are the major chores, where we become more enforcers than anything. I've learned some valuable lessons through this. I am okay with not being liked for doing what's right, I've learned to be more comfortable with direct authority, and I've learned to keep up defenses. I think a number of the students here are either slightly fearful of me or hostile, maybe both. And because of the fact that we're bordering on chaos, I haven't tried to dispel that misconception at all. It's a real shame, because it seems that a number of these students are really great people, I just haven't had the energy to dig for the diamonds in the rough. For these reasons I've unwillingly slipped into the mode of "holding on until the end."
On the other hand, this time has mirrored many other intensive and socially-enclosed experiences, in that you develop an entire world. Being with the same group of people, doing exactly the same things, working through the same struggles, and living the same highly regimented schedule for weeks creates a very special kind of friendship, and it will be difficult to leave those and the world I've adapted to here. I have a feeling that I'll return home and have to spend the first few nights ordering my family to bed at 11:00 sharp, just out of habit.
Interestingly, I have become remarkably more confident in my ability to be a parent, and remarkably more cognizant of how absolutely exhausting it would be. It's only been six weeks and already I'm so so tired of being strict.
The next month will be crazy. Another week here, about five days in Chicago, two weeks at home preparing for my brother's wedding and an international move, and the day after the wedding I fly to Prague, where classes start the day after I arrive. I'll keep you all posted! -Caleb