Minnesota

A lot has happened since I last wrote a blog post. It's been a really great two months, but I thought it was about time I caught up on the blog about what I've been up to and upcoming adventures.
After leaving Switzerland, which is where I last left off on this blog, I went back to Edinburgh for about a week. It was not a fun week overall. I packed up my flat, left things with friends, said goodbye to friends and my favorite city.

I then headed home for the first time in nearly a year. I caught up with family and friends. My sister graduated from high school. And I packed everything up again. After a grand total of 5 days at home, I left again. This time I was Minnesota-bound.

I went to Minnesota for 6 weeks to work for the Concordia Language Villages at the Chinese camp. I spent my first week in lifeguard training and the next week in normal counselor training. I then worked at the camp for 4 weeks. 

I don't even know where to start with my experience. Overall, it was a positive experience. I met a lot of really great people, learned a lot of valuable skills, and learned a lot of Chinese. It was also the hardest job I have ever had. I worked from 8 in the morning until 11 at night 6 (and a half) days a week. 

Minnesota is an absolutely wonderful place to spend the summer. The weather for the most part was lovely and allowed for lots of time outside, which I absolutely loved. I watched more sunsets this summer than I could have dreamed of. And because I was working as a lifeguard, I got to spend a lot of time in the lake!

Occasionally we got breaks, when we could leave the camp. I used these breaks to visit some of Minnesota's fine state parks. I camped at Old Mill State Park. I got to spend a nice evening walking around Buffalo River State Park (below).

I saw the headwaters of the Mississippi at Itasca State Park 

And finally, I got to hike around in Scenic State Park for a couple of hours on my last day in Minnesota.

I don't really think I could have picked a better thing to do this summer. I got to be outside, meet great people, gain valuable experience, and speak Chinese! I'm now more excited than scared to go to China.