It’s time to meet another one of our campers, this week, its fifteen year old Sienna’s turn. Sienna is one of our campers who travels quite a distance to get to summer camp, she comes all the way from Hong Kong! A journey that is totally worth it…
Sienna really enjoys playing the piano and singing in her spare time and would describe herself as “witty, upbeat and talkative!” When she reaches adulthood, Sienna would love to become a vet!
XUK English was the first camp that Sienna attended in 2014. Sienna said “I would really encourage campers whose first language isn’t English to go to XUK English. The English teachers there are really professional and know how to make the lessons enjoyable but made sure we were learning at the same time!” Sienna then transferred to XUK Activity. Moving across to another summer camp could be a little daunting for campers, but Sienna embraced the opportunity and loved it! “All the campers were friendly and the staff were incredibly welcoming. My feeling have never changed, I love it just as much now as I first did!”
We asked Sienna all about her favourite activities at summer camp. “My favourite activity at camp is Drama. Drama sessions at XUK are not your typical ‘let’s play drama games’ sessions, instead the activity is made up of lots of workshops. Not only are they fun but I think they’re pretty educational too.” Credit goes to our amazing staff team for putting on such enjoyable sessions!
We have lots of trips on offer at our summer camps. Sienna’s favourite is our London trip. “I love watching the shows, because I’m a theatre nerd, I love observing the set and transitions within scenes.” We are huge lovers of the theatre too and cannot wait to see Matilda, Stomp and Wicked this summer! If Sienna was able to go anywhere on a trip during her time at camp, she would like to go to the zoo. “I absolutely love animals and we don’t have any zoos where I live.”
Sienna is fortunate enough to have three years worth of XUK memories. We asked her what her best memory was. “I distinctly remember that it was a choice session, and my friends and I chose fencing. We did not intend to, but we did, because of our dorm leader excellent persuasive skills. It was a small group, just my friends and I and one other camper. Seeing that there were not many people, the fencing instructor was kind enough to teach us a stage combat routine with swords. Even though we weren't great at it, that session was filled with fun and laughter, and we had a blast!” This sounds like great fun and just proves it is always a bonus when you try something new that you might not have fancied trying but end up loving it!
Leaving camp is always tough for our campers and the countdown quickly begins again… How many days until summer camp starts? Sienna could not pin down what she missed the most about XUK. “I’m not sure what I miss MOST about XUK, because there are about a million things I miss. If I had to choose one thing, I would say I miss the people. I miss my friends I made, and I miss the dorm leaders I had. I miss all the memories I made: from making countless numbers of friendship bracelets to late night talks and feasting with my dorm. I miss being able to wake up to supportive friends and staff who never fail to cheer me!”
We are very lucky that we have access to the internet and social media meaning that we can talk to our summer camp friends around the world every day. It is not just our campers who miss their friends. Our team members do too! Sienna said, “I talk to my friends daily, in fact some of them are my best friends. We keep in touch through Whatsapp and Skype.”
Sienna's response to being asked if she would recommend XUK to other kids and teenagers looking for a UK summer camp was… “A big fat yes!”
We are so pleased that you love your time at camp and we cannot wait to see you again at XUK in the summer!
146 days and counting…
#xuk2017